camping tour

Originally Posted by wyrdness

In addition to Ceri's excellent advice, if you're straying far from civilisation then take OS map(s) and compass and know how to use them.

A few years ago, I did half of the Pennine Way with my ex, who had a gold D of E award and zero common sense. "What are you taking a compass for?" she asked. She soon found out in some of the more remote moorland. Without it we would have got horribly lost in bad conditions.

All noted. My tent is green!

I'm also taking GPS, compass and several OS maps with me

On the subject of maps, I try to take ones of a scale that suits the terrain- if there's lots of bits near buildings/built up areas, 1:25,000 ('explorer'- yellow, I think) are best, for most mountain/woodland areas where the terrain is more vast, 1:50,000 ('landranger' - pink) is my favourite. Don't bother with any sort of map other than OS (any other sort of map is a toy once you've used OS). Also, don't get laminates- just use pencil on them and keep them in a map case. They're cheaper and easier to fold.
Maps are also a great safety tool- give mountain rescue a 6 figure grid reference on an OS map and you're laughing.

Buy 'em here, my local Ramblers Association swear by them :
http://www.themapshop.co.uk/Landranger.htm

Top Compass Tip: Take bearings of stationary objects- not things like another party of hikers in the distance or sheep as I have seen some people doing

Wyrdness: I know what you mean about people like your ex. I see people in the mountains with no rucsac, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, a flash GPS (with no map ) and a pair of fashionable, but not at all suited to a real mountainside 'hiking' boots. The outdoorsman equivalent of shorts and t-shirt on a GSX-R 1000

One more things re: hiking- do some smaller practice ones first before embarking on overnight ones, even if you're in good shape. I don't know for sure what the sports science of the matter is, but hiking seems different to other activites- I've seen some otherwise fit people really struggling after climbing a large hill and I've seen some porkers powering along for hours. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with how strong your quads (thighs) are as that seems to be the thing that hurts most, usually when you're making a steep ascent.

cheers for your input guys. . . the immodium is something that is going into my bag straight away.
we dont intend to leave any littler or anything - so carrying spare space for the litter.

also - got a spade (for digging) and bought one of them hacksaws in a roll.

am trained in using axe, saws, pioneering and most other outdoor activities . . .but havent really had many oppertunities to put them to use. . . so this is gonna test my skill.

just also bought a new tent - need to practice putting it up and taking it down a few times in the garden me thinks.

am also a first aider and as is another guy were going with .. . but im the more knowledgable of the three of us when it comes to outdoor survival (just purely through the ammount of survival books ive read)

i know it sounds strange. .. but i learned an awful lot during scouts and most of it has stuck with me.

ive never been a fan of camping sites with shop - shower ect ect . . .all seems a bit "fake camping" to be honest. . . might as well stay in a BnB

Originally Posted by bikageboy

ive never been a fan of camping sites with shop - shower ect ect . . .all seems a bit "fake camping" to be honest. . . might as well stay in a BnB

When I stayed on one of those campsites, a mate, unbeknown to me, bought one of those conversion leads that allowed him to plug a normal multiplug into one of the caravan powerpoints you get. He wired it all up whilst I was asleep, as I think he knew I'd have a go.

He seemed quite annoyed when, after being woken up by 'The Microsoft Sound' of his laptop booting up, I asked him what exactly the point of us 'camping' was, if we had mains in the tent. I think this principle is what riles me about caravans and camper vans (aside from that they crawl along clogging up the lanes, never pull over to let other vehicles pass, etc )- too many home comforts and it's not camping. You have to rough it a bit for it to be fun.

I've been trying to 'educate' my girlie that it is not neccessary for her bring a razor and cream to shave her legs during a 2 night camping trip and that I won't be doing any 'cleaning' other than brushing my teeth...

People take the michael, but scouting is one of the most useful things you can do as a kid aside from going to school. I'd even argue it's a lot more useful than some subjects taught at school. If you're taking a spade you should be able to have a half decent fire too

yup - you guessed what the spade was for

just repaired my magalite torch so thats good news one less item to buy.

also have a swiss army knife and a leatherman (the swiss seems the inferioir product out of the two)

cheers for all the advice above tho . . planning on leaving next week

When I go camping with the bike I use one of these coleman stoves it folds up small and uses a range of different size gas cylinders.


Coleman Alpine Camping Stove

Trekking stove for extreme conditions, with windshield and collapsible legs (Stan after 10 pints of Speckled Hen). Fitted with Coleman CPS for improved performance.

Fuel: Coleman Dome Cartridge 100/250/500;
Burn time: Up to 1 hour 47 mins on 250 cartridge;
Boil time: 2 mins 9 secs;
Power: 3200 W;
Size: 8cm x 23cm dia;
Weight: 410g;