That’s the beauty of a portable BBQ, no scorching. You could even bag the ash and bring it home with you if you want.

I’m not talking about one of those foil things preloaded with charcoal btw.

I also use a folding barbie as a firepit nowadays, stops scorching, keeps the fire small and clean burning and the ash blows away in the wind.
It’s not for lightweight overnighters but on the right trip a fire is good for the soul.

What the others said about lighting a fire. For me the satisfaction of “Leaving no trace” is one of the main things about wild camping.

Even if you do it properly and dig up the soil, it still damages the ground and its impossible to restore the ground so there is no sign.

Nothing worse than finding a sweet spot and seeing a blackened circle. Sorry if i sound like a sanctimonious prick, but really does piss me off.

Oh yeah and if you do need a number2, dig a hole away from the site, and bag out your paper please 😀

The whole “microadventure” thing seems to be steadily growing, and if we damage where we camp, landowners are likely to be far less tolerant.

Easy – foot long subway.

Better – Manchego cheese, cooked salmon filets, wraps, Serrano ham, green olives, oat cakes, apple pie, custard, schnapps with lemonade, hot chocolate, sesame peanuts, knorr chicken noodle soup packet, porridge for breakfast , fresh orange – sod the weight – do it in style!

Hey Sanny. Tell us about out-of-date rat packs…..

Not so much a suggestion as a question for the experienced campers on this thread: for just a single night or the first night, why not just bring a pre-cooked portion of curry or ragu in a freezer bag and reheat it at the campsite?

I appreciate pasta or rice to accompany is an additional item which requires cooking separately and an extra pot, but egg based pasta only requires 4 minutes in boiling water and rice could presumably be cooked using the steam absorbtion method (taking it off the heat and keeping the lid on for 10 minutes while it absorbs the steam, during which time the curry could be reheated on the stove and any accompanying meat/fish be added and cooked). I guess rice would have an advantage over pasta because it requires much less water, and therefore less fuel, to cook it.

I would be interested to know why this would not work or what the problems/pitfalls would be compared with the alternative options being suggested.

@slowster – No reason whatsoever – sounds tasty!

Remember that camp cooking items are smaller and lighter than their kitchen counterparts and cool down much quicker especially since you are outside rather than in the warmth of your home, a titanium mug that is scalding when you take it off the stove is only just warm to the touch within a minute despite holding half a litre of near boiling water. You can get round this by using a cozy of some sort, even a fleece jacket will do.

Experiment in your garden or back yard and decide for yourself if it will work for you.

There’s a certain satisfaction in preparing a meal even a basic one like pasta and pasta sauce. As already said, you usually have quite a long evening ahead, so lots of time. Nothing wrong with taking a preprepared meal tho.

Only thing is to keep it simple, I’ve made the mistake of doing something too complicated that needed prep and more than one stove and one pan.

I use curry sauces and take some veg and meat, but decant sauce into a plastic bag, which has a risk involved, but I like to live dangerously.

I miss the days when everything tasted of parrafin

Ah yes the rat pack incident. I think it was several years out of date. I ate half the dessert and the yorkie which had turned white before deciding not to eat any more. 9 year old lamb seemed a bit risky to me.

I like to take ikea led chain lights – very light but they give a great ambient light to read by.

A good book too.

My top tip is to invest in an eye mask and boots wax ear plugs. Nature is bloody noisy at dawn!

I’m alive, I survived my first night away in the hills!
Thanks for all the responses. Had couscous and pepperami in a zip lock bag plus a pitta bread and cider for tea. And for breakfast two instant porridges, again transported and eaten out of a ziplock bag. No pans to clean but a plastic bag doesn’t keep food warm for long!

Congratulations. You will learn something new evert trip – like make a cosy out of some of that silver-foil bubble-wrap used for insulation. An envelope-shape with fold-over lid for packets and a pot-shaped one for pots and mugs.

They’ll` then start telling me I shouldn’t build fires because of the impact on the ecology. That’s after they’ve clambered out of their 2 ton 4WD having driven over a meadow to reach me.

Building a fire on a meadow will do more damage than driving over it…and yes I am an expert on meadows.

Glad I live in Scotland

Wild camping?

(Best take a few packets of Space Raiders just to be safe. Weight negligible)

Nice one OP

Good stuff, looks like fun