The 'I've found a bargain' thread

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
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W.Sussex
The Range are doing a load of camping/ bushcraft stuff, some good looking cookware too.
Cheers. They did some good torches last year, the COB type, looks like a small yellow panel inside but is stuffed with tiny LEDs like the inspection lamps. I can see me popping in tomorrow as it’s right next to Sainsburys.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
39,133
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S. Lanarkshire
10metres (or more, but the 10m is a good price at under sixteen quid delivered) of ripstop nylon in OD :)



Good stuff. Cheap, easy to sew, waterproofs with stuff like spray on fabsil, if necessary. An ideal way to make stuff sacks, lightweight packs, try out patterns for tarps and the like too.

M
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,456
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Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
I wanted a couple of cheap tarps as spares for my up-coming course and opted for the one below at £11.99 There's a discount code in the listing and when I entered it at the checkout I got two for £11.99 inc delivery.

£5.99 each for a 3m x 3m tarp with double stitched reinforced seems and tie points, reflective internal surface, 6 aluminium pegs and 6 guys all in a zipped bag. Now that is a bargain :)

bargain tarp.jpg

 

gra_farmer

Full Member
Mar 29, 2016
1,907
1,086
Kent
I wanted a couple of cheap tarps as spares for my up-coming course and opted for the one below at £11.99 There's a discount code in the listing and when I entered it at the checkout I got two for £11.99 inc delivery.

£5.99 each for a 3m x 3m tarp with double stitched reinforced seems and tie points, reflective internal surface, 6 aluminium pegs and 6 guys all in a zipped bag. Now that is a bargain :)

View attachment 74052

That was good catch, not available now....shame
 

gra_farmer

Full Member
Mar 29, 2016
1,907
1,086
Kent
Sofirn has loads of their torches reduced.


I ordered a sofirn if22a, a pocket sized thrower for just under £29 posted. Extra 10% off for new customers too.
 
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Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,838
3,250
W.Sussex
Sofirn has loads of their torches reduced.


I ordered a sofirn if22a, a pocket sized thrower for just under £29 posted. Extra 10% off for new customers too.
You’re going to like that, it’s a really nice pencil beam thrower, crazy considering it’s not a deep reflector head.
 
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TeeDee

Full Member
Nov 6, 2008
10,970
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Exeter
Sofirn has loads of their torches reduced.


I ordered a sofirn if22a, a pocket sized thrower for just under £29 posted. Extra 10% off for new customers too.

Its ideal if you want to illuminate your neighbours in the next postcode. Great torch/Laser.
 

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,456
8,317
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Lightweight, walking, I use Graghoppers - not everyone's choice but they've served me well at the right price point.

Most of the time, working or leisure in the woods, it's more country sports attire - waxed cotton or something from the Percussion range. It tends to stand up to the thorn and scrub that I always find myself in :)
 
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Nemesis

Full Member
Jan 4, 2010
120
7
Surrey
Been a while since I’ve posted but wanted to flag up a bargain in case it’s of interest to anyone.



Superdrug (my local one anyway YMMV) are selling off stocks of hand gel for pennies. This is not only good as hand gel, but can be used as stove fuel.



They had a couple of different brands for 25p for 500ml 50p for a litre



One of them is 75% alcohol the other 70%. I would suspect that brands in stock may vary but would guess now demand is down as lots of people think Covid is over, they need to get rid of stock.



For my own interest, I compared using the gel to boil some water (using a cut-off bottom of a drinks can as the vessel- I know Trangia make a gel holder, but can’t justify spending out for something that is just an open tin)



Test details are below. It was fairly controlled (same temp water/ pan, done indoors etc) but not perfect (if I’m being super-nerdy about it)



Amount of water: 200ml

Vessel: Small stainless saucepan.



Control:

Stove: Trangia copy with Bushcraft store cross member stand on top

Fuel: Bioethanol (Ekofuel brand)

Time to boil: 7min 47 seconds

Fuel used: 8g

Boil cost: 3.4p



Test

Stove: cut off bottom portion of drink can with Bushcraft store cross member stand on top

Fuel: 75% hand gel (Go2 brand)

Time to boil: 4min 22 seconds

Fuel used: 16g

Cost to boil: less than a penny





So essentially the gel worked far quicker (partly as it’s immediately at full temp rather than needing to bloom like the Trangia) and because it gets through fuel quicker and at these prices is much cheaper.



Weight and clean-up wise the liquid wins (though arguably the stove itself is even lighter as it’s just one bottom of a can rather than 2 for a penny stove)



As mentioned, I don’t know if this is just my Superdrug, but would guess other retailers may well have big stocks of hand gel that they are selling off cheap.



It burns with little odour (or visible flame) but of course they all may have different additives.



Do note if you try other brands, heck the alcohol content. Some, especially at the peak of Covid were pretty low. I’d stick to 70% or over.



Note. There was some gel left once the water boiled and still burning (it’s not worth weighing this as you can with the bioethanol as you’ll be weighing the gunk left over which won’t tell you how much of the alcohol was used) so I did try reducing the gel amount to work out exactly how much was needed to boil with no waste, but it actually took longer to boil - I think essentially you need a certain amount to burn well. Also, running it down to nothing causes some spitting, so I stuck with 16g and can live with a little wastage.



Caveats.

The gel leaves a layer of gunky residue. It will wipe out to an extent, particularly if you soak it in a little water. Equally, if like me you are using the bottom of a drinks can as a gel holder. You could just replace it often.



Caution: Don’t use gel in a standard alcohol burner (Trangia/Penny stove/coke can stove etc) it will gum it up.0FE7FCA4-B1A8-4E7E-A8E7-CDB320CFEB89.jpeg
 

slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
2,158
1,098
Devon
Superdrug (my local one anyway YMMV) are selling off stocks of hand gel for pennies. This is not only good as hand gel, but can be used as stove fuel.

They had a couple of different brands for 25p for 500ml 50p for a litre

One of them is 75% alcohol the other 70%. I would suspect that brands in stock may vary but would guess now demand is down as lots of people think Covid is over, they need to get rid of stock.
I was just looking at this yesterday, a local shop was selling 75% handwash for £2 for 5 liters.

My concern would be what the remaining 25% is, mostly water I expect but what else and does it give off anything nasty when burnt?

I expect it's fine for outside but I would use it indoors.

Edit to add, a bit of searching shows Ethanol, water, methanol, glycerol, Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose and natural oils in the first product I found.
 
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