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I suspect that stuff tastes so vile, it has to be drunk with milk and sugar so as not to notice. In other words, what Camp Coffee was to coffee. In the late 1960s someone brought out a tea in freeze dried granules, complete with real citric acid ersatz lemon flavouring (as supplied to Soviet...

Hi Ken, I use a French army woollen blanket I think I paid £15 for on eBay a year or two ago. It's 200cm x 150cm, and in cold weather I layer it between a British army doss bag and liner. The whole shebang straps up inside an WW2 army officer canvas bedroll/bivi and I've been cosy down to -5c...

I'd second what Actaeon says. The old Polish army tent goes up in 5 minutes (if you keep the two component ponchos buttoned together, takes a while longer otherwise), and is, as far as I'm concerned, worth the 3.7kg pack weight. It's strong, very serviceable and just about everything-proof. Also...

I took a look at the (already much-amended) section 141 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, and there are listed all manner of weird and wonderful gizmos with Japanese-looking names which I assume are part of a ninja (or wannabe ninja) armoury and completely unknown to normal people. Perhaps, like...

OK - since it's for HFH I'll offer the full whack. Please PM me payment details. Nick.

Does anyone here have a recipe for an effective natural homemade insect repellent ? Getting chewed up a bit very recently now the warm weather's back, and not mad keen on using DEET. Nick.

It may be argued that there is another valid reason to avoid the wearing of military camouflage when not out in the sticks - in fact, a small but very real risk associated with the incautious wearing of army surplus clothing altogether. This morning, rejoicing in a pair of very recently...

There's nowt worse, in its way, than using wet wipes before shaving and realising (or not) that you've left little strands of tissue snagged all over your beard stubble. Mine has pocket mirror, razor, spare blades, shaving brush, face flannel, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, nail brush, nail...

Bundeswehr flecktarn camo shirt, Grade 1 condition, found hanging in a charity shop, for £3.99. Nick.

- What the others have said, about the bed being right up against the sides. Not a fan of camp beds personally, though I am a fan of the old Polish Army pelerina namyot (to give it its proper name). Being a side sleeper too, I use a closed cell foam mat, an old British Army non-mummy doss bag...

Got two other camps going on - both prior engagements. Next year, maybe. Nick.

You said: Well as the title says! "RIP MY KIT APART" Given my circumstances, what would you swop or change? And please give you reasons... - Right... Radio (handheld). -What do you need a radio for? Spair Batteries x4. - See Radio. Military Hand Flairs. - Are...

I, too, hate mummy bags with a passion. In early February this year with a night time temperature of around -5c, I was out in an old canvas WW2 bedroll, old rectangular Army warm weather sleeping bag, wool blanket, Thermarest mat, thermal underwear and under a canvas poncho shelter half thingy...

The Bundeswehr has already got there. My old German Army pocket knife has 3 different options for snapping twigs of different sizes - the bottle opener, the can opener, and the thumb-hole on the knife blade. Plus the stealth option, a purpose-designed serrated blade. I was wondering what that...

Hi George, I've never used these for a single-poncho setup. I am so fond of the double-poncho setup, though, that I find it well worth the extra load weight to pack both halves. That gives you a tent that can withstand any weather. The single-poncho shelter leaves one a bit open to the...

OK, D.B., I now have it from the camel's mouth, so to speak. The tune was "Love Me Do" by the Beatles. I kid you not.

- Add to that list, Pigs. Specifically, sows with a young litter. In parts of the New Forest, for instance, they are put out to pannage (feeding on beech mast or acorns). Mummy Pig takes a very dim view of anyone she doesn't know venturing near young Peppa and her siblings. If you ever see...

I never asked what tune old Hassan Al-Mughrabi, Alia's grandfather, hummed while the python was cosying up to him in his tent. Given that the incident was presumably unusual enough to have warranted the story in the first place, I don't imagine there is some traditional Bedou snake-repellant...

A Jordanian friend once told me the story of how her grandfather, a Bedouin, found that, one cold night a rock python had decided to share his tent and was curled around him for warmth. Fortunately he remembered what he had been taught. 1) Don't panic or make any sudden move or noise. The python...