Camping – Page 39 – Clive's Blog

BBC News – Scott’s Antarctic diet: Stewed penguin and champagne

BBC News – Scott’s Antarctic diet: Stewed penguin and champagne.

The BBC have an interesting article about Scott’s expedition to the South Pole examining the food they ate.

I do not walk in such extreme conditions as they did – but getting the menu right on even a short trip will add to the enjoyment of the walk. One thing my son and I have been discussing for our planned Southern Upland Way walk is carrying/buying on route some fresh fruit – so we are now exploring other people’s blogs for their experiences on the walk, to see what they did.

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Backpacking Next Weekend

25 March 2012 / Backpacking, Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography, Walking / backpacking, coffee, hiking, outdoor gear, tea, walking

As I am planning an overnight walk, next weekend, it was time to get the equipment out of storage and check it over.

Tent

I am still using the Colman Bedrock 2 (that I paid £17.50 for) – although I am looking out for something lighter and that I can cook in if needed. To save some weight I have got two longer alloy stakes to use, to peg out the guylines, that hold up the vent cover and the foot of the flysheet. This saves carrying three heavier pegs and gives a better angle to the guylines.

The carabiner is used on my backpack during the day to secure equipment.

Cooking Gear

All the utensils went through the dishwasher and the fuel bottles refilled. I changed out my beaker for the new one.

The water bladder for the rucksack needed a rinse.

Sleeping Gear

I packed my new sleeping bag into the lightweight compression sack it came with and I was able to pack my silk sleeping bag liner into the same bag.

I store my sleeping mat semi-inflated, so I inflated it fully to check for leaks and then rolled it ready for Saturday.

Bits and Pieces

I sorted through my accessory pack and removed all the extra bits that had accumulated in the pouch over the winter, whilst I have been using it for day walks – watching the grams keeps the weight down.

I checked the batteries in the headlamp.

I also checked the contents of my first aid kit.

Food

I took a trip to the supermarket to get the food for the weekend – Aldi and Tesco – rather than camping shops. Jeremy is going on a Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition this week so I got his food as well.

Saturday

Lunch
Tinned sardines with lemon, cream crackers, hazelnut wafers, coffee

On arrival at the campsite – tea and biscuits

Dinner
Tomato cup-a-soup, Duck flavoured noodles with added salami, instant custard, tea

Later
Chai Latte, Southern Comfort, hazelnut wafers

Tea and fruit and spice oatcakes – first thing in the morning, whilst still in my sleeping bag

Sunday

Breakfast
Tea, crackers and jam, cereal bars

Lunch
Salami, cereal bar and coffee

Trail snacks
Banana chips, Meerkat jellies, white chocolate buttons

Clothes and Wash Kit

I have packed my long sleeved underwear shirt, long johns and some wool socks – the nights recently have been cold and if needed, I can wear these in my sleeping bag.

The few spare clothes I need were packed into the same dry sack with my sleeping bag and my small wash kit.

Check List

Later this week I will check my kit against my spreadsheet check list to make sure I have only 9.5kgs of gear.

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Lemon Tea Granules

27 February 2012 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Walking / backpacking, outdoor gear, tea

Last summer Jeremy and I bought some Peach Tea Granules from Lidl, to use whilst hiking and camping. One of the things we liked about it was it could be used with either hot or cold water – making a hot drink when required or just as useful to flavour the water in the backpack bladder. It was also not very sweet, a number of other products we had tried seemed to only taste of sweetener.

However having been back to Lidl last month and again today it looks like they no longer stock Peach Tea. Last month we tried the Mixed Berry granules, which Jeremy liked but I was not so keen on – I used a measure yesterday whilst walking in the remainder of the water in my bottle and I really did not like it. So today I bought the Lemon Tea granules.

These were much more to my taste – not too sweet and with a strong tea flavoured with lemon taste, not the sweet chemical taste I got from the famous brand from a big supermarket. It also did not leave a lingering after taste.

I carry a 100ml bottle of this tea (it was Peach Tea now Lemon Tea) when I go backpacking for several uses. The first is to flavour my cold drinking water, the second is just in case I cannot light my stove for any reason and I can then have a flavoured cold drink, the third is just to add a bit more variety to my menus.

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Oat Biscuits

26 February 2012 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Walking / backpacking food, lightweight backpacking food

I have added a new article to my backpacking pages – with a recipe for oat biscuits.

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“Clik Clak” Stove

17 February 2012 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Walking / MSR titanium mug, outdoor gear

I tested the “Clik Clak” stove with my Vargo Ti stove and Ti mug. It worked very well, boiling the water and keeping a rolling boil for about 1.5 minutes.

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“Clik Clak” Stove

5 February 2012 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Walking / Crusader Cook Set, Crusader Mug, lightweight walking, outdoor gear

I have been using the meths burner from my Vargo Triad stove with my Crusader stove. They work well in this combination and it allows me to use cleaner meths fuel with the Crusader unit. I’d like to have a meths burner permanently stored in the Crusader case and was planning to make a drink can stove – but whilst walking last week I had an idea for an alternative meths burner.

A while back we had been given a small tin of mints as a business freebie and I thought it might make a good burner.

The lid design gives holes for the meths vapour to get out of the tin.

Time to experiment.

I filled the Clik Clak tin to just under the rolled lip – the tin is not as big as the Triad burner so I wanted to maximise the burn time – and then carefully clicked the lid on.

I put the tin and the primer meths (about 3mm deep) into the Crusader Stove fuel bowl, lit it, and put 250ml of water on to heat in the Crusader Mug with my metal lid.

It did work, the water just reached the rolling boil before the fuel ran out. The next test is to try it outdoors, rather than in the still air conditions indoors.

For my latest lightweight cooking gear set up – click here.

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Walking to Woodhall Spa – Day Two

11 September 2011 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography, Travel, Walking / Camping and Caravan Club, coffee, Golite Jam 2, iPhone photography, lightweight camping, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, walking, Woodhall Spa

The weather was good when I was packing up – which was lucky as packing the new Golite Jam 2, did not go as easily as it did when I packed it at home. I had put the tent in the large outside pocket but this was a mistake as that pocket has to be packed before the main bag. Both pockets share the same volume – packing the main pocket reduces the size of the outside pocket. This means the tent needs to be packed first – when actually, when packing up, it is the last thing to go in the bag. This morning, I simply piled my gear up on a small tarp I had with me, took the tent down and then packed, but it was dry and sunny. So I need a new packing plan.

I ended up meeting both Richards in Bardney – one had had walked there from Lincoln city centre the other drove – and we went for coffee. So that was the end of the walking, we got a lift home.

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