CAMPING AND OUTDOORS

Wonderful camp site on the west side of Jura - Pic: Tim Dawson

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Bivi bags and minimalist camping

Camping & outdoors techniques in the archives of Paddling.net, including a large range of outdoor cookery ideas in the sub-section headed "Alimentary, My Dear — Food and Cooking"

Camping kit - things to take - discussion

Cooking ideas - more than you could shake a frying pan at, from Wavelength Magazine.

Cooking in Camp - discussion. See this discussion for thoughts on recipies and menus. See this discussion for ideas on cooking technique

Cookware - discussion on choosing.

Dealing with Human Waste - discussion

Dealing with waste - table from Seapaddler.co.uk showing how long some materials take to decompose.

DIY kit making - see the Clothing section of the DIY / Repairs / Mods page

Environment / Camping etc - "Low Impact Camping" techniques, how to crap in the wild and how to minimise our impact from fires, washing up etc. See also this article by Douglas Wilcox - How did the Environment Survive Your Visit? (.pdf) originally published in Paddles Magazine. Environmental guidelines from the SCA.

Fires - excellent article from Paddling.net on starting fires, and the different types of fire and their uses.

Fishing, Food & "kayaking food ideas" - discussion here, here and here. See also this discussion for ideas on kit to use.

Food / recipes - discussion.

Food for expeditions - discussion

Food and cooking equipment - excellent article from Paddling.net on the cooking kit you need, as well as some great ideas for choosing and packing food, and some menu ideas. Very much geared to the "gourmet" and/or "group" side of the topic, and with a heavy US bias, but well worth reading.

Food - edible seaweeds and shellfish - discussion

Food - dehydrating - excellent illustrated article from Simon Willis. See also this discussion

Kelly Kettle - this discussion has some nice pics of these interesting devices. (If you like that sort of thing) - this discussion compares Kelly Kettle, Jetboil, ordinary gas stove and a flask for ease of heating water. See also this "Laboratory Performance, Preliminary Evaluation" article from Outdoors-Magazine.com. See Douglas Wilcox's review of the KK and other quick-brew stoves on his blog.

Knives - Britishblades.com provides a wealth of resources for anyone "into" knives, including an excellent article on using the Lansky sharpening system.. This discussion considers the legal aspects of carrying a knife, and also has some suggestions for choice of knife.

Knots - some kayaking related knots - from Netknots.com - more useful than you'd think! Knots, lashings, etc - good resource from Knots on the Web. Knots, lashings & splices from Rope Works, who claim - "Through the use of Rope Works publications and this site you will be able to learn to tie knots, splice rope, build lashed sructures, and make rope with confidence." Animated Knots.com has a wide range of "how to tie" material. Layhands.com offers instructions on how to tie many knots, bends and hitches. Nice clear diagrams for a range of knots and hitches rom the Unofficial RFA website.

Midges (the dreaded Scottish midge - the scourge of the Highlands!) - Midge Forecast. Midge Repellant - discussion

Poop Tube - a neat way of packing out human waste, made from pvc pipe.

Saws - very useful thing to have - the Silky range is excellent - try A&F Warehouse Ltd

Scottish Outdoor Access Code - Statutory Access Rights and the Scottish Access Code came into effect 9 February 2005. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 grants some useful Rights & Responsibilities. Please exercise them appropriately.

Sleeping Bags - RAB make superb sleeping bags, liners, down jackets etc and have some synthetic filled bags which would be good for kayak camping.

Sleeping bag liners (silk) - discussion

Sleeping mats - discussion covering a variety of self-inflating mats including Thermarest.

Stoves - this discussion from the Inland Forum has some comments about multifuel stoves and Trangias. As does this one. See also this discussion. Douglas Wilcox reviews some quick-brew stoves on his blog.

Stoves - spare parts for - base-camp.co.uk seem to be a good source of bits for both old and new stoves. Needlesports hold stocks of spares for Primus, Trangia, Jetboil and MSR stoves as well, or can get them quickly.

Tents - discussion on the Terra Nova Ultra Quasar and general discussion on tent choices. More here. This discussion references a wide range including Hilleberg tents.

Water purification - good article from Paddling.net - even in UK, concerns are growing about the quality of water in streams and burns. There is even a suggestion that gardia is now a risk in UK, so this article is worth looking at. See also this discussion

Wild camping - legalities - discussion.

 

(Updated 20-Aug-2008 )