Having deferred success on a previous weekend, I managed to squeeze a sneaky one-nighter in at short notice
. So, one night instead of two ...
.
The original intent was to travel in in a mix of shank's pony and public transport. An eleventh hour offer changed all that and I was dropped off on the door step. So, no real journeying ...
.
Because I had the offer of a lift, I opted to indulge my sins by adding 'improved brew facilities'
...
The challenge mentioned in post #01 also had a bit of a tweak ~ I was going to be working with cubs and scouts on the Saturday and that's challenge enough
.
The combination of old bones, a sleep condition and the weather forecast lead to me opting to go with a modified sleeping arrangement to the one outlined in post #01.
Having been 'mercilessly badgered' into popping into
RTI Military Surplus (well worth a trip btw
) by TwoDogs and TurboGirl I had a couple of newly acquired bits to give a whirl ~ namely some Dutch Rations and a new vintage canvas pack
.
Because I had no actual need to make a camp gadget, I didn't
.
Okay ... so nowhere near the actual challenge as laid out, more a Challenge
Lite ~ but all plans need to have some levels of fluidity
.
Anyway, the kit as packed ...
Canvas bag holds the kit, leather snap sack has the food related stuff, bed roll, swanni and a water bottle on a belt ~ the lift allowed me to sin and take the kettle and irons
.
Isn't it nice when items work together ...
No idea as to country of origin
; but it and the Polish Shelter Half could have been made for each other
.
There's a second set of lift-the-dot fastened straps on the base straps which should be good for an axe (a take-down tomahawk haft would be a better choice if you were travelling through a public area
). The leather straps need work
.
EDIT: I found one single, solitary, word which wasn't faded into history. But a google search on it lead to an ID. The pack is Yugoslavian, is roughly 20L, and is intended to be carried in any of two ways ~ over / across the shoulders as a satchel, using the strap in the pics or on your back as a rucksack using two (missing from mine) pack straps.
Contents of the canvas and leather bags ...
Closer pic of kit on the IPK ...
From within and under the canvas bag:
Book (still in bag, planned on having a read ~ failed to excel!),
Hygiene and first aid (still in bag),
Rectangle of an old IPK sheet that I use to sit / kneel / store things on (not on original list),
Fire iron cooking rods and pouch (not on original list),
Pegs (way too many
),
Opinel saw and pouch,
Sheath knife,
Short blow poker with 3x short skewers,
Millbank bag (safe water was available so the plan was to do a show and tell, other things cropped up),
Brew kit in leather pouch (pretty much unused due to the eleventh hour inclusion of the drinks in the Dutch rat pack),
Tinder box with pouch (above it in the pic),
Adirondack sheath (I'd lobbed it in so's to not forget my spork ... and then I promptly then forgot to take the spork out and leave the rest behind
),
Tinder and kindling pouch,
UCO Micro candle lantern in protective case on thermawrap UCO down-lighter pouch),
Polish Shelter Half with Poles.
From within the leather knapsack:
Tatonka pans (camp set large iirc ~ I'd originally intended to use the set's billy as the sole pot, but the late inclusion of the kettle left it unused as anything other than for storage for the items as seen in the above pic),
Dee handled pan (taken for no other reason than the Tatonka set sits in it quite nicely I was too lazy to leave it behind ~ it's a generic, no name, job available from various sources for a couple of pounds),
Small square of nice heat resisting kevlar,
Sauce, mustard, oil, washing liquid, scourer and scraper (in Tatonka set's billy),
Food ~ wraps, Dutch ration pack, sausages, beans (Dutch rat pack caused these to go unopened)
Lots of last minute changes ...
No lift would have seen me leave the kettle and their irons behind ...
It would have been no hassle to leave the bulk of the Tatonka set behind ...
New purchases ~ I was in a rush and made inclusion errors in the switch over
...
I should I'd not have the time and should have left the book behind ...
Home for the night.
Full on widdling was forecast for overnight ~ so bivvy bag was taken. Came down quite well for a couple of hours, so a good choice.
A bit of bush tv of an evening ...
Multi purposing of items ~ the pouch for my UCO down-lighter thing is made from thremawrap and gets used as an insulating coaster / place mat
. Again, the item's not really in keeping with the challenge but the multiplicity is
The drink's one of the chocolate sachets from the rat pack ~ liked it
.
Breakfast on the go ...
Neither the pan set nor the fire irons are on the list, but they're quite 'minimal', allow expediency, and are very useful
.
Alterations to the bedding ... even at the best of times I sleep
really badly, so I purposely opted to change them to suit. Uncomfortable and poor sleep can activate a level of 'grump' few folks will ever wish to see a second time
. With that in mind I made use of a thermarest, my trust old cascade designs pillow, a not even 1 season sleeping bag and a poncho liner type thing. The liner was folded down along the left side of the bivvy bag, ready to pull over me if it went nippy in the night ~ which it did when it started raining at about 02:30)
Dutch Ration Pack:
Contents List ... Contents ... Directions List ...
And Saturday's challenge? Spending time with cubs and scouts can be fun and, eventually, successful
So ... not got exactly the right kit? It doesn't matter, try to keep to the spirit of it and tailor it to your own needs, abilities and the kit you already have!
.
Thanks for taking the time to look and / or read through.
