Clive

Owner and author of Clive's Blog.

Backpacking Trip – Last Weekend

Weekend Trip to Woodhall Spa and day two here


When I got my Golite Jam pack I had planned to carry my sleeping mat inside – however my new sleeping bag does not compress as much as the previous one – so the sleeping mat had to be fixed to the outside.

Golite Jam 2

I used the top lid strap to hold the mat roll onto the pack and for extra security I clipped the elastic straps on the mat to the upper compression straps.

Before my next trip in mid April I am going to experiment with pacling the bag as I really wanted to travel with everything inside the pack.

I am also going to try and find a better (lightweight) compression sack for the sleeping bag and clothes.


The food for the weekend weighed 1.2kgs – of that the high calories/fatty foods made up – 150g sausages, 120g tinned sardines and 135g salted cashew nuts.

Saturday Mid-morning

Lightweight Backpacking Food

Saturday Lunch

Lightweight Backpacking Food

Canned Italian sardines in lemon olive oil – plenty of calories. With these I had crackers, chocolate oatcakes and tomato soup – I stored the complete meal in a ziplock bag and kept it in the pack’s external pocket so it was easy to get at.

Saturday Evening Meal

Lightweight Backpacking Food

When I arrived at the campsite I bought two bars of chocolate – so when it came to the evening meal I did not want the custard desert.

The small ziplock contains instant peach tea. I had two of the sausages that evening and saved two for Sunday.

Sunday Morning

The first thing I had was tea and biscuits whilst watching the sunrise from my sleeping bag – see here.

Lightweight Backpacking Food

The plastic bag contains a measure of Columbian roast ground coffee.

Sunday Trail Snacks

Lightweight Backpacking FoodI had the last sausage for lunch.


Resupply

I have bought in some supplies this week for my next trip.

Lightweight Backpacking Food

Lightweight Backpacking Food

Lightweight Backpacking Food

Backpacking Trip – Last Weekend Read More »

BBC News – Great outdoors? Ticks, pets and the risk of Lyme disease

BBC News – Great outdoors? Ticks, pets and the risk of Lyme disease.

This article is worth watching as it outlines the problems that ticks can cause. However the tweezers that the journalist shows are not really suitable – it is much better to use tweezers designed to remove the whole tick without squeezing it. A couple of years ago I purchased a set of Lifeventure Tick Tweezers and I carry them in my pocket sized first aid kit.

Tick Tweezers

 

 

BBC News – Great outdoors? Ticks, pets and the risk of Lyme disease Read More »

Black and White Processing

20120406-171457.jpg


I took the original shot with the Pro HDR app, on my iPhone 4. I prefer the HDR (High Dynamic Range) results from this app over the Apple camera app, the results are more dramatic. However for the best results from Pro HDR two things have to be considered.

  • The camera must be held as still as possible – Pro HDR goes through a sequence of several seconds to detirmine the required exposures and then takes two shots with about a second between them. If you move too much the combined image will be ruined.
  • If there is a lot of movement in the subject you are photographing then the delay described above with spoil the results.

20120406-160911.jpg

Pro HDR

Once the picture is taken you can adjust several image qualities before saving the picture – I increased the colour saturation.

I then imported the image into Photogene2 for more editing – having tried a number of editing apps for my iPhone I particularly like Photogene2, it is easy to use, with a well thought out interface, based on “dial a function”, so you can find the effect or tool you want very quickly.

Photogene2

I cropped out a section of the original image – I included a large section of the clouds that I was interested in and less of the green field. I also cropped for the distinctive line of trees, loosing the hedge and the larger trees.

20120406-161012.jpg

I then applied the “simple black and white” effect.

Photogene2 simple black and white

To get the results I wanted, I increased the exposure and the contrast.

Photogene2 exposure and contrast

The final thing to do is to save the finished image to the Camera Roll and post it to my blog.

Note – during the process the save the intermediate images as I make changes, so if I am unhappy with any of the results I can back up and try again.

Black and White Processing Read More »

Stove Test

Jeremy and I have spent some time today experimenting with our Crusader Mug and stove using natural fuel.

20120405-140829.jpg

We have a pine tree in our garden and last week we gathered some of the fallen pine cones and dried them indoors. Today we broke one up and used it to boil about two mugs of water – to light it using the fire steel we had to add about a teaspoon of meths to the pine cone bits.

The metal lid for the Crusader Mug was essential, the plastic one that BCB sells would have been damaged by the high flames, it also kept ash that came off the fuel out of the water. (This lid was made for me by The Little Frog Group.)

For my latest lightweight cooking gear set up – click here.

Stove Test Read More »