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Thread: 8 Items - 3 Days - Dartmoor Challenge

  1. #1
    Moderator & Poshcrafter™ Martin's Avatar
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    Wink 8 Items - 3 Days - Dartmoor Challenge

    As some of you will know, four of us went out for two nights on Dartmoor in October last year and the challenge was to take only ten items of kit with us plus food and clothing. Well, this year, the challenge to take only eight items has been laid down which is quite a daunting task.

    The challenge will be to walk to our camp site, which we haven't established yet but will only be three or four miles, then set up camp, cook a meal and spend the night. The following day, we will almost certainly break camp and walk to another spot for the second night.

    What eight items would you take for this challenge? Don't forget, your rucksack, if you choose to take one, is one item. If you carry water with you then your water bottle will be another.

    Tell us what your eight items would be.

    Martin
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    Tribal Elder
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    rucksack, tent, rollmat, doss bag, leatherman, crusader cup, firesteel and a bottle of meths.... i think thats it?

    if the meths and other consumables aren't allowed then probably a stainless steel bottle instead.

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    Moderator & Poshcrafter™ Martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by comanighttrain View Post
    rucksack, tent, rollmat, doss bag, leatherman, crusader cup, firesteel and a bottle of meths.... i think thats it?

    if the meths and other consumables aren't allowed then probably a stainless steel bottle instead.
    Meths is fine mate. What you going to burn it in?? And, if it's a two day trip, won't you need to use the toilet? Toilet paper is on my list.

    Martin
    Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

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    Samuel Hearne Bernie's Avatar
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    What are you allowed to take besides the 8 items? I mean clothes are, I assume, not included in the 8 items. If you hammock, is the hammock counted in addition to a tarp? I think it'd be better to limit size or weight than number of items. But 8 items is an interesting challenge.

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    Moderator & Poshcrafter™ Martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bernie View Post
    What are you allowed to take besides the 8 items? I mean clothes are, I assume, not included in the 8 items. If you hammock, is the hammock counted in addition to a tarp? I think it'd be better to limit size or weight than number of items. But 8 items is an interesting challenge.
    Clothes aren't included in the eight items, I don't fancy seeing some of them trying to get away with no boxers!! Tarp and hammock are two items Bernie and the weight thing is a bit of contentious issue as that would depend on how much money you are prepared to spend rather than on how resourceful you are prepared to be. This is the natural progression of the ten item challenge which wasn't really that challenging.

    Martin
    Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin View Post
    Meths is fine mate. What you going to burn it in?? And, if it's a two day trip, won't you need to use the toilet? Toilet paper is on my list.

    Martin
    burn it in? nah i just dont fancy trying to find finding dry birch bark :P i use it to get other stuff burning. So really it is essentially a fire lighter itself. Thats not to say we wouldnt stumble accross something i could make into a stove using my leatherman? Donno how clean Dartmoor is

    bog roll? used moss before and it wasnt too bad, aside from you know, having a mossy crack.

  7. #7
    Moderator & Poshcrafter™ Martin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by comanighttrain View Post
    burn it in? nah i just dont fancy trying to find finding dry birch bark :P i use it to get other stuff burning. So really it is essentially a fire lighter itself. Thats not to say we wouldnt stumble accross something i could make into a stove using my leatherman? Donno how clean Dartmoor is

    bog roll? used moss before and it wasnt too bad, aside from you know, having a mossy crack.
    Ha ha!! All very good points. The good thing about the toilet paper is that it is multi purpose as it would double as tinder. Dartmoor is pretty clean, I really can't recall finding drink cans etc where we're likely to be going although I'm sure we could find one fairly easily if we really needed to.

    Martin
    Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

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    Tribal Elder
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    Also in my top secret plan was to keep an eye open for any disguarded plastic drinks bottles, free water but non essential holding item

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    Tribal Elder Metal mug's Avatar
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    Are you allowed to stand around the back of a camping shop incase they throw out some gear that you could use.
    Do you want to be happy or do you want to be normal?

  10. #10
    Trapper Ichneumon's Avatar
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    Thought provoking challenge! It seems to presuppose going alone. If five people are going only one needs to take an essential item to the group.

    If I was going alone I'd take:

    1. Rucksac - virtually obligatory.
    2. Sleeping bag - not really much option to leave that out.
    3. Tent - there are wooded areas on Dartmoor but most of it has nothing to hang a hammock on.
    4. Knife - can't do much without that.
    5. Good lighter - I could take firesteel but why would do that when I can take a lighter?
    6. Mug - gotta have a cuppa tea in the morning.
    7. Trangia stove - mine includes pans and can be prefueled with enough meths for two days. (or am I cheating?) This is a luxury and I could eat cold, in which case one of my throw-outs would replace it, but that means losing me cuppa tea!
    8. Water bottle - not essential but handy.

    Things I threw out at the last minute:
    1. Sleeping mat - there's plenty of natural material such as bracken, heather or pine needles around to use as substitute.
    2. Water purif tablets - mostly the water on Dartmoor is safe enough to drink. It's true, you do walk upstream after taking a drink and find a dead sheep in the river but it's never killed me up until now!
    3. Considered taking army rations which do not need any stove/cooking utensils as the packed meal can be throw into the fire as-is, but that pre-supposes an open fire is possible and that require firewood - not much of that up near Cranmere Pool.
    4. Toilet roll - apart from its intended purpose this is handy stuff but there is plenty of sphagnum for 'cleaning up' and most alternative uses can be done with locally sourced material.
    5. First aid kit - useful for blisters, cuts and headaches but not able to treat broken legs or heart attacks. Left out on the basis that you can't fit a helicopter into a rucksac.
    6. Spoon/spork/kfs set - toss up between this and water bottle. I can make a spoon so this had to go.
    7. Piece of paper with phone number of Dartmoor Rescue Group written on it - not much use without radio or mobile phone!
    8. Torch and whistle. These are supposed to be obligatory for such expeditions for safety reasons, I threw them out (reluctantly) on the basis that if I die on Dartmoor I'll die happy.

    Nice challenge.

    Paul

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