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Walking, camping, stuff to take etc

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mudcow007
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PostPosted: 13:18 - 14 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

that I did not know cheers Thumbs Up

where did you get your setup from etc?
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PostPosted: 16:48 - 14 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The hammock is from Dutchware and the tarp is from UK Hammocks. It was fairly pricey in the end but having had a look on forums, the secondhand values are ridiculous, nearly fetching full price so could always sell on if I didn't get on with it.

I know you can get some much less expensive hammocks - I know Aldi had one for a fiver not long ago but obviously there are compromises such as the suspension system and the length of the hammock - some people find shorter hammocks uncomfortable, especially if you're reasonably tall and I'm over 6ft.

DD Hammocks do reasonably priced set ups that are well rated by some people.
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mudcow007
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PostPosted: 16:56 - 14 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

nice, i was looking at this as a cheap "give it a go"
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PostPosted: 17:01 - 14 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

mudcow007 wrote:
nice, i was looking at this as a cheap "give it a go"


For that price you can't really go wrong and if it doesn't work out you've not wasted a wedge of cash. The only problem I can see at just over 8ft long if you're tall you may struggle to get comfortable. The trick with hammocks is not to lie end to end as you just 'banana' in the middle. Really, you're meant to lie diagonally across the hammock, this allows you to lie flat and is dead comfortable.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 18:12 - 19 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

stinkwheel wrote:
Joe wrote:
I've seemed to have entered a camping/walking rabbit hole - there is so much information out there it's impossible to work out what the right path to take without actually doing it and finding out what works.


Kit list.



Bored, so thinking about this, sorry! Anyway...

It's so easy to become a proper 'kit-head' when you get into regular wild camping. But eventually, you do get down to a shortlist of what works for you, what are your favourite items (until something wears out, then it's back to square one).
For wild camping on foot, and longer than a weekend, my list settled down to:

Vaude Power Lizard UL tent. I changed out the pegs for titanium ones (lighter), and added some luminous line-locks.

Western Mountaineering Summerlite down sleeping bag (I don't actually like the liner material, it feels a bit clammy, so I added a silk bag liner. If I was still going to be doing a lot of wild camping, I'd probably replace this with silk pyjamas - I kid you not, you'll never be as comfortable in a sleeping bag! I'd also probably replace the sleeping bag with a camping duvet, as this is how I tend to use the bag anyway, unzipped and just draped over me). Supplemented with thermals for cold nights, although I do have a fleece sleeping bag liner which I've used a couple of times, but it's a bit bulky for on foot.

Golite Pinnacle rucksack (about 70l extended, but very light weight, roll-top). I have an Osprey 25l pack for one-day walks.

I did have a Pacific Outdoor air mattress, again, super light, but found it punctured too easily, now have a Mountain Equipment one, but can't use 'thermarest' style ones anymore due to back issues.

MSR Pocket Rocket stove (gas canister). This replaced a titanium item where the brass collar that attached to the gas canister came loose due to, I suspect, the different expansion rates of the collar and stove body - fixed it temporarily a couple of times, but gave up on it in the end. I've considered wood burning, meths and hexamine stoves before, but just came to the conclusion that if I had room for the gas in the pack, it's just much less fuss. A canister lasts about a week, and I'm not likely to be going places where I won't be able to get another if needed.

Two titanium cooking pots with lids and a long-handled titanium spoon. I put some heat shrink on the pot handles after burning my fingers one too many times!

Three fold-up water bottles, total of 4l capacity.

Travel Tap water filter. So easy to use, I've filled up from stagnant-looking tarns in the Lake District, no issues.

Clothing:
Rab pull-on eVent waterproof top.
Montane waterproof trousers.
Rab Generator Primaloft jacket (as required).
Bridgedale merino wool socks (as required).
Merino wool undies.
Lightweight t-shirts (as required).
Rab long-sleeve MeCo top.
Montane Terra trousers.
Montane ultra light windproof top, pertex. A brilliant bit of kit.
Mid-weight fleece pullover (I also use this to wrap around a dry-bag containing clothing for a comfortable pillow at night).
The collection includes various woolly hats and gloves - take as required.
I did have a Patagonia down-filled shirt, super light, packed down to nothing, another brilliant bit of kit, but the ambulance guys cut it off me as I lay in the road after a bike stack - feathers everywhere Laughing I'd love to replace it, but it really was a bit of an extravagant spend, superb though it was.

Boots are Merrell Moab mid GTX. I don't really do winter hill-walking, so I don't like leather - too heavy. The Moabs also give a good level of feel for what's going on underfoot, which I like - some don't. I've tried Brasher and Karrimor, but settled on these when I got into the UL method.

I have built up a small repair kit for tent, air bed, clothing etc over the years, which includes para cord, patches, a tube of silicone repair glue etc.

I've got a rather expensive Rab eVent bivvy bag which, as said, I used once but didn't like Rolling Eyes

Meals:
I'd usually carry some kind of crackers with a squeezy tube of cheese, grain bars, maybe a chocolate bar or two, tinned sardines, packet noodles and soups etc. The best main meals I've used were a particular boil-in-the-bag brand which I can't remember the name of now. But they weren't particularly filling after a long day slogging around the fells, and are a bit on the pricy side considering that (about £6 per meal?). Sometimes, I'll even carry a tin of sausages and beans for a breakfast, although obviously tins are a bit on the heavy side, so it would depend on where I'm headed that night.
Teabags, coffee and sugar, sometimes dried milk too. Maybe add a packet of biscuits for a treat.

Insect repellant (used to use Avon Skin-So-Soft, but have now switched to Smidge).

On the bike, I now use either a Vango Beta 350 tent (luxury! can stand up in the porch, albeit bending at the waist, room for 3 really) or a Blacks 3-man job which is a bit smaller, packs smaller.
I have to use a more substantial air bed nowadays, which is quite bulky, but that's obviously not a problem on the bike.

Probably a couple of other bits and bobs I've forgotten, but that's pretty much what I got things down to. If all I did was camping trips on the bike, I probably never would have invested in so much of the expensive lightweight kit, but having done much of the South-West Coast Path, walked across Wales from Chepstow to Conwy, and done the Essex Way with heavy old Millets-quality gear, I just couldn't face anymore hill/long-distance walking with that kind of weight again, and all the kit I have now has lasted well and works well, so I figure it was worth it. Much of the clothing also gets used on the bike in cold weather too.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 13:13 - 20 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh yeah, I also made a heat-shield for the stove out of one of those cheap supermarket turkey-roasting foil tins. It makes a hell of a difference to how long your gas lasts! Folds down to fit in any small corner of your pack too.
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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 14:00 - 20 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
Bored, so thinking about this, sorry! Anyway...
It's so easy to become a proper 'teff-head' when you get into regular wild camping

FTFY Thumbs Up
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 14:06 - 20 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freddyfruitbat wrote:
chickenstrip wrote:
Bored, so thinking about this, sorry! Anyway...
It's so easy to become a proper 'teff-head' when you get into regular wild camping

FTFY Thumbs Up


Ooooh yes! Laughing
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PostPosted: 16:24 - 20 Aug 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers all, very helpful.

I had a bit of a walk and a camp out in some localish woods and had a comfortable night in the hammock. Woke up to a glorious sunny morning Very Happy
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PostPosted: 16:27 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm off work today and at a loose end. The weather isn't great so was putting off doing a couple of jobs on the bike so what better than go for a walk and test out a couple of new bits of camping gear? Also, I wanted to pitch the hammock and tarp in the rain 'cos it's bound to be necessary in this country and thought better do it now for practice rather than for real in the dark somewhere.

https://i.imgur.com/j54F3P8.jpg

It went up easily and most importantly without getting the hammock wet. I got in the hammock and made a brew, nearly blew myself up when the burner fell over and enveloped the gas canister in fire. One thing I noticed was how cold my back and arse got hanging in the air with no insulation beneath them, even a slight breeze could be felt, it was quite warm today even with the rain, so definitely wouldn't consider sleeping in it without an under quilt or pad.
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lingeringstin...
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PostPosted: 18:55 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I did the hammock and sleeping bag under a tarp thing one year and found it to be a totally bullshit experience in anything but perfect weather. Now I mostly use a quite small French army A-frame style tent and a bivvy bag and the whole lot is not much more hassle to pack away and is a million times more useful. I found that wind is your main enemy and if you can block the wind then you stay about 100% warmer no matter what the weather, and my tiny little A-frame tent does that really well compared to a hammock and a tarp with no arse or ends. You CAN make a shelter out of a hammock and a tarp, and I have done it in the past and will no doubt do it again sometimes, but the wind is always what buggers it up for me.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 19:33 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't understand the motivations behind wanting to endure the hammock experience in the UK. Can someone explain it to me please?
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carvell
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PostPosted: 20:31 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with you - tent is the only way!
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PostPosted: 21:13 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like most things, it's each to their own. The main problem is people when trying hammocks try unsuitable hammocks and don't have proper insulation, if any, underneath and get cold. Hammocks have come a long way in the last few years, they're especially popular in the US where there's lots of smaller manufacturers making quality gear. I've just ordered a new down under quilt rated for well below zero like this one so expect to have no problems with the cold.

https://i.imgur.com/d1oxvlK.jpg

The trick with hammocks is to get one a decent length (11ft) and lie diagonally for a dead flat lay.

https://theultimatehang.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/05/hammock-sleep-diagonal.png

I'm not trying to convert anyone, I've spent many a night in a tent and never slept well, so took a punt on a hammock and so far so good. I may change my mind in bad weather but from what I've seen so far it shouldn't be a problem.
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chickenstrip
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PostPosted: 21:21 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

But doesn't it just limit where you can go too much, having to find suitable trees to fix it up to? You couldn't really use it freely in the Lake District, for example, and camping in the fells is a great thing to do.

On the long distance walks I've done, there have been a few places you could've used a hammock, but after walking tough and tiring terrain all day, if when you can't go any further there are no trees around, you're stuffed. I've never had too much trouble finding somewhere I could pitch a small tent.

So what kind of camping trips do you envisage taking the hammock on?
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PostPosted: 21:49 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

chickenstrip wrote:
So what kind of camping trips do you envisage taking the hammock on?


Mostly single night trips round my way, which will be the North and South Downs which have plenty of trees.
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lingeringstin...
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PostPosted: 23:27 - 05 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I do have to say that if the conditions are right a hammock is fantastic. Unfortunately in my experience the problem is that conditions are seldom right for it so if I'm going anywhere for more than an overnighter I'll pretty much always go with the tent, but I'm rather fond of really small tents and fairly minimal camping gear so it's no problem. I have been known to take a really lightweight army hammock along too just in case I can find anywhere to string one up. Unfortunately wild camping in England is almost universally prohibited so I have to go walkabouts in Scottishland to find proper camping.
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stinkwheel
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PostPosted: 00:03 - 06 Sep 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I really like the idea of hammock camping and they are comfortable to lie in, they are considerably less practical, more expensive, bulkier and heavier than a lightweight tent.

I find that by the time you've carted sufficient gear to be comfortable in a hammock, you may as well have taken a tent instead.

They are utterly impractical in the summer months in much of Scotland too. Yes they have midge nets. So you keeping the same clothes on all the time? Because in bad midge areas, if you take yourbase layers off, you are instantly eaten alive. Getting changed in a hammock with a midge net zipped on is like trying to change your underpants without first removing your trousers.

I went out of my tent in my boxers for a piss through the night in Glen Affric this summer and got bitten around 200 times on my legs in the time it took to do it. Too lazy to put my base layer back on, lesson learned.

Sometimes just having somewhere you can sit and read a book/eat and drink something without being pestered and without a midge net over your face is downright essential

Then of course, there are enormous expanses of Scotland with very few trees. So you'd have to plan ahead to be camping somewhere there are some.
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