Our mission at HEST is to bring the comfort of home to the outdoors, enabling more people to chase adventure and enjoy the great outdoors. We understand that getting outside can be intimidating… between the bugs, an overwhelming amount of gear options, and the dread of sleeping poorly. The good news is: sleeping well makes all the difference and you don’t need a luxury RV, camper or tricked out rig to make that happen. All you need is a comfortable place to lay your head. To celebrate the simplicity of getting outdoors with your family, friends or by yourself, we present “HEST Nests” a new blog category featuring unique camping set ups and tricks to creating a cozy nest in the woods from people who are out there doing it.
If you would like your camping set up featured on HEST Nests, please send us info and images to info@hest.com
Home Base: Portland, Oregon
Set Up: 1974 Islander 36, 2017 Chevy Colorado, REI Half Dome 2+
Favorite Camp Spot: Come on, those are secrets! There's some great stuff in the Gifford Pinchot and Deschutes National Forests.
HEST products: Dually Long
Most beautiful place you’ve ever woken up?
Inside the Grand Canyon! About halfway up the canyon, below the Redwall Limestone. Watching the sky and the upper rock layers light up was magical from below.
Who’s in your adventure squad?
It's just us but we've got a rag tag bunch of friends who are into VW Vanagons, exploring the Cascade volcanoes, surfing and foraging so it kinda depends on the area of the PNW we head to!
Advice for the sailboat living curious / new to the seas?
Nothing is going to eat you! Other campers don't want to hear your music. And always prepare for the nights to be colder than you expect!
On your average sailing trip, what is the gear set up you bring with you? What do you like most about your set up?
Weekend trips are usually surf-focused so pretty minimal. Depending on the weekend it may be truck, tent or boat. The HEST Dually is great in all three! We're big fans of Nemo sleeping bags, which we have two of and can zip together. Otherwise we keep it pretty minimal: a classic Coleman stove, Aeropress coffee, sweatpants for post-surf relaxing and basic camp chairs.
Any upgrades or improvements you’re planning for your boat?
The boat is a work in progress before any major journeys, but is great now for sunset cruises and a spot to sleep on surf weekends. We don't have a van between the two of us, so that's gonna need to change too.
What’s the one creature comfort you can’t sail without?
Coffee of course!
What do you look for in a campsite?
Flat ground, as far away from people as possible and a safe place for a fire.
Best sail boat meal?
Nothing fancy over here. Big fans of one-pan meals like stir fry or fajitas. And lots of fruit and cheese.
Worst night of sleep while camping?
This seems very appropriate to talk about here, but it is ALWAYS due to a popped or leaky air mattress. And I've dealt with it more than once!
Any special camping traditions?
There were a couple years that I've gotten people to camp on Thanksgiving so we had full Campsgiving dinners!
What’s your next sailing adventure?
We're both traveling for work right now, but we're planning a surf trip to southern Baja.
