Having had some interest in outdoors activity, and arriving here via British Blades, I soon found there was loads of kit I absolutely needed 
.
Having tried some bits, I determined I was going to do an overnight over Xmas.
Breaking a toe put paid to that... but I'm better now. In the end, I decided I might as well give it a try last night.
Kit I've used that I mention follows me acquiring it after chats here or British Blades.
This includes:
Sabre 45 pack with side pockets [Endicots of Exeter]
Swedish Army Trangia [via bumblebee; fuelled with legal IDA following a mention by Magikelly]
Jetboil [me wibbling on]
Petzl Myo XP [me]
Nanok Endurance -10 [outdoorcode]
Hammock and Hex Fly[group buys via Magikelly]
Ridge and guy cordage [Bearclaw Bushcraft]
Snugpak Sleeka [me, bought with an ebay money off voucher]
A spork! [Me]
I set off a little after 3pm towards Milbuie Forest at the top of the Black Isle.
One of the many nice things about living in Scotland is that you can wild camp just about anywhere, thanks to theLand Reform(Scotland) Act 2003. I parked up on the road and trogged off down a forest path; about half a mile down it, I cut direct into the woodland plantation.
My pack was heavyish - I'd guess 35 lbs +; heavy things being the Nanok bag, the Swedish cookset, and about 3.5 litres of water. like everyone the first time I guess, the only thing missing was the kitchen sink.
I found a smallish raised bit where I could pitch the fly. Easy ridgeline, and with a couple of extensions I managed to get the guys looking a bit smarter than last time.
Hammock dropped into place easily enough.
I'd even managed to get a bit where I could step *out* of the hammock.
Dropped my reflective windscreen cover in, unstuffed the Nanok bag.
Time to get a brew on. Jetboil for that; worked a dream. Tea in 4 minutes; real milk out of a thermos. Sit down and read for a bit. Watch the sun setting.
Ah. maybe better get tea on. Chicken curry out of a *tin*. Hmm, wondered why the pack was heavy. Trangia lights OK - always fascinates me watching the pressure build. heated up nicely in the lid; ate with bread using my Spork - see, Ti! a *real* weight saver Did the washing up.
Stuck on the MyoXP and read for a bit longer; into the hammock... already beginning to drop off and it's only 6.30! Listen to the radio[tiny little personal radio] ring SWMBO to give progress report. Get up, have another brew, stretch my legs. Sleeka on as it's getting cool. Read, practice some knots...
10pm. Hurrah, I can go to sleep; brew, clean teeth, other ablutions. Struggle into bag [forecast is for -4/-6, so sleep with Rab Trail Pants on, Driflow top and wooly pully]. Dead easy to sleep; I expect to be nervous as first night in woods, but I'm not. Possibly because I know this area well, it's a safe area, and I'm deep enough that it would be a struggle to get in in the dark. Listen to the owls; look at the stars.
Wake up; gosh I've slept well. Must be about 6am; check; ah, 2am. Need a pee, stagger out attend to that. Back to kip easily. Listen to the rain fall on the fly sheet. Splendid; can still see stars in between the trees. I like this a lot.
4am wake up. An owl has perched on my tree; amazing noise. Wait until I can't stand it, go for another pee [too much tea late at night]. This time, I can't get the bag comfy and closed. I'm cold. I can't find the head torch (ah, still on head. Amazingly comfortable). That took about 20 minutes to sort out. I'm shivering, so have the Sleeka on inside the bag. My legs are cold. Debating whether to get up and put LJ on - debating whether to put my padded Sleeka trousers on, I'm that cold. Drop off.
Wake around 6ish. Tops OK, ears are warm in my hat. Legs are freezing.
Can't stand it after 6.50 so get up for morning pee. Disaster. I'm soaked. How can I face BushcraftUK and admit to enuresis?
Of course, what it was that a load of condensation had formed below the bag on top of the wndscreen cover; this had soaked the bag, and must have contributed to the cold.
The Trail pants are Pertex and wick the moisture away instantly. Once out of the bag and moving I warm up, particularly once I've had a morning wet. Couple of bacon sarnies and the world looks brighter. Polish off a tin of beans; have another wet. Suns up. It's been a nice night. Pack up.
Head back to car. Only a touch of ice on it - can't have got to -4. maybe 0.
So, learning points.
I need my Thermarest for inside the bag; the windscreen covers are being sacked.
The hammock and fly sheet are excellent. Extra guy ropes cover off a lot of problems.
The Myo XP is excellent, and you can actually forget you're wearing it.
If I hadn't had the radio, some hours would have dragged.
The paint on the Trangia cook set is burning off! Amazing. Still, it's steel, so I doubt it will be a problem. It cooks well, but is a bit heavy. The JetBoil is great for brews.
The pack is really comfortable.
The Nanok bag... well, let's see what it's like with a Thermarest inside it. I'm not entirely convinced, and I'm a warm sleeper.
So - that was my first night out...
.Having tried some bits, I determined I was going to do an overnight over Xmas.
Breaking a toe put paid to that... but I'm better now. In the end, I decided I might as well give it a try last night.
Kit I've used that I mention follows me acquiring it after chats here or British Blades.
This includes:
Sabre 45 pack with side pockets [Endicots of Exeter]
Swedish Army Trangia [via bumblebee
; fuelled with legal IDA following a mention by Magikelly]Jetboil [me wibbling on]
Petzl Myo XP [me]
Nanok Endurance -10 [outdoorcode]
Hammock and Hex Fly[group buys via Magikelly]
Ridge and guy cordage [Bearclaw Bushcraft]
Snugpak Sleeka [me, bought with an ebay money off voucher]
A spork! [Me]
I set off a little after 3pm towards Milbuie Forest at the top of the Black Isle.
One of the many nice things about living in Scotland is that you can wild camp just about anywhere, thanks to theLand Reform(Scotland) Act 2003. I parked up on the road and trogged off down a forest path; about half a mile down it, I cut direct into the woodland plantation.
My pack was heavyish - I'd guess 35 lbs +; heavy things being the Nanok bag, the Swedish cookset, and about 3.5 litres of water. like everyone the first time I guess, the only thing missing was the kitchen sink.
I found a smallish raised bit where I could pitch the fly. Easy ridgeline, and with a couple of extensions I managed to get the guys looking a bit smarter than last time.
Hammock dropped into place easily enough.
I'd even managed to get a bit where I could step *out* of the hammock.
Dropped my reflective windscreen cover in, unstuffed the Nanok bag.
Time to get a brew on. Jetboil for that; worked a dream. Tea in 4 minutes; real milk out of a thermos. Sit down and read for a bit. Watch the sun setting.
Ah. maybe better get tea on. Chicken curry out of a *tin*. Hmm, wondered why the pack was heavy. Trangia lights OK - always fascinates me watching the pressure build. heated up nicely in the lid; ate with bread using my Spork - see, Ti! a *real* weight saver
Did the washing up.Stuck on the MyoXP and read for a bit longer; into the hammock... already beginning to drop off and it's only 6.30! Listen to the radio[tiny little personal radio] ring SWMBO to give progress report. Get up, have another brew, stretch my legs. Sleeka on as it's getting cool. Read, practice some knots...
10pm. Hurrah, I can go to sleep; brew, clean teeth, other ablutions. Struggle into bag [forecast is for -4/-6, so sleep with Rab Trail Pants on, Driflow top and wooly pully]. Dead easy to sleep; I expect to be nervous as first night in woods, but I'm not. Possibly because I know this area well, it's a safe area, and I'm deep enough that it would be a struggle to get in in the dark
. Listen to the owls; look at the stars.Wake up; gosh I've slept well. Must be about 6am; check; ah, 2am. Need a pee, stagger out attend to that. Back to kip easily. Listen to the rain fall on the fly sheet. Splendid; can still see stars in between the trees. I like this a lot.
4am wake up. An owl has perched on my tree; amazing noise. Wait until I can't stand it, go for another pee [too much tea late at night
]. This time, I can't get the bag comfy and closed. I'm cold. I can't find the head torch (ah, still on head. Amazingly comfortable). That took about 20 minutes to sort out. I'm shivering, so have the Sleeka on inside the bag. My legs are cold. Debating whether to get up and put LJ on - debating whether to put my padded Sleeka trousers on, I'm that cold. Drop off.Wake around 6ish. Tops OK, ears are warm in my hat. Legs are freezing.
Can't stand it after 6.50 so get up for morning pee. Disaster. I'm soaked. How can I face BushcraftUK and admit to enuresis?
Of course, what it was that a load of condensation had formed below the bag on top of the wndscreen cover; this had soaked the bag, and must have contributed to the cold.
The Trail pants are Pertex and wick the moisture away instantly. Once out of the bag and moving I warm up, particularly once I've had a morning wet. Couple of bacon sarnies and the world looks brighter. Polish off a tin of beans; have another wet. Suns up. It's been a nice night. Pack up.
Head back to car. Only a touch of ice on it - can't have got to -4. maybe 0.
So, learning points.
I need my Thermarest for inside the bag; the windscreen covers are being sacked.
The hammock and fly sheet are excellent. Extra guy ropes cover off a lot of problems.
The Myo XP is excellent, and you can actually forget you're wearing it.
If I hadn't had the radio, some hours would have dragged.
The paint on the Trangia cook set is burning off! Amazing. Still, it's steel, so I doubt it will be a problem. It cooks well, but is a bit heavy. The JetBoil is great for brews.
The pack is really comfortable.
The Nanok bag... well, let's see what it's like with a Thermarest inside it. I'm not entirely convinced, and I'm a warm sleeper.
So - that was my first night out...
