Recent content by mjk123

Worthwhile experiment to see how little water you get from snow, Also worthwhile is to look at how much debris there is in "clean" snow. You can skim off the whitest of the white, melt it down and there's still bits of sticks and dirt in it. Makes me appreciate that it's always raining in the...

>>Best store ? : Tamarack, hands down, plus a soft spot for Endicotts. I've never shopped there so I can't offer an opinion. But I clicked on the their "Best sellers list". No 2 is a down jacket costing nearly 1000 quid. I wonder how many they sell per week....

Very sorry to hear about this. One anti-theft idea I heard about for garages was the following: Cut a slot in the garage door and poke a U bolt through that's just attached to a plate on the inside. Then put a large rusty padlock through the "U". Clearly it doesn't efect any kind of...

Just my 2p worth: A pillow of some kind helps to spread the hammock away from the sides of my head, which I find uncomfortable. A headlight is good to have with you in the hammock. Sew longish thin pockets to the side of the hammock to put your socks in.

Mint tea makes a good halfway house if you're trying to wean yourself off (black) tea with milk. Tea with powdered milk never really tastes right, and carrying liquid milk is a bit of a pain. A mint tea bag weighs nothing and is simplicity itself to prepare. To my palat, mint tea tastes sweet...

A few days ago I went on a three day hike through Switzerlands “pre-Alps”. I’d decided to take everything with me, rather than stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. Basically, the trip consisted of walking, eating and sleeping. I’m by no means an expert on hiking or bushcraft, so I offer these...

>>Whats the typical weight of a hammock, tarp, moggy net and under blanket setup? hammock plus underblanket (I tie them permanently together) plus waterproof bag: 2.5kg mossie net plus stuff sack 250g tarp 500g straps, guy lines, tent pegs, plus inflatable pillow 750g. All in: about...

I have this problem too. I put the aluminium "striker" from a firesteel on the lanyard. As an alternative to Victorinox, the Wenger SAK has a metal loop in the blade, like a spyderco. This gives a bit more grip or even allows the insertion of a small stick if the mechanism gets a bit stiff,

I've got one with the sliding lock. Personally I think it's a weak point, and I've removed it because it started to stick in the locked position.

The Victorinox comes with a little wood saw too, which can be surprisingly useful for making a stop cut for a notch.

I've got a Fenix TK20 and a Zebra. The Zebra is very light and can run on "dead" batteries that won't drive a camera any more. For reading, or as a nightlight it's very good because of it's low consumption and very dim low power setting. The TK20 throws a good beam about 50 metres. Sturdy...

Just my 2p worth. Have a look at the Hilleberg XP. A bit shorter, considerably narrower, but correspondingly lighter. Pricier, yet greener. Stuff sack built into corner.

If you've got transport then you're not too far from the Welsh borders. If you're on foot then you're going to have to find something out of sight in a semi urban area rather than a piece of Elgars rural splendour. Which will probably rule out a fire, but that's not the end of the world...

If you've got two vertical poles then the force you need to brace is the one which will try to pull the poles together. A ridge pole can help with this. Or you can make two tall tripods and brace them with a ridge pole. The ridge pole needs to be straight and long (4m) but not really that strong...

>>How can I convince her that wild camping is a good idea? In France? Easy, just take her to an official French campground and show her the toilets. Job done, so to speak.