lightweight walking – Page 7

Tea on the Southern Upland Way

29 March 2016 / Walking / Alpkit, Alpkit Kraku, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, Photos 2016, Scotland, Southern Upland Way, tea, walking

It froze last night! There was frost on the grass and ice on the windows of the MX-5 when I got up. My sleeping gear kept me warm throughout the night but it was chilly whilst I was having my breakfast.

After sorting some things for Octagon, which included driving out to get a better internet connection, I set off from Lauder to walk some more of the Southern Upland Way.

I came across this picnic table at just about the time for a tea break – great view, tucked away out of the wind and a sun trap.

Lightweight titanium Alpkit brew kit – Kraku stove, MytiMug 400 and a Snapwire spoon.

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Testing the Alpkit Kraku stove with the Alpkit MytiMug 400 @Alpkit @OctagonT

15 November 2015 / Outdoor Gear / Alpkit, Alpkit Kraku, backpacking, backpacking gear, camping, lightweight backpacking, lightweight backpacking food, lightweight camping, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, Photos 2015, walking, wild camping

Alpkit MytiMug 400

Before another busy week at Octagon Technology I thought I would get out and try out my new Alpkit MitiMug 400 mug with my trusty Alpkit Kraku stove.

The wind shield, in the photo, is homemade from heavy duty aluminium foil cut from a serving tray bought “two for a pound” from a pound shop. The wind shield is really practical as I can bend it to give maximum protection from the drafts and wind and it weighs only a few grams.

This new Alpkit MitiMug 400 mug/pot fits really well on the Alpkit Kraku burner and is very stable when in use – the stability is essential if I am going to safely use this combination in the porch of my lightweight tent. The lid is a good fit – it is much improved over the lid supplied on the original MitiMug – purchased before there were 400 or 650 models. I am really pleased the lid has changed.

Another change, for the better, with this Alpkit MitiMug 400 is that it has a flat bottom – the original MitiMug had a ridge in the base, which when I cooked in the mug always allowed food to burnt there and that also made it difficult to clean. I cooked (well reheated) baked beans in this new Alpkit MitiMug 400 and the beans did not burn. You do however have to take care when using any titanium or thin walled cooking pot on a stove like the Alpkit Kraku stove which concentrates its heat in a small spot on the pot base:

Do not turn the stove up to “flame thrower mode” keep the flame very low and heat the food slowly
Stir continuously and thoroughly, getting right into the corners
Hang onto the handles or the pot can skip off the burner
I also, continuously, gently move the pot over the flame so the heat moves around smoothing out the hot spots

Afterwards it was easy to wash up the pot – this base design is another well thought out improvement.

My thoughts:

Overall this mug/cooking pot is a great piece of gear for the solo traveller, camper or backpacker who just needs to cook for themselves.
The size saves space in anyone’s pack. Titanium saves weight.
Even if you do not plan to use the mug for cooking the lid makes the mug a useful storage container and keeps the flies out of your drinks when outdoors.
Alpkit is a great UK company producing excellent gear – we should support them.

I think the next thing to add to this mug/pot, stove set is an Alpkit SnapWire Spoon. The folding spoon, stove, tea bags and milk powder will all then pack neatly inside the Alpkit MitiMug 400, inside the supplied netting draw string bag for easy packing when travelling. I am going to add this to my Christmas list.

My lightweight gear list

Testing the Alpkit Kraku stove with the Alpkit MytiMug 400 @Alpkit @OctagonT Read More »

Website updates

8 February 2015 / Outdoor Gear, Technology / iPod, lightweight backpacking, lightweight camping, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, Photos 2015, technology

I bought an Apple iPod Touch yesterday.

This will be a useful bit of kit and supplement my smartphone when I am walking, backpacking or camping.

Read about this and other updates to my backpacking and camping gear for 2015

Website updates Read More »

Coffee Break

18 November 2012 / Outdoor Gear, Walking / coffee, lightweight stove, lightweight walking, MSR titanium mug, outdoor gear, walking

I didn’t take a backpack on my walk this morning, I wore my winter walking coat and carried just enough equipment for a coffee break on the walk back – well actually it was hot chocolate.

I used a stile as a convenient seat and got my meths stove out of the wind behind the fence post.

I use a strip of heavy duty aluminium foil, cut from a tray an oven joint was cooked in. The foil is shaped into a “coil” so it fits snuggly around the titanium mug with lid, making an effective wind shield.

The plastic mug fits over the Sigg bottle and the folded up stove is stored under the bottle, the titanium mug slides onto the bottom of the bottle.

The other sundries fit into the front pocket: spork, fire steel, mug lid, meths bottle, some paper towel in a small ziplock bag for cleaning up and the rubbish.

I carried my sitmat in a jacket pocket.

Coffee Break Read More »

Overnight trip to the Old Man of Coniston

17 June 2012 / Backpacking, Camping, Photography, Technology, Travel / backpacking, coffee, Golite Jam 2, iPhone photography, Lake District, lightweight backpacking, lightweight backpacking food, lightweight walking, tea

Next weekend I am planning a backpacking trip to the Lake Dustrict, with a couple of friends, to walk up the Old Man of Coniston with an overnight camp – depending on the weather. (Click on the map for a larger version).

The main reason for going away is to spend the weekend taking photographs – so we are taking a tripod with us and I am going to try my hand at some video on my iPhone. I have a bracket to mount my iPhone on a tripod.

This weekend I have been sorting the gear.

I will get to try out my second inflatable pillow!
I am going to take my MSR Pocket Rocket stove with a 100g cannister – I have not yet used it on an overnight trip
I am going to test using a Molle water bottle pouch to carry my lunch and brew kit – fixed to the hip belt or compression strap on the Golite Jam2

I am going to pack the titanium meths stove and 50ml of meths in the Molle pouch – for hot drinks whilst walking

Food for the trip

We are going to start walking after lunch on the Saturday

Saturday

On the trail dried mango slices and salted cashew nuts
Instant white coffee – I can make a brew whilst waiting for the light to change for that perfect photograph

Evening meal

Smoked Sausage
Tortilla x3
Onion Gravy
Instant custard and chocolate chip cake
Tea

Indian tea (with milk and brown sugar) wafer biscuits
Hot chocolate, wafer biscuits

Sunday

Tea and biscuits whilst still in my sleeping bag

Breakfast

Cereal bars
Breakfast biscuits
Crackers and jam
Apple flakes
Tea

On the trail dried mango slices and salted cashew nuts

Extras

Boiled sweets, apple flapjack bar
2x instant peach teas (use hot or cold)
15ml of dried milk 2x sugar packets 2x pepper packets 1x salt packet 1x tomato ketchup sachet
1 oz Southern Comfort
Tissues

Emergency Food – Glucose tablets

Water

1l in my CamelBak for the walk – this should be enough for both days as we are not walking far
1.3l for evening meal
0.7l for breakfast
0.9l for extra cups of tea and cleaning

I am going to store some water in the car so I can drink before setting out and on my return.

Let’s hope the weather is good enough!

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Dinner

5 May 2012 / Backpacking, Camping, Walking / backpacking food, lightweight walking, outdoor gear, tea

Dinner tonight – Sausage and mash and onion gravy, with a mug of tea and Jaffa Cakes to follow.

I am currently working on an ebook about lightweight, simple meals for backpacking and camping – I will post it on my Downloads page when it is finished and Diana has proof read it.

Dinner Read More »

Two Night Trip

5 May 2012 / Backpacking, Camping, Lincolnshire, Photography, Technology, Travel, Walking / backpacking, iPhone camera apps, lightweight walking, Lincolnshire, MSR titanium mug, outdoor gear, Photos 2012, walking

I had been planning a two night trip further afield – but the variable weather and the unseasonably low temperatures meant I changed my plan to a walk to Woodhall Spa. (I have been walking for about 30 minutes, as I write this, it was cold and grey when I set out, it rained, the sun came out, it rained and now it is grey again!)

I put my iPhone in the waterproof case at the start of the day, to protect it, so I can use it as a camera for those bad weather photos and so I can write this blog as I walk – wiping the rain drops from the screen so I can read what I write.

The plan is walk to Woodhall Spa campsite from Bardney using the Viking Way – tomorrow loop out around Horncastle using the Viking Way and other paths – then Monday back to Bardney on the Water Rail Way.

Two days food, extra fuel and some spare clothes has added to my pack weight – the starting load complete was 12kgs. One thing I do need to manage is the power consumption on my iPhone – so I have disabled the 3G and data function, whilst walking, to conserve power and no movies tonight in the tent – I also plan to turn on flight mode over night.

It has now hailed on me.

The path has been very muddy in places particularly two stretches that go through cow fields. I found a convenient bit of low wall for lunch – but sitting still I got cold very quickly – so lunch was a quick stop.

I got the tent up in the dry.

I have my new inflatable pillow with me – as I do not have enough spare clothes with me to make a decent pillow. You can see the two days worth of food to the left – the milk I got from the campsite shop.

Here you can see how useful the small tarp is for giving me somewhere outside the tent to sit – and my sleeping bag in the stuff sack makes a useable stool.

A pitch right by the lake in among the trees.

Two Night Trip Read More »