first outing this friday

[Deano3]

well gotround to booking my first camping trip on friday going to brockwell woods i am just asking some advice on a few things, i will be taking tent and bag and mat and food and knife and saw and fire starting kit anything else i should take ? really want to start my fire with fire steel lol if it is raning will i still be able to have fire burning and anyone have any suggestions on what do do apart from sit round fire and maybe read and just ejoy the outdoors ? also any kit i have forgotten ? pleanty or warm clothes aswel

thanks dean

 

[spandit]

Take too much stuff - it's not ideal weather for a first outing. As far as activities go, spoon carving is a good way of passing the time

 

[munkiboi182]

take a good reference book and hone in your skills. i take my collins british wildlife book and go for a wander. usually spend a few hours identifiying plants/birds/trees etc that i hadnt seen before. after that, like spandit says, spoon carving or any other project i have on the go.

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

something to cook in and eat out of/off and a trowel or similar for toilet duty

 

[Fat Rog]

Some mozzie repellant, a couple of towels, a torch + spare batteries. If you don't fancy carving a spoon how about making a walking staff?

 

[spandit]

Have a look at some wet weather fire lighting videos on YT. Preparation is the key. Once a fire is blazing, the fuel doesn't need to be so dry. No reason you can't start it with a fire steel if you have dry tinder but don't set yourself up for a fail!

 

[theoctagon]

Hope you have a good weekend, make sure you let us know how you get on! Oh, and make sure you take a first aid kit of some sort

 

[_mark_]

Add a zippo, a book and some toilet paper! Enjoy your weekend!

 

[georann]

Enjoy the peace and quiet would be my main advice! But as others say for your first outing overpack and be overprepared- that way if everything goes wrong your trip isnt completely ruined if you have food shelter and warmth (so a zippo and easy to cook food would be a must). Build yourself up gently, don't feel the need to dive right in the deep end!
ATB
Dan

 

[Deano3]

thanks for advice glad some one said toilet paper as most likely would have forgotten lol, yeah looking to forward to it and i will let u all know how i get on thanks

Dean

 

[ex-member BareThrills]

thanks for advice glad some one said toilet paper as most likely would have forgotten lol, yeah looking to forward to it and i will let u all know how i get on thanks

Dean

Most of all. Have fun . looked at the website of the place you are going too. Seems to be a fantastic venue. Wish we had similar near me. A Pub, farmshop and they even give you a spade for digging a latrine

 

[Deano3]

well had a great time friday, left it to late to go thats all as didnt get there till half 4 so once got tent up etc tried getting fire going but everything was soaking wet and couldnt get it going was dissapointed about that so thats something i need practice and i learnt a few things i will require like a pillow lol and a cloth to wipe pans down another stove as by the time heated up curry my rice was freezing and took a while to get water hot so maybe a flask, i remembered birch bark burns well so saturday morning i got a small fire going but everything still soaking so didnt last long, we were only ones on whole site so had a wonder around at night to see all the sites you can camp, very impressive small place and much closer than i thught only 15 mins away so thanks for help everyone and hopefully one time everyone meets up i will come along but defently need to learn to light fire in the wet so i could have sat round it all night instead of going into my sleeping bag early lol

anyway i will defently return there
thanks Dean

 

[jackcbr]

I use my dry/spare kit bag as a pillow, worke quite nicely and one less thing to pack.

 

[bloobeetle]

before i had a US army rucksack liner i used rubble sacks to keep my kit dry....

 

[spandit]

Glad you survived! Wet weather firelighting needs a lot of effort to find/produce dry fuel. I use a drybag with spare clothes in as a pillow. I normally wrap it in my shemagh to make it more comfortable

 

[Deano3]

thanks mate yeah i survived yeah i need to practise as is wet most of the time lol, i had a little one and the sticks burnt but couldnt get it to grow any bigger didnt think would be so hard but just something i need to practise, i also require a proper rucksak as been skint and never purchased one yet i just took a hold-all and no good at all throwing everthing in and out with a proper rucksack you can organise all pockets and have tea and coffie on hand lol do you often take a flast of some sort ? also i have a very small coleman f1 lite but think its best to have a few stoves any you recomend ?

thanks Dean

 

[spandit]

I've got one of the Chinese multi-fuel stoves. I'm very happy with it - it's not the lightest, perhaps, but good in cold weather. Gas stoves are probably the most convenient but not good when the temperature drops and the canisters can be bulky and expensive. If you're on a very tight budget, a DIY meths stove is probably the way to go as you can build them for free from scrap drinks cans.

Nothing wrong with a holdall - you can always organise stuff inside with smaller bags. Even plastic carrier bags would work (especially the slightly thicker ones without the suffocation holes)

I don't generally take a flask for an overnight trip - I do have an insulated mug, though, with a lid as drinks go cold very quickly outdoors.

Regarding the fire-lighting, I tried making a Swedish torch on my last outing but failed as just couldn't get enough heat into the wood to get it really going. I think if you can crack the initial stage and get some decent flame, then it gets less and less dependant on having completely dry fuel

 

[Deano3]

The multi fuel stove sounds good can u use petrol etc ? Any links , yeah I will purchase a rucksack eventually , go outdoors had a Lowe alpine one reduced from 140 to 50 pounds recently but none in my local and wouldn't deliver ak was gutted about that, so waiting for another decent offer, also might buy a max pedition fr-1 for a first aid kit and also a edc kit with all the usually a like lighter and knife and back up torch etc, I might try to get away beginning of next month , aswel also I totally forgot a cloth to clean pans to eat next meal out of lol do u have bowls etc or just eat from the pans with handles like I did

Dean

 

[spandit]

You can use petrol, diesel, paraffin, kerosene etc. - it's a versatile piece of kit. Look on eBay for "multi fuel stove" they're shipped from Hong Kong and about £35

Rucksack wise, get an army surplus PLCE Bergen - dead cheap, strong & huge! Heavy, mind and some find them uncomfortable

 

[georann]

You can use petrol, diesel, paraffin, kerosene etc. - it's a versatile piece of kit. Look on eBay for "multi fuel stove" they're shipped from Hong Kong and about £35

Rucksack wise, get an army surplus PLCE Bergen - dead cheap, strong & huge! Heavy, mind and some find them uncomfortable

Or a surplus "Other Arms" (engineers) bergen