That was more comprehensive than a lot of product descriptions I've read on internet stores!
I look forward to reading your trip report novels. Welcome to the forum from me.
That was more comprehensive than a lot of product descriptions I've read on internet stores!
I look forward to reading your trip report novels. Welcome to the forum from me.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!
Alreet from oop north
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The list of what doesn't make the bag any more...
This list was surprisingly small compared to what I expected, and I think thats mainly because I've replaced kit with newer/lightweight stuff rather than remove items completely.
Folding Stool
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Folding-Trip.../dp/B003DKCJQC
Its hit and miss whether tis stool comes with me when i'm camping. If i'm going away for a single night, I generally don't bother, but if its a few nights, the stool fits nicely into the side pocket and straps of the rucksack. Currently, this resides in the front of the grage, next to the kids scooters and bikes, meaning I can sit in relative comfort on the driveway as they play out. I've had mine about 3 years, and part of the fabric on the top is coming away, but given how much they've come down in price, i'll pick another one up.
Folding Table
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gelert-FUT15...3643867&sr=1-1
This was the first piece of camping equipment me and my wife bought as a couple, and we've never actually used it when camping together, as we always end up taking a bigger folding table. Its surprisingly heavy and bulky, and fairly unstable on rough ground, and the big problem for me, is it doesn't sit high enough off the ground to make it really usable as a table.
Coleman F1 Stove
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-...-stove-p118554
I got one of these in the late 90's and it went on a lot of camping trips into the Dales and various festivals. I'm not sure when, but at some point, the top plastic rim that the burner/pot stand part screws into melted meaning you couldn't separate the sections and effectively turning the lightweight/slimline nature of it out of the window. Other downsides are of course that a Coleman 100 cartirdge barely lasts a weekend, while the Coleman 500's are massive. I replaced it (and tended to carry both stoves and a 100 and 250 cartridge) with one of these: http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/intensity-gas-stove-p158213 which I found got really hot and didn't have a good heat distribution.
Pots
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/cookset-p152998
I've owned various pot sets over the years, and tend to replace them every other year, mainly because I find lightweight ones like these, your bacon starts sticking to the 'frying' pan and becomes impossible to get off, while the main pan gets bashed and dented, and you loose the handle. I've been using the mess cans now for 3 seasons worth of camping with no dents...
Enamel Plates/Bowls
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gelert-d...-plate-p118232
While I still have my enamel cup from cubs, the bowl disappeared during one of my house moves and the plate was so badly chipped as to be unsafe. I replaced them last year with new ones, (included the enamel cup), and found they weighed about half of my old ones, but given i'd started eating rehydrated meals,, which could be eaten from my mug or mess cans, it wasn't worth carrying the extra plates.
And heres me claiming Im from Oop North when your North of me in Otley !! I have some good friends in Otley, spent many a time searching round the Chevin too
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We went caravanning this weekend, and we went back to the site when I last had my led lantern... and lo and behold, the farmer who runs the site had found it and kept it for me.
It's one of these: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...t-DISCONTINUED, which in the USA has been replaced with http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Weat.../dp/B001D937SY
Its a cracking piece of kit, fits nicely on the internal hooking points of the Gelert solo, lasts for ages, and on the low setting is a wonderful light to read by.
My solar cap however was the godsend this weekend. My in-laws had been using our caravan all week, we got there to find that the lighting fuse had just blown (quite literally, one end had been fired backwards into the zig power unit) and the solar cap was just the right brightness and light position to let me work on the fuse unit with ease. It sucks for walking around an unlit farmers field trying to find the toilet though...
A warm from Wales
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celti...517813?fref=ts
To grow to be old and wise, you first have to be young and foolish
I have everything I need - it's just the want's that are missing .