Author Topic: Bought any camping gear today?  (Read 331914 times)

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #225 on: 16 May, 2011, 08:48:09 pm »
Have you joined the ALC section? :)
Getting there...

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #226 on: 16 May, 2011, 10:08:00 pm »
Have you joined the ALC section? :)

Nope. Should I have? What do you get for the membership?
Check out my blog: Aspiring Rouleur
Twitter: DKNWHY

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #227 on: 16 May, 2011, 10:12:37 pm »
Yes, you should have ;)

You get to go camping with us and a load of other lovely and interesting people. :)
Getting there...

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #228 on: 17 May, 2011, 11:18:12 am »
A 'retrospective' recommendation:- I got a .8l Thermos food flask for £15 last Xmas; having done a couple of backpacking trips with it it's proved invaluable, and along with a couple of cooking pans it's all you need in the kitchen.

Fill it up before setting off and it will last till lunchtime (I hate having to drink freezing cold water when you're trying to digest food).  Then as soon as you stop, get the stove on and fill it up again, immediately bringing more water to the boil along with the rice or whatever, then switch off and get your camp set up, having a hot drink from the flask while the food stews.  Then when you've finished cooking, fill the flask again with a nighttime beverage for later, using the second pan.

And last but not least (for men, anyway), avoid nighttime hassle - .8l is enough capacity for any skinful, quick slosh outside the tent, zip up and back to sleep.

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #229 on: 17 May, 2011, 01:09:58 pm »
A 'retrospective' recommendation:- I got a .8l Thermos food flask for £15 last Xmas; having done a couple of backpacking trips with it it's proved invaluable, and along with a couple of cooking pans it's all you need in the kitchen.

Fill it up before setting off and it will last till lunchtime (I hate having to drink freezing cold water when you're trying to digest food).  Then as soon as you stop, get the stove on and fill it up again, immediately bringing more water to the boil along with the rice or whatever, then switch off and get your camp set up, having a hot drink from the flask while the food stews.  Then when you've finished cooking, fill the flask again with a nighttime beverage for later, using the second pan.

And last but not least (for men, anyway), avoid nighttime hassle - .8l is enough capacity for any skinful, quick slosh outside the tent, zip up and back to sleep.

 :o You don't really drink out of and piss into the same container do you?  :o :sick:


Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #230 on: 17 May, 2011, 04:25:28 pm »
Whyever not - of course it gets rinsed out, but don't forget some people even DRINK their own pee!

I challenge any bloke on this forum to deny they've never done something similar in an emergency ...


A 'retrospective' recommendation:- I got a .8l Thermos food flask for £15 last Xmas; having done a couple of backpacking trips with it it's proved invaluable, and along with a couple of cooking pans it's all you need in the kitchen.

Fill it up before setting off and it will last till lunchtime (I hate having to drink freezing cold water when you're trying to digest food).  Then as soon as you stop, get the stove on and fill it up again, immediately bringing more water to the boil along with the rice or whatever, then switch off and get your camp set up, having a hot drink from the flask while the food stews.  Then when you've finished cooking, fill the flask again with a nighttime beverage for later, using the second pan.

And last but not least (for men, anyway), avoid nighttime hassle - .8l is enough capacity for any skinful, quick slosh outside the tent, zip up and back to sleep.

 :o You don't really drink out of and piss into the same container do you?  :o :sick:



Manotea

  • Where there is doubt...
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #231 on: 17 May, 2011, 04:34:53 pm »
Whyever not - of course it gets rinsed out, but don't forget some people even DRINK their own pee!

I challenge any bloke on this forum to deny they've never done something similar in an emergency ...


I read an account once of some escaped WWII POWs lost in the jungle in the Far East who, in extremis, drank their own pee. I didn't get the impression it was a taste worth acquiring. As for the other matter, 'I'd take that bet'.

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #232 on: 17 May, 2011, 04:53:00 pm »
I would need to be pretty close to DETH by dehydration before I would drink from a vessel that had previously contained piss  :hand:

jogler

  • mojo operandi
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #233 on: 17 May, 2011, 07:06:35 pm »
I would need to be pretty close to DETH by dehydration before I would drink from a vessel that had previously contained piss  :hand:

If ever we meet remind me to tell you about an incident involving baked beans on a camping trip may many moons ago :demon:

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #234 on: 17 May, 2011, 07:30:43 pm »
I was in town on the bike without a bag and Mrs Mike sent me a text asking me to get some stuff, I spotted this in the window of the outdoorsy shop:

a backpack that looks like this:


that packs down into this:


:D How cool is that??

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #235 on: 17 May, 2011, 07:52:57 pm »
We now have three bags like that - an Onya Backpack, an Onya side bag, a Sea to Summit, which is better because the straps are more comfortable.  Oh - and we won another in a raffle at the ALC AGM, which I carry round in my Super C, and used for the shopping today.  Vert very handy to have :thumbsup:
Getting there...

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #236 on: 17 May, 2011, 08:24:28 pm »
I've bought an Alpkit Skyhigh 800 short. My first ever down bag. Looks the biz but I have yet to camp in it. Also bought a base mat to replace my (coughs) 18 year old thermarest which seemed to have given up the ghost and which I seem to recall having bought second hand from a classified ad in Camping Magazine in those far off pre internet days!
Now all I need to do is go for a little trip!
Mike that backpack looks pretty useful - for the food shop or for carrying my filled up water thingy when looking for "discrete" places to camp at the end of the day.

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #237 on: 17 May, 2011, 08:26:54 pm »
Yep Mike it is uber cool  :D

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #238 on: 18 May, 2011, 01:27:05 pm »
I would need to be pretty close to DETH by dehydration before I would drink from a vessel that had previously contained piss  :hand:

I can respect that - and this is my own personal kit of course, nobody else comes into contact with it.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #239 on: 19 May, 2011, 02:14:54 pm »
Saw one at a decent price, so by the power of JFDI, I should soon be the proud owner of a proper sleeping bag:

http://www.mountain-equipment.co.uk/the_gear/down_sleeping_bags/dreamcatcher/wmns_dreamcatcher_650_-6°c---423/


Obviously I'm not thrilled about the colour, but the measurements suggest that the magic expanding knee section should solve the lower back pain problem I usually get with mummy bags.  It should also be decently warm and, with any luck, pack down to less than 90% of the volume of an Altura Orkney (which is just as well, as I've switched to somewhat smaller Ortliebs).

jogler

  • mojo operandi
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #240 on: 19 May, 2011, 02:21:57 pm »
I've heard several postive comments about Dreamcatchers.Not heard anything negative at all about them

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #241 on: 19 May, 2011, 02:22:21 pm »
Which one did you get? It just went to the page for all dreamcatchers. They don't seem to do goth sleeping bags in sensible shades...
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #242 on: 19 May, 2011, 02:42:28 pm »
Which one did you get? It just went to the page for all dreamcatchers.

Link fixed.  The women's 650.  I don't need the extra height, so decided that the extra weight/bulk of the smaller men's 650 wasn't worth it purely for a hideous shade of orange over a hideous pastel blue.  And I *do* get cold feet.


Quote
They don't seem to do goth sleeping bags in sensible shades...

It's okay.  It'll be dark.  Mostly.

jogler

  • mojo operandi
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #243 on: 19 May, 2011, 02:56:19 pm »
The inside of your eyelids help to make the world dark :)

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #244 on: 19 May, 2011, 04:16:22 pm »
Which one did you get? It just went to the page for all dreamcatchers.

Link fixed.  The women's 650.  I don't need the extra height, so decided that the extra weight/bulk of the smaller men's 650 wasn't worth it purely for a hideous shade of orange over a hideous pastel blue.  And I *do* get cold feet.


Quote
They don't seem to do goth sleeping bags in sensible shades...

It's okay.  It'll be dark.  Mostly.

That looks nice. It's certainly better than the one that is the colour of breast fed baby poo... ::-)
or the mauve one so that you can tell it's for girls :sick:
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #245 on: 19 May, 2011, 11:02:34 pm »
I actually quite like the mauve.  But I suspect that's an artefact of my defective colour vision rendering it more tasteful than it actually is (a problem I used to suffer from all the time in my youth).

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #246 on: 20 May, 2011, 07:01:46 am »
the dreamcatcher is absolutely brilliant, I've got a 450 and love it!  Having the stretchy bit means I actually sleep rather than just squirm about trying to get comfy, and the lining is lovely (not like my old Deuter which I have to use a liner for cos it feels horrid)

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #247 on: 20 May, 2011, 02:15:53 pm »
It arrived earlier.  Initial impressions:

Height is exactly right.

Knee-stretchy bit does *exactly* what it says on the tin, I can spread my knees almost as wide as they will go, so there's effectively no restriction on leg movement.  The elasticated baffles take up the slack remarkably well, so it should stay equally warm regardless of leg position.

The foot-shaped bit is foot-shaped, and combined with the knee baffles makes the bag look like alarmingly like the ovipositor of some sort of giant alien insect.  Moreso with someone inside it.

The zips are in two sections, so you can stick your feet out without the whole lot unzipping in the night.

The colour is less bright (and therefore less embarrassing) than it appears online.  It really doesn't look that bad.

It's obviously significantly warmer than my synthetic bag, though there's only one way to find out how much...

Down sleeping bags are astoundingly compressible, why didn't anyone tell me?  In its stuff sack, it easily fits in a Back Roller alongside a Downmat with plenty of room for some tent poles and other stuff.

The stuff sack is fleece-lined, for use as a pillow  :thumbsup:

bloomers100

  • ACME's Head of Sexual Health and Family Planning
Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #248 on: 20 May, 2011, 08:09:45 pm »
Snugpak travelpak lite arrived today. I am surprised how roomy it is, I am 6'2" and 14 and a bit stone and there is plenty of room. I'll report back after this weeks tour.

Re: Bought any camping gear today?
« Reply #249 on: 21 May, 2011, 10:06:35 pm »
Today I collected a parcel that my neighbour had taken in for us. It was actually 2 parcels, containing a Blacks Good Companion Major and an extended fly sheet for it. We put it up this evening and it is totally lovely.  :D It is bigger than I expected and in fabulous condition for a 30+ year old tent. I am very excited 8)
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.