The Lair of The Dark Knight

Back from camping. Man that was an awesome few days.

Temperatures ranged from -5°C at night to 4°C during the day. Despite this we were toasty warm around the campfire. :D

sammythesamoyed and I were there with kevinisageek, r4nger5, and a few other furs (Bladewolf, Xoid, Mattgryphon, and Anakid). Yesterday we walked 12 miles (there and back) along the canal from Sowerby Bridge to Hebden Bridge.

I've been back home for a few hours, had a bath, caught up on Internetz, and had dinner. :3

I've often thought about getting a self-contained solo cooking unit for when I got camping and I think I may have found it: The Primus EtaExpress.

Quote from the data sheet: "EtaExpress includes a stove that mounts directly on the LP gas cartridge, a windscreen for maximum fuel savings, and even a 1 liter pot. The lid can also be used as a frying pan. Both the pot and the frying pan are coated on the inside with a three layer titanium nonstick surface. All of the components, as well as a 230 gram LP gas cartridge, can be packed into the pot."

Upon further research (googling) I found a review of the stove. This is starting to look better than the MSR Reactor and the Jetboil PCS. And at £60 the price is right too.

If I decide to get one then I shall review it. :)

After V r4nger5 pointed this out to me last Sunday I just had to buy one.



It folds up freaking tiny, uses the resealable butane gas canisters (except the Camping Gaz ones), is quite sturdy, at 235g it's incredibly light, and it only cost £20 brand new. :D

I can't wait to try it out when I next go camping. :D

I'm gonna be camping at Sowerby Bridge (near Halifax) this weekend, Friday night while Sunday afternoon.

My kit will consist of:

Other Arms Bergan
|- Tent - Coleman Avior X²
|- Self-Inflating Roll Mat
|- Sleeping Bag (Blacks Quad 2, XL)
|- Sleeping Bag liner
|- Poncho Liner
|- Spare clothes (3 days worth)
|- Stove
|- Mess tins
|- KFS
|- Food (three days worth)
|- 1/2 gallon water bottle
|- Folding chair (comfort is a good thing)
|- MagLite Mini (LED Conversion) w/spare cells.
|_ LED Lantern

More stuff will be added to this list as the day approaches.

Back Sunday!

So I got myself a new tent on Thursday of last week for camping, as my old one was unusable.

I decided to get the Coleman Avior X². My god, this is an awesome tent.

From first glance it's pretty amazing. Not only is it 2.5kg packed but it's not much bigger than my sleeping bag is in it's compression sack. When I got to the campsite later that day and unpacked it I was again surprised; Coleman really went out of their way to make sure you can raise the tent as quickly as possible (18 minutes, the booklet said. I raised it in 15), the inner tent was already attached to the outer when I opened it up!

So I spread it out on the ground and took out the tent poles and pegs (which were awesomely stored in sleeves with sewn elastic bands instead of ties!). The poles looked tiny but are made of aluminium and went into the designated points quite easily. The pegs weighed almost nothing despite being quite sturdy and went into the earth quickly and without bending (I use my boots instead of a mallet). All that was left after that was to tighten the straps and open her up!

Now I'm the sort of person who likes to have space, so I normally clash any tent as one person less than advertised (unless you like spooning), so this 2 man tent is a 1 man tent to me. There was more than enough space inside for all my bits and pieces and once I had my rollmat (self-inflating) and sleeping bag inside it was pretty cosy.

This is possibly the most awesome part of this tent. The whole top of the inside of the tent is insect netting, allowing for much more air circulation. There were also an unexpected number of ventilation "windows" inside the tent. This is a crucial thing for me as I hate waking up in a hot and sticky tent.
The only downer to this is that during the night it can get a little chilly, but that's why you need to pack a poncho liner(aka ranger blanket) or a sleeping bag liner as well as your sleeping bag, because if you're like me you'll feel better if you wake up warm rather than sweating.

And that's enough of my rambles! c.c

So this weekend cavebearranting, exiledwolf and I went camping at a wonderful campsite in Sowerby Bridge (near Halifax).

Zac (cavebearranting) headed off to the site early on Friday to pitch up and exiledwolf met me at Leeds train station after work. We arrived in Sowerby Bridge at around 20:20 and then went to the site.

As soon as we arrived I started to pitch my tent, wanting it up before twilight hit fully. This place really is beautiful, a small field cut right into the middle of a small forest which is easily accessable and despite a rew rough steps is absolutely beautiful (pictures will come this evening).
There was also a river which ran right past the site (OK accessability) which was soothing to listen to whilst relaxing.

I suppose the most awesome thing was that campfires are allowed. We had to burn our wood in an old barbeque, but the act of going out to find firewood, cutting it up properly to burn later, and then sitting in front of the fire as dusk turned to night was amazing.

Saturday was spent walking through the forest and generally having extended conversations about this and that, and Exile's attempts to create the ideal basha setup. It was a wonderful way to relax.

I'm still pretty chuffed with myself that I was able to pack everything (including the tent) into my PLCE bergen (rucksack). This means less kit to take with me to Download. :D

We're hoping to go again in three weeks time. Anyone want to come with? :)

Download is only 37 days away. I've got my ticket booked, the days off work sorted. :D

Who's going and will be camping? I'll be going down on my own and it'd be nice to pitch up near someone I know.

I really want to go camping sometime next month. I need to get away from urban life for a couple of days.

Anyone else interested?

Yeah you guys are right, I should really wait until things warm up. :)