First night in a hammock

[biker-bri]

Thursday will see me out on my first adventure with my DD hammock :happy-clapping:, what I need to know is what is the minimum I should carry as I always take way to much , this is my list so far
1 hammock, 2 tarp, 3 gonk bag, 4 thermarest, 5 cordage & pegs, 6 stove ( S A T ), 7 fuel, 8 eating equipment k f s & mug, 9 food one hot meal for thurs night something for breakfast fri morn and lots of munches, 10 water I will have to carry
4 Ltrs with me ( heavy I know ) as I cant rely on the spring which is around 1/2 a click away, 11 brew kit, 12 waterproofs, 13 camera, I pod, my new knife, phone,first aid kit, 14 personal high-gene inc preparation H :(:eek:. Oh and my meds, or I will fall on my BUM!!!!. The wife will be dropping me off on thurs lunchtime, and will pick me up around 4pm Friday, plenty of time just to chill out and do a bit of whittling .
Is there anything else that I should take ? please let me know. Cheers Bri

[Ichneumon]

Other than extra clothes:

Something to light your fire/stove with? Tin opener possibly? Torch/headlamp? Little drop of washing-up liquid? A used carrier bag to put your rubbish in?

Oh, and something for a libation. :)

[Old Guard]

Very best of luck Bri, ermmm Sun Screen !!!

OG

[biker-bri]

Thanks OG but it's given it to rain thurs morning :(

[biker-bri]

Other than extra clothes:

Something to light your fire/stove with? Tin opener possibly? Torch/headlamp? Little drop of washing-up liquid? A used carrier bag to put your rubbish in?

Oh, and something for a libation. :)

Yes to everything apart from the tin opener. Oh and the libation will give me another reason to fall over, and get up & p: more, O bother a nice drop of single malt will do no harmT^

[garethw]

Spent last night in a Travel hammock in the forest near me with my son.
I still took my sleeping bag and snugpak under blanket, despite the hot weather..
My son poopooed that idea and on took a thermarest... well he was cold and hardly slept,
I was out till 8:30... when the foxes yapping all around woke me... there must have been 4 or 5 not far from us.. what a row!!!

Really comfy night...

cheers
Gareth

[Roadkillphil]

A rucsack?? ;)

I'd hang all your gear up out of reach of the foxes too bud, especially food :D

Have yourself a great night :D

Cheers

Phil

[biker-bri]

That's what I want, to fall asleep listening to the owl's call, and wake to the early morning chorus magic

[allytk]

Spent Sat night in my hammock for the first time(been missing out). Got a bit more tipsy than intended which made for fun when trying to find the zip from inside:P. You should have a good night Bri

[El]

Take or make a hiking stick..fer when yer tipsy lol

[biker-bri]

A rucsack?? ;)

Cheers

Phil
Doh I knew there was something I'd forgotten. I read your report about the fox and the rucksack, where I'm going I am more likely to get mugged by the sheep!!!

[Silverback]

Doh I knew there was something I'd forgotten. I read your report about the fox and the rucksack, where I'm going I am more likely to get mugged by the sheep!!!

Snowdon !! Ive been mugged for my butties by a sheep on the Llanberis Path

[biker-bri]

The worst place I found for sheep mugging was Kinder downfall, everyone had to climb the rocks to get out of their way:)

[biker-bri]

4687 Well I have started to collect everything together ready for tomorrow. Starting from the left .
3 bottles for water, a green pac towel, the striped bag holds a camo net, S A T stove lighter wash kit inside, DD hammock, camo bag holds my army basha, trangia fuel bottle, orange ridge line, bag underneath holds para-cord & bungees,
2 x torches, U C O candle lantern, stainless mug (LARGE), Pan handle K F S pan set, I pod, tent pegs, axe (cheep but OK ), screw driver, folding saw ( homebase £9.99),new knife, blue storage box which is also a stove, 2x tiffin tins, zebra 12cm billy,sleeping bag 3 season, blue & yellow checked THING is a PILLOW yea, birdwatching binns, green ex army fleece, camera pouch, army Bergen under the fleece, green norgie,dark blue over trousers, blue goretex jacket.
I will pick up food and other bits tomorrow, "ALL BEING WELL" - the weather forecast is crap i.e thunder storms in the next 24 hours. If not tomorrow it will have to wait till after the bank holiday because I will be very close to a famous
Welsh long distance footpath!!, if you are OK with grid ref's, one of these is where I will be SJ 226 483 or SJ 234 475 the first one is on rather a steep slope ( I will just have to be careful which side of the err hammock i get out of ) If you don't hear from me tomorrow I will be on my wayT^ Cheers Bri.

I use the ordnance survey GET A MAP site to plan my walk's I would deff recommend

[Old Guard]

excellent list

"Screwdriver", i am sure there is an obvious reason , but what is it ? :-)

OG

[biker-bri]

excellent list

"Screwdriver", i am sure there is an obvious reason , but what is it ? :-)

OG

Cos the wife said I must have a screw loose:happy-clapping:.
I don't know either - the dog may have been playing fetch, and I took no notice ?

[Old Guard]

don't you just hate helpful pooches, I have two jack russels and they are 'so helpful' when I am sorting tents out in the garden :confused:

[biker-bri]

Postponed till sat:sad:

[AL...]

Hope the weather inproves for ye Bri

Cheers
AL

[Wrighty28]

Small tip! Take the hit and invest in a snug pak under quilt! I could just not get comfy or warn with a thermarest. Forking out for the under quilt was the best decision I ever made, well worth the money after a night with one.

[garethw]

Small tip! Take the hit and invest in a snug pak under quilt! I could just not get comfy or warn with a thermarest. Forking out for the under quilt was the best decision I ever made, well worth the money after a night with one.
Couldn't agree more!!!
Brilliant piece of kit... slept out to -6°C last winter...
cheers
Gareth

[Wrighty28]

Couldn't agree more!!!
Brilliant piece of kit... slept out to -6°C last winter...
cheers
Gareth

Trooper!!!!

Wish I'd ordered mine before Xmas .... Owell, this always snow hammocking this year I spose!

[biker-bri]

Still waiting for some dry weather guy,s :(

[biker-bri]

Tuesday saw a break in the weather so off I went, because the wife is still a little worried about my spinning head!!!! I decided to camp a little closer to home. Bersham woods is owned by the woodland trust so I had to be careful where I slung my hammock.
I chose a nice spot on a bend of the Clywedog river, well away from the Clywedog trail which runs from Minera through the woods & ends at Kings mills Wrexham. I pitched camp, tried out the hammock then made a brew. I had noticed a lot of pine resin on the trees nearby so with a lot of time and little else to do I set about collecting some - a test burn followed a little later ( see pic's ), all to soon the sun dropped below the horizon and it was time to bed down for the night ( 10 pm ) I was surprised that the temp didn't drop that much, it had been around 15c all day with the lowest at 12c during the night - as I was in a hollow near a river, I expected it to be much colder. Having slept REALLY well I was up and about at around 6am, After a couple of hours bird watching and more than the odd brew I packed up, cleaned up the site L N T and headed back to Bersham where the wife picked me up and drove me home for a hearty breakfast ( cornflakes !!! )47334734473547364737

[biker-bri]

More pic's 47384739474047414742

[AL...]

Good on ye Bri :D

Cheers
AL

[biker-bri]

More pic's 47434744474547464747
I am now a tree swinger ;)

[AL...]

That is a stunning place to camp and watch the world go by Bri

Cheers
AL

[biker-bri]

Thanks Al I was lucky not to get moved on though, I have been told that the woodland trust wardens are there quite often as it is a world heritage site. The building in the first photo was built by John Wilkinson for his iron foundry before he moved to a place
where there was a better supply of coal, the new site continued in operation until 1989 and was better known as Brymbo steel works, the second photo show's the leat or millstream on the right, the third show's the horse shoe shaped waterfall used to divert water through a sluice gate and on to the foundry. Hear endeth the history lesson for today:)

[CanadianMike]

Next time in the woods, grab a handful of white pine needles to make a brew out of before bed, really good stuff without adding anything!

[AL...]

Thanks for that Bri . I realy like to hear about the history of places
Its well cool

Cheers
AL

[biker-bri]

I have never seen white pine needles!!!!, but thanks for the tip

[Hushwing]

good stuff Bri - nice lot of heritage (both built and natural) there! cheers for that.

how were the midges - they're murder (or should that be a Taggart style "mur-derrrrrrh") up here at the moment.

[biker-bri]

Thanks Hushwing, I think it was a bit too cool for the wee welsh midge, ( not as hardy as the Scottish one's ) but when they bite they mean it, for once I was lucky.;)