newbie to real camping help
- Thread starter River98
- Start date
Scout camps are a good place to start. I'm reasonably new to wildcamping/bushcraft myself and ive been honing my skills on various scout sites. Also this weekend im off up to scotland after reading up on their wildcamping laws and rules, so if your up for a bit of a trek theres ALOT of wilderness up there, but be carsefull, be prepared and make sure that some one knows when you are going, where you are heading for and when you plan to be back.
No trees for hammocking though.
Are you sure? I've read posts on hanging in very low temperatures lately.
Can you light a fire on the top of Everest ?
Theoretically I mean, I know it's a special place.
I meant about the thin oxygen levels ?
cheers,
Toddy
Theoretically I mean, I know it's a special place.
I meant about the thin oxygen levels ?
cheers,
Toddy
Dont think it would be possible, due to the low oxygen levels as you said. I wouldnt fancy carrying a bag of logs up there either.
This is a very interesting question. The proportion of oxygen in the air on top of everest is the same as at sea level, about 21%. However, the pressure is about one third of that at sea level, so there is much less oxygen present. If you had something that burned readily, say acetylene, I'm certain that it would burn up there, but the rate of burning would be slower. Since in our terms, a fire means setting light to wood or meths rather than acetylene, the answer might be a bit more subtle. This is, at least in part, because some of the heat energy produced by a flame from a burning log or puddle of meths is absorbed by the fuel and used to "volatilize" or "gasify" the fuel to allow the burning process to continue. on this basis, i reckon it would be possible, but your normal fuels would be reluctant and might need a hell of a lot of getting going. Moral of the lesson: don't take the leaves from your garden up there.
i just re-read this, sorry if it is a bit nerdy.
i just re-read this, sorry if it is a bit nerdy.
Dont think it would be possible, due to the low oxygen levels as you said. I wouldnt fancy carrying a bag of logs up there either.
Why not? Neddy Seagoon played a piano on top of Everest once if my memory serves me well.
Why not? Neddy Seagoon played a piano on top of Everest once if my memory serves me well.
Maybe we could set up a meet. Bring your own firewood and musical instrument of your choice.
Modern high altitude expeditions use liquid fuel stoves such as Optimus, Primus and MSR with special burner heads to take account of the much lower pressure. The earlier Himalaya expedidtions, such as Mallory and co in 1920 tried Primus stoves but were not very successful because basically, the climbers were "gentlemen" who never used any kind of stove, having servants to do it for them. At the base camp at 20,000 feet they used wood fired stoves because they had enough porters (referred to as "coolies") to bring large quantities of wood up to the camp, and servants to do the cooking. The less gentlemanly climbers of the 1953 expedition used Primus no 3 stoves which Hilary in particular had become expert in maintaining and modifying (different jets and burner heads), at up to 27000 feet.
Coffee brewed at that temperature is even more foul. One could take a pressure cooker and all would be well.
