Category Archives: #backtothehills

Filtering Water

March 27, 2026#backtothehills, Camping/hiking gear, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoorsDarren

I was planning this as a post for the near future. But after a Facebook question on a Kelly Kettle page I am a member of about what people did for water while out and about, and my long reply. I thought I’d expand on that reply here.

We all know that filtering requirements change not only depending on country in, but also location within that country.

This post is UK centric. That’s where I’m based. How I filter is what makes me feel safe to drink the water I source. This works for me! It may not work for you or you prefer some different filter, etc. That’s fine. I repeat This works for me!

I’m not an expert.

In the UK in the decades since a Tory government privatised the water industry, and especially since leaving the European Union. Our water quality of rivers and beaches has gone downhill drastically. The amount of sewage dumped by the water companies into our water ways is criminal. And I won’t even go into the lack of investment, repairs, no new reservoirs, increasing water bills and shareholder profits taking out billions.

The bottom line is our water ways are not the idylic pure sources we picture of old, where you could dip your cup and drink straight from the source. Before we drink the water from whatever source we will need to treat it somehow.

How you treat your water depends on your assessment of the source and the surrounding area. Is it fast flowing? Any dead animals up stream? Is the surrounding land farmland? You get the idea.

Based on my assessment of the source I will adjust my filtering process.

So what makes up my water filtration kit?

I’m going to start with the Forest Fundamentals Millbank bag.

If the water source I’m going to use has debris in it like twigs, dirt particles, bits of leaves. Then this is my way of removing them. It’s not going to remove bacteria, parasites, viruses, or chemicals.

Removing the debris also means that the sawyer squeeze will last longer between back flushes.

Next up is the Cnoc Vecto. I use either a 1 litre or 2 litre capacity. They work for me.

I don’t take both. I select the one based on what I think my needs will be on the trip.

Both are the 28mm thread so they can be used with the Sawyer squeeze.

The Cnoc is only ever used with contaminated water that I collect with it or from the Millbank bag.

I use the Sawyer squeeze filter.

I have modified mine!

The modification is to replace the washer going into the filter with a plumbers washer that has a micro metal filter on it (see the photo below). This stops any debris getting into the filter. Once again prolonging the time between back washes.

The squeeze uses these hollow micro tubes that are “Rated to 0.1 micron absolute filtration, it removes 99.99999% of all bacteria, such as salmonella, leptospirosis, cholera and E.coli, , removes 99.9999% of all protozoa (such as giardia and cryptosporidium), and it also removes 100% of microplastics.” (Taken off the sawyer website)

Now what about viruses? That’s interesting because in an interview with Dan Becker on YouTube the owner discussed this, and in paraphrasing now. Apparently they can’t get approved for viruses because the test uses dead viruses which they can’t stop. However live viruses attach to stuff that they do stop! Now I do not know how true this is. I have neither the time or the expertise to judge how accurate that statement is. I also don’t know an expert to ask.

So why bring it up? Well you may have seen the interview and being saying “but Darren…”

For me the assumption should be it doesn’t stop them. Best to be on the safe side.

The final step part to my “system” is a Katadyn Active Carbon Water Filter Bottle Adaptor.

The Katadyn reduces chemicals, heavy metals, and improves odour and taste of the water.

Unlike the squeeze this only does about 200 litres before the active carbon needs replacing.

And then you have some adapters and tubing that allow me to jury rig the Katadyn into the process, or attach the squeeze to a water bottle.

Why I like this system is because it allows me to adjust depending on the water source what is used. If I’m high up using streams, I’d probably just use the squeeze. On the other hand if I’m in an area with lots of farmland next to the source I’d use the squeeze and Katadyn.

Yes, as far as I’m concerned this setup doesn’t remove viruses. If that was a major concern for me I have options. The easiest, even cheapest for me is to use a purification tablet. However I could get a filter that uses reverse osmosis or ultraviolet light.

Backup

Naturally things fail for whatever reason. They can even get lost.

So it’s handy to have a backup. Luckily for making water safe to drink the options are not heavy or bulky.

I normally have water purification tablets on me (with my water canteen and lid of my rucksack). I use the ones from the British Army ration packs.

I like them because they come in handy little packets of four. Which makes them easy to carry and put with other stuff, not taking up much room.

And a major bonus is they can be picked up relatively cheaply. And I do mean cheap. Often from these Army Surplus retailers you can pick up British Army ration pack accessory packets for less than 50p (I think I’ve picked them up for 20p each in the past).

These accessory packs come with plastic sporks, wipes, tissue, tea, coffee, water purification tablets, etc. You get a lot of useful stuff on top of them water purification tablets that you want.

I did the maths and it works out much cheaper than buying just the tablets for similar quantities. Plus you are getting other stuff you can use.

The final backup for getting drinking water is boiling it.

Obviously the major drawback with this method is if you want a cold drink you have to wait for the water to cool down.

Both of the above will not remove debris from the water so having a shemagh, also known as a keffiyeh or ghutra, or even a bandana is handy for doing that. Before treating your water with the water purification tablet or boiling it, using something like a bandana or shemagh to filter out the debris is a must.

Boiling and using the water purification tablets will kill bacteria or parasites, even viruses. They do not remove dissolved chemicals or remove micro plastics.

I hope this has helped.

This mornings outdoorsy stuff

March 18, 2026#backtothehills, hiking/backpacking/camping, life, the universe, and everything, outdoorsDarren

As I take a small break from painting minis, and transferring the contents of Twilight Imperium 4 and the Prophecy of Kings expansion into a single box using the 3D printed insert Colin has printed for me (still need the final pieces to finish off the transfer, there are rather a lot to print). I continue to do or play around with some outdoors related stuff.

This morning I decided to brew up using two stones from the Pillbottle stones stove and the Keith titanium canteen and cup.

I do like this stove. It’s genius really. Soak the stones in meths. Wait until all has been absorbed. Remove. Stack on top of each other. Light. Balance pot on top.

The simplicity. No spills while cooking. You don’t even need a pot stand. Although I do use these with a Fire Maple Lotus Titanium Solid Fuel Stove.

I also using an altoid style tin (which I can’t remember what came with it) create a char cloth tin. Which is basically putting a small hole in the lid and storing char cloth in it.

I also tested the char cloth (not created by me – that’s a future project) with the BCB ferro rod. Just to check if this char cloth was as advertised. It did indeed take a spark to create an ember.

At some point I’m going to have to go all Ray Mears and buahcrafty and try starting a fire this way.

Which reminds me I do have a flint and steel on the way! And yes I will be playing with that too.

This is the totally utterly last resort for me on starting a fire.

None of that friction bow crap for starting a fire. That’s all well and good when playing at shit hits the fan, I’m super stunt man survivalist.

But in reality it’s not practical in real life situations that most people want a fire.

For me it’s lighter first, matches, ferro rod. If with whatever tinder I have to hand can’t get a fire started with those then the friction stuff isn’t going to make any difference at all.

Enough of my rant. Have a nice day.

Making my own fire starters

March 17, 2026#backtothehills, Camping/hiking gear, hiking/backpacking/camping, life, the universe, and everything, outdoorsDarren

This morning decided to try making my own fire starters using the guidance of Coalcracker Bushcraft via their YouTube video on the subject.

Basically using a 1:1 ratio of wax to lighter fluid and 100% cotton, cotton pads. I spent a relaxing few minutes melting wax, mixing in lighter fluid, and then dunking the cotton pads.

I used a recycled baked bean tin to melt the wax in. And a pot gripper to lift the tin on and off the stove, and to pour the melted wax. The actual dunking was done in a recycled soft cheese container.

I did test them once dry by tearing one to open it up, and using a ferro got it to light first time.

A fun little project with practical uses.

Ramen/Noodles Riffs

July 6, 2025#backtothehills, cooking/recipes!, hiking/backpacking/camping, recipe!Darren

I do like my 3 minute noodles or as the Americans like to call them ramen. A bowl of noodles with a tin of flavoured mackerel and chopped onions is my go to comfort food.

So it’s no wonder I like them as a backpacking food.

Plus they are light, cheap, and quick to cook.

Sadly though not high on the calories side, and possibly even boring if just using the flavour packet that comes with them and nothing else. Something I see too many outdoors YouTubers doing.

That’s why I like to jazz mine up a bit.

For starters I replace the included flavour packet with a recent find of Angus & Oink Miso Ramen Noodle Broth Seasoning. But in the past I have used stock cubes as the flavouring.

I then like to add in some dry ingredients to help bulk out the noodles.

freeze dried garden peas
freeze dried sweet corn
freeze dried carrots
dried shitaki mushrooms broken up

But other dried items could be added like dried bell peppers, or sun dried tomatoes.

I then add (and I hate using this word because it sounds so pretentious) a protein of some sort. It could be piccanti fine cut spicy salami or any other salami that doesn’t need to be stored chilled. Maybe a peperami , these have been a backpackers staple to add to noodles. If memory doesn’t fail me there used to be a super noodles with it in already. Although it didn’t have nearly enough peperami, it felt like a token inclusion how little there was. Jerky of some kind is also a great choice. Or even my comfort food favourite of tinned fish. Soy chunks would be a good choice for vegans. Oh and I almost forgot dried shrimp can also be used.

Once ready I add further flavour with a packet of soy sauce and sprinkling a packet of Furikake seasoning over top.

If I want it spicy I can add saracha hot sauce, chilli powder, chilli flakes.

The basic process is bring your water to the boil. Then add the dehydrated ingredients because they need a little longer than the noodles.

I normally add my flavouring, followed by the noodles, and the peperami/salami.

Finally once cooked I add like the soy sauce, and Furikake seasoning.

You can play with the seasoning, use stock cubes or even the flavour packets that come with the noodles. If using the stock cubes I would be tempted to also add other spices such as garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika. You get the idea. If I wanted to try and go for a themed flavouring say to give the noodles a Thai inspired flavouring I’d look at the flavour wheel from SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT by Samin Nosrat, and pick one or two of the spices associated with the region.

I suppose my point here is you don’t have to be tied to the included flavour packets. It’s possible to basically make your own “flavour” packet that tastes much better.

Whatever route I decide from what I’ve just written about I like to put all of, or as much as possible of the ingredients in a single zip lock bag. Then I just have to grab that one bag and I have everything I need for my meal.

Obviously there are other recipes too. A good source of ideas has been Chef Corso with his Outdoors Eats YouTube channel. I particularly like his pad Thai noodles (link here). However he does have other ramen recipes on his channel too.

Then there is the now infamous ramen bomb. Which my understanding is a combo of ramen noodles and instant mash potatoes.

You can tell this was a backpacker /thruhiker invention. It’s light weight, quick, and packed with calories.

Personally I’ve not tried this yet. It’s something that became a thing during my time away from the outdoors. Do a search on YouTube and unsurprisingly you will find every backpacker and their dog has a take on this dish. Chef Corso has his version or spin on it.

I hope this post has helped and shown a packet of noodles, no matter how budget or fancy that they can as Chef Corso likes to say be “elevated”. And possibly inspired you to try your own creations with them.

The expensive dream comes to an end

July 1, 2025#backtothehillsDarren

If you remember back to the end of May when I was at the UKGE and camping I had a problem with my brand new Jetboil Genesis Basecamp stove.

The issue I had was that the fuel regulator didn’t attach to the stove properly. It screwed on but not enough to hold the fuel hose in place to allow the fuel to flow. As soon as you turned on the fuel the pressure broke the seal, pushing the hose away and cutting off the fuel.

Obviously once home I contacted Burton McCall (the current guardian of the Jetboil brand) and sent my Jetboil Genesis Basecamp back.

They basically swapped it for a brand new stove. That arrived at the weekend.

Naturally the first thing I did was try it out.

Guess what it has the same issue!

Is this a design problem?

The issue is that there is not enough thread on the bit that screws onto the stove to take it far enough on to hold the fuel connector in place when fuel flows.

I contacted the support people again saying the problem still exists. I gave them a choice a replacement that works or a refund.

They went the refund route.

Which I’m happy with.

However I’m disappointed that the Jetboil Genesis Basecamp has this issue.

I really like it!

It’s a great bit of design.

Yes it’s expensive. But you get everything, two burners, a five litre pot with heat exchanger, frying pan, windscreen, carry case, that you need for camping.

The quality of it all is fantastic up to the fuel regulator.

Now my much cheaper Naturehike dual burner stove just works. No issues.

The Jetboil Genesis Basecamp gets picked up today (as of writing) then I get my refund.

I like the frying pan and pot. So I’ll buy them separately. Well not the five litre pot. I’ll go for the smaller 1.5 litre pot. It’s more usable for me.

I already have a case for the Naturehike. Sadly I lose the convenience (that obviously came at a price) of everything fitting nicely into a single case. But at least this works.

I will be taking the Naturehike with me to see Nathan so we can “tailgate” or picnic during my visit.

So that is the end of the Jetboil Genesis Basecamp dream/saga. Such a shame.

Hot, hot, hotter than hell

June 17, 2025#backtothehills, #walkingDolly, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors, WalkingDarren

It’s been a busy week.

Between work and going away for a couple of days for the union to learn about the new employment rights bill currently going through the House of Lords, it’s been busy.

With yet another heat wave hitting the UK this week. This must be the third or fourth this year so far. Dolly and I headed off to Shouldham Warren.

The thinking was I wanted to do a woodland walk to give us much needed shade. Plus to try and wrap the walk up before midday.

After parking I thought let’s head towards Pentney Abbey. So that was the direction we headed off in.

As we walked through the cooling shade of the various varieties of tree, there was a slight cooling breeze.

I did have just over two litres of water on me.

I looked at the time and how far we had to get to Pentney Abbey. I made a decision to turn round and head back to the car.

There was no way I wanted Dolly out in the midday heat.

Dolly was starting to show signs of the heat affecting her. We had done longer walks than this one, but she was struggling.

We took little breaks when she needed them. Each stop I poured her some water.

I did give Dolly a longer break and an energy boost of some beef jerky.

As we got to the car there was one dog owner about to take her dog out in the midday heat. Madness.

It was a lovely short walk. But next time Dolly and I need to be out earlier. It was borderline too late this time.

Shouldham Warren

May 28, 2025#backtothehills, #walkingDolly, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors, WalkingDarren

The first day of my holiday and it’s raining.

After a morning of chores Dolly and I headed out later than planned towards Shouldham Warren.

I’ve never been to Shouldham Warren before.

I’d discovered Shouldham Woods a couple of weeks earlier when driving from work to Thetford for a meeting.

As I was driving along the A road I thought “oh this looks like a nice woods” and then noticed a forestry commission sign with the name of the woods. I mentally made a note to look it up later once home.

A week later I was talking with a friend/colleague about where Dolly and I were planning to walk next. Strangely for me I remembered the name of the wood. The friend said it was a nice woods. They had often gone there with the kids.

Apple Maps took us across country as the fastest route. One or two of the roads travelled were the typical fenland back road, single lane and bumpy.

I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived. Not a main road in sight or ear shot. A fairly spacious car park.

With the light rain I decided we would not stop for a brew. We would just use the walk as a reconnaissance walk. I’d only take the Pathfinder canteen and Dolly’s collapsible water bowl.

Once ready we headed to the trail head.

We were given a choice of two signed routes round Shouldham Warren. The Range Walk was a mile, and the Warren Walk was two miles.

An executive decision was made. We were going to follow the Warren Walk.

As the photos show the woods themself are diverse in the trees growing there. A sign at the car park listed nine species planted as part a restock program. Plus I recognised oak, beech, rhododendron.

It’s strange what two or three weeks make. Our last walk at Whitehills Wood the rhododendron were not flowering. But now here at Shouldham Warren they were. I really do love the rhododendron flower.

As we followed the yellow disks marking the route there were paths going off to the sides. I had to resist going off to explore. That would be for another day.

We saw only the odd person in the distance following other paths. The rain obviously discouraging people from going out. No car sounds or talking, just bird song, the odd cuckoo. It was peaceful.

The Warren Walk does take you to the edge of the woods and a lovely man made stream. I say man made because it’s too straight and long to be natural. Sadly the banks of the stream are too steep to get down and paddle for Dolly.

However odd spots looked like wildlife had dug routes (still steep) to the water. In some mud I thought I saw what was a badger paw print. Had it been the one making the route down?

The only drawback on this walk were the two blankets/rugs left discarded by the side of the path in a couple of spots.

There were obvious signs that some of the route was a bridle path. And I’m not talking just hoof prints.

At the return to the car park I examined one or two of the signs there. The woods themself are part of the Nar Valley Way, a 34 mile route between Kings Lynn and Gressenhall.

There was also a sign post pointing towards Pentney Abbey, apparently two miles away. Plus a sign for a ten mile circular walk that had no disk. So I’m not sure if the route has any sign posts now to follow.

Once home I did a bit of google research and found an official council pdf with os maps for the circular walk (which I printed out).

It would also appear from my googling that Shouldham Warren was the site of a Second World War rifle range. Something for me and Dolly to look for traces of next time we visit.

I can see Dolly and me returning here a lot. Not to just explore the side paths. It really is a beautiful woods. Plus it’s about the same travel time as going to Roydon Common or Whitehills Wood.

Not sure where Dolly and I will go tomorrow.

A chill walk

May 19, 2025#backtothehills, #walkingDolly, Camping/hiking gear, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors, WalkingDarren

Day one of rare back to back days off.

When Dolly and I left for our walk it was cool.

I decided to return to Roydon Common and the upper field.

I wanted something easy on my legs (I’m still trying to rest them as much as possible) whilst giving Dolly a bit longer walk wise.

I thought also the benefit of doing this route was the horse trough on the planned route as a water stop for Dolly.

However when we reached the water stop spot the horse trough was gone! All that remained was the outline in the grass of where it once was.

We walked on to find a suitable spot to chill and have lunch.

BRS 3000T, Fire-Maple Gas Canister Stand, BRS-3000T Special Stainless Steel Windproof Ring, Pathfinder Stainless Steel Nesting Cup.

My brew kit for today was the ultra light hikers favourite BRS 3000T, which I used with a BRS-3000T Special Stainless Steel Windproof Ring (from AlieExpress), a Fire-Maple Gas Canister Stand, plus the Pathfinder Stainless Steel Nesting Cup that goes with my Pathfinder canteen.

I also used my brew kit staples of a UCO Collapsible Cup, MERMOO YILAN Collapsible Pour Over Coffee Dripper, and Fire-Maple Dandelion Buddy Camping Table.

Before making lunch I made a brew, and gave Dolly much needed water.

My lunch was inspired by Chef Corso and his “pad thai” recipe (YouTube video here). But I’d forgotten a couple of ingredients (the powdered coconut milk, garlic and ginger powder). Instead my flavouring were packets of soy sauce, English mustard, sweet chilli sauce, plus two packets of peanut butter. I call this pad thai adjacent! Plus some sliced up cured meat (forget what it was specifically) thrown in. It was pretty tasty but left a messy pot.

So yes I did wash up before packing away.

The BRS and windshield did ok in the gentle breeze. It wouldn’t hold up in a stronger breeze or wind. But with the SOTO 750ml Thermolite pot, everything (stove, 100g gas canister, pot grabber, windshield) but the canister stand fits nicely inside the pot, and the canister stand tucks on top in the included bag. It’s a nice light weight cook system.

While we were chilling the day was starting to warm up.

Once packed up (leaving no trace we had been there) we did the final bit of our walk back to the car.

Dolly is really good off the lead. Stays very close, doesn’t go off chasing wild life. And is the same when we stop for a brew. She is very much like the wolf pack were when we were out and about and stopped for a brew.

All in all this was just what Dolly and I needed.

The Search for our “El Dorado”

April 30, 2025#backtothehills, hiking/backpacking/camping, outdoors, WalkingDarren

Or how I lead Dolly astray by trespassing!

Yesterday was going to be another scorcher. What better time to head off to Whitehills Wood to look for the hidden pond.

As we pulled into the small car park I was pleasantly surprised that there were no other cars.

I’m not saying I’m anti-social. But less people means more opportunities to spot the inhabitants of the wood.

We got ready (basically putting on my trail shoes, tarp hat, and haversack) and headed off into the beckoning shade of the woods.

It wasn’t long before we were at the point of the route to go off path looking for the pond on the map.

We passed the mysterious serial killers murder hole, or whatever you want to call it that we discovered on our last trip here.

In a what would seem a failed attempt to use “natural” navigation techniques to find the pond we continued straight along some deer paths.

My logic went if there was indeed still a pond in these woods then the local wildlife would have trails that would lead me to it.

A solid theory I thought.

As we followed one such “path” we stumbled upon a most definitely man made path.

Dolly and I headed left along it looking for another deer path heading in the direction of the pond.

I thought we had found one. But sadly it too like our previous visit ran into a wall of rhododendrons and trees.

It was at this point that I thought we had been defeated once again. So we stopped to for refreshments and to enjoy our shaded surroundings.

After packing up we retraced our steps back to the man made path. But instead of then heading back to the car I decided to follow the path to see where it came out.

But not too far along we came across an even better path that followed a stream.

Maybe this stream fed into the pond!

So we headed left following the path/stream. Five minutes later we were greeted by an amazing, beautiful pond and clearing.

It even had fish in it.

There was an even bigger surprise of a building there in the style of a mausoleum.

This was such a pretty spot. I’d love to wild camp here.

Dolly and I had been so close that if we had gone right earlier we’d have been having our lunch in this hidden gem.

After taking in the serenity and beauty of this spot we headed back.

More exploring was required where did the path come out?

We followed it and the stream to the edge of the woods heading to a river, and come across a gate that was locked!

Looking at the sign on the opposite side of the gate, it would appear we had been unintentionally trespassing!

This section of wood and the pond belonged to the Castle Rising estate and was not open to the public.

We turned round to retrace our steps to the spot we originally joined the path. Once there it was deer tracks back to the woods we were allowed in.

Why there is no signage up in the woods is a mystery to me.

After a brief water stop for Dolly we made our way back to the car.

Back at the car we were still the only vehicle there.

Had we been the only ones in the woods while we were there?

This had been a most excellent walk. Next time we will try and find a route to the other pond and the river.

Mysterious Shelter hidden footage!

April 21, 2025#backtothehills, hiking/backpacking/camping, WalkingDarren

Here it is the brief footage I took of the mysterious underground “shelter” yesterday.

Backup

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