Personally i don't bother with a stove on an overnighter, saves an awful lot of faffing around. The meal amounts to minutes out of a day.
I'd go for a foam filled Thermarest style. Too much air is bouncy and I don't care for it. That's another area I'd take extra weight.
Personally i don't bother with a stove on an overnighter, saves an awful lot of faffing around. The meal amounts to minutes out of a day.
Not as big a deal in summer...but the psychological boost of warm coffee and a hot meal is worth more to me in winter than my jacket! 🙂
Wimp 😛
[quote=molgrips ]I'd go for a foam filled Thermarest style. Too much air is bouncy and I don't care for it. That's another area I'd take extra weight.
Too much air isn't bouncy, it's almost rock hard. Too [i]little[/i] air is bouncy.
Still prefer foam.
Yeah, I'm with Mr Grips on this, I've spent too many terrible nights on open-cell mattresses.
I recently tossed out my Fat Airics only to find that Alpkit have stopped doing mats. Grr, argh.
As for cooking,
Necessary or no, I'd want to do it. A warm meal before bed even if it's just rice will be luxury, and a lack of coffee in the morning would be a dealbreaker for me sleeping at my own house let alone up a hill.
You'll be after a Neoair....
I always take a stove if I'm going to be stopped for a decent overnighter. Hot food/drink at night and a coffee in the morning always go down well (plus see the porage thread). if it's for a quick 3/4 hour bivvy then I'll likely not bother though.
I'll be the bastard lovechild of Bear Grylls and Ray Mears
So you'll need a 5 star hotel with an adjacent McDonalds for the full experience!
Dimensions: 20" x 72" x 2"
That sort of mat, yes. But a smaller one that is tapered and just does from the shoulders to the hips. Put the rucksac under your legs and use your footware with a waterproof folded on top for your head.
don't get me wrong the higher up you are the better. Water above 5/6/700m tastes amazing, gets a bit more funky the lower down you get though! And with the popularity and our more liberal camping laws these days well who the heck knows what people have been up to before ye.I've never, ever filtered or treated water in Scotland. Companies sell the stuff I drink out of streams. It's about as good as water gets.
Plus the sawyer weighs bugger all so no point not having it IMO.
But a smaller one that is tapered
They seem to be twice the price, which makes no sense to me. Minefield, innit.
I bivi about 2 nights a month, every month, using an army goretex bag. I take a poncho with me that can be rigged as a tarp in case it pisses down. The reality is that a rainy night in a bivi bag makes for some pretty basic living.
For anything longer or for crappy weather, I run a zephyros 2 (the zeph 1 is pretty cramped and not a massive weight saving on the 2).
tips:
- headtorch is essential, as are lighters (note the s, carry more than one... even if they're cheap shit petrol station jobbies).
- you dont need more than one knife and frankly it doesnt need to be big & butch.
- plan your layers so you can reuse (my merino base forms part of my night time insulation).
The main thing is to cut down to basics and not haul the kitchen sink. You can always start with a simple ovenighter to just test things out.
This is suddenly getting expensive. Shopping list:
Cougar--another alternative: just put the amount you'd spend on gear into an airline ticket and fly here to New Mexico---I can loan you the gear, drop you off in the Gila Wilderness and pick you up when you are finished---I can [b]guarantee[/b] you plenty of solitude, far from the madding crowd, so to speak 😆
If you timed it right, you could wave at the Tour Divide gang as they ride through this summer.
Knives, is a SAK multitool going to be of more value than something I can hack up kindling with?
Kindling?
I never carry a knife to be honest. There always shedloads of stuff lying around that will burn easily enough.
Although thinking of getting one just for playing around with stuff carving wood and the likes, but that's just for entertainment value.
drop you off in the Gila Wilderness
I refer you to my OP where I mentioned not [s]pissing my pants[/s] dying. (-:
In seriousness, that's a very kind offer, thank you. Though I doubt I'd get that to fly past my better half. "I'm going to get away from it all for an evening" - oh, where? "New Mexico."
Kindling?
I have to make a fire. How would I keep the bears away?
Whitendale Hanging Stones (on molgrips' map) is the geographic centre of Britain (see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centre_points_of_the_United_Kingdom ).
I've been meaning to bivi there myself for a bit.
Theres some solid advice here, but read it all and you will never get through the door if you're not careful. You really need **** all expensive for a couple of summer nights in britain, the worst that will happen is you will get a bit wet (bears notwithstanding)
When I started out I had cheap heavy shite cos thats all I could afford and had the time of my life. Over time i worked out what I needed, what I wanted, where it was worth spending money and where I just wanted to spend recreationally.
Yeah, you might have a very good point there. Perspective.
I thought the centre of Britain was Dunsop Bridge?
It's Dunsop Bridge for the M&S beige carcoat brigade. And roadies. 😉
[quote=Cougar ]I thought the centre of Britain was Dunsop Bridge?
Depends how you measure ir
On the fire thing. A kelly kettle is a rewarding bit of kit to use.
All the old bikers used to tell me it was Meridan. They were addled on cheap speed tho.
Talking about sleeping pads, I noticed a [url= http://www.cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest/cots/luxurylite-ultralite-cot/product ]Thermarest[/url] cot the other day.
At 900gms, I think I'd sooner carry that than a pad - I'm getting a bit old to lie on the ground.
piemonster - Member
You'd better be trolling you heretic. Ipad on a wild camping trip indeed.
What? Don't you load all your OS maps and aerial views on an iPad?
No, me neither 🙂
But a silver bladed knife can be definitely handy...
How to catch small crocs on that Bear Grylls island right now, could be handy for the lake district when the tea shops shut 🙂
acehtn - Member
How to catch small crocs on that Bear Grylls island right now, could be handy for the lake district when the tea shops shut
I've caught crocs (small ones). Dead easy. But not biting off more than you can chew takes on a new meaning here.
Not wanting to necessarily turn another thread into 'it was better back in the sixties' but..
Had you been born back then, as a kid in the boy scouts as lots of us were, you'd have done all this and probably by the time you were fifteen. Bivouac used to mean making it out of natural stuff like branches and ferns, no tent allowed, it was a special hike for some woodsman's badge I can't remember the name of, sleeping bags were pretty crude affairs by todays standards but you were allowed to pack a ground sheet. What you eat you had to catch (usually fish, but some resourceful lads trapped rabbits with those wire loop things). You had a sheath knife the size of which would have you locked up today, and a hand axe, all on your belt and you had to wear those stupid wide brimmed scout hats and keep them in good order for inspection on your return. The hike had to be ten miles or 25 using bicycles. Water you carried or blagged off a local farmer, fires you could use a limited number of swan vestas, I seem to recall the fire lighter test involved no more than three matches, you'd have learned this skill (including running the match through your hair to keep it burning)and others under canvass before you did this Bivouac test.
All as I said before as a sub fifteen year old lad, can you imagine mummies of today letting their little darlings off on an adventure like that? Kind of puts what you're up to into perspective a bit as well, but then it was utopia back then, no time for 'hand wringing' 😉
What when your expected dinner decides to eat you first 🙂
Only had to tackle wild mussles with my bare hands, little sods had mini pearls and broke a tooth for me.
Late to the thread and haven't read it all so apologies if someone else already made the same suggestions.
The current issue of TGO (The Great Outdoors) magazine is a backpacking special (the kind of backpacking where you go for a walk and camp that is, not the SE Asia gap yaah kind). There's lots of useful advice on gear, techniques, safety etc. Worth perusing. I think TGO is the hillwalking equivalent of Singletrack in that they are both a bit more thoughtful and reflective than the more mainstream equivalent mags.
My advice for a first small expedition is to pick a spot with an easy to follow route in like a big landy track or well-marked path. Camping is optional - there are lots of lovely bothies in the UK - check the Mountain Bothies Website for details. Walking in down Glen Feshie to Ruigh-Aitchechan is lovely, and you can choose to camp near the bothy and just use the loo there (one of very few bothies with an actual loo!).
Tarps are fun to play with as well. Decathlon do a surprisingly good one for around £20. Spend a night out in your back garden under it for practise. Tie it to trees or use walking poles to raise it.
Good luck! Self-supported long journeys camping out are immensely satisfying. I've walked across Scotland twice from coast to coast carrying everything on my back and both trips are among the most memorable experiences of my life. I'm thinking of repeating the trip on a bike in a couple of years' time.
All the old bikers used to tell me it was Meridan. They were addled on cheap speed tho.
Banbury Star Cycling Club by any chance?
Haven't seen this forum mentioned yet....
[url= http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/content.php?s=b3d521fbf5751fd08c294a9324938ef2 ]Men with knives and hatchets[/url]
no time for 'hand wringing'
And that's why no-one has wrung a single hand on this thread!
I agree you don't need much expensive stuff, but I wouldn't go with a £50 tent. Everything else can be cheap as you like, but a tent is important. And £100 isn't an expensive one imo 🙂
As for tarps - chances are, up in the hills, there won't be any trees.
You're not serious about making fires are you?
How about kipping in a cave to save the weight of the tent, must be a fair few suitable to settle down. Not underground, especially when rainy, obviously.
You're not serious about making fires are you?
Why, is that a really stupid idea, or bad form or something?
[quote=midlifecrashes ]How about kipping in a cave to save the weight of the tent, must be a fair few suitable to settle down. Not underground, especially when rainy, obviously.
Or under a big rock...
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Not in the slightest IMO. But read up on where you should and shouldn't light a fire. You don't unwittingly want to start a forest fire or set some turf on fire that can smolder for months underground and surface later to cause damage etc.Cougar - Moderator
You're not serious about making fires are you?
Why, is that a really stupid idea, or bad form or something?
I tend to play it safe and just have fires next to lochs and stuff.
Stones for a fire pit and all that, aye.
I never use stones. I enjoy the bonfire approach! 😆
Depends where you are. On a beach or lakeshore, yes. In the mountains, I wouldn't. You'd be seen from miles around and it'll draw attention one way or the other. Remember you're not actually supposed to camp up there anyway, and that brown grass and even the peat can be flammable. Plus you're more likely to piss off farmers or landowners if you are making fires. In the forest - obviously not.
Plus there won't be any wood in the mountains.
Ah, good points, yes.
