Water purification

My personal choice for water purification is filtering using the Millbank bag and then boiling.

This system will kill anything infecting the water except for chemical pollution. All other pollutants are killed off at 100 degrees or lower.

Once you boil the water it is safe to drink. 

Overnight kit

Here is my overnight kit.
I try to keep my pack weight down without loosing too much comfort.

This full kit weighs in at 16 pounds.

Kit consisted of..

• Rucksack
• Sleeping bag
• DD 3x3m Tarp
• British Army bivvy bag
• Self inflating multi mat
• Ridgeline and pegs
• Knife
• Bahco laplander saw
• Tatonka burner
• Ti Spork
• First aid kit
• Emberlit stove
• Crusader mug and Nato water bottle
• Food and brew kit

.. and in my pockets..

• Torch and headtorch
• Firesteel
• Gloves

Thanks for reading

Out for a brew

Went out today for a brew in the woods, had a little snow recently so made sure I packed the hat and gloves!

Also wanted to try out my new Emberlit stove

A walk up and along the local river.

The Emberlit stove is great, flat packs, can fit into a cargo pocket, strong and robust and multi use. Only used it with meths and wood so far but it preforms brilliantly. Its becoming part of my Woodland EDC as well as camping kit

A ridge around 1.5 miles away, the camera is still relatively new to me.

Hope you enjoy reading, best wishes.

Hammock set up

My Hammock set-up is a DD 3x3m Tarp and a DD Camping Hammock.

The Hammock is set up using the original webbing looped around the tree and the Hammock is tied to the trees using two quick release knots and prussic loops to tension the ridge. Then simply guy out all corners taught.

Basic set-up but provides a good nights sleep or just a comfy few hours in the woods.

Hobo stove

This is my hobo stove setup:

To make this set cost me under £3 to make.

The 'stove' is a utensil holder from ASDA that cost under £2 and the 'billy can' was £1 from the pound shop. 

To make I drilled two holes in the billy which i will add a handle too, the tent pegs were the correct size although I have some lighter stainless steel skewers I cut to size with a hack saw and the stove I drilled a series of air holes around the bottom so the fire gains oxygen, a 'door' to feed wood into the stove without removing the pot and holes to hold the tent stakes in place to hold the pot.

Also pictures is the Emberlit stove for a windscreen.

The stove itself takes up no more room than carrying a billy alone and weighs very little, and if open fires are not allows this is very sensible and discrete. The stove catches any ashes so it is very easy to clear up and 'leave no trace'

This little thing is great, you can boil water, cook food, it stands as its own windshield and pot stand, eat from it and drink from it and you can hang the billy over the fire. The stove can be used with wood, a meths stove, hexamine or gel fuel so it is very versatile and free using the wood option and the stove.. well for £3 its amazing.

Thank you for reading.

USGI cookset

USGI cook set in use with hexamine:

This kit is light and strong and being stainless steel it is very low maintenance and durable.
The kit is compact taking little more room than a water bottle alone and accompanied with a titanium spork you have a very light weight cook set which can cover many cooking needs.

This mug is extremely versatile as it can be used on any fuel.

Crusader cook kit

Here is my crusader cook kit:

It contains...

Nato water bottle 

An army issue pouch

Crusader mug

Crusader stove

Heavy cover lid

and a crusader mug hanger.

This kit is excellent, it is very strong and robust and truly bombproof.

It can be used with any fuel and the mug can be used on coals or an open fire. The mug is large enough to boil water to purify and for tea/coffee and also for boil in the bag meals. You can also cook in the mug which is large enough for almost any solo meal.

This kit is not the lightest being stainless steel but it is strong, durable and very easy to keep clean.

Tool kit.

This is the tool kit I carry:

My most common choice is the Gerber mini axe, Bahco laplander saw and my pukko style knife.

The mini axe is very small and only used to split wood or to rough out shapes for carving.
The Bahco laplander saw is a great folding saw and is used for many tasks around camp.
I choose from a few knives but I favour a full tang knife for strength and durability.

I may also add the following items to my tools:

Mora 120 carving knife
I also carry a DC4 sharpening stone when out for a prolonged period of time or when I will be using my knife a lot
Sometimes I carry a small blade for food preparation and other small tasks.

Cook kits

Here are my current cook kits..

Alpkit titanium cook set.
I use my Ti cook set mainly when I am hiking due to weight. When I am hiking I usually only have quick boil in the bag meals or brews so titanium is perfect for me.

Contains...
Alpkit MyTiMug- 750ml capacity with lid.
Alpkit MyTiCup - 450ml used to have a brew whilst cooking in the larger mug.
TiSpork, both alpkit, either used, one slightly larger for soups etc.
Vargo Ti triad XE stove, used to burn hexi blocks, does the job grand
Whitebox stove, burns meths and does not require pot stand, earlier views found on my blog. Burns meths.

USGI Cookset

Cookset from the US. Water bottle, stainless steel mug and aliminium stand. Stand can be used with hexi tablets, over a meths stove or just placed on the coals of a fire.


Crusader cook set.

Contains..
Nato water bottle, crusader mug, crusader stove and heavycover lid- all fit in an army pouch.
Crusader stove burns hexi or green heat (a sort of flammable gel). This is a very strong cook set and is also very durable. The mug can be placed straight on a fire and I have used this setup the longest.

I use all the cook sets and what I plan to do decides what I carry. When I intend to fish I add a small frying pan and when I am staying out longer I generally carry a billy can and this would be my cooking full setup. I can supplement these cook items with water bottles/water bags.

Day kit

Here is my day kit carried in a 10 liter highlander rucksack.

Contents:
A regatta fleece
Bahco laplander saw
Mora clipper knife
First aid kit
Brew kit
Traditional fire lighting kit
32oz stainless steel nalgene
Pot gripper, spoon and swedish army folding mug