Tents up – Veryan Camping and Caravan Site
Set up – no rain – staff excellent here, they sorted out our favourite pitch. Now it is time for that tea my son promised me!
Tents up – Veryan Camping and Caravan Site Read More »
Camping
REI Sierra cup and lid
I recently got an REI Sierra cup with a folding handle from the USA. It is a great, compact cup to take camping, but I was interested in getting a lid for it to add to the functionality and to keep the flies out of my tea.
I have had two lids made for me, one for my MSR titanium mug and the other for my Crusader mug.
I may get a custom lid made later, but for now I was looking for a purchased option.
The Sierra cup lid, because of the folding handle, needed to be an internal lid with no lip, or have a notch cut out of the lip for the handle. So what I needed was really just a metal disk with a hole for a handle drilled in it. On searching online I realised that the base from a cake tin with a removable base would be ideal, although I could not find one small enough in a UK shop. With that as a plan, I decided to visit some of the local kitchenware shops and in the second one, I went to, I found exactly what I needed.
This is the removable base from a 12cm cake tin, from The Range, with a hole for a wing nut and bolt.
REI Sierra Cup with a homemade lid
The lid sits neatly inside the cup rim as though it was made for it. Having a lid will make it more fuel efficient if I use the Sierra cup to boil water in. I am forward to testing it this weekend on a day walk on Sunday – I will boil the water for my tea break in it.
One small point: I had to use a file to smooth out a few sharp edges on the handle ends where the metal had been flattened to stop it pulling out.
This is not ultra lightweight backpacking kit but it is something I will be taking camping.
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Camp Coffee
How do I make camp coffee?
Camp coffee – I was asked last night, had I got a recommendation for a “camping gadget” for making fresh camp coffee when hiking or camping? I do have one, but my answer was unexpected. My friend was expecting me to recommend something from GSI or some other ultralight gear manufacturer. Instead I suggested a plastic tea strainer.
Here are some recent posts about camping coffee:
- Walking along the River Slea
- How to make camping coffee?
- Walking along the River Slea with lightweight gear
Here is a photo from a trip to Wales – fresh camp coffee whilst camping on the Welsh coast. I am dripping the coffee into some milk that I have already heated in my steel British Army Crusader mug.
The coffee filter
I use the tea strainer as a coffee filter. It is not as fine as commercial filters but it does a good job – but there will be a few grounds in the final brew.
It is very lightweight, simple to use and pack. It is also far cheaper than the commercial camp/backpacking coffee makers.
I chose a strainer with a plastic mesh because it is easier to pack, as it can be crushed, and it has a finer mesh than the metal models.
How I make camp coffee
I make my camp coffee in two ways:
Make in the pot method
I measure the grounds into cold water and then bring the mixture to almost the boil, stirring occasionally. I leave the coffee to stand for three or four minutes before gently pouring it into a mug through the strainer. I am careful not to stir up the grounds once they have settled. With this method I can make more than one serving of coffee and can make a stronger brew if I want.
Drip method
I pack the coffee into the strainer to cover the mesh and press it down firmly with the back of a spoon. I drip/slowly pour through, nearly boiling water. The strainer holds enough grounds to make one mug of coffee.
This method makes less washing up so is my favourite when wild camping.
Early morning coffee on the summit of The Old Man of Coniston – read the full story here.
My “coffee maker” is an essential part of my backpacking and camping cooking gear and I use it on most trips. I bought mine a few years ago and it cost 20p at the time. Asda and The Range sell suitable tea strainers, today, at about 50p. I’d recommend anyone to try one out before spending more money on a coffee gadget.
There are other coffee makers on the market!
Jeremy and I saw this portable coffee maker when we were in Truro last year. Click this link to read the blog post.
Fresh Coffee Update
To make packing easier I have cut the handle down on the tea strainer – see the story here.
Breakfast in bed – Scotland August 2016
Coastal Walking
I got to the Camping and Caravan Club camp site at Llanystumdwy early and was able to get my tent up to air and dry. I have a great pitch away from most of the other campers but close to the facilities.
To take advantage of the perfect weather I walked back to Criccieth following the coastal path.
Camping – Leek
Diana and I got home last night, she has bookings for Monday but I still have a weeks leave left so this morning I set off camping. I am going to spend two nights here on the edge of the Peak District and then off to Wales.
noodles and Chai tea
Notes from my Woodhall Spa weekend
First thing at Woodhall Spa – I had early morning coffee at this camp instead of tea
Menu for the weekend
Weight 750g
Lunch
Tinned Mackerel in Teriyaki sauce
Crackers
Cereal bar
Tea
Arrival at Woodhall Spa Camping and Caravan Club site
Milicano coffee stick and cakes (the warden gave me some milk as they had sold out of 1 pints – otherwise I would have bought some)
Dinner
Sesame flavoured Japanese noodles
I let the noodles cool down then I added a small packet of mixed pitted olives in herb oil and a salad dressing sachet that Mum had left over from her dinner on Friday
Chinese sesame dessert
Peach tea (cold)
Milicano coffee
Tea
Early morning
Tea and breakfast biscuits
Breakfast
Apple Pop Tarts
Dried fruit
Fresh coffee and more tea
Elevenses
Nescafe 2 in 1 coffee
Nutrigrain breakfast bar
Extras
2x decaf coffee sticks
Nutrigrain bar
Hot chocolate drink
I also had my Backpacking Brew Kit, packet of glucose tablet and some SiS Go Hydro tablets.
lunch in the pouring rain – getting a little shelter under the trees
Chinese sesame dessert
I got this from a local Asian supermarket – there is no other way to describe it, it is black custard. It is very sweet and tastes strongly of sesame. I like it as an alternative to instant custard.
Water
It was a warm humid weekend so I carried 2.5l of water and used nearly all of it. I carried a pack of SiS Go Hydro tablets, which I made up in my 500ml bottle, which I refilled as required from one of my other bottle – I had three bottles of the electrolyte drink. I made tea at lunch and drank nearly all the rest of the water – and it was probably just enough for the conditions.
Once I was at the camp site I was aware how much fluid I had lost during the day so I made sure I had plenty to drink – stoping to make a drink before I even put my tent up.
I walked until about 1pm on Sunday I carried 1.5l of water. I used one of my electrolyte drinks, made hot chocolate whilst I waited for Diana to arrive and drank most of the rest.
Read about my water choices here.
HTC Wildfire – MP3 player and ePub reader
This is the first full weekend away using this “retired” mobile phone as an MP3 player to replace my iPod Nano. It worked really well. I listened to an audio book all day Saturday and Sunday morning whilst I was walking and at the campsite I read for an estimated four to five hours. The 2.5Ah battery gave out about 20 minutes before Diana picked me up on Sunday, so it lasted the weekend. I had the original 1.2Ah battery with me so I swapped them and carried on reading. If I am away for any longer I will need to take my 20Ah Power Pack with me to charge the HTC. (Read my Backpacking Geek.)
I still used my iphone for my photos, photo editing, blogging, navigation etc, but not using it to read my books on meant that I only used one of my 2Ah emergency iphone batteries. I have used both of them on previous weekend trips.
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