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Author Topic: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th  (Read 5621 times)

torp

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Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« on: January 27, 2018 »

Tried to do a lightweight camp overnight on Thurs and it was a bit of a fast ball hence I was not properly prepared. I forgot my tarp ridge line, and a few other minor bits and bobs lol oh and not reading the forecast on the day/hence I was expecting a dry overnight and lowest temps of 5 degrees and not in the minuses. Q too light of sleeping bag and a cold night untill I eventually coaxed myself to get up and put my softie suit on and a nice warm remainder of the night. I also found it hard to get a good fire going as the wood and ground was saturated, with showers on and of most of the day and night I put a small tarp lean to up in front of the fire and was able to crawl in and stay dry and warm and consume some of the old amber nectar.
 










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Glenn B

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2018 »

Was thinking about you while I was driving home from work at 2:30am when the temp was reading zero. You need to get yourself a mini hot water bottle I got myself one and used it at the Christmas camp and have to say it was great it will definitely be the first thing in the pack from now on :D
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torp

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2018 »

Was looking at them before Xmas mate but couldn't find a small one. Went light mate 38 ltr R/sack which for me is the equivalent of a pouch lol.
Was glad I had the softie suit with me other wise a might have had to phone Mrs Torp in the wee small hrs, was just one of those days no ridge line no tent pegs just to name a few things I forgot but luckily I was able to get the tarp up with a few hanks of para cord I had. :o :o ;) ;D ;D
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Heggs

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #3 on: January 28, 2018 »

Looks like you made the most of it mate. You should've pretended nothing went wrong cause it looks like a great camp lol
I was out last night with one of the kids and I went the opposite, I felt like a donkey carrying all the kit - even slipped twice (although the 2nd time was cause we seen some fella in the forest in the nip on the way to the car and we were having a chuckle 😁)
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torp

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2018 »

bet that scared the ween mate ;D
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Heggs

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2018 »

Haha, she was giggling away. Although thankfully the only sausages we saw were in the cafe on the way home  ;D ;D
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specimanYak

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2018 »

Good stuff Torp, at least you got to spend a night in the open regardless of the weather or other niggles. That's a good way to start the year off. Get yourself one of the Ikea utensil holders (https://goo.gl/AZTUEz) and use it as a small hobo-stove. It's compact enough and fits round a Jetboil and maybe an Alpkit Bru-Kit so doesn't take up much extra room. Use small bits of wood and stack them around the stove to dry out if needed instead of trying to burn larger, sodden logs. You can reposition the stove with a few branches or a Trangia pot holder and bring the heat closer to you or to get it out of the rain. Works a treat.
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torp

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2018 »

You mean like this one


or

or


just a few i have made Dave I have the Ikea one set up with the Stanley and Tatonka mug all fits inside and is ideal for a solo hike ;)
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specimanYak

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #8 on: January 30, 2018 »

Nice, haha, you have enough stoves there. With the Ikea holder I use it only to burn wood (primarily as a fire to keep warm) rather than to cook on, instead of making another fire. It means you can burn smaller bits of wood (when bigger logs are too wet), move it around or set it in between your legs instead of moving closer to a fire, you bring the fire to you.
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torp

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #9 on: January 30, 2018 »

Good idea Dave I have mine set that I can use sticks/ meths burner and as mentioned earlier they are compact when all fitted together and a light alternative for a solo hike. ;)
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specimanYak

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Re: Helens Tower Thursday25th/Friday26th
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2018 »

They're a great bit of kit, versatile, lightweight and takes up no room. It's always good to see how others use them.
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