Camping gear

[Uther]

My recommendation is pretty much always decathlon to start with and slowly upgrade things that you need to afterwards. For example I had a decathlon £40 sleeping mat which did me for a couple years...

Then I bought Big Agnes and it's as comfy as a real bed. But I was never gonna drop £120 on a sleeping mat for my first camping trip

Yeah I spent years (even decades) being uncomfortable and cold in a tent, and hardly sleeping at all, so finally decided to do something about it and don't regret it. It is a big outlay especially if you're not sure you will even like camping.
I love camping, but still prefer a nice hotel room...

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Yeah I tried to find a bit of a balance so for example the mat I went for from decathlon was a mid type version: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/light...ize-l-mt500-l-180-x-52-cm/311475/c242m8853280

So hopefully won't be completely rubbish but not quite as big an outlay if it turns out it doesn't end up getting much use!

Am concerned that whilst when I did the order it said it would be delivered tomorrow I have just noticed on the website it's still just saying Preparing order....

 

[Begbie]

Yeah I tried to find a bit of a balance so for example the mat I went for from decathlon was a mid type version: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/light...ize-l-mt500-l-180-x-52-cm/311475/c242m8853280

So hopefully won't be completely rubbish but not quite as big an outlay if it turns out it doesn't end up getting much use!

Am concerned that whilst when I did the order it said it would be delivered tomorrow I have just noticed on the website it's still just saying Preparing order....

Ive got the summer version of this, very comfy. 3r should be fine if your not at any altitude.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Yeah hopefully will be fine, initial camp will probably be on a campsite on the coast maybe for a day or two to go through the motions and make sure I've got everything sorted etc.
Speaking of which thought I had a little stove but think I may have got rid so will aim to grab a remote gas stove as I think I prefer the idea of those vs screw on/alcohol type ones.

 

[bainbridge]

Maybe do a short camp when it's warm to see how you get on.

I love preparing for a camp and gathering supplies, but out camping the novelty wears off after a couple of days of crawling around on all fours.

The Mrs will do one night tops.

 

[Uther]

Maybe do a short camp when it's warm to see how you get on.

I love preparing for a camp and gathering supplies, but out camping the novelty wears off after a couple of days of crawling around on all fours.

The Mrs will do one night tops.

I've got two tents, the one I can stand up in is much, much nicer.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

So decathlon order still saying preparing so definitely won't be arriving today!
I'll try to cancel and redo the order for collection, now 15% off on some of the stuff so will actually be cheaper which I won't complain about.

 

[BUDFORCE]

I got some self inflating mats off Ali Express and they are great.

Are you planning on cooking? If you want to keep it really light the little solid fuel burners weigh nothing, frustratingly they banned hexamine (apparently you can make bombs out of it) but there are substitutes. Got one of those and some military type mess tins.

I still still have quite a few hexamine tablets left.

Another thing to consider if you are cooking is like a mini oven clove, I actually got this little silicone mini oven glove thing, it's tiny but you have no idea how useful.

 

[something daft already!!]

I love camping, the fun's in tents.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

So ended up grabbing a banshee 200 2nd hand on the way up north as initial plan(s) fell through and so didn't want to delay things, can change/upgrade later when needed.

First night in it last night just at a campsite on the solway coast, worked great although sadly the 200 has a lower head height compared to the 300 I had been looking at so I was initially a bit surprised I couldn't sit up properly in it but not the end of the world. Going to work for a couple of hours then packup and head east a bit.

The decathlon foam mat and then inflated mat combo worked great, was pretty toasty. I also picked up an alpkit drift pillow, having never had a pillow camping before it was quite novel and only cost £13 I think so happy with that, not sure how some of the pillows you can get are so expensive!

I got some self inflating mats off Ali Express and they are great.

Are you planning on cooking? If you want to keep it really light the little solid fuel burners weigh nothing, frustratingly they banned hexamine (apparently you can make bombs out of it) but there are substitutes. Got one of those and some military type mess tins.

I still still have quite a few hexamine tablets left.

Another thing to consider if you are cooking is like a mini oven clove, I actually got this little silicone mini oven glove thing, it's tiny but you have no idea how useful.

Yeah I have some random cooking bits from some old camping stuff and then have a gas stove, did see various mega lightweight/small cooking solutions with alcohol or solid fuel but I'm not going for mega ultralight so the bit of extra weight for a gas system is fine by me
I hadn't thought of that but I would imagine it could be handly as a lot of the things are metal handled and I've seen people struggle to hold whilst trying to pour boiling water etc.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Will aim to get a couple of pictures posted as gave it a bit more of a test the other night at the top of Benyellary the other day, did highlight how out of shape I am and how I need to improve my packing as I was missing a couple of bits I needed (somehow didn't bring *any* cutlery to cook/eat with) but also stuff I didn't need (spare clothing, excess water and snacks )
Also think I may get myself an improved/better cooking set as the one I was using is an old one we used to use camping and seemed to be very uneven and also doesn't fit nicely with other cooking stuff (gas, stove etc) in terms of packing

Going to try and find another hike I can wild camp at the top of this evening after as I'm heading back down towards the coast after work having popped up towards Kilmarnock for some stuff.

 

[Vandle]

What are you cooking and carrying, food wise?

We have pretty much perfected 2 camping set ups. One for vehicle based and one set for overland multi day hikes. For the multi day expeditions where you obviously have to carry all your stuff, we use the freeze-dried meals from the camping shops so all you need to do is boil water. You can chuck in some cheap noodles to pack it out as well. We use a jetboil https://jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/stoves-systems/flash-java-10l-fast-boil-system
It all packs down into itself, is super quick in any weather condition and the canisters last ages.

These boil in the bag meals have come a long way quality and taste wise over the years, although after a week or so you feel like you never want another one again. They pack well, obviously can be stored for months, have smart packaging which acts as an eating bowl and generate very little rubbish you have to cart home with you too.

 

[Uther]

Even though I mainly go on a motorbike I've cut right down on cooking gear lately, to the extent that I use a small 'pocket rocket' burner, 750ml titanium pot and Wayfarer camping meals, which you just need boiling water for. I prefer them to the freeze dried stuff but they are obviously heavier.

 

[Begbie]

Even though I mainly go on a motorbike I've cut right down on cooking gear lately, to the extent that I use a small 'pocket rocket' burner, 750ml titanium pot and Wayfarer camping meals, which you just need boiling water for. I prefer them to the freeze dried stuff but they are obviously heavier.

This is what I use. Think most of us have converted to soto, so good and fairly priced. Add on a titanium pot and your cookset is less than 300g incl gas!

 

[Uther]

This is what I use. Think most of us have converted to soto, so good and fairly priced. Add on a titanium pot and your cookset is less than 300g incl gas!

I think I got sucked into watching too many people cooking full on sunday dinners on their camping trips on youtube and it very quickly gets out of hand.
Simple is best. All I need now is the titanium pot with a gas canister and burner inside it and a spork!

 

[GeorgeStorm]

What are you cooking and carrying, food wise?

We have pretty much perfected 2 camping set ups. One for vehicle based and one set for overland multi day hikes. For the multi day expeditions where you obviously have to carry all your stuff, we use the freeze-dried meals from the camping shops so all you need to do is boil water. You can chuck in some cheap noodles to pack it out as well. We use a jetboil https://jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/us/shop/stoves-systems/flash-java-10l-fast-boil-system
It all packs down into itself, is super quick in any weather condition and the canisters last ages.

These boil in the bag meals have come a long way quality and taste wise over the years, although after a week or so you feel like you never want another one again. They pack well, obviously can be stored for months, have smart packaging which acts as an eating bowl and generate very little rubbish you have to cart home with you too.

Well the intention was a couple of rolls with square sausage. I've got a remote stove from decathlon and grabbed a gas canister hoping to use the pan I already had but as said think that will change.
I have seen the jetboil and thought it was quite neat but as someone who doesn't drink hot drinks felt it was a bit all in on boiling water basically but as you said the meals you just add water to are much better than they used to be (seemingly madly expensive though!). I saw a mug from alpkit that looked quite nice and fits a canister, stove and folding spork type thing in it and so would be a bit of a cobbled together jetboil I guess.

Even though I mainly go on a motorbike I've cut right down on cooking gear lately, to the extent that I use a small 'pocket rocket' burner, 750ml titanium pot and Wayfarer camping meals, which you just need boiling water for. I prefer them to the freeze dried stuff but they are obviously heavier.

This is what I use. Think most of us have converted to soto, so good and fairly priced. Add on a titanium pot and your cookset is less than 300g incl gas!

I think I got sucked into watching too many people cooking full on sunday dinners on their camping trips on youtube and it very quickly gets out of hand.
Simple is best. All I need now is the titanium pot with a gas canister and burner inside it and a spork!

Yeah I think grabbing some kind of metallic(?) spork and a mug to fit the stove and canister in will be my next purchase for a fairly small neat self contained solution.

 

[GeorgeStorm]

My spot from the other night, the summit of Benyellary was probably 20m or so behind where I took the photo from
Sadly was completely cloudy/misty in the morning so no sunrise for me but was a pretty epic view for the evening at least.

 

[Uther]

This is what I use, I'm sure there are many alternatives.

Amazon.co.uk

 

[Vandle]

Can you just camp anywhere you like in Scotland?

 

[GeorgeStorm]

Not quite literally anywhere but it's not illegal to wild camp in general and much more open compared to England thanks to the Right to Roam laws/rules I think.