In a previous post I wrote about what army surplus gear means to me.
That post explains this latest purchase from eBay.
For my money I got these British army mess tins, that came with a Firedragon stove and fuel. I think these Firedragon stoves replace the esbit stoves and fuel. Apparently esbit fuel has become illegal to use, sell, own without a license from the Government. It turns out nasty people can use it to make things go bang. Or that’s the thinking behind this “ban”.
They also had a pleasant surprise included that I wasn’t expecting. But more on that in a moment.
I’ve not been able to confirm one hundred percent that these are the mess tins that the Paras were using when Dad was serving in the late sixties.
But the likely hood is very strong.
When mum saw these mess tins after I opened up the parcel they came in, her words were “didn’t we have some like this?”
Which makes me think that at some point in my childhood we did have them. Most likely dads. What happened to them I have no idea.
The surprise I mentioned above was the seller had included a bag of “random” ration kit stuff.
There was a plastic long handled spork! Pot scourer, matches, water purification tablets, wipes, sugar, couple tea bags, hot drink whitener, some mystery sauces. My French (I think that’s the language) is nonexistent.
I do want to play with the Firedragon fuel. That will work in the Crusader mk1 or mk2 stove.
Will I use this mess kit? I think this may be used when I’m car camping with the Naturehike duel stove I have. But this in reality was bought as a piece of nostalgia.
Part of my gear refresh has seen me purchase one or two items. Such as the BCB crusader mk1 cookset, a British army basha, a British army artic sleeping bag, US Marine bivy bag from the modular sleep system, a Dutch army hooped bivy bag, and a USGI poncho are the items that come to mind as I start writing this post.
Why?
The gear isn’t the lightest, most hi tech latest and greatest walking/outdoor kit. Although it is great value. Often cheaper than a similar “civilian” product.
The gear is also usually a lot more robust. Able to keep working after taking a lot more abuse than regular gear could. Yes it’s built to a higher spec. It has to be. A soldier has to be able to rely on the kit in much more harsh environments than your average hiker/bushcrafter will ever experience.
But I think there is another reason why I’m drawn to it.
My dad was in 2 Para D Company in the late sixties to early seventies. He left the army not long after my brother was born.
Although I was born in Wisbech. The first two years of my life were spent in Aldershot. Which at the time was the home of the Parachute Regiment.
Growing up my brother and I were very typical little boys. Always playing soldier. Especially on days out to Sandringham, or camping trips to Thetford. We had dad’s old beret as part of our play gear. We even had homemade shields from old playboards.
I have vague memories of going to army shows as a kid, along with family days held by the TA. Which saw kids being able to fire guns on the firing range. Supervised obviously. Of the shows I have memories of helicopters, armoured personnel carriers, and tanks being there for kids etc to explore and climb over. I remember cargo netting for climbing, even death slides.
Some of our birthday parties were at the old TA hall in Wisbech (now long gone and replaced by an Aldi).
There used to be an army surplus store at Eye. Which dad took us to once or twice. I enjoyed my visits. Always leaving with something. I was in the scouts at this time. It was on an over night camp at the old scout hut (now built over) that I wore a surplus wool shirt purchased from Eye. Boy was it itchy.
I think part of me sees getting and using this army surplus kit as Jamling Tenzing Norgay describes so well with the title of his book, (and I borrowed for the title of this post) Touching My Father’s Soul.
There was never a chance I’d join the army. Despite that being my life ambition when I was under the age of ten. There would only be one regiment I would ever be able to join. As a teenager I knew that I wasn’t up to doing that. My skills lay in other areas. The home computer boom of the early eighties had shown me I had a talent for programming.
I know that in his note to me dad said I was a good son. But I can’t help thinking that if I’d followed him into the Paras he would have been really proud.
I did have a spell in the air cadets (mainly because my mates were in it) and got my marksmanship badge. I’m not sure how dad felt about that.
I think this is my way of saying my early years were as an army kid.
Dad took his own life in 1988 at the age of 42. I was 20 at the time. Going over the events of that morning is maybe for another day. I’ve now lived more than 14 years longer than him. That day has been with me ever since.
This surplus gear for me on a personal level feels like I’m connecting with dad. Yes it’s not gear he actually used. But similar. However just having it, using it (eventually), somehow creates a link between us.
Using the protractor to work out a compass bearing on a map. It’s something dad would have done. Somehow in that moment I’m following in his footsteps.
One day before I get too long in the tooth I too will under take my version of the journey Jamling Tenzing Norgay took by jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.
Until then I will continue to think of dad every time I use a bit of military kit.
Did you even know there was a mystery that needed solving?
I have recently been tempted to purchase a BCB Crusader Mk1 cookset.
This is a cookset that was apparently issued to British forces (replaced by a Mk2) It consists of a cooker, pot, water bottle, and cup. These all stack into a neat tower that fits into a storage pouch.
I went for the Mk1 over the Mk2 because of the shorter form factor. The stove and pot are shorter. I particularly liked the look of the smaller pot over the taller mk2 pot.
So I went onto eBay and bought the BCB Crusader Mk1 cookset, along with the BCB mini fireball flint and striker, the BCB cup lid, the BCB pouch. I also bought the Mk2 Multi-Fuel stove as well (just out of curiosity, it should work with the Mk1 stuff nicely).
But whilst I was waiting for my new purchases to arrive I kept seeing how to modify your BCB Crusader Mk1 to work with a trangia strove videos on YouTube.
I was asking myself why aren’t they using the stove cross stand you can get for the trangia? Is the stand too big and won’t fit?
Granted with a trangia sitting in the stove the pot has to sit on the trangia itself. Which means you can’t use the trangia. The video below shows the issue and their solution.
But does it warrant cutting out the base of the stove as I saw in one video? Or as above the use of a grill? Even not using a trangia but using a coil of wick?
When the kit arrived late last week I quickly opened it, and dug out the trangia and the stove cross stand.
I inserted the trangia in the stove base, assembled the cross stand. Lo and behold it fitted.
Why were all these bushcraft YouTubers making life so much more complicated?
Yes the crusader pot isn’t sitting nicely partially enclosed in the cooker base. It is slightly higher.
But you aren’t cutting the cooker, carrying a grill, etc.
I haven’t used this in bad weather, so I have no idea how the stove works without a windshield in its intended way. I’d imagine a windshield of some description would be needed. I have a lightweight windshield in my bag anyway. So this cross stand seems the perfect addition to me to allow the trangia to be used without any flaffing about.
I’m currently reading Rewild Your Mind, Use Nature As Your Guide To A Happier, Healthier Life by Nick Goldsmith.
I’ve been watching some of Nick Goldsmith’s YouTube videos (his channel is no longer active) for a few months now. But in his good bye, so long and thanks for the fish video. Nick mentioned he was writing/written a book about the outdoors. So I thought I’d see if he’d finished putting pen to paper. Indeed he had so I ordered a copy of the book.
In the opening chapter, first paragraph even! Nick wrote:
“Time out in a hammock somewhere wild or sitting at the base of a tree has become an essential part of my daily routine. In Japan, this is almost an art form, known as shinrin-yoku, which roughly translates as “forest bathing”. However, no water is involved, and you can keep your clothes on! Forest bathing involves completely immersing yourself in nature and in the moment.” p27, Rewild Your Mind, Use Nature As Your Guide To A Happier, Healthier Life by Nick Goldsmith
That struck a cord with me. The whole chilling in nature.
I’d stumbled into that years ago through the wolfpack and getting in to hiking and backpacking.
Very longtime readers who were with me here when this was an outdoors blog and for some reason remained. Will remember often at weekends with the wolfpack I’d find a quiet spot whilst out with them and brew up (often filming whatever stove I was using).
Whilst I was brewing up the dogs would chill as well. They’d be taking in the new smells, finding sticks, never going very far, always in sight of me.
Probably the one thing I miss from living in Farnborough is being within such easy access to places like Fleet Pond, Frimley Park, or the army land such as Caesar’s Camp near Aldershot. I particularly miss Frensham Little pond. I still recognise the trees! when the place is used as a location in movies.
I have nothing even remotely close to what I had in the Fens. Sandringham or Thetford but they are a lot further away. More a day event than a quick get away.
Plus most of the access in the area is busy bridle ways. Whether it’s foot traffic of dog walkers, or equine. It’s very hard to find that quiet spot to just experience nature.
But Nick is right about the benefits of this timeout from the rat race, and all the stress and pressures of everyday life.
I think I can best illustrate this with when I was made redundant in 2008.
I was working for a financial software house in Surbiton at the time. A couple of years earlier the company had opened an “offshore” office as they called it in Bangkok. At the time we all knew what the future held for us. The employees there had less rights than us. The office was open 24/7, the employees worked shifts, got paid less, had less holidays. You get the picture. It was inevitable that one day management would scale back things in the UK.
One day late July, early August (I can’t remember precisely) a company meeting was called and it was announced they were cutting back and there would be some redundancies.
Well you could imagine the atmosphere, the shock and worry that people felt. I wasn’t really surprised or particularly worried. This would have been my third redundancy over the years. I knew it wasn’t the end of the world. But for some it was their first time. Naturally the uncertainty of what the future would bring, meeting financial commitments etc was a major factor on everyone’s minds.
The rest of the day was spent by management calling staff into meetings to inform them they were at risk of being made redundant. I was one of those “unlucky” ones. It was just before lunchtime when I was called in and sat down to be told I was at risk of being made redundant.
I don’t particularly remember feeling anything at the news. Almost indifferent. But when the manager said they understood this was shocking news, and offered me the opportunity to go home early to process things. I jumped at the chance to leave.
I barely spoke to anyone as I returned to my desk, just muttering I was off home. Looking back I remember the odd guilty look. Survivors remorse maybe. I grabbed my things from my desk, and was waiting for the next train home fifteen minutes later. Little did I know at the time apart from one more occasion that was the last time I’d set foot in the office.
Within an hour and a half I was home, changed, brew kit packed, and in the car with the wolfpack on our way to Fleet Pond.
We parked in our usual spot and about half way round our regular walk wondered off into the trees to find a spot to chill.
After making a brew, I sat there sipping coffee and processing the days events, as the dogs did their thing. I let the healing power of being away from it all wash over me. Here for a brief moment in time I had a respite from all that was happening. It doesn’t solve the problem, the problem doesn’t magically disappear. Once you get back into that car reality returns, as does the stress and problems of modern life and whatever else is going on in your life.
But you feel recharged, refreshed, a little bit stronger to face whatever the world is throwing at you.
Over coming months I had no idea how important these dog walks would become for my mental heath as life was about to throw another major curve ball at me. But the continuation of this story is for another day.
However that sums up what being outdoors means to me, what health benefits I get from it. Yes life over recent years has meant I’ve not been doing that. But as you know from other posts my return to the hills is in “progress” and so is trying to get out more locally in the fens. The hunt for that special spot is on.
In the meantime I’ll end with another quote from the same chapter of Nick’s book.
“Everyone has their own individual problems and concerns, but the joy of forest bathing is universal; there isn’t a more gorgeous way to destress and process.” p28, Rewild Your Mind, Use Nature As Your Guide To A Happier, Healthier Life by Nick Goldsmith
Wow I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted last.
I have been rather tired and dozing off in the afternoon once home from work, and then getting to sleep early. But that’s just getting older.
There has been some gaming but not much. I got to spend a rather pleasant afternoon Saturday gaming with Ben and his family.
We played the newly arrived expansion for Tokyo Highway, Rainbow City.
We jumped in with using the additional rules for missions. Which makes the game a bit more gamery!
It was a big hit with Ben and his family.
We also played Tonga Bonga. Which was great fun. I did like the mechanic of placing money on your ships to tempt people to place their die on your spaces over others. That and placing your dice gets very very tactical.
The afternoons gaming was finished with a very cut throat game of Big Shot. That I really liked. I do like the auction mechanic it uses.
I liked both the (to me) new games. They weren’t heavy by any means. But still very fun.
Tying myself in…
A few weeks back I asked Dave if he’d use his wood crafting skills to make me a practice board for tying knots.
In one of the posts was a 5mm hole that allowed me to thread through some 5mm bungee cord to create a loop to simulate a tent/tarp tie off point.
The idea is that whilst I’m chilling at home whilst I have something on tv playing I can have this out and practice my knots. Practice makes perfect they say.
Knot practice board
Back in a previous post I wrote that I personally only needed to know and practice five knots.
This board allows me to practice those five knots.
Yesterday morning the latest YouTube video by Chef Corso on his outdoors eats channel dropped. It was about a subject very close to my heart and I take very seriously. Coffee.
I’ve been on a very long coffee journey.
I grew up drinking instant coffee, Camp coffee. I even remember vaguely that my folks had a coffee percolator. They were a thing at one time in the seventies.
But let’s jump forward a few decades to the noughties, and married life. That’s when I started to take coffee seriously. I made a pretty mean latte.
When I was able to get out I tried lots of different solutions for coffee whilst out on the trail. Instant, liquid coffee, coffee grinds in a MSR Mugmate coffee filter (which is still an option).
In the years since moving back to my home town, caring duties, my coffee knowledge widened. I really like getting my coffee from small coffee roasters. Beans are described liked fine wines. Being single source and a higher grade they taste amazing usually. I find that these better quality beans I can also drink black.
I love my Aeropress. But now days my preferred method of making a coffee is using a Hario V60 pour over. It produces great consistent cups of coffee. I also make my own cold brew. Which I tend to make during the Summer. It’s so refreshing on a hot day.
Now the options for a really amazing coffee whilst out are numerous. Below is a brief summary of the ones I currently have and used.
Obviously no matter what way you decide to make your coffee you need to start with a quality bean. You will taste the difference. So splash out and treat yourself.
I prefer taking beans (less messy if the bag bursts) and grinding the beans myself. For this task I have a Hario Mini Mill Plus.
As a camping option for making large quantities of coffee I have a Hellery Camping Coffee Percolator Pot. It makes a reasonable coffee. I get that nostalgic glow when using it.
I also have a mocha pot for possible camp use. They are fine. There is definitely an art to getting a great cup of coffee out of them.
You can take your Aeropress (if you have one). It makes great coffee and is easy to clean.
Along similar lines you could take a cafetiere. Or like I have for the Jetboil (and a rival) the coffee press accessory. It makes fine coffee as long as you use the correct grind and seep it correctly. Pain to clean.
My preference at the moment is the MERMOO YILAN Collapsible Pour Over Coffee Dripper Cone. It comes with a storage bag that you can fit some filters in to. There are other brands that do their version of a pour over cone. You could even use a V60.
You can make cold brew coffee whilst camping or on the trail. I have a 32oz wide neck Nalgene water bottle for this and cold brew filter bags that hold the coffee grinds.
At a push and in a hurry I’ll use coffee bags. They are better than instant.
If you take your coffee seriously one of the above options that I have briefly mentioned should get you a great coffee fix away from civilisation and out in nature.
With the impending visit to Nath I have warned him that we will be going for a walk whilst I’m there.
I have an idea of where we will be walking after getting a 1:50k os map of the area and finding a woods not far from Nath’s.
The plan is that we’ll stop brew up, even have something to eat.
With that in mind
New gear arrivals in last six weeks or so (not everything I’m sure):
32 OZ, Wide Mouth, Nalgene bottle
50PCS Cold Brew Coffee Filter Bags
Snow Peak Folding Nylon Cooking Ladle
Toaks titanium 1350ml pot
CAMPINGMOON Compact Foldable Stove
Hellery Camping Coffee Percolator Pot
1:50k os maps for eTrex 32x gps
Belgian military hooped bivy
DD Hammocks lightweight hammock and under quilt (not sure if mentioned before)
I’m taking the BRS 3000T stove for this trip. I’ve not used it and it needs an outing.
The Nalgene bottle is for making cold brew whilst at Nath’s and when I go away whether camping or in hotels. Hence the filter bags.
For me to turn my dried bean and veg bags into a soup or stew for me and Nath my current pots just weren’t large enough. I think the largest was 900ml. So I got the larger 1350ml Toaks pot. That should be big enough cooking for two. Hence why I got the Snow Peak ladle. The percolator is for camping trips.
I’m hoping that the woodland walk and a bit of chill time will help Nath with all life has thrown at him recently.
Obviously a lot of this stuff will be used when camping or even backpacking. But with me using a campsite for next years UKGE, getting bits in that will make that trip as “glamorous” as possible. Or my take on it using a mixture of backpacking gear and camping gear.
I think one of the things I miss about living in Farnborough and thinking about it Crook, is being close to land you can wild camp in, practice setting up hammocks etc.
Back in Farnborough I could be walking the wolf pack, stopping for a brew in a quiet spot within 10 minutes of leaving the house. 30 minutes or more and I could be at Frensham Little Pond doing the same.
My old stove talk videos were filmed in the woods around Farnborough. And I often just chilled out in a quiet corner with the wolf pack and a brew.
In fact back in 2008 when I was told I was at risk of being made redundant, and because of this shocking bit of news given the option to take the rest of the day off. I didn’t even think twice I took them up on the “kind” offer.
Within an hour and half I had taken the train home, thrown a brew kit in the car, found a quiet spot at Fleet Pond with the wolf pack and was contemplating life, the universe, and the days events over a hot brew.
In fact apart from one other occasion during the redundancy process for signing some papers I never returned to the office. I wasn’t required to. That bit was a blessing because it was at this time Kate decided she no longer wanted to be married to me. It would have been hard to go into the office each day, concentrate on work, and pretend life was good. When it obviously wasn’t. The redundancy process spared me from all that.
But here in Wisbech I’m not so lucky on that front. I’ve yet to find those spots of refuge.
Up to an hour away is Sandringham which I think if I wild camped there might see my sleep interrupted by armed officers. My other option is around a similar traveling time, possibly a bit longer Thetford.
I do plan to explore Thetford a bit more in the future. It does seem to be a popular spot for some YouTubers to show off their bushcraft skills whilst wild camping.
There are some interesting wooded areas nearer (but still not local) that need to be investigated for suitability.
But it’s only when you no longer have it that you truly miss what you once took for granted.
In the meantime as I try and find spots that I can do a quick on the spur of the moment wild camp I’m practicing my knots.
When it comes to using a tarp and hammock I don’t like using cord with plastic (or metal) tensioning bits on them. They break, limit what the cord can be used for, etc, etc. I’m of the school that prefers to tie knots.
For me the knots I need to know when using a tarp or plan to use with my hammock are the following:
Bowline
Clove hitch
Prusik knot
Trucker’s Hitch
Tautline hitch
So how would I be using these knots when setting up my tarp?
The bowline I’m using to attach the paracord to a tie on point of the tarp. Or giving me a loop to use for tying one end of the paracord round a tree for creating a ridge line between two trees.
The clove hitch I use to secure the paracord to my trekking poles.
Whilst I use a truckers or tautline hitch to go round the tent peg (or tree) and tension the line.
Where does the prusik knot come in? That’s for when I’m using a ridge line I can use this knot to attach a tarp or bug netting to it. I do carry a couple of pre-made prusik loops for quick and easy use. I know these prusik loops are not intended for mountaineering and climbing ropes. So the knot I’ve used for them is the common overhand knot instead of the more appropriate double fisherman’s knot for joining two ends together.
For me those 5 knots allow me to do everything I need to do with a tarp or hammock.
I’m also in this downtime prepping meal ideas.
My current experiment/idea involves soaked, then cooked, and then dehydrated beans! Which I will added freeze dried garden peas, dried carrot, dried sweet corn, dried shiitake mushrooms, and/or sliced dried mushrooms (that I dried in the dehydrator).
The idea is that these packets can be added to vegetable stock and some herbs/seasoning to make either a bean soup or stew that requires minimal cooking.
So I took the opportunity to go out and play with my Goshawk OP-100, with an Alcohol Stove Cross Stand, a generic clone Ultralight Titanium Windscreen. And using the SOTO Thermolite cook set to make my noodles.
It was also an excuse to play with my drone too.
Naturally seeing as the plan was to cook lunch, and fly the drone I chose an old wolf pack walking spot that I thought would be suitable.
It was hot last Thursday, so like all mad dogs and Englishmen I was out in the midday sun. Wisely I did not take the two attack chihuahuas Nico and Loki with me. Being out in such heat would not have been fair on them. Guess who forgot suntan lotion?
After I parked the car I walked the half kilometre or so to my lunch spot.
It was an emotional walk because this was the first time I’d been to this spot since Strider joined Bud and Barney. I’ve avoided the old haunts since their passing.
I loved those dogs so much. I still miss them, and it does still get emotional when I talk about them passing away. But I have nothing but great memories of them and the places we shared together.
It’s time to remember them as I return to old haunts, and not avoid the pain and loss (yes even after all this time it still feels fresh). I hope Nathan will join me on some of these future walks, and share our memories of them.
After spreading out ready to do some cooking, I had to move everything to one side as a couple of horse riders wanted to pass. Yeah the drawbacks of being on a bridle way. I had hoped being a work day that I’d avoid something like this. But considering these were the only people and animals I saw whilst there. The plan was nearly perfect.
I’d only just started cooking my lunch when they returned. Which meant once again clearing a path for them and apologising for not having enough to share.
Before getting some more flying practice in I cooked lunch (as you might have gathered from above.
Home made pot noodle?
Lunch was a pack of three minute noodles. I was using the cheapest ones Tesco sold. There’s really no difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones. So I see no point in spending extra on them.
So as the water started to heat up I added the following ingredients to the water:
Freeze dried garden peas
Dried shiitake mushrooms
Chopped up Sun dried tomatoes
These ingredients needed a little extra time to rehydrate.
I then added the noodles along with its chicken flavour packet.
Next some rehydrated soy sauce powder was added, along with a chopped up polish pork stick (can’t remember the brand but it was one that didn’t needed storing in a fridge). I finally seasoned with salt and pepper.
Even if I say so myself this was very tasty. And washing it down with a can of Coke Zero finished off the experience.
After lunch it was time for flight school!
I’ve included short highlights below. Sadly I forgot to record the tracking/follow me stuff I did. Next time.
The bright sun of mid day did make it difficult seeing the RC controllers screen.
I kept my flight short when it became obvious that I had upset/disturbed a pair of swifts (I think they were). I want to be a responsible drone pilot. So grounding my drone was the right thing to do.
It felt weird doing this Thursday. This sort of thing is something I did all the time with the wolf pack. Finding that quiet spot. Getting the stove out. Brewing up (or cooking the odd time). And just chillin.
I had a great couple of hours, even if my arch enemy the sun was doing its best to cook me. It was very relaxing. I did catch the sun on my arms but luckily not badly.
Now to find a spot with trees to play with the hammock.
My old camp routine when I was doing something like the TGO Challenge, out in the Lakes, or Brecon Beacons, used to see me brave the elements to answer the call of nature. Followed by breaking camp and going on my way. So I could easily be hiking by 6am or 6:30am. Rarely would I go back to sleep or have a leisurely breakfast and brew before breaking camp.
Often all I’d have as I set off would be some Jolt gum to give me a caffeine hit.
I wouldn’t stop for breakfast and brew until around maybe 8:30 or even 9am. I’d find a spot to rest, breakout the cooking kit and get a brew made. Breakfast would be maybe a cold pop tart, or muesli bar of some kind.
Back then I’d never even heard of overnight oats. It was working at Huntingdon Regional College (now no longer as it swallowed up in a merger of colleges) when I first come across overnight oats. My then line manager Venessa used to bring them in for her breakfast.
Thinking about it, with a vegan colleague/friend I got exposed to one or two new food experiences whilst there.
But it wasn’t until I left that I first made my version of over night oats.
Just after adding water but before stirring
This is what I put in my overnight oats. You will notice I don’t list quantities. Everything is based around how much oats I am using. Then I judge the rest by eye.
Oats
Raisins
Sultanas
Chai seeds
Dried cranberries
Diced Dehydrated Dried Apple Flakes
Dried Goji Berries
Dried Sweetened Blueberries
Sun Dried Sour Cherries
Sweetener of some kind, ones I’ve used in past sugar, agave nectar, and honey
Pinch of salt
Sweet cinnamon
To make this into a recipe that can be used out on the trail (that sounds so pretentious) instead of adding regular milk and letting it soak overnight in the fridge. I use powdered milk, and add water.
When making this for the next morning I usually add roughly the same amount of water/milk (maybe a little bit more) as I have dried ingredients. Give it a good stir, and put the lid on. After a couple of hours I might add a little bit more liquid or check in the morning adding more liquid to get a consistency I like.
Vacuum packed ready to go
As you can see from the list of ingredients I like my over night oats to be fruity and a mixture. I love the texture that the chai seeds add.
The container I’m using is a Vadasz garlic & dill sauerkraut container that holds 400g of said product. My overnight oat portions fill approximately half of the container.
The nice thing is about repurposing this container is I get to eat the original contents first. So well worth the nearly £4 I paid for it.
