Sleep mat for a painful back

[Woody girl]

First dump the electronics.
Then pack....
Plastic spork cup and bowl
Solar puff light
Down bag
Empty milk container for water
Zip lock bags of food dehydrated at home
Msr pan
Pocket rocket and mini gas canister for morning brew only.rest of time small fire.
Small home made pillow
Light waterproofs
Merino socks hat gloves... home made
Spare undies
Wet wipes mini toothpaste and travel brush muslin cloth multi use wash liquid travel size deodorant mini hairbrush
Spare shirt and light trousers that convert to shorts
neoprene sandels for coastal foraging notebook and pencil with tide times already written down
A good belt knife and fire lighting eqipment (ferro jet lighter matches fatwoodand cotton wool)
First aid and meds.
Think that covers it apart from the tarp and mat. I've spent weekends with a 15ltre bag on the coast path sleeping under the stars and an empty lemonade bottle for water this is minimal but luxury in comparison.
The idea is to forage a lot of my food which I'm fairly experienced at tho there is always more to learn.

 

[Erbswurst]

double post deleted

 

[Erbswurst]

In my opinion it isn't so very intelligent to throw in a rucksack what I can and than wonder about the alarms from the back.

I don't look it up now. (And I have no second calculator here for the addition while writing this at the smart phone.)
But the weights I write here should be more or less correct:


10g folding tooth brush
10g Ajona 6ml small tooth paste
25g microfibre cloth 30x40cm as towl
50g Sea to summit soap in 40ml bottle
. 5g Wilkinson razor, orange (!)
10g Eagle Creek head torch diffusor bag

(40g swimming breefs)


25g Petzl e+ lite head torch
35g Opinel No7 Carbone pocket knife
25g Silva Ranger SL compass

10g two 120cm cotton laces and wire hook
10g Bic mini lighter (new and full)
(10g beer can spiritus burner)
(50g small plastic spiritus bottle, full)
110g Tomshoo 750ml titanium billy can

40g light 1 litre PET bottle Volvic
40g for the second one

280g Gatewood cape poncho tent, green
280g Six moon design Serenity meshtent
(or 400g Defcon 5 poncho, italo camo)

340g Therm-A-Rest Neo air X-lite mat
610g Robens Couloir 250 sleeping bag
(340g Snugpack Special Forces bivvybag
That mainly meant with Defcon 5 poncho)

1000g Decathlon Hunting Ruck Sack 50 l
30g bin bag as liner

Did I forget something an experienced survivalist would miss in the bush?

Dehydrated food perhaps.
And surely water in the bottles.

 

[Erbswurst]

By the way: The 50 litres ruck sack is a bit large for this ultra light and ultra compact equipment.
A smaller and lighter one would work better.

 

[Janne]

You should start a new thread, a very interesting subject, what to pack!

Why a headlight? Something wrong with your night vision? A headlight kills the little you have.
Pillow? Pillow case?
What is wrong with rolled up trousers, made nice and soft with rolling a jumper over them?

Back and knee problems automatically makes you into a light aficionado.

 

[Erbswurst]

Yes, PILLOW.

;0) (0; \_o_/. ;0) (0;

What kind of outstanding idea for a light trekking pack list!

But in really hot conditions an inflating pillow can be an interesting option.
It is far lighter than a fleece jacket.
If you can let the spare clothing and jacket at home, it can be interesting.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-basic-camping-pillow-id_8055369.html

https://www.asmc.de/Camping/Schlafen/Schlafsaecke/Kissen/Kissen-Klymit-Pillow-X-Recon-p.html

 

[Janne]

Of course, but I was thinking the climate us on this site enjoy. UK, Fatherland und Sweden.

If it is hot I imagine one of the cloth bags you pack your stuff in the backpack should be OK? Dual use?

I am not so good with heat. Hate it. Funny coming from a dude living in the Caribbean, right?

 

[Woody girl]

Start a new tread? Perhaps but I'm sure it's been done here before somewhere. Yes we are a bit off piste on this thread but it's still interesting.
Weight can be a knotty issue for us aged and painfilled crocks!
My pillow is home made fits in my sleeping bag hood crushes up dead small is light and so comfy. I slide off most inflatable ones and end up with no pillow and it has a lovely leaf design to boot.
To go even further off piste yet weirdly related I have just come back from my yearly medical and find it have lost a half inch in height due to my spinal problems. So that's not good and explains the continual pain.
So I need a realy good mat. Will try the thermorest when I can get over to taunton leasure sometime soon though price is a bit of an issue. It will be worth it if it's suitable and I may have several mats in good condition for sale if it's suitable.

 

[SaraR]

With regards to the inflatable mattress (thermorest/exped etc), have you tried letting out a *small* amount of air? I find that helps a lot with my hips and dodgy shoulder. You want enough air to keep you suspended even when you move but the extra support around the sides really help.

 

[Janne]

The inflatable matress I will be trying is a Coleman I think? Cheap. Chinese junk I suspect.
I need to check at home, including the weight. But is is deffo heavier that my old closed cell mat, about the same weight as the self inflating one that gave up in the middle of the night at the Atlantic beach outside Kirkefjorden..

 

[Erbswurst]

That 340g Therm-A-Rest Neo Air X-lite exists in two sizes and tends to delaminate after a while of use.
But it has a life time warranty, so you can change it. Just keep the bill and by in a serious shop.

It is currently the lightest good quality stuff on the market and usually the first choice in the ultra light trekking community.
People who really rely in the mat, take additional a thin Evazote (closed cell foam mat with them and put it under the air mat to protect it and as a life boat.

But I think a survivalist doesn't need the life boat, because in the forest he can cut twigs if necessary.

Yes, unfortunately it is yellow.

The ultra light trekking community prefers bright colours and doesn't think about camouflage.

 

[petrochemicals]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BF8Q...&pd_rd_r=7995be8a-3477-11e9-aa18-9b092d3d3a5f

560g is quite good, 8cm of air ? 25 quid.

Thermarest 7 cm 450g 25 quid ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multimat...&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1&redirect=mobile

 

[Woody girl]

Petrochemicals they look a great alternative and so cheap one realy can't go far wrong. Will be hotfooting it to a friends house to use their computer in the morning and get a better look and possibly get them to order me the top one. Thanks. One of these with a closed cell under may just be what I need and will save a massive amount of weight. Perfect with the dd hammock set up too. Shame I can't try before I buy as I prefer to do but needs must. So now there are a good couple of options. I'm realy getting excited about this trip now. I was worried I might be forced to possibly cut it short and call for rescue from my long suffering friend. Once the motorcycle is up and running again I can do site camps but I don't like to use it for these sort of wild camps leaving it unattended for days at a time and having to cart helmets etc around too. Roll on April when the sorn runs out!

 

[Janne]

I recall Lidl sometimes has those blow up mats?
( I almost wrote 'dolls'..... )

 

[Toddy]

I can only sympathise and agree that pain and aching joints is incredibly limiting, even when you do push the boundaries. I have an exped down mat, and if I knew that weight wasn't an issue for you for this trip I'd send it down to you. It's not heavy/heavy, but it's not lightweight, and it does take some effort to blow it up, though it's quick. It's worth the weight for the camping that I do do though.

There's an ultra light trick that is maybe worth trying. The folks who do the long distance endurance runs pack a sheet of ripstop nylon that has been stitched into channels. Into those channels they fit blow up modelling balloons. Next morning they just burst the balloons, fold up the nylon sheet and pack it away. Weighs very, very little, yet it's fine for a night's sleep. The balloons slowly deflate so wouldn't be worth trying to keep for another night anyway. Next night, just blow up another set.
Combine that with scraping out the shoulder (if you lie on your side) hip and knee scrapes in the ground/shingle/pine litter, and it can be a very good thing indeed.
A silk sleeping bag liner will add 5˚C to the value of your sleeping bag, and it only weighs a few grams.
If you're warm you don't stiffen up so badly, and it can make a huge difference in whether you get out there and enjoy it, or just endure it.

I take my hat off to you doing this when you are so very sore; good on you, and I hope it's an excellent jaunt

M

 

[Woody girl]

Thanks for the encouragment Toddy. I'm quite nervous about this in some ways as I will be alone and if I do sieze up I'm stuffed! Hence the backup rescue plan but I realy don't want to use it. I'm only about a mile and half from a pub but that's a long way if you are in extremis!
I know the area well and am picking it as I am fairly confident there.
I'm choosing gear and clothing carefully and know I have phone signal so hopefully all will go well. Weather is a big factor too as it can be quite exposed but I have a cubby hole to pitch in. Fingers crossed and plenty of co codamol volterol and ralgex!.

 

[Janne]

Maybe a weird recommendation from a medial professional, but a bit of Alcohol can be better than those tablets.
Worth the weight penalty.

 

[Robson Valley]

I like an old fashioned air bed or air mattress as we called them.
Blow it up quite hard.
Lie down on it, turn over onto your right or left side.
Now, open the air valve and wiggle a little bit until your hip sometimes and just barely touches the ground.
It looks really soft and flabby when you get off. But it becomes a firm dead cushion with no bounce.

 

[Erbswurst]

I don't know, if you realised, that now a days they use pump sacks.

You connect the ventile of the mat with a fitting ring, open the bag to trap air in and then close it and press the air into the mat.

That avoids additional breathing moisture in the mat and works very well. Important in sub zero degrees conditions. Nobody wants ice in his air mat.

The pump sack you can use as a dry bag to store your sleeping bag in.

 

[Woody girl]

Maybe a weird recommendation from a medial professional, but a bit of Alcohol can be better than those tablets.
Worth the weight penalty.

I know that those tablets are not thebest solution to my collapsing spine but... gotta have something.
Do you recommend I drink the alcohol or rub it in... perhaps both!