Cheap camping gear for the UK meet!

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **on:** March 20, 2008, 10:53:43 PM

Seeing as a lot of you coming to the meet aren't bushcrafters/campers I thought I'd have a bit of a route around for you

I've bought from these guys before, and infact have both these items, and can't recoment them enough, especially considering the price

http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shop/camping-outdoor/cooking-eating/cooking/trangia-stove-mess-kit-330662.html

These are old war stocks, so will need a bit of a clean before you can use them, other than that there totally sound, and have quite a following in outdoors circles

http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shop/army-surplus/bags-rucksacks/army-issue-35-ltr-rucksack-with-345426.html

Very hard wareing, and almost as comfortable as my Bergaus Munro

As for cheap tent's, well I'm still looking for one $:-\$ , I quite like the look of this one...
http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shopscr1163.html
...but I can't see everyone liking it

Hope this helps some of you guy's out

Benner · **Reply #1 on:** March 21, 2008, 12:25:04 AM

Cheers for the links. I'll have a good look at them buddy.

Roadie · **Reply #2 on:** March 21, 2008, 12:47:10 AM

Quote from: micky d on March 20, 2008, 10:53:43 PM

As for cheap tent's, well I'm still looking for one $:-\$ , I quite like the look of this one...
http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shopscr1163.html
...but I can't see everyone liking it

Hope this helps some of you guy's out

Nice and light that tent

I remember having to lug around the old Vango Force 10 tents when i worked at an outdoor centre.... that was fun (not!) Very nice tents though just a shame they are so heavy. I'd like to get myself a nice new tent but i have various other things to spend my money on first!

As for trangia's they are the bee's knees! That seems a good deal too for that one. And meths is always fun! (not that i advocate playing around with flammable liquids that would be irresponsible of me

)

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #3 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:46:31 AM

Your preaching to the converted

, I love meths, nicely flammable, and pretty enviromentally friendly too

Benner · **Reply #4 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:56:28 AM

I could spend a lot of cash on that site mate. THANKS!!!

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #5 on:** March 21, 2008, 10:57:43 AM

Quote from: Benner on March 21, 2008, 10:56:28 AM

I could spend a lot of cash on that site mate. THANKS!!!

At least the gears cheap there, I could have given links to mega expensive site's

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #6 on:** March 21, 2008, 06:32:25 PM

Just tested my Trangia for the first time in 5-6 months, lit first time on old meths!, I love these things

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #7 on:** May 05, 2008, 07:38:36 PM

So has anyone else got any recommendations for cheap, but effective outdoor/camping gear

FredKJ · **Reply #8 on:** May 22, 2008, 05:41:27 PM

Well guys(mates) I live in a suburb of Denver Colorado and we have outdoor shops all over the place and a good second hand market. Don't know what you guys have living under the despotism of good king George. I would look into as many second hand sources as you can. I have gotten a lot of second hand gear from tents to packs and stoves. The only thing I wouldn't consider getting second hand is a sleeping bag. But if your weather is mild a cheap bag might work. Here in the mountains the evening temp can drop below freezing at altitude even in summer so a good bag is necessary.

FredKJ · **Reply #9 on:** May 22, 2008, 06:02:24 PM

Quote from: Roadie on March 21, 2008, 12:47:10 AM

Quote from: micky d on March 20, 2008, 10:53:43 PM
As for cheap tent's, well I'm still looking for one $:-\$ , I quite like the look of this one...
http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shopscr1163.html
...but I can't see everyone liking it

Hope this helps some of you guy's out

Nice and light that tent I remember having to lug around the old Vango Force 10 tents when i worked at an outdoor centre.... that was fun (not!) Very nice tents though just a shame they are so heavy. I'd like to get myself a nice new tent but i have various other things to spend my money on first!

As for trangia's they are the bee's knees! That seems a good deal too for that one. And meths is always fun! (not that i advocate playing around with flammable liquids that would be irresponsible of me )

Trangias are alcohol stoves. Don't produce a great deal of heat but will work for mild weather. If you want to go cheap you can make an alcohol stove out of a beer can and some jute string. I've made several and if anyone is interested I will explain how. Hobo stoves made out of coffee cans work as well. I have a Sierra Zip stove. It's a rather interesting woodburning contraption. Has a small fan with forced air and works like a blow torch. Fuel tab stoves like you mention aren't really good for cooking, can heat a hot drink or some soup but that's about it. I've used them too.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #10 on:** May 22, 2008, 07:15:15 PM

I love my Trangia, It's is like you say a bit slow, but oh so reliable

As for making one, our very own Spork has a tutorial

...

http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=35

FredKJ · **Reply #11 on:** May 22, 2008, 07:31:31 PM

Quote from: micky d on May 22, 2008, 07:15:15 PM

I love my Trangia, It is like you say a bit slow, but oh so reliable

As for making one, our very own Spork has a tutorial ...

http://www.sosakonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=35

I'm familiar with that variant design. It can be made even simpler. You guys were wanting cheap camp equipment. The homemade alcohol stove does fit the bill. Only real cost is the alcohol for it. If you want woodburning hobo stoves are pretty easy to make. Google on it and you'll find plenty of designs.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #12 on:** May 22, 2008, 07:36:00 PM

The thing is, I've got a lot of camping/bushcraft stuff, but it's mostly solo stuff

, so it's the rest of the guys who need the stuff, and I don't really care if they freeze or go hungry

I might have to look up some of those hobo stove's, they look a lot of fun

FredKJ · **Reply #13 on:** May 22, 2008, 08:19:58 PM

The simplest concept of a hobo stove is a coffee can with holes punched in the bottom sides for air intake. All kinds of variations have been devised over time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo_stove

It's more efficient than a campfire as the heat is concentrated.

For a higher tech version check this out.

http://www.zzstove.com/sierra.html

I have had a couple of these. They are neater than sliced bread. They produce as much heat as a fuel stove. As long as you are in an area that doesn't have a fire ban they are great.

FredKJ · **Reply #14 on:** May 22, 2008, 09:02:41 PM

If you want a good site on homemade stoves check this site out.

www.zenstoves.net

The tinker value alone building some of these with the multitools is worth it. Many work suprisingly well.

If you really want a "cheap" tent using painters plastic drop cloth works fine. For tie offs ball up small rocks in the plastic and tie the cord around those. They won't tear easily and you can make all kinds of shelters out of them.

There is actually a great satisfaction to using homemade gear and it also feels good on the wallet.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #15 on:** May 22, 2008, 10:50:11 PM

Quote from: FredKJ on May 22, 2008, 09:02:41 PM

If you want a good site on homemade stoves check this site out.

www.zenstoves.net

The tinker value alone building some of these with the multitools is worth it. Many work suprisingly well.

If you really want a "cheap" tent using painters plastic drop cloth works fine. For tie offs ball up small rocks in the plastic and tie the cord around those. They won't tear easily and you can make all kinds of shelters out of them.

There is actually a great satisfaction to using homemade gear and it also feels good on the wallet.

Zen stoves saved to favourites mate, thank you

FredKJ · **Reply #16 on:** May 22, 2008, 10:56:54 PM

Well they are looking for cheap camping gear. There's nothing wrong with the roll your own route. Homemade stoves fall into two general categories the hobo woodburning ones and the alcohol stoves. Of course I have put an alcohol burner into my hobo contraption. Had a few problems with the hobo stove wanting to become a vapor chamber I had to work out. Fortunately I didn't get into trouble with Homeland security for that one. You can make working ones fast. Tinker and experiment and you will improve the efficiency. Here is another manufacturer of a commercial hobo stove. You can steal more ideas from it.

http://www.littlbug.com/

If you have a littel pyromaniac in you you can do all kinds of things. Their fun to make and work suprisingly well.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #17 on:** May 22, 2008, 11:05:27 PM

There are some great idea's there mate, and I'm glad to see that a lot of them are quite enviromentally friendly too

, + it's good run to turn old junk into something useable

FredKJ · **Reply #18 on:** May 22, 2008, 11:35:32 PM

Well people are talking about cheap camping stuff for a meet. So if you can't build a stove out of junk and a tent out of drop cloth for less that say 10$ or whatever in Brit currency what more can you ask for. I've used both hitech stuff and the homebrew. Sometimes it's actually more fun using the homebrew stuff. There is a "tinker" factor. I suppose it's "green" but I was green before green was cool. So it's time to whip out the multitools and make something with them. If you are making shelters out of plastic drop cloth you can reinforce them with duct tape. Not only does this stuff work well but it's pretty fun to make. The whole idea of having a multitool or SAK is that you can make anything you need. So go for it mates. Be inspired. Make MacGyver proud.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #19 on:** May 22, 2008, 11:38:40 PM

I think this deserves a thread of it's own mate, I'll pm the other Mod's and see if we can do a multitool built camp, make our own stoves and shelter's and anything else I can think off

Thanks mate I feel kind off inspired now

Hoghead · **Reply #20 on:** May 23, 2008, 02:26:09 AM

Here's a link to Wings-The home made stove archives. It shows how to make several different stoves.

http://wings.interfree.it/html/main.html

FredKJ · **Reply #21 on:** May 23, 2008, 03:45:31 AM

OK so if that doesn't get the creative juices flowing nothing will. So don't whine about affording gear for camping at a meet and whip out our tools and do something besides opening clamshell packages. If this stuff works in the mountains of Colorado it will work on a peaceful English campsite. You don't have to just buy something to get the job done.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #22 on:** May 23, 2008, 09:32:25 AM

Thanks for the link Hoghead

And Fred I'll be having a think and see what we can come up with

Benner · **Reply #23 on:** May 24, 2008, 10:08:16 PM

Quote from: micky d on May 22, 2008, 07:36:00 PM

The thing is, I've got a lot of camping/bushcraft stuff, but it's mostly solo stuff , so it's the rest of the guys who need the stuff, and I don't really care if they freeze or go hungry

Thanks MATE

nezza33 · **Reply #24 on:** May 27, 2008, 04:00:08 PM

I bought a lichfield tent out of Argos its great for 2o quid.

Mike, Lord of the Spammers! · **Reply #25 on:** May 28, 2008, 07:33:50 PM

Quote from: nezza33 on May 27, 2008, 04:00:08 PM

I bought a lichfield tent out of Argos its great for 2o quid.

Now thats exactly the sorta thing were after

Dunc · **Reply #26 on:** May 28, 2008, 07:55:17 PM

Quote from: micky d on May 28, 2008, 07:33:50 PM

Quote from: nezza33 on May 27, 2008, 04:00:08 PM
I bought a lichfield tent out of Argos its great for 2o quid.
Now thats exactly the sorta thing were after

What about my Asda 2 man tent for under £8 .

Lets hope it doesnt end with ' Mike , Ben can I get in with you my tents blown away '

Dunc