January camping help

[aman]

Hi All

I have decided to test myself and my kit and do a bit if winter camping.

Now this is not winter camping in Norway or the Cairngorms it is a few days in balmy Cornwall

I have done plenty of camping over the years but it has mainly been with others and been on camp sites or at different events and festivals etc so solo wild camping in winter even in Cornwall may well present some new challenges.

I want to test both myself and my bug out bag to 72 hours+ completely self contained. I also want to suppliment what I take, with what I can catch and forage. I am going to stick to the coast as that is what I know best and the weather is likely to be milder as along as I can find shelter.

The details of the excercise are open at the moment so please do wade in with suggestions etc

I will post my equipment as and when I aquire it but I will need guidance so feel free to make suggestions and critisims as I will need help with this.

So if you was going to spend 72 hours in a Cornish winter and be self suffient what would you take?

[SimonB]

Suncream........ :)

[Martin]

Tide tables would be handy.

Martin

[GalaxyRider]

A little radio. I do like to have a little radio.

[f0rm4t]

Powdered mash & Mars bars :ashamed:

[biker-bri]

Bucket n spade with a little Cornish flag to put on top of the castle ;)

[BirchfireBushcraft]

72 hours camping with kit isn't really too much of a problem, you just end up carrying a lot of food. Water will be the issue, as it is very heavy trying to carry enough for three days. Facilities to purify water is an essential part of my 72 hour kit. And toilet paper, don't forget the toilet paper.

Ant

[TreeCamper]

Make sure you take a camera and do a bit of a video or picture diary.

Pen & Paper to write down things you wished you had brought and things that were a waste of time carrying.

You and us will learn more about bugging out for 72hrs with that than anything.

I expect you will be taking the obvious brew kit, shelter etc. so its not worth going through all that lot.

A water filter is handy and lots of porridge oats.

TC

[fish]

what yoy take will depend on the terrain really,woods,hills,coast. easy hunting will be handy,if you have permission ducks are the easiest meat to find.

[Silverback]

If you are planning on taking sharp things, a first aid kit. Doesn't need to be massive, just some essentials. You know gauze, antiseptic cream, alcohol hand gel (can use it to start fires too), couple of trauma bandages for severe bleeding, slack handful of plasters.

5 to 10 m of gaffer tape wrapped around a suitable substitute for the roll. Can be used to make wound closures, can fashion improvised splints, even use instead of a plaster cast. Repair rucksacks, boots, water bottles, punctured therma rests 1001 uses - and it burns even when wet.

Couple of snap lights and a bit of string. Can be used to signal for help in the dark. A scrap of luminous green cloth might help to highlight your position if you need rescue.

Ziploc plastic bags, to keep your essentials dry.

Dry clothes to sleep in. Cornwall maybe tropical but you can still go down with hypothermia when its 10C

[aman]

Thanks guys

I think I will be camping in woodland as close to the coast as pssible so I can do a bit of fishing or foraging along the shore

Hopfully I am going on a coastal foraging course in November

I have ordered an army arctic sleeping bag but it has not arrived yet so I can't tell you what it is like

I am going to do an inventory of my kit this weekend so I will see what I have and what I need

[Humakt]

I assume you don't need recommendations for all the obvious stuff.

Like you, if it was me I would definitely keep to the coast - I am a much better coastal forager than an inland one.
Depending on circumstances I would like to take a shrimping net, but probably only possible if you're going to be in a static camp you can drive in to. A bit big and bulky otherwise. Or take a crab hook.

[aman]

I do have a shrimp pot which I can put out. It collapses so it is easy to pack. A crab hook is a good idea.

I did see a video on making shrimp traps out of found soft drinks bottles

[TreeCamper]

When we were kids, this was before the bottled water became popular we used to go looking for French plastic water bottles(flotsam & jetsam) which were a bit of a novely at the time.

We would cut the top ends off them, thread a piece of string at the top for a handle, then put a couple of stones and a mashed up Limpet in the bottom. We would then lie them down in a rockpool wait for the prawns to go in then whip it out quick. If you are in a good spot its amazing how many you can lift.

TC

[jbrown14]

Pen & Paper to write down things you wished you had brought and things that were a waste of time carrying.

This is one of the better suggestions, especially if this is a "shake down" trip for you to test your bug-out bag. I've tried in the past to make notes after the fact, and I don't always remember what worked and what didn't or what gear I used and didn't. Once or twice I've actually taken notes in the journal that I took along, but I'm really not much of a writer when I'm out. I do usually have a small notebook like the size that would fit in the breast pocket of a suit, and I carry a wooden #2 pencil about the same length as the notebook so they both fit in the same space.

Good luck!

Josh

[aman]

If you have a pencil and a pencil sharpener you will always have dry tinder

[FishyFolk]

Your wool socks and wool pullover is holy. They are kept dry at all times and never, ever used if there is the slightest chance of you getting wet, work up a sweat etc.

[jbrown14]

If you have a pencil and a pencil sharpener you will always have dry tinder

T^

[GalaxyRider]

Weed?

[aman]

Weed?

Are you on on something?

[Silverback]

Weed?

explains quite a bit ;)

[OakAshandThorn]

Bucket n spade with a little Cornish flag to put on top of the castle ;)
My thoughts exactly :D
Heheheheheheheheheheeeee! ;)

[aman]

My thoughts exactly :D
Heheheheheheheheheheeeee! ;)

Thanks for your help