Planning to attend a bushcraft meet
- Thread starter rich59
- Start date
Short answer is yes, but it is more difficult. I used a net hammock under my own hammock, as a kit store, last week and it seemed to work well.rich59 said:
The first meet I went to I slept under the stars because the weather was fine.
I had a tent in the van but didn't bother putting it up.
More often than not you will be within striking distance of your transport so you can leave your contingency kit there.
I have to agree with some of the other posters about food. Unless you are backpacking with light gear ( or perhaps practicing to do so ) why eat disgusting food.
There are many great dishes that can be prepared over a camp fire out of real food. I tend to buy better food when I'm going away than I cook at home.
The only concern you may have is keeping stuff fresh, but on a two day trip this is not a problem unless it is really hot.
I had a tent in the van but didn't bother putting it up.
More often than not you will be within striking distance of your transport so you can leave your contingency kit there.
I have to agree with some of the other posters about food. Unless you are backpacking with light gear ( or perhaps practicing to do so ) why eat disgusting food.
There are many great dishes that can be prepared over a camp fire out of real food. I tend to buy better food when I'm going away than I cook at home.
The only concern you may have is keeping stuff fresh, but on a two day trip this is not a problem unless it is really hot.
Graham_S said:
It depends on how much you pay for them, they only cost me £ 4.50 a pack and i quite like them, plus they pack down nice and small and you don't have to warm them up if you are going to an area where water is scarce and you have to carry your own water in, still each to his own i suppose.
Goodness, I am getting hungry already reading this! Thanks everyone.
On a meet how much chance is there for everyone to cook over an open fire? Probably depends on the rules of the site and the available fuel.
What menus would people recommend for breakfast, lunch and evening meal on a meet?
On a meet how much chance is there for everyone to cook over an open fire? Probably depends on the rules of the site and the available fuel.
What menus would people recommend for breakfast, lunch and evening meal on a meet?
Graham_S said:
it was just a contingency , i wasn't saying that's what should be done
- i've also lived from them so i know the only way for food to get is better, i was just saying for someone unsure of what it's gonna be like, something certain to take is a good idea.
food is a very personal thing. i find that decent food can make or break a meet.
the quality of your food can have a significant effect on your morale.
my (fairly standard) menu for a meet generally goes something like this.
1. breakfast; bacon, sausages, beans. a good breakfast is essential to my wellbeing
2. lunch; soup (fresh or packet depending on time and cooking facilities), oatcakes, salami, cheese. lunch i find is less important. something quick and light that can be eaten while doing other things.
3. dinner; noodles and fish/ TVP (textured veg protien, beanfeast mince for example) with dumplings/ cous-cous with salami. i find this is the important meal. take your time and enjoy it.
4. snacks; cereal bars, chocolate, mini babybel cheese.
i take a few staples with me, stock cubes of varying flavours, cous-cous, lentils, split peas, a few herbs and spices,
with these things i can make a variety of tasty meals.
the quality of your food can have a significant effect on your morale.
my (fairly standard) menu for a meet generally goes something like this.
1. breakfast; bacon, sausages, beans. a good breakfast is essential to my wellbeing
2. lunch; soup (fresh or packet depending on time and cooking facilities), oatcakes, salami, cheese. lunch i find is less important. something quick and light that can be eaten while doing other things.
3. dinner; noodles and fish/ TVP (textured veg protien, beanfeast mince for example) with dumplings/ cous-cous with salami. i find this is the important meal. take your time and enjoy it.
4. snacks; cereal bars, chocolate, mini babybel cheese.
i take a few staples with me, stock cubes of varying flavours, cous-cous, lentils, split peas, a few herbs and spices,
with these things i can make a variety of tasty meals.
rich59 said:
Rich,
I haven't been to a a BCUK meeting, but I've been lightwieght backpacking and going to meets like Ludlowsurvivors for a while. If this is "talking down" or anything, sorry, but I have been asked to describe on another forum what I pack (mainly I suspect because I can usually provide a missing item).
I've tried to edit the image into sections and label each section (Food etc.). I can then describe in detail whats in each section
The sections I have used are:
Food
Water
First Aid
Cutting
Light
Fire
Navigation
Inner Clothes
Outer Clothes
Miscellaneous
Personal Care
Writing
Sleeping
The whole lot will pack into a Forces 100 plain Green Bergan (80 +20 litre). This is a good, internally framed, rip stop nylon padded back pack with padded hip belt and removable pockets that zip together to form a day sack. The Large black bag you can see in the bottom left of the drinking square is in fact 3 waterproof liners specifically made to fit the main sack body and the two main pockets.
You asked about food so heres a detailed description of that section
Food
Food Part 1 Ration Packs
Part 1 of the food section is 3 ration packs.. I have tried to model these on a British Forces ration pack, but make it lighter and more to my taste. The aim was to increase the food carried for the same weight. Here are the details of whats in each pack (menus vary but items are the same)
Ration Pack in large plastic ziplock
Meals
1 Dehydrated Breakfast
1 Dehydrated Main Meal
1 Dehydrated Desert
Sundries
10 tissues (plastic wrapped)
1 box all weather matches sealed in ziplock
Snacks pack (sealed in ziplock)
1 muesli bar
2 chocolate bars
3 small fuit bars
1 small sugar free chewing gum
Drinks pack (sealed in ziplock)
1 isotonic sports drink powder
4 Sugar sachets
2 Drink whitener
1 vegetable stock drink
2 sachets instant white tea
2 sachets coffee
1 sachet latte
1 sachet cappuccino
2 sachets sauce
1 sachet salt
1 tea bag
10 puritabs
Net weight of ration pack 750g (as opposed to 1600g for MRE rat pack). This means I can carry twice as much food dehydrated (although 1 days worth of MREs is useful). Therefore 72hr bag contains 2 dehydrated meal and 1 MRE based.
Food Part 2 Cooking Kit
Part 2 of the food kit is cooking equipment etc. This consists of:
Trangia set consisting of:
Burner
Support
Windshield
2 bowl shaped pans
1 frying pan / lid
Gripper
1 litre of methylated spirit in anodised aluminium fuel bottle
Knife, fork and spoon
Small bottle of anti bacterial washing up liquid and pan scourer in ziplock bag
8oz steel hipflask full of Islay Malt
I selected the trangia because its aluminium and hence light in weight. The burner system cannot go wrong and weight for burn time, meths is as light as gas. The pans and frying pan double up as my bowl and plate.
The washing up liquid and scourer is to prevent food poisoning not worth it.
The scotch is liquid analgesic, sterilising solution and .oh hell I like scotch.
I have to confess that I haven't entirely finished all the detailed descriptions of the contents of my bag yet, but I have done a lot so if theres any sections that it would be helpful for you to know about, please feel free to ask and I'll take pictures and describe the contents in detail (I'm doing it anyway and am happy to do a section that interests you).
Please note that this bag isn't really geared up as a "Bushcraft bag", just the stuff I carry for a week or longer of backpacking and self sufficient camping. The guys on the forum know far more about real Bushcraft than me!!
Red
Red,
i noticed you have a container in the 'fire' section of your kit list, RM used something similar i think to keep a sharpening stone in - is it a forces waterproof container?, do you know a place that sells these online in uk?
thanks m8
i noticed you have a container in the 'fire' section of your kit list, RM used something similar i think to keep a sharpening stone in - is it a forces waterproof container?, do you know a place that sells these online in uk?
thanks m8
With reference to keeping kit dry under a tarp Vs in a tent. This is less to do with whether what you have is a tent or a tarp and more about how big it is and how you set it up.
I spent nine nights under a tarp in the Lakes this summer and was much happier that way than I would have been in a tent of similar weight.
In the rain I could keep all my kit dry, plus have space for my mate and I to cook and eat in the dry. His 1 1/2 person tent was so compact that he couldn't get out of the rain without making the inside wet.
The tent is warmer, no doubts, but that can be as much a problem at some times as it is a blessing at others.
Foodwise, there is no real reason that light weight has to be equated with bland or boring. It just takes a little more thought. For instance, at both last year's meets a number of people brought almost nothing but a small leather pouch with some scraps of paper and bits of plastic, and they ate royally
There are super markets and takeaways within a short drive of boths sites,
I spent nine nights under a tarp in the Lakes this summer and was much happier that way than I would have been in a tent of similar weight.
In the rain I could keep all my kit dry, plus have space for my mate and I to cook and eat in the dry. His 1 1/2 person tent was so compact that he couldn't get out of the rain without making the inside wet.
The tent is warmer, no doubts, but that can be as much a problem at some times as it is a blessing at others.
Foodwise, there is no real reason that light weight has to be equated with bland or boring. It just takes a little more thought. For instance, at both last year's meets a number of people brought almost nothing but a small leather pouch with some scraps of paper and bits of plastic, and they ate royally
There are super markets and takeaways within a short drive of boths sites,
the plastic container is a us army nbc decontamination kit container. they are not watertight, but do come up on e-bay now and again
trauma,trauma said:
it is indeed an old arm nbc d/c kit. I picked up a good few as a "balancer" in a trade a while back. I like it because its the right size (about a couple of fag packets in size). If Graham tells me its not watertight, I'll bow to his knowledge - I can only say its solid plastic, the top snaps on tight and it floats so its good enough for me.
If I was trying to source something similar, I'd use one of the "snap and seal" tupperware type containers you can get from Tesco etc.
However if you really want the green jobby, PM me and I'll look through the box of wonder and see if I have one left. To be honest, the waterproofing is a bit moot the way I pack it.......
Fire Kit
Right the burny stuff. Many will think I have overdone this, but to me food, water, warmth and shelter are the biggies. This kit is small but a duplicate of gear I use a LOT.
1 Tinder box. An old military plastic job that seals completely. Holds my tinder (all also individually sealed).
15 petroleum jelly (Vaseline) soaked cotton wool balls. Each is individually wrapped in a tiny ziplock bag. If I have to open the tinder in howling rain, I like everything sealed up. I also dont have to pull stuck balls apart in the dark etc. Goes in the tinder box.
5 ziplock bags of firelighter pieces. Yup its cheating. So? Goes in the tinder box
1 ziplock bag of whole firelighters (see above). Goes in the tinder box
1 box of 45 waterproof matches sealed in a ziplock. Goes in the tinder box.
1 piezo electric lighter. Backup. Goes in the tinder box.
1 high capacity turbo flame gas lighter with a small backup compass. O ring sealed to keep the wet out. Lives in my pocket.
1 Swedish firesteel on recoil key ring. The key ring attaches it to my belt and it sits in a slot on my knife sheath. There is a splitting attachment if I want it loose
There is also a ziplocked box of waterproof matches in every 24 hour food pack, and I can make fire with potassium permanganate and sugar sachets if I need to. Failing that Ill use some paracord and make a fire bow I take fire seriously!
rich59 said:
I most often set up my tarp as a diamond fly. If you set the opening opposite the prevailing winds - this gives you pretty good coverage from rain.
http://www.redhawk-trading.com/diamond-shelter.htm
I do mine a little different than the photo at the above website, using a sissors arrangement of two poles to hold up the center loop - and the peak tied to a tree.
PG
Kathmandu make excellent tarps in silnylon. They reckon that the smallest tarp that will keep you reliably dry is 2.5m x 1.5m. This is the one I have and it works fine as a ground basha. It weighs 300g (compared to 2kg for my tent).
I have used the tarp with a hammock but I would not trust it in wind and rain. Even the 2.7m aussie hootchi may be a bit marginal as a hammock tarp in bad weather. Some people have found the standard Hennesy fly to be a bit small too.
The Hex Fly is much bigger and, er, hexagonal, and I've not heard of anyone on the forum getting wet under one (though I'm happy to be corrected on this.)
I have used the tarp with a hammock but I would not trust it in wind and rain. Even the 2.7m aussie hootchi may be a bit marginal as a hammock tarp in bad weather. Some people have found the standard Hennesy fly to be a bit small too.
The Hex Fly is much bigger and, er, hexagonal, and I've not heard of anyone on the forum getting wet under one (though I'm happy to be corrected on this.)
Similar threads
