FCW-10 / Flashlight & Camping Get Together NOVEMBER 1ST-4TH (NJ, PA, NY, CT, MA, DE, MD, VA, WV + surrounding area)
Well here it is guys and gals, as promised FCW-10 is official!
FCW-10 is the 10th Flashaholics Camping Weekend I have created. Let’s face it, we all like flashlights! Most of us like anything that lights up or even glows, and many of us like knives and various other types of gear. Camping is a natural for us Flashaholics! What better place to test your lights and gear than a weekend in one of the darkest parts of New Jersey, alongside of your fellow Flashaholics.
WHO can go: Pretty much anyone, from anywhere - unless you have a really bad reputation on the forums, or a complete wacko or something, you are invited. I have never had a problem before, let’s keep it that way. If anyone becomes a problem of some sort to the group, they will be asked to leave. And yes, your significant other, neighbors, and friends are all invited too, but sorry, no pets. Please keep the age of any children you want to bring with you to the age of 13 and above - and limited to 2 minors per each accompanying adult.
IMPORTANT STUFF: Belleplain is a state forest, and therefore there is no alcohol allowed. The park rangers do check, and if they catch you, they will ticket you and ask you to leave the park immediately, and no refund will be given. I love to kick back and have a drink myself, but this isn’t the place to do it. Needless to say no drugs, fireworks or firearms are allowed either.
Please be mindful that this is an outdoor event with sharp things, hot things, things that bite, and various poisonous things, etc. There will be a waiver to sign upon arrival. Everyone must sign the wavier to participate. The waiver is available to you at any time, just ask, and in addition to being presented upon arrival at the campsite - where and when you will need to sign it, the waiver will be presented to you to read over before you send me your reservation fee. Nothing tricky here, just a simple waiver that says you understand that you can get hurt around things like: campfires; knives; hi-powered flashlights; bugs and snakes that bite; twist an ankle on a loose rock, or trip on a tree root; and hey bears get hungry too, don’t sleep with beef jerky and candy bars in your tent; etc, etc. This is camping, be smart, be safe, and no one gets hurt 
I assume no liability for your well being or safety in connection with this event.
WHEN is it: November 1st - 4th. Yes, it’s been extended this time, starting on FRIDAY night and going until MONDAY afternoon. Early NOVEMBER is a good time for camping, it’s cool enough to enjoy a campfire, and less buggy than the summer months, and this particular weekend was also chosen due to it’s proximity to a new moon, meaning it should be extra dark out! SUNDAY is a new moon (no visible moon).
Average temps there should be: roughly low 60’s for a daytime high and about 40 for an overnight low.
Check in / arrival - No check in is needed on your part. However, please do not arrive before 1:00pm on Friday.
As for checkout - technically we are supposed to be out by 12:00 on Monday, however if no one is scheduled to come in after us, the park rangers are usually pretty easy going about not rushing people out - as long as it looks like they are going to leave a nice clean campsite.
So three nights, or if you can only make it for one or two that’s fine, or if you don’t want to stay over night, then you can come and hang out, stay and cook over the fire, and leave whenever your batteries run out of power.
WHERE is it at: FCW-10 will be at Belleplain State Forest, located in Woodbine, NJ. That’s South Jersey. And this area happens to be one of the very darkest locations in NJ, and I believe it is the darkest public camping area in NJ! Here is a link to the website: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/belle.html
COST per person: Only $15 per person for the whole 4 day/3night weekend! 3 nights or 2 nights is the same price. Everyone is responsible for there own food/drink. $15 isn’t a lot of money for such a large and private camping area.
If you are not planning on staying overnight - please come and join us and hang out day or night, as much as you want. Use the campsites and cook over the fire, etc. but please be prepared to chip-in and help pay for the use of the sites. In the past I had set an amount for the non-overnight attendees, but this time I’m going to leave this “donation” up to the individual - keeping in mind that the rest of us are paying $15 each.
More on the cost: The total cost to reserve the sights is about $200. This is money which I have already laid out of my own pocket to secure the sights are reserved for us and only us. This is a very large and private area of the state park. Yes this is a risk for me, if no is interested I’m having a very expensive camping weekend myself. LOL So please share in some of the risk with me, and commit to coming by signing up and reserving your spot with your $15 payment. This is the 10th FCW I’m hosting. I count on my fellow Flashaholics to step up and share this risk with me by reserving their spot. If we have a huge turnout, and I collect more money than needed to cover the sites - I usually put the extra money towards things we can all use like fire wood, fire starters, bug spray, marshmallows, etc. And to cover any return shipping costs of lights that may be sent to us for a weekend review.
What if it looks like it will be a total rain blowout of a weekend - The date change and cancelation fees associated are huge. Early October tends to be a decent time of year, not as rainy as other months, but anything can happen. We will monitor it closely and make a decision in the final hours.
EQUIPEMENT: If you don’t have a tent you can get one on sale at Wal-Mart for $29.99, or buddy up with someone who has a tent. And of course you’ll need to bring a flashlight! Bring your own food and drink, and everything you will need to spend a few nights out in the woods. Nothing will be provided. The $15 secures the reservation and payment of the camp sites, use of the camp grounds and parking.
WHAT IF I FORGET SOMETHING: There is a small “general store” located a few miles outside of the campground. They sell everything from ice cream to toilet paper there.
SPEAKING OF TOILET PAPER: , Don’t worry they do have clean modern flush toilet bathrooms with running water within the state park. We have outhouse style toilets and potable water within our campsite.
CELL PHONES: Yes, cell phones work fine from the state park grounds.
WHAT TO DO: Well along with the usual camping agenda of relaxing by a campfire, roasting marshmallows, etc. This location has a beautiful lake, fishing, some fantastic trails for hiking, and pretty much everything you would expect a state forest to have. please follow the link to their website for more info. Along with the dense woods, their are also large open fields with distant tree lines, and plenty of darkness to test throw of lights. And in the past we have always enjoyed a night hike into the woods. We will likely have a raffle for giveaways. Bring your bike if you want to ride it there. Games like ladder golf, horse shoes, and corn hole are fun, bring them if you want. Of course bring all the lights you want to test / play with and show off to others. And bring all the lights you want to sell or trade! At several past FCW events I arranged for various flashlight and camping equipment manufacturers and distributors to provide some giveaways, raffle items, and pass around items. I’ll see what I can come up with for FCW-10. Also a few attendees brought giveaways (new and old that they didn’t need, want, etc), which everyone appreciated.
Also since I’m relatively new to BLF, this is the first FCW I’m posting on BLF - let’s make it a great one! If you know of another member who might like to attend, let them know - perhaps they didn’t see this post about FCW-10 yet.
For a whole bunch more information and some pictures from past FCW events I hosted check out these links. Have fun reading all of it if you want, or you can just skip to the pictures, which you will find closer to the end of each thread.
Please note this is the first time for a FCW at Beleplain, so you will not find a previous FCW specific to Belleplain State Forest - however the other FCW posts will give you a good idea of what goes on, etc.
FCW-9 Flashaholics Camping Weekend - NJ, NY, PA, CT + area event! Sept. 14th-17th
FCW-8 Flashaholics Camping Weekend! NJ, PA, NY + AREA on 6/2/11 - 6/5/11
FCW-7 Flashaholics Camping Weekend! NJ, PA, NY + AREA on 9/30/10 - 10/3/10
FCW-6 Flashaholics Camping Weekend! NJ, PA, NY + AREA on 6/10/10 - 6/13/10
FCW-5 Flashaholics Camping Weekend! NJ, PA, NY -AREA on 9-17-09 / 9-20-09
FCW-4 Flashaholics Camping Weekend! - PART 2 -
FCW-4 Flashaholics Camping Weekend!
FCW-3 Flashaholics Camping Weekend!
FCW-2 / Camping Get Together (NJ, PA, NY, CT + area)
Camping Get Together (NJ, PA, NY, CT area) (FCW-1)
Please note that space is somewhat limited, and to assure your reservation you need to send me the $15 per person ASAP. (or other amount if you are not planning on staying overnight) Please do so by sending me a PM here on BLF, and let me know if you want to send me the $ to my paypal or home address and I will provide you with it. Once I get your $ you will be assured your spot for what will surely be an awesome weekend!
