Lightweight Summer Bushcraft/Hiking Kit?

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tracker1972

Forager
Jun 21, 2008
247
58
51
Matlock
I am thinking of trying to get some smaller/lighter kit together to walk up onto the moors for the odd night. This thread could provide some inspiration but out of curiosity I weighed my sleeping bag... 3.2kg... I see why the British Army surplus bags are referred to as bouncing bombs! Still, almost any new bag will be a huge improvement, which is nice :)

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Quixoticgeek

Full Member
Aug 4, 2013
2,483
23
Europe
And a lady of my acquaintance who's used a couple of the shewee things said that one has to be quite careful with flow rate to avoid "spillage".

Yep, they are very picky about alignment, and hairyness and... I'll stop there before I get too graphic.

Mess it up and you basically Pee down your leg, which is really not pleasant. It's a nice idea, but I don't even bother to take mine with me anymore.

Wide mouth Nalgene bottle. Good to warm your feet too.

Again with the whole 50% of the population thing... Note that if you use polycarbonate nalgene bottles as the contents cools, they reduce in volume, and the bottle can shatter/crack. Not something I'd want to have happen inside my sleeping bag with a bottle of pee...

I use an HDPE nalgene bottle with boiling water in it as a hot water bottle. Stick it inside a sock in your sleeping bag, and it's still warm come morning, and makes getting a boil for your morning brew faster...

This was my kit packed for a weekend trip a couple of months ago. 20litre pack with 6 litre add on pocket.
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Very pretty. What's in the bag?

I am thinking of trying to get some smaller/lighter kit together to walk up onto the moors for the odd night. This thread could provide some inspiration but out of curiosity I weighed my sleeping bag... 3.2kg... I see why the British Army surplus bags are referred to as bouncing bombs! Still, almost any new bag will be a huge improvement, which is nice :)

Yeah, they weigh far too much. Take a look at the Mountain Hardware Lamina series of bags. You can get a 5°C bag for about 1kg. That saves you 2.2kg (or the weight of my summer bag...)

Good luck

J
 

Johnnyboy1971

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Dec 24, 2010
4,155
26
52
Yorkshire
Yep, they are very picky about alignment, and hairyness and... I'll stop there before I get too graphic.

I use an HDPE nalgene bottle with boiling water in it as a hot water bottle. Stick it inside a sock in your sleeping bag, and it's still warm come morning, and makes getting a boil for your morning brew faster...

Used this method for around five years with no problems. Although if you let the contents cool too far the vacuum created makes removal of the lid a bit of a bugger


Very pretty. What's in the bag?

Front add on carries my tarp, bivvy bag and poncho plus pegs and lines.
Main pack has a Nonok -10 sleeping bag, Jetboil, possibles pouch and food.
 

santaman2000

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Jan 15, 2011
16,909
1,114
67
Florida
Back in the day when I was healthy my Summer kit was pretty light. Food, water, matches, knives (a folder in my pocket or a lockblade on my belt along with a fixed blade on my belt) and the clothing I was wearing (underwear, blue jeans or shorts, a t-shirt, shoes or boots with light coton sox, and a hat or cap along with my glasses and sunglasses) If It was an overnighter I'd add a small tent or tarp and a very lightweight sleeping bag (or better still, just a pocho liner or even just a twin sized bedsheet) Insect repellant, and sunscreen. Add to that any bushy items I wanted to play with.

Nowadays my diabetic meds and testing supplies take up a good deal of my bulk and weight requirements.
 

Highbinder

Full Member
Jul 11, 2010
1,257
2
Under a tree
As someone in the 51% of the population that has limited aim when peeing that's not an option. I'd also rather not pee where I sleep, it can attract pests/predators not to mention smelling.


I'll stick with a waterproof and a separate tarp, more versatile.

J

I'm an animal and mark my terroritory ;) Joking aside, if it's bucketing down so heavily that I can't break cover for a 2 minute pee without getting soaked I think that the volume I put out won't make impact. It's a sliding scale, I have pals who say "why even get out the hammock?" and recommend just leaning over the edge :lmao:
 

Madriverrob

Native
Feb 4, 2008
1,500
319
57
Whitby , North Yorkshire
" what happens when it's raining, and you want to go for a pee in the middle of the night? You can't take your shelter with you, so you're gonna have to get wet. Tried it once, got soaked "

At the beginning of time when the Gods were sorting out who got what, they looked far into the future and knew that one day the 2 litre plastic milk container would be invented. In their great wisdom they decided that the differences in their earlier designs between one type of human and another really didn't need changing and so the gift of using a Poncho to doss under and remain rain free was only given to one type of their new creations.......:lmao:

Always remember not to drink from your pee bottle !!
 

jonquirk

Tenderfoot
Sep 24, 2007
60
2
Guildford
I have been interested for a while in the 20 litre challenge which is about packing all you need for a overnight trip in a 20 litre pack. Last weekend I spent Saturday night on the South Downs. My pack was an Alpkit Gourdon 20. I put my Alpkit Hunka bivvy bag inside like a pack liner. My PHD Minimus sleeping bag (340g, 8C) went in the botttom, loose. To help keep the bag clean I sleep in Rohan Ultra Silver base layer: leggings and long sleeve top. Teko merino wool socks stayed on my feet. I sleep on a Therm-a-Rest Neo-Air placed under the bivvy bag, not in it. I have a piece of polychro double glazing film I can use as a groundsheet which packs in the mat's stuff sac (not used this time).
Kitchen packs into a stuff sac: Evernew titanium lid from a 900ml pot to fry bacon in. Primus clip on windshield. Evernew titanium mug in pot cosy made of closed cell foam. Inside the pot: 100g gas cartridge, Alpkit Kraku burner, mini fire steel, lighter, medicine spoon. Folding cup and plastic box with coffee in sit on top of the mug.
First aid kit (AMK 0.5). Waterproofs: Marmot Mica jacket (packs into own pocket together with Go-Lite Reed rain pants) used as a pillow.
Possibles bag containing hand sanitiser (alcohol free), Dr Bronner soap, tooth gel all in tiny Nalgene dropper bottles, half a toothbrush, second lighter, torch with clip to attach to the brim of my hat (not used: half moon meant it never really got dark), small penknife, toilet paper and dog bags (waste was buried, paper packed out as it was too breezy to burn it).
My toilet trowel is an MSR Blizzard tent peg with closed cell foam handle/grip.

Food carried: bacon, bread rolls, pork pie and an apple. Water: 500ml in a Lucozade Sport bottle in one rucksack pocket and 600 ml in a Travel Tap filter bottle. There is a dew pond near where I slept that I could have used to replenish supplies but in the end 1100ml was sufficient.

I set off up the hill after a couple of pints in a pub at about 8:45 and was in bed an hour later. I woke at 4:30 and watched the sun rise twenty minutes later. I left my sleeping spot at 5:15 and walked a little way until I found a fallen tree that gave me somewhat set up the stove for bacon rolls and coffee and sit out of the breeze in the sun. I called in at a friend's house for a cuppa and a chat before heading back to the car, stopping for lunch (the pie and the apple) on the way.

I didn't weigh my pack because it wasn't heavy enough to cause me or my dodgy knee any bother but I had a fantastic time and will be doing a few more of these micro adventures this summer. I might swap out the gas stove for my Bushbuddy next time and prepare my finger on the hill rather than eating before I set off.
 

GGTBod

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Mar 28, 2014
3,209
26
1
Ideal perfect weather and just in regular woods doing nothing fancy except bushy fun

Knife, wool blanket, crusader cup and my saucepan and lid and a bog roll, all carried in a rucksack with a 3ltr water reservoir :D
 

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