Author Topic: Camping gear that you'd recommend  (Read 6360 times)

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Camping gear that you'd recommend
« on: 19 September, 2010, 01:50:50 pm »
A new thread because it doesn't really fit in the review section of "Accessories".  Stuff that works well (regardless of whether it costs £1 or £1,000) and why.

I'll kick off with:

Coleman 550B multi-fuel stove, run on white gas.  A revelation after a crappy Campingaz 206S.  Powerful, shrugs off cold weather, simmers nicely and is very windproof.  The only downside is that it stinks for a minute or so after it's turned off.  Army surplus, £35.

Folding 1-slice toaster.  Brilliant if your stove has a fairly large diameter burner - I tried it on a small gas stove and it was hopeless, with a little hot spot on the gauze. 99p from Wilko.

Coleman F1 Lite gas lantern (uses standard threaded canisters).  About as bright as a 40W bulb and gas consumption is quite reasonable.  No glass to get broken and it's so light it might as well not be there.

Lifeventure washing line.  No need for pegs and for once I had a dry towel in the tent at night.  £2.99 from Halfords.

HiGear folding windscreen for a stove.  Can be pinned into the ground and it's very rigid.  Saves fuel as the kettle boils a lot quicker.  About £4 from Go Outdoors.

Chef Aid mini gas lighter.  Better than faffing with matches and keeps your hands away from a petrol stove (which will tend to light with a "woof").  99p from Wilko.

Small plastic bottles for shower gel and washing-up liquid.  Saves bushels of space.  About a quid each from Superdrug.

Halfords 3-piece aluminium cooking set for one person.  Hard to see how the pans could be improved upon, really, although the eating bowl is too small and I don't bother with it.  £5.99.

Tiny folding camp stool.  Hasn't broken yet under my 12st, and makes all the difference when cooking outside the tent.  £1 from Poundland, if you can bear to go in there.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #1 on: 19 September, 2010, 02:27:25 pm »
The most worn out cotton towel from your cupboard makes the smallest packing, fastest drying towel for your travels.
Use a tea towel if you don't have a worn towel and can't abide plastic travel towels.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #2 on: 19 September, 2010, 03:58:53 pm »
A tent.
It is simpler than it looks.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #3 on: 19 September, 2010, 05:51:50 pm »
A tent.
You'll be disappointed with anything smaller than the Taj Mahal, after this weekend.
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

Nonsteeler

  • If nothing goes wrong, I go wrong.
    • Elsewhere
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #4 on: 19 September, 2010, 06:24:35 pm »
Victorinox Outrider - our knife of choice. With us since the late 1990s, two in our household, value for money (the Shimano M520 of fold-able knifes), well made, extremely useful (can't do my nail clipping by now without this tool), we have always replaced it when lost.
Sadly, melancholy doesn't pay my rent.

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #5 on: 19 September, 2010, 06:32:33 pm »

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #6 on: 19 September, 2010, 06:35:04 pm »
That's not a chair  :facepalm:



This is a chair....




Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #7 on: 19 September, 2010, 06:37:57 pm »
A little lycra skirt. Perfect to sleep in or pull on in the tent for a nature call in the night. For girls, mostly.

Zoidburg

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #8 on: 19 September, 2010, 06:39:59 pm »
A little lycra skirt. Perfect to sleep in or pull on in the tent for a nature call in the night. For girls, mostly.
If they do one in leopard skin print I will buy one.

rogerzilla

  • When n+1 gets out of hand
Hard work sometimes pays off in the end, but laziness ALWAYS pays off NOW.

GrahamG

  • Babies bugger bicycling
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #10 on: 20 September, 2010, 10:57:42 am »
My pee bottle - 500ml (occasionally had to stop if had more than a couple of beer!) Oasis fruit drink.

After that it's got to be the Exped synmat that my other half uses. 12 weeks of solid camping with pack downs most nights and some dodgy ground at wild camps and it didn't get a single puncture and has stood up admirably to the extended use with the only noticeable wear being the worn logos printed on it!

Love my bushbuddy and mini trangia too - I'm too tight to use any other kind of fuel unless travelling by car when I love my coleman duel fuel stove and lantern running on unleaded.
Brummie in exile (may it forever be so)

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #11 on: 20 September, 2010, 04:01:26 pm »
Coleman Exponent folding stool - pretty much optimum in terms of being lightweight, having a pannier-friendly fold and actually strong enough to sit on.  Obviously thermarest-based solutions are lighter, but I don't reckon this can be beaten if you have to get off the ground for knee reasons or similar.

Trangia of whatever flavour - they Just Work.

A pair of those small microfibre towels, rather than one big one.  Just enough to dry yourself (inc. long hair) after a shower, and you can alternate them so they get a chance to dry properly.

Dealextreme sparky thing - I bought one ages ago because it was so cheap, I didn't expect it to be actually useful.  Turns out that these will reliably light a Trangia, without the usual finger-burny fun of gas lighters.

Alpkit Apollo bags - not waterproof to the point you can immerse them, but will keep things dry in crap panniers or contain leaks.  A selection of sizes/colours make finding things in tents / panniers infinitely easier.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #12 on: 20 September, 2010, 04:24:04 pm »
Primus Gravity stove

Primus Multifuel stove

Sporks, of course

Sitmats of various flavours.  OUr simple (Coleman?) ones are good for tent entrances and for sitting on.

Petzl headtorches.  I still feel a bit shortchanged by the lack of focus available with the change from halogen to LED, but they are so much more usable, with lighter and fewer batteries required,a nd giving off more light, that it is fine.
Getting there...

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #13 on: 20 September, 2010, 04:46:32 pm »
Primus OmniFuel Stove - runs on gas and liquid fuels.  The Mutts Dangly Bits  :thumbsup:

The Jetboil Cooking System.  The one person one even has a cafetiere fitting, which got plenty of use at Mildenhall.  I think that even Wow was happy with the coffee it produced.

Carradice Super Cs.  The ultimate to pack all the crap into.  :thumbsup:
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #14 on: 20 September, 2010, 04:52:15 pm »
Well if panniers count as camping gear I would heartily recommend Ortlieb Classic Rollers (the ones made from truck tarpaulin)  Big, don't fall off your bike and 1 trillion percent waterproof; don't bother faffing around packing your gear in Tesco bags in case it rains, there's no point.

I know they're made in Germany and not by nice Lancashire ladies but I still think they are brill, we've got 8 of the things.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #15 on: 20 September, 2010, 04:54:52 pm »
...and everything's in one big heap inside, instead of having useful pockets on the outside for stuff you need access to/want to protect.
Getting there...

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #16 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:03:50 pm »
You're obviously not very good at organising your panniers then.   

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #17 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:05:28 pm »
I am.  I use Super C or Alturas. ;)
Getting there...

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #18 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:10:49 pm »
...and everything's in one big heap inside, instead of having useful pockets on the outside for stuff you need access to/want to protect.

I've got the external pockets on mine  :smug:

Ortlieb gear is expensive I grant you but should last years.

Regulator

  • That's Councillor Regulator to you...
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #19 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:12:24 pm »
...and everything's in one big heap inside, instead of having useful pockets on the outside for stuff you need access to/want to protect.

I've got the external pockets on mine  :smug:

Ortlieb gear is expensive I grant you but should last years.

Ortlieb stuff may last years....



...but your great-great-grandchildren will be able to use your Carradice stuff when they have to escape the Zombpocalypse.
Quote from: clarion
I completely agree with Reg.

Green Party Councillor

Wowbagger

  • Stout dipper
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #20 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:15:00 pm »
I had to do a running repair on one of our Carradice Super C front panniers. The stitching had come apart. It was bloody difficult getting a needle through the cloth though.
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #21 on: 20 September, 2010, 05:38:46 pm »
Piezo lighters on gas stoves.

I paid a stupid amount of money for the one on my Coleman stove some years ago, but it's so easy to light the stove, and I never have to rummage around for matches or whatnot.
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #22 on: 20 September, 2010, 06:04:18 pm »
I mostly used disposable cigarette lighters to light camping stoves. Work even when the fuel's exhausted.

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #23 on: 20 September, 2010, 07:44:55 pm »
The self igniter on my Snow Peak gas cartridge stove broke off (well, the part you push to ignite did) not long after I got it, so I'm back to disposable lighters.

LEE

Re: Camping gear that you'd recommend
« Reply #24 on: 01 October, 2010, 11:40:42 am »
The self igniter on my Snow Peak gas cartridge stove broke off (well, the part you push to ignite did) not long after I got it, so I'm back to disposable lighters.

My Campingaz stove has piezo-ignition but I also tied a Swedish Fire-Steel to it, just in case.