That's what I'm talking about

I love wine. Lots of it too. It's good for you.

We have taken wine on backpacking trips in a Platy bottle before, but they have now produced one especially for vino. The PlatyPreserve.

Basically, once you open a bottle and it is exposed to oxygen the taste improves for a bit then rapidly degenerates. At home we use a Vacuvin for the very rare occasions that we don't actually finish a bottle. When you are out and about, a Platypus bottle is ideal because you can squeeze all of the air out and then seal it to prevent degradation.

Perfect for picnics, backpacking, hostelling, lunchtime stops, sneaky snifters at events...

Each Platy holds a full bottle and they sell four packs (for four day backpacking trips I suppose?)

Can't find them in the UK yet though.

Sweet

Bob has been busy. Go and check out his multi fuel offering, the Honey Stove. Wood, meths, esbit, sheep shit, fork 'andles, finest malt...

Weight
Side Panels 5 x 42g
Fire Door 25g
Base Grill 57g
Mid Grill 27g
Top Grill 32g
Total if all carried: 351g

All stainless. All for under 30 quid. Good work Bob :)

Top Gear

Spotted this on a campsite in the Beacons recently.

I'm in love.

Soulpads

I came across these guys when I was researching the Lavvu and again recently when I was reading the glamping bible, 'The Happy Campers'.

If you are going to car camp with your family, take a look at their tents, stoves and general hippy dippyness.

With 4 metre canvas bell tents (sorry, Soulpad) starting at around £250, you can be the envy of the campsite/festival wherever you go.

They have a lightweight version that the bushcraft community are apparently starting to get interested in, weighing in at a svelte 31 lbs ;)

The one issue I have with cotton/canvas tents is that when it rains on packing-up-camp day (and it always does), they are a bugger to dry out and will start to rot within moments of throwing them in the boot of the car. Soulpad recommend pitching your wet tent as soon as you get home and leaving it up until you have a sunny day.

Could be up for a while then.

 

Anyway, I want one :)

Cord Lock Light

An 8g wonder from Black Crater.

Via Uncooped.

New ti' from Alpkit

The guys at Alpkit have just launched a new range of titanium cooking and eating gear to compliment their existing stuff (sporks, cutlery, chopsticks, cooking mug).

The new kit consists of of 'Snapwires' - ti' cutlery with folding handles (fork, spork, knife and a spoon @ £6.50 each), the Lhoon (long handled spoon for getting into freezer bags and deep cooking pots - 18g and a brilliant 7 quid), what looks like a remodelled MytiMug (750ml and 110g @ £25.00) and the MytiPot, a 1350ml cooking pot with a lid that weighs in 158g and £40.00.

I have also noticed a new LED lantern and some 8.5g titanium 'nail' tent pegs, although not strictly eating irons, I am sure that if you left your SnapWire at home...

Check out the new stuff http://www.alpkit.com/camp-cooking/ and start writing your Christmas list now.

The ultimate (car) camping BBQ?

The Bon-Fire barbeque set-up is just perfect! Beautifully made, Danish design and very 'pioneer'. This will be great when we camp with the Lavvu.

A heavy steel tripod holds a brazier / fire pan off the ground. There are three chains that hang from the legs that hold either a large stainless steel grill or a huge skillet / Paella style pan. From the top of the tripod comes another chain attached to a rotating handle and from this hangs a 6 litre enamelled stew pot (filled with Fasolia Yahni - Greek Bean Stew, in this photo)

But that's not all... there is a long handled pancake pan with... wait for it... a popcorn attachment. The kids love it. Lastly, it comes with an array of terrifying BBQ utensils, that look like tools for killing the cow as well as cooking it.

You can use firewood, lump charcoal or briquettes. I love this so much!

We tried it in the garden tonight - a practice run - just in case August should throw up two dry days in a row and we can go camping.

This set up is called the Bon-fire Complete Deluxe Package if you are tempted. Check out their gear at www.bon-fire.dk

Grandpa's Toasting Fork

I see Bob has the Light my Fire toasting forks in stock for only £3.99.

They just clip onto a stick and are great for open fire cooking.

I have one for each member of my family, they are great fun, especially for BBQ's when the embers are dying down and you can load them with four marshmallows.

Go get some now.

While you're there, grab a couple of tubes of the Gehwol foot cream. Rub it on your feet and between your toes before a hike and sore points and blisters will be a thing of the past. I didn't even get a hot spot on the Cambrian Way last year and put it all down to this cream.

Introducing the amazing Shit Box

You have just got to see this and it it British. Great website too.

"The Shit Box is a lightweight portable cardboard toilet made specifically for outdoor use"

One of these and a poncho tarp and you are set up for a 'scenic' anywhere.

Buy one now, these guys deserve success.

Bison Tundra 8 - a closer look

I have had the chance to take a much closer look at the lavvu now and I am pretty pleased. The quality is so good that I wonder how much better the equivalent Tentipi can be for another £600, I have heard they are fantastic, although I have never seen one... but I do wonder!

I have taken a pile of detail shots as I had real trouble finding decent photographs when I was researching this purchase. Double click on any of them for a good size image.

There are not many Tundra 8's in the country at the moment and apparently they take an age to come from Norway. I purchased it from Point Bar Wilderness and had to order the Bison wood burning stove and groundsheet from Mad Bear (40 day wait). The stove means I'll be able to take the boys camping later in the year too.

Point Bar Wilderness have been great, offering lots of after sales advice and hints and tips, and Mad Bear have been incredibly helpful too. They are both active on BCUK.

A couple of things pissed me off a bit, I had to re-tie all of the guys as they must have been hanked and then tied to the tent in the factory and were badly twisted. The other thing was the guy runners were plastic, not alloy/metal. No excuse on a tent of this price point and quality. I don't want one of those breaking on me on a windy night, because this thing could easily turn into a full sized parachute.

Oh yeah, I have to waterproof it too, but that is to be expected on a cotton tent.

It is a great tent to sleep in, not a drop of condensation even though we didn't use a full groundsheet and it was cool and comfortable all night. I am really pleased and looking forward to our first weekend in it :)

 

The door opens to two panels...

...or just a single panel.

Everything is very well put together.

The horrible hanked guys and those plastic runners.

Double mosquito doors.

Storm flaps all around.

Looking up with the top cap in place. This comes off if you use a firebox or the chimney of a stove slots through a special slit.

Decent chunky zippers.

Good quality tensioning straps all around.

Simple door tie backs.

Logo screen printed, not a sewn on patch.

Those straps again.

The roof cap. The guys at Point Bar suggested removing half of these and tying them to the guys to make them stand away from the tent (and stop contact leakage points).

Huge, solid un-bendable pegs (but no spares - shame)

View from inside.

Drying time.

Drying time.

I am assuming these loops are for drying/airing?

The tension strap buckles are just the right size. Have I got this wrong?

Cap off, light pouring in (and rain too if you are not careful).

 

Hope this is useful to someone :) Let me know if it is.

Chris

Bison Tundra 8

First pitch and first night for me and my two eldest boys.

Smelt like the Icelandic's from Scout Camp almost 30 years ago. Great memories came flooding back.

First impressions of the tent are wonderful!

More later.

That's what I call a tent!

Three of us took up about a quarter of the floor space.

Three Thermarests (Two 3/4, one full) so you can get a sense of scale.

Excitement

I have just ordered a BisonTelt Tundra 8. A 5 metre diameter Lavvu.

Can't wait!

It's been a while...

Sorry, it's been a while since I last posted. Work is crazy, the garden is going crazy (big veggie plans this year - tom's, sweetcorn, carrots, runner, French and broad beans, red onions, various salad crops and asparagus), the kids are filling loads of time (brilliant fun!) and I am having fun with my new camera.

This is my eldest, taken this evening.

So what's been happening?

Cookie has started his trip, that'll be worth keeping an eye on.

It's finally getting warm enough to do stuff outdoors (we had our first BBQ this weekend)

I can see that the outdoor bloggers are starting to plan trips.

Pablo's doing loads of cool stuff as usual.

Bob's got loads of new kit including the brilliant toasting forks from Light My Fire. These got loads of use in the Cowell household last year.

Go and buy one for each of your family now if you want them to love the outdoors as much as you do.

Summer's coming :)

Cheers!

What a lovely day.

Managed to get loads done in the garden (as well as a glass of good Sauv' Blanc). A day in the Beacons was on the cards as Sarah and the boys are in Yorkshire with mum and dad for the Easter holidays, but Alan had a party with his biker buddies out West, so I stayed here, dug my vegetable patch and played with my new camera.

I am now the proud owner of a Canon 40D and some serious glass to go with it. I haven't used an SLR since I put my T70 in the attic when I got my first digital compact, and Duncan has been making me very jealous with his photography exploits.

I am really looking forward to getting out in the hills with this beast.

The only thing is, it adds about 6lbs to my day pack plus a tripod. I think I read somewhere that they do a camera mount for Pacer Poles... I'm off to Google it.

God, I won!

Today I had an exciting box arrive from Germany containing a Steripen - a hi-tech device for killing bugs in water. A quick blast from the UV light and it's safe to drink.

This is going to perfect when I am out for the day with my boys,

This wonderful gadget came from Roman, who blogs as Lighthiker and is the 5th in a series of competitions that he runs with some fantastic prizes including a Caldera Cone and a Gossamer Gear G6!

Roman's is one of the 3 or 4 outdoor blogs that I check every day - this guys is a true gear nut, a man after my own heart!

Check out his blog and get ready for the next competition. Thank you Roman!

That petition

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the petition that most of the outdoor bloggers seem so preoccupied with at the moment.

Sure, I understand that it would be nice to be able to wildcamp 'legally', so I have put my name to it, but...

1. I have never been arrested
2. I doubt if any other wildcamping backpackers have either (0% research done here)
3. 'If it ain't broke'...
4. If you own land, why the hell should you let people camp on it?
5. Now the whole world will know that people like us do actually wildcamp. The scallies will hit the hills in their droves to rob us of our ridiculously expensive titanium cooking gear and down puffa jackets at knife point to buy crack and bass tubes. Ignorance was bliss.

I promise I'll never mention this again.

Anyway, look at these cool sandals from Reef with a bottle opener built into the sole [from The Goat].

How not to get caught...

... wildcamping.

Get one of these...

DIY Insulating Jacket

Via GearJunkie, $99, available in the autumn, but no mention of weight. I don't doubt that if it's light enough, the gram counters will jump on this concept, especially for those chilly autumn nights when there are leaves on the ground (or crisp packets on the side of the trail)...

"Merrell Apparel’s DIY Puffy Coat—This concept piece from Merrell Apparel is like a puffy down jacket, just without the “puffy” or the “down” parts. Indeed, the jacket comes as an empty shell, a semi-transparent white nylon piece with its insulating areas open and free. It is a blank canvas of sorts ready to be stuffed with whatever insulating items the wearer desires. Just zip open the long pockets and stuff in crumpled newspaper, dead leaves, Styrofoam packing peanuts, or whatever else. Anything light and fluffy—and colourful and cool—are candidate for insulating this customisable winter coat".

Montane Atomic Rain Pants

UltralightOutdoorGear.co.uk are selling the excellent Atomic rain pants from Montane for only £39.99 (free P+P).

I used these on the Cambrian Way last summer (remember how wet it was?!) and they were fantastic - very light, quick drying and breathable. They are delicate compared to heavier fabrics, but as with all lightweight gear, you need to treat it with a little respect. I split the seat sliding down Devils Kitchen on my ass, so I deserved the 1 inch tear (fixed easily with McNett tape).

They only have XL left.

     

Bushbuddy pot - Trek900

My colleague, Takako, has just returned from Christmas in Japan and she brought me back a natty little Snowpeak Trek900 (in aluminium) for my Bushbuddy Ultra.

It's a perfect fit and great value (well under a tenner). The ti' versions costs £30.00 in the UK. I am not going to use this for regular lightweight backpacking, so ti' was overkill.

Thanks again Tak!

Bushcraft knife coming together

After many hours grinding, filing, gluing, sanding, more sanding and honing, my bushcraft knife is finally coming together.

I did a lot of the heavier work in my dad's excellent workshop over the Christmas break (thanks dad!), I made the sheath out of a slab of hide last weekend and have been trying to polish out the file marks and hone the knife ever since, an hour a night.

The wet formed sheath, waiting for a firesteel

Last night was a bit of a breakthrough as I finally managed to get the blade to shave the hairs off my arm, so a good stropping  and final polish should see it pretty much finished.

Getting sharper, but still needs a polish

 

The kit (a roughly ground and tempered steel blank, slab of hide, two slabs of hardwood, liners, a couple of cutler's bolts and an inch of brass tube) came from Ebay, but originally from a chap called Bernie Garland. There were not instructions, but with Pablo's help, I managed to fine some excellent tutorials.

My knife may not be a thing of beauty, like some of the artworks you can find if you Google 'bushcraft knife', but with a typical Ray Mears type Woodlore knife going from anywhere between £100 and £800, I don't really care. Its a great tool for our woodland camping trips, with a 4mm blade that can be used for almost anything. Apparently, you can dig in into a tree trunk and stand on it!

If you are good with your hands, its a really satisfying little project to make your own knife.

Lovely dark hardwood scales (handles), nor sure what wood it is though.

The kit came with white liners to apparently protect the wood from water ingress.

Bushbuddy

A very happy New Year to everyone! I have been playing with my Christmas present. I love it!

I have made good progress on my bushcraft knife kit too, I'll get some photos up soon.

Christmas delights - update

BushBuddy has arrived, baby hasn't.

We spent yesterday on the maternity ward waiting for drugs to do their magic and deliver Cowell Jnr. into the world, but he/she was obviously having none of it.

Trying again today, so this time tomorrow I should have enough kids to never worry about carrying my own gear again.

Thanks,

Chris

Christmas delights

I have a few Christmas goodies on the way (thank you Sarah!). The first is a bushcraft knife kit from Bernie Garland, found on eBay for a bargain price. I have fancied making one for a while now as messing around in my garage helps the dark winter nights fly by.

It's a pretty solid 4mm blade with some kind of dark hardwood scales, white liners and a pre-cut slab of hide that will make (hopefully) a friction sheath. I have been scouring 'tinternet for tutorials and have found a few, but if anyone can offer any advice (Pablo?!!) it will be gratefully received.

The second is a BushBuddy Ultra. Yes, I have finally succumbed. I enjoy so many different types of camping and this will be perfect for hammock nights in the woods. I believe this is stove number 7 or 8 in my collection, I have lost count. Can any BushBuddy owners recommend a ti' pot that fits it snugly? I know they have one on BPL-US, but I would like to source one in the UK if possible - carbon footprints and all that.

The third is Cowell junior No.3, who was due to be born yesterday, but no signs yet. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl who will join my two sons (had its legs crossed during the scan). So any day now, poor Sarah's life will change for the third time in six years and a little imp will be ruling the Cowell household yet again.

That's another three or four years until we can have another winter holiday in Canada. I'll be too old to snowboard by then and have to move onto planks (God forbid).

So, forgive me if posts are a little thin on the ground over the next week or two.

By the way, this is my first post via Windows Live Writer (thanks Duncan). After a horrendous install, I finally have it up and running, now all I need to do is hit that publish button and we'll all see what happens...

Get that 'Mountain Man' look...

Saw this bearded balaclava... made me smile.

You can read about it here.

I had forgotten about that!

When we got back from the Cambrian Way, I wrote to Road Angel to say how much we appreciated their Adventurer 6000 GPS and how much it helped us out on the walk.

It's not something I have done before, but I really thought they deserved a bit of praise because it is a truly excellent bit of kit for any serious walker.

They emailed me a few weeks ago asking for permission to use my letter in their advertising campaigns...

• Mens Health – December Issue (On sale 5th Nov)
• Country Walking Magazine – December Issue (On sale 9th Nov)
• Mens Fitness – December Issue (On sale 1st Nov)
• Landrover Magazine – December Issue (On sale 2nd Nov)
• 4x4 & MPV Driver Magazine – November Issue (On sale 25th Oct)

You can read the advert by clicking on the thumbnail above. At least my company got a mention too!

That picture isn't me or Alan by the way, they must have enlisted a body double!

New daypack

A couple of months ago, I bought myself a 25l Macpac Amp Race for a daypack. I have now had a chance to use it a couple of times and I am really happy so far.

It has most of the features of my Gregory (but not the ventilated back so it does get sweaty), including hipbelt pockets, big bungee'd mesh pockets, hydration pouch (I only use a tube on day hikes), loops and inside and outside lid pockets.

It's pretty light at 850g and has just enough room for everything I need for a winters day on the hills and a bit too much room for a summers day - but the compression straps help.

Nice little pack.

Hanging around II

Managed to get into the woods today and had a go at rigging the hammock. In a rush to get my feet up, I didn't search for the perfect spot, but it was good enough for me to have a lounge around, watching the squirrels for an hour.


Fantastically comfortable, loads of pockets for gear and/or insulation (ziplock bags that have been inflated and stuffed into the pockets are recommended 'cos you get a could bum in a hammock) and dead quick to put up.



Apologies to the tarpists out their, the flysheet rigging could have done with a bit more effort, but I'll save that for my first night out.

Hanging around

It's arrived! I was in London yesterday showing Aaron the museums and when I got home, there it was and NO import taxes. Phew!

It's my Clark Jungle Hammock 'North American' model with XL tarp option.

I have just quickly strung it up on the kid's climbing frame in the garden and it looks like everything I was hoping it would be... a tarp that is off the floor, supposedly more comfy than my bed and bug free. I won't go into all the features and tech' details as they have a superb website if you are interested - www.junglehammock.com.

If the weather is good tomorrow, I'll take it into Clyne Wood for a test set-up and a snooze (we didn't get back from London until very late and I have some catching up to do). More photo's too.

I looked at a couple of models before settling on the Clark, as it is very 'feature rich' compared to DD and Hennesy hammocks. Pablo set me thinking after his article on the DD models. I thought it would be a pain in arse to get hold of, but Clark takes PayPal and delivery was about 4 days and I got a free tee shirt :)

Packed up, its about the same size as my Akto (sans poles) and weighs about the same (1.5k). It is made of very sturdy fabrics and is very well put together. For those that want to go lighter, they do an 'Ultralight' model too.

Can't wait to spend the night in this - I have dozens of beautiful spots in mind that have always been a no-no with a tent. If anyone hammock camps in south Wales, it would be great to hear from you and if anyone else has a Clark hammock, get in touch too.

Until tomorrow.

U.S. Treat

I recently sold a load of unused stuff on £bay, building up my PayPal account to buy myself a little treat from the U.S.
I'm not usually one for guessing games, but today I'm feeling baaaaad.

And it ain't a BushBuddy, that's so last month.

Using a tarp with an Akto

During the Cambrian Way walk this summer, we spent a lot of time in Akto's in some quite wet weather. Most of the time, this was not a problem, but cooking was a pain, as was sitting chatting with the door open as the drizzle just came straight into the porch are soaking everything.

On the trail, I tried using my umbrella, with limited success, to make an awning of sorts. This was great when there was no wind, but it was a bit small.

I suddenly thought of a use for those crazy little micro tarps that Bob sells.

This weekend I experimented with using my two tarps to create a useful space outside the Akto. The SUL Cuben Fibre micro tarp gave good coverage for it's 50g. Click on the pic's to enlarge them.