Greetings from South Wales

[haptalaon]

Good evening!

I'm from South Wales, & I like nature but find hiking quite dull, so I've got into bushcraft as like...hiking hundreds-and-thousands, the colourful lil bits which make the muffin lovely.

I really like knots, sewing, handicrafts, and living in environmentally-friendly ways (so learning more about how to mend & DIY things & use sustainable materials over relying on consumerism). I've done some greenwood building and some amateur home woodwork to solve this problem or that. & I aspire to be the model of a 1950s rural 'handy bloke' who can just knock up a thing in his shed no matter the situation. I also can't drive, so i want to travel more on foot. I lived in my tent over the summer with very basic supplies, and it went great, though I did bring my actual feather duvet - I don't think i can hike with it. I am currently attempting to hedgelay in the back garden, and sewing my own body-warmer/quilted gilet.

I'm still at the building-up-kit stage, which I'm finding slow, frustrating and expensive; but I figure the winter is the cheapest time to amass some kit (and the worst time to test it).

The next things I need are

• some kind of camp stove - I am eyeballing the small kelly kettle, because I want to use a hot water bottle in my setup - but anything light, that uses twigs and doesn't rely on a regular investment in dirty fuels.
• a serious sleeping bag - looking at the surplus fescas, but I'm concerned about the weight, I'm dainty
• and I guess, a proper ground mat - my foam yoga mat is surprisingly excellent

I adore my tarp & my wool blanket, the latter was lifechanging, I'm extremely evangelical about organic textiles now; & I have a hooped bivi which I'm not sure I like, and still getting my head around. I've done one wilderness camp so far, and everything went wrong but I had some kind of backup at each stage, which was extremely gratifying.

 

[GNJC]

Well... make the most of the forum, you can save a lot of time and money by learning what others have found to be good or bad, of course personal preference is a major factor too.

If you can get away with buying something secondhand, do it, if the thing doesn't prove to be as good as you hoped you've lost less. Making stuff is enjoyable, satisfying and economic - and can be extremely frustrating until you master what you're doing.

Which end of Wales are you, very different ground between Monmouthshire and Pembs?

 

[Pattree]

Hi, Welcome.

 

[Woody girl]

Welcome to the forum. Seems you are a lot like me in the way you aspire to live.
I find charity shops are a goldmine for cheap equipment and clothing for bushcraft and camping. We don't have boot sales where I live, but I have an avid bootsale attending friend who picks up amazing bargains.
I like making stuff too, and have made my own Billy pot and twig stove from a kitchen sugar canister, and an IKEA cutlery drainer. Look up IKEA twig stove on ytube. Both acquired in a charity shop, for a pound each!
My hot water bottle is a cheap single skin aluminium water bottle wrapped in a thick sock. So that does double duty. (They can be horribly hot and burn, if you dont wrap them well, but you soon learn !)
Plenty of preloved bargains on here too if you keep an eye out.

 

[John Fenna]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Mesquite]

Hello and welcome to the forum

 

[crosslandkelly]

Hi, welcome and enjoy.

 

[SaraR]

Hi and welcome!

 

[Broch]

Welcome to the forum

Your kit choice will depend a lot on what time of year, and in what terrain, you'll be sleeping out. There's plenty of good experience on this forum that will help you, but it will range from the DIY to the high-tech expensive

 

[Elsenham 177]

Hi and welcome to the forum

 

[haptalaon]

If you can get away with buying something secondhand, do it, if the thing doesn't prove to be as good as you hoped you've lost less. Making stuff is enjoyable, satisfying and economic - and can be extremely frustrating until you master what you're doing.

Which end of Wales are you, very different ground between Monmouthshire and Pembs?

I have been watching gumtree for second hand stuff, but so far it seems like the main demographic who sells their old stuff is people who over-invested in 6 man tents and a massive cooking setup and never got much use out of it.

I'm in the valleys

 

[haptalaon]

Welcome to the forum. Seems you are a lot like me in the way you aspire to live.
I find charity shops are a goldmine for cheap equipment and clothing for bushcraft and camping. We don't have boot sales where I live, but I have an avid bootsale attending friend who picks up amazing bargains.
I like making stuff too, and have made my own Billy pot and twig stove from a kitchen sugar canister, and an IKEA cutlery drainer. Look up IKEA twig stove on ytube. Both acquired in a charity shop, for a pound each!
My hot water bottle is a cheap single skin aluminium water bottle wrapped in a thick sock. So that does double duty. (They can be horribly hot and burn, if you dont wrap them well, but you soon learn !)
Plenty of preloved bargains on here too if you keep an eye out.

There are some great charity shops in my area - but nothing good for camping out to date. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled!

How safe are the ikea twig stoves? Do they last?

 

[Watch-keeper]

Hi Haptalon welcome.

 

[Woody girl]

There are some great charity shops in my area - but nothing good for camping out to date. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled!

How safe are the ikea twig stoves? Do they last?

Mine is fine after about 5 years of use, as is the sugar canister Billy can. I use two old tent pegs through the top holes to rest the Billy on. And three bolts on the bottom as legs. Never had a problem with it.
I also made a bag for it, otherwise they can ruin your kit with all the soot. The Billy fits perfectly inside the stove.
I now have a stainless steel flat pack twig stove which I use more nowadays, as it fits better in my haversack, and cost about twenty quid. Can't remember what make but it's an excellent bit of kit, with no fuel costs.
I almost went for the titanium version, but figured the ss was good enough for me, and my pocket.
Charity shops tend to keep their stock seasonal. Worth asking if they have anything in the back in store for next camping season. Otherwise they will put it out late spring onwards.

 

[GNJC]

I have been watching gumtree for second hand stuff, but so far it seems like the main demographic who sells their old stuff is people who over-invested in 6 man tents and a massive cooking setup and never got much use out of it.

I'm in the valleys

Plenty of options from there. Yes, it takes time and luck to find the right kit at the right price; but you'll get there.

It's astonishing the stuff people buy and then find they never use or is surplus to their needs. I've bought a fair few things that I thought would be great or were great value for money, and some were.

But the truth is that I really bought without thinking, even some stuff that is well made and is of fine quality and was worth the money still hasn't been the right thing for me. So then it's just down to experience, trial and error really.

Get what you can that seems right, just pass / sell on the stuff that doesn't work for you.

 

[Woody girl]

I think every single one of us has too much stuff. We see the newest thing and just have to have it. Spending far too much.
I'm rather taken with the waxed cotton and wool sit mats, which are spendy because they are hand made , so I've just got the makings together to make my own. A bit of wool from an old charity shop tweed skirt, some waxed cotton from an old and very tatty waxed cotton jacket that was going to go in the rags, until I thought to repurpose it., and I'm adding in some behind the radiator reflective stuff I've got left over from doing mine. (£1.00 from the charity shop) to make it even warmer and more waterproof.
Saved myself about £30 and I can say I made it myself. It's more ecco friendly as well, which is something that often gets forgotten when we buy stuff.

Tin plates bowls and mugs can often be found for a few pence in charity shops, and poundland do them aswell for a pound each, though usualy around festival season. Always worth an ask if they have any in the stockroom from last season.
They last forever and you are not buying that nasty plastic stuff.
I am trying to be more ecco conscious with my purchases from now on.