lightweight weekend camping trip

[bushcraft.mcf]

anyone got any good advice for minimal equitment to take on a weekend camping trip?

[Fletching]

Just remember the basics: knife, shelter, fire, food, water, navigation and first-aid and base your choices around these.

Shelter - tarp/poncho (take paracord), bivi bag and sleeping bag
Fire - firesteel,/matches/lighter/other (take 3x methods to be sure!) and tinder materiel
Food - hobo stove/fuel burner (take fuel) and/or rations and spoon/fork and cup/billy
Water - couple of lightweight bottles (think min 2L pp per day)
Navigation - compass
First-aid - kit

Hope this helps

Steve

[bushcraft.mcf]

thanks for that steve:D

[comanighttrain]

spot on Steve.

Also consider your destination. Get an OS Landranger map (usually good enough). Some water purification kit - plenty of fresh water about trossachs/highlands if your headed there. A boil will do the job but failing that a simple filter and chlorine pill.

[Martin]

My advice, for what it's worth, is to take what you think you'll 'NEED'. When you get home, look at all the stuff you took and discard all the bits you didn't use (except emergency/safety items), then the next time you go out, leave all that at home. Gradually, you'll get lighter and lighter. Aim for a pack weight of around 10Kg excluding food and water and you won't be doing badly.

Martin

[paul standley]

My advice, for what it's worth, is to take what you think you'll 'NEED'. When you get home, look at all the stuff you took and discard all the bits you didn't use (except emergency/safety items), then the next time you go out, leave all that at home. Gradually, you'll get lighter and lighter. Aim for a pack weight of around 10Kg excluding food and water and you won't be doing badly.

Martin

Martin makes a good suggestion in my view. I still have my wild camping/Bushcrafting "L" plates on (or maybe my green "P" plates by now) but anyway, I applied Martine's logic last year and it works well. You get to know what "you" need based on your needs, style of camping, trekking etc and learning it the hard way (heavy packs to start with) means you'll remember it next time...!

[greenb2]

anyone got any good advice for minimal equitment to take on a weekend camping trip?

Hi I can manage a 2-3 day hike on 9 kg including my food and water= 3l hydration pouch.
try looking around for the lightest sleeping bag with the highest rating on the budget you have set then go for the tarp and hammock again go for light.

my gas stove is a mear 47 grms whilst i opt for the noodles and dried mash when it comes to the food..

try this site for lightweight gear. although maybe not everything is the lightest still very good.

http://www.backpacking-lite.co.uk/

Also http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/

good luck and have fun.

[IBrown]

You are spot on Martin. I do a lot of wild Brownie fishing in the streams of Wales and being light is a must. I did exactly what you said took out what i didn't use bar essentials each time i came home. Now I carry very little with me.

[Adam Savage]

try this site for lightweight gear. although maybe not everything is the lightest still very good.

http://www.backpacking-lite.co.uk/

Also http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/



some good sites there, especially the last one, can see why it's a favourite for many people on here.

[great white ape]

Just got back from 2 nights of camping. We made our shelter and slept with a fire for extra heat.

1) good sleeping bag/bivi or poncho - lightweight and fast
2) a good knife
3) a folding saw was fantastic
4) some para cord
5) water
6) food
7) maps

Clothes we wore and good fun was had.

Check out the forum "2 nights in the woods" for kit pics and camp set up

[Adam Savage]

Just got back from 2 nights of camping. We made our shelter and slept with a fire for extra heat.

1) good sleeping bag/bivi or poncho - lightweight and fast
2) a good knife
3) a folding saw was fantastic
4) some para cord
5) water
6) food
7) maps

Clothes we wore and good fun was had.

Check out the forum "2 nights in the woods" for kit pics and camp set up

So you used the same set up as that trip, did you go back to the same spot? or did you build fresh shelters?
planning on getting some more shelter building done soon as I can get to my local site

[great white ape]

Hey Crazysain22,

Only did the one trip, and we used the same shelter. To be fair this does take a couple of hours and worth doing properly. We struck gold to be fair, as the area was mixed woods so we kept an eye out for the tell tale sign of evergreen trees. We took some of the lower branches off leaving the trees standing for our shelter cover, and not far was a huge patch of moss which we rolled up and used too. The area had been left for years (looked like an old game bird rearing farm) and was littered with wood.

My pack was full and unless I pick up some side pockets I dont know what else I could of bought. Perhaps as the weather is getting better, a tarp and hammock option could be used. Swap the bag/bivi combo and just bring a wool blanket.

[Adam Savage]

Like you say, sounds like the ideal spot. Have the same problem, my forest pack is only a 30ltr with odd bits attached to the outside, like roll mat, shovel, saw, etc but looking for a couple side pouches to add another 20ltr letting me have that extra bit of room. Having said that my pitch pack is 60ltr and I can fill that to the brim with things I "might" need. Prefer wooded areas as I can leave the 2.6kg tent at home and bring the hammy and tarp, weighing less than 1kg and taking up a lot less bulk on/in the pack. Have an old wool blanket but with a small pack you have to roll it up on top where it could get wet, unless you pop it in a dry sack then attach it, but then the dry sack is open to tearing on branches as you move around. It's all down to preference and what you can carry or do without I guess.