Hi all, thought I'd post up some thoughts having recently returned from a wet and muddy overnighter in some local woods in North Kent. Apologies for the lack of pictures, I didn't really plan to post anything up about the camp. This was my second wild camp and it's amazing what you learn when the conditions become a little more testing. My first camp-out was in late September in nigh on perfect conditions; warm, dry and comfortable would be a fair summary. My kit was basic, inexpensive and worked a treat. Over this weekend however it was still relatively mild (unusually so for late November) but having had quite a lot of rain recently the woods were of course wet and muddy and then the heavens opened shortly after bedding down on Saturday and the rain continued all day Sunday. No disrespect to forum members but I think I learnt more during this camp than I have over several months of reading the posts on this good forum. As is always the way, you need to get your hands dirty if you want to learn!
Lessons aside, the camp was great fun! I made one fundamental change to my kit from my first camp and that was the shelter. Originally I took a Polish Lavvu and IPK Groundsheet, it was a good, spacious shelter but also very heavy and I was unsure of how waterproof it might be. So, recently I purchased a one man tent from everyone's favourite outdoor shop. It was the Hi-Gear Soloista tent (basically a re-branded Gelert Solo tent) and I bought it because it was only £20 and the reviews on it weren't too bad. Made from more modern waterproof materials and about a third of the weight of the lavvu/IPK combo, I felt quite happy with my purchase.
Leading up to the weekend the weather forecasts were all suggesting 100% chance of rain and with that in mind I packed an extra groundsheet to act as a footprint for the tent and also half of my lavvu. I pitched the lavvu half in a lean-to style using approx 5ft length of hazel as a centre pole and with the two ends of the lavvu raised off the ground by about 3ft and tied to a couple of trees - this worked pretty well as a rain shelter/admin area. I was quite pleased with the shelter as it kept me dry and enabled me to use a knot that I'd recently learnt - the Cawley hitch. The lavvu got well and truly soaked and while it didn't leak per se' the inside of the lavvu was sopping wet to the touch and then felt like it weighed about twice as much when I packed it away. The lesson learnt is that I'd quite like to get a reasonable sized tarp to use as admin/rain shelter over my tent. Indeed before coming on this camp I'd already wrote a letter to jolly St Nick asking for a tarp but figured a poncho or something similar would suffice, now I realise that you benefit quite a lot from the extra space when the weather goes bad. Happily the new tent worked well, pitched in less than ten mins and provided me with a comfortable sleeping space and also big enough to store my gear (in LK35 Rucksack). The only issue was that, despite having the air vents open, there was an awful lot of condensation built up inside the flysheet, so much so that the bottom end of my sleeping bag got a little bit damp on the outside from where the condensation dripped through the mesh of the inner tent. I put this down to the weather though because it was raining all night and it was also quite mild and that surely creates the perfect environment for condensation. Maybe next time I'll peg the flysheet down in a way that allows more air to circulate underneath as well as through the vents.
It was interesting to note that I was camping with some other members of this parish and I was the only ground dweller. The thought of hammocking is quite appealing but I'm not yet convinced on the idea. I sleep comfortably on the ground and I also think that for the money that you'd spend on a decent hammock set-up I'd probably rather spend it on a good quality tent such as a Vango Banshee. I daren't say this viewpoint will evolve over time!
For cooking, we had a good campfire which cooked up some sausages. I also used a Swedish Army Trangia cookset. I'm very fond of this set as it is so simple and versatile. I did however have trouble with the burner on Sunday morning, for some reason it must have taken a good ten mins before it started to bloom. Would that be because the weather was a little chilly and damp? I did clean out all the jets as part of my prep for the camp. I must admit that I'm toying with the idea of swapping the army burner with a civilian trangia burner as I've read that they're more efficient? Also, as part of the whole cooking process, I often found myself looking round at where to put my brew kit and cup and all the paraphanalia that goes with the cook kit because the ground was muddy and horrible and you don't just want to let everything sit amongst the mud!
All in all, while the camp was enjoyable, I learnt that you need to be far more organised when camping in more inclement conditions. Be prepareed, make sure your kit is ready and find out about the weather and likely conditions of the campsite. Learn how to keep yourself clean and hygenic in wet and muddy conditions - I think I was caked in mud within ten minutes of arrival! Not a big deal but suffice to say I used a lot of wet wipes and sanitiser. It's important to allow lots of time in daylight hours to gather fuel for the fire and recognise that it needs more attention when burning wet wood. The final learning point from me....Your kit may enable a comfy camp in perfect conditions, but how does it work when things get a bit more challenging!
Sorry for the rambling, I thought it might interest some folk on here!
Mods: I put this in the kit section but recognise it might be better off elsewhere?
Lessons aside, the camp was great fun! I made one fundamental change to my kit from my first camp and that was the shelter. Originally I took a Polish Lavvu and IPK Groundsheet, it was a good, spacious shelter but also very heavy and I was unsure of how waterproof it might be. So, recently I purchased a one man tent from everyone's favourite outdoor shop. It was the Hi-Gear Soloista tent (basically a re-branded Gelert Solo tent) and I bought it because it was only £20 and the reviews on it weren't too bad. Made from more modern waterproof materials and about a third of the weight of the lavvu/IPK combo, I felt quite happy with my purchase.
Leading up to the weekend the weather forecasts were all suggesting 100% chance of rain and with that in mind I packed an extra groundsheet to act as a footprint for the tent and also half of my lavvu. I pitched the lavvu half in a lean-to style using approx 5ft length of hazel as a centre pole and with the two ends of the lavvu raised off the ground by about 3ft and tied to a couple of trees - this worked pretty well as a rain shelter/admin area. I was quite pleased with the shelter as it kept me dry and enabled me to use a knot that I'd recently learnt - the Cawley hitch. The lavvu got well and truly soaked and while it didn't leak per se' the inside of the lavvu was sopping wet to the touch and then felt like it weighed about twice as much when I packed it away. The lesson learnt is that I'd quite like to get a reasonable sized tarp to use as admin/rain shelter over my tent. Indeed before coming on this camp I'd already wrote a letter to jolly St Nick asking for a tarp but figured a poncho or something similar would suffice, now I realise that you benefit quite a lot from the extra space when the weather goes bad. Happily the new tent worked well, pitched in less than ten mins and provided me with a comfortable sleeping space and also big enough to store my gear (in LK35 Rucksack). The only issue was that, despite having the air vents open, there was an awful lot of condensation built up inside the flysheet, so much so that the bottom end of my sleeping bag got a little bit damp on the outside from where the condensation dripped through the mesh of the inner tent. I put this down to the weather though because it was raining all night and it was also quite mild and that surely creates the perfect environment for condensation. Maybe next time I'll peg the flysheet down in a way that allows more air to circulate underneath as well as through the vents.
It was interesting to note that I was camping with some other members of this parish and I was the only ground dweller. The thought of hammocking is quite appealing but I'm not yet convinced on the idea. I sleep comfortably on the ground and I also think that for the money that you'd spend on a decent hammock set-up I'd probably rather spend it on a good quality tent such as a Vango Banshee. I daren't say this viewpoint will evolve over time!
For cooking, we had a good campfire which cooked up some sausages. I also used a Swedish Army Trangia cookset. I'm very fond of this set as it is so simple and versatile. I did however have trouble with the burner on Sunday morning, for some reason it must have taken a good ten mins before it started to bloom. Would that be because the weather was a little chilly and damp? I did clean out all the jets as part of my prep for the camp. I must admit that I'm toying with the idea of swapping the army burner with a civilian trangia burner as I've read that they're more efficient? Also, as part of the whole cooking process, I often found myself looking round at where to put my brew kit and cup and all the paraphanalia that goes with the cook kit because the ground was muddy and horrible and you don't just want to let everything sit amongst the mud!
All in all, while the camp was enjoyable, I learnt that you need to be far more organised when camping in more inclement conditions. Be prepareed, make sure your kit is ready and find out about the weather and likely conditions of the campsite. Learn how to keep yourself clean and hygenic in wet and muddy conditions - I think I was caked in mud within ten minutes of arrival! Not a big deal but suffice to say I used a lot of wet wipes and sanitiser. It's important to allow lots of time in daylight hours to gather fuel for the fire and recognise that it needs more attention when burning wet wood. The final learning point from me....Your kit may enable a comfy camp in perfect conditions, but how does it work when things get a bit more challenging!
Sorry for the rambling, I thought it might interest some folk on here!
Mods: I put this in the kit section but recognise it might be better off elsewhere?
