I went away at the weekend, first time in ages and tried out a range of new gear for the first time, most of it purchased after stumbling accross this forum, but not all, always fun to try new kit 
I thought I would share my thoughts.
Plastic trowel - asda - 97p - great buy, at 97p you simply can't complain, I bought this thinking if it lasts the
weekend then thats fine by me. It made short work of the fire pit, short work of the 'toilets'. Still in 100% good condition and weighs next to zero.
0.35l Aladdin plastic thermo mug - £1.50 - another good buy that has replaced my tin mug, it has a lid so I have cut down in the insect protein that used to be taken with hot drinks, kinda useful if you tend to let your mug tip over as it has a lid, though not water tight better than nothing Took abuse, stayed in one piece, cheap.
Nalgene 1L bottle, kinda blue colour - £9.99 - yeah worked as a water bottle, did not leak, I bought it cause it was nalgene but at the end of the day I felt practically any plastic bottle would have performed just as well. I'll use the one I have but won't buy another as it would be spending money for the sake of it. Nato water bottle would be a better bet
Camelbak unbottle 70 2L - £26 ish - I thought it would be a bit gimmicky, picked it up and purchased on impluse.
Damn good buy, throw it in the top of the rucksack, little blue rubber/plastic tube hangs down in easy reach and hey presto you have easy access drink on the move. Well worth buying a camelbak or similar for those quick slurps on the move
Thermasrest trail mat - £40 - drag the foam mat to a suitable location and put it out of it's misery, these are just so much better it's unreal. The difference is amazing, if you have not tried one and have wondered if they are worth it, they are. Several manufacturers exist that produce 'clones' I'm sure these are just as good.
Thermarest 'seat' - about £18 - I loved this, it was great, while fishing by the loch it provided a suprisingly comfortable seat and kept my rear area nice and warm It packs to about the same size as a can of redbull and weighs about as much as an empty can. At camp it was used by me everytime I had to kneel or sit...
Then came day two on the loch, then came the wind, my little orange friend flew in to the sunlight at around 70 mph! Weighing almost zero has it's problems, off in to the sunset it went.... I'll be buying another, but with a lanyard attached!
Hammock - BCUK Group buy by Magikelly - under £20 - I have waffled about this in other threads so won't too much here. If you don't have one, buy one, even if you don't sleep in it you'll love it for simply relaxing in. Great buy.
Swedish Army Trangia - £4.95 ebay - I had mixed feelings on this but ended up really liking it. Two of us were away, one with a gas burner, the other with the trangia. Yeah the gas heated things quicker, but it also (first time I had noticed) made such an 'urgent' noise, it seemed to disrupt the layed back feeling, I know that sounds kinda odd!
The trangia just seemed so much more relaxed, chilled out, it did what it was meant to, maybe took a little longer but not much and seemed to do it in such a diginfied way, I think I have bonded with my trangia
I thought I would share my thoughts.
Plastic trowel - asda - 97p - great buy, at 97p you simply can't complain, I bought this thinking if it lasts the
weekend then thats fine by me. It made short work of the fire pit, short work of the 'toilets'. Still in 100% good condition and weighs next to zero.
0.35l Aladdin plastic thermo mug - £1.50 - another good buy that has replaced my tin mug, it has a lid so I have cut down in the insect protein that used to be taken with hot drinks, kinda useful if you tend to let your mug tip over as it has a lid, though not water tight better than nothing
Took abuse, stayed in one piece, cheap.Nalgene 1L bottle, kinda blue colour - £9.99 - yeah worked as a water bottle, did not leak, I bought it cause it was nalgene but at the end of the day I felt practically any plastic bottle would have performed just as well. I'll use the one I have but won't buy another as it would be spending money for the sake of it. Nato water bottle would be a better bet
Camelbak unbottle 70 2L - £26 ish - I thought it would be a bit gimmicky, picked it up and purchased on impluse.
Damn good buy, throw it in the top of the rucksack, little blue rubber/plastic tube hangs down in easy reach and hey presto you have easy access drink on the move. Well worth buying a camelbak or similar for those quick slurps on the move
Thermasrest trail mat - £40 - drag the foam mat to a suitable location and put it out of it's misery, these are just so much better it's unreal. The difference is amazing, if you have not tried one and have wondered if they are worth it, they are. Several manufacturers exist that produce 'clones' I'm sure these are just as good.
Thermarest 'seat' - about £18 - I loved this, it was great, while fishing by the loch it provided a suprisingly comfortable seat and kept my rear area nice and warm
It packs to about the same size as a can of redbull and weighs about as much as an empty can. At camp it was used by me everytime I had to kneel or sit... Then came day two on the loch, then came the wind, my little orange friend flew in to the sunlight at around 70 mph! Weighing almost zero has it's problems, off in to the sunset it went.... I'll be buying another, but with a lanyard attached!
Hammock - BCUK Group buy by Magikelly - under £20 - I have waffled about this in other threads so won't too much here. If you don't have one, buy one, even if you don't sleep in it you'll love it for simply relaxing in. Great buy.
Swedish Army Trangia - £4.95 ebay - I had mixed feelings on this but ended up really liking it. Two of us were away, one with a gas burner, the other with the trangia. Yeah the gas heated things quicker, but it also (first time I had noticed) made such an 'urgent' noise, it seemed to disrupt the layed back feeling, I know that sounds kinda odd!
The trangia just seemed so much more relaxed, chilled out, it did what it was meant to, maybe took a little longer but not much and seemed to do it in such a diginfied way, I think I have bonded with my trangia
