Overnight Equipment Test - Budget and Poundshop content!

[neverready]

Hi guys,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm not really a prepper, or a bushcrafter or even a camper. In fact, apart from a camping trip at school (a looooong time ago) I have never done anything even remotely like this! However I like the idea of having a bug out bag, just in case. As such I have been putting some kit together for a while and decided it was time to test some of it out!

I have done all of this on a budget so I mainly have a mix of army surplus kit and poundshop finds! (Many of which were inspired by this forum...thanks!)

This photo shows the main elements of my kit:



In that picture there is a cheap and cheerful 8x10 tarp. The back side is staked down using poundshop steel tent pegs. The front is held down with poundshop bungees with carabiners. The ridge line is just a length of 550. The hammock is a DD hammock, the one that zips open so you can climb inside and is probably the newest and most expensive item at about £25 IIRC. Inside the hammock is a Czech Army Bedroll.

The rucksack pictured bottom left is a Swedish L35. It holds a ton of stuff and the external frame keeps it quite comfortable to carry. I have a bad back so I have to be pretty careful with the weight aspect of it. The other bag is a £5, vaguely vintagey, armyish looking bag that is carrying my water, food and cook kit.



My cook kit is a mix and match set of a Swedish and possibly East German trangia style army surplus stove with a couple of modifications. I cut down the windshield so the billy can fits in it better and shortened the handle on the frying pan/lid. I also reshaped the oval windshield to fit the kidney shaped mess kit. It is pretty efficient in terms of "time to boil" but it does get through the old meths! Seeing as I am a clumsy bugger (more of that later) I also picked up a cheap pair of welding gloves so I don't burn myself!

Other poundshop items which proved invaluable include a reasonably large ground sheet which I used after taking my boots off. Glowsticks, one of which I used and which gave enough light to read by, to help navigate back to the shelter in the dark, and which was still glowing, albeit faintly 12 hours later. A 1mx1m tarp (actually from Tesco but still £1) which I piled my gear on. A poundshop headlamp came in very handy packing up my kit at 5am!

Other than that I took a tin of Brasso in case I decided to go for a camp fire but I just used the stove. I took a toolkit full of various cutting tools, gaffa tape, cable ties, emergency whistle, etc. etc. None of which got used. I also took a Mora... not sure which one, the 3.2mm blade carbon one with the grey handle if that helps?

I also took a decent, home assembled first aid kit. Thus proved invaluable as one of the first things I did was to lean against a tree and puncture a hole in my hand. Told you I was clumsy! Sooo much blood! Luckily I had plenty of antibacterial wipes and plasters etc. so managed to get myself sorted out quite quickly.

So what did I learn?

Well I survived overnight on a clear night, reportedly down to 8°C with a light frost. I was cold but not dangerously so. And the main reason I was cold is that I found it practically impossible to get into the Czech bedroll while swinging around in a hammock, the motion of which made me feel seasick at times! So for most of the night my legs were in the bedroll and I had a bit of it pulled around my shoulders as best as I could. I was wearing a few layers but I could have put my coat on if I was worried. I tried wearing a hat but my head soon got too sweaty and uncomfortable.

I also was a lot thirstier than I imagined. I took a 2l bottle of water and drank nearly half of it. I would have drank more but I got fed up with having to get up for a wee every hour!

The kit overall is a bit heavy. The rucsack weight in at about 22lbs I think and I also carried my food bag and my bedroll. I had enough water and food to stay out another night if I absolutely had too.

TL:DR;

All of my poundshop gear worked admirably. I managed to set up my shelter exactly how I had planned and in a matter of minutes. I used more water than I thought.

Hopefully you won't be too deterred by the length of the post and have found it interesting. Happy to answer questions of any of the kit mentioned.

Thanks.

[featherstick]

What a great post! I love both the cost-effectiveness and the willingness to go out and try the kit out. I also like the versatility of the various tarps and groundsheets. What food did you use? Was it enough? and how far did you carry the kit? How was your fitness level? You need to carry more water and it weighs a kilo per litre. And what are you going to do about getting into the hammock?

Great post.

[ForgeCorvus]

Great post, nice to see folks getting out and testing their kit.

Water will break you every time, its impossible to carry enough and keep your swag light. Whats your Base Weight (gear only, no water or food) ?

My one complaint is you saying you're not a Prepper, you've made a prep therefore you're one of us...... So nurr

[neverready]

Hey guys, glad you like the post!

You have both immediately spotted the weaknesses in my "preps" and kit as shown by such pertinent questions!

Featherstick: Food wise I stuck to tinned food and snacks. I didn't go for dried foods because that would have meant I would have needed even more water! So I took some Tesco value beans and sausages, an all day breakfast tin, spam, a chocolate bar and a peanut energy bar. I ate the beans and sausages, the chocolate bar and the peanut bar and that was plenty. I arrived at the location at 4pm and left at about 5am. I also used just less than 1 litre of water. I think with a bit of rationing and minimum exertion I would have had a comfortable second 24 hours. I also had some water purification tablets with me and I wasn't too far from a dirty looking little stream! With a combination of tablets and boiling I think I would have been ok for water.

I only carried the kit a couple of hundred yards. My fitness level is a big issue. I had back surgery many, many years ago and never really regained the strength in my back and although I can walk a good distance unladen I do struggle to carry a load. I am trying to lose weight and doing some strength exercises but I also think that if the SHTF I would find a bit more strength from somewhere! But yes...I am working on the fitness.

With regards to the Czech bedroll and the hammock I am going to try to hang the hammock in a looser fashion which should give more wiggle room inside. I set it up pretty taught and I don't think that helped. Ultimately I may try a different sleep system. I'm a firm believer of wearing the right clothes and I have a 1/2 season sleeping bag which might be enough if I'm wearing enough layers and which may be easier to get into. Although I do fancy a wearable bag like a Selk Bag!

ForgeCorvus: Base weight of my pack minus the Czech bedroll is around 22 pounds and around 26 with. The bedroll is a chunky piece of kit and I haven't found a way to attach it to the pack that I'm happy with yet. Tying it to the bottom of the pack makes it feel much heavier and at the top of the pack it feels pretty unbalanced. I think I will probably try a different solution at some point.

The more I think about it, the more I think I want a Selk bag! It would certainly make getting in and out of the hammock easier! Not sure about spending the money though!

Cheers.

[Plymtom]

Agreed good post, and practical too it has to be said many of us are well prepared in kit and theory but less prepared than you,(though I wouldn't need a nights practice to know I'd be a disaster in a hammock) my family simply couldn't all do it, some are disabled and wouldn't want to leave the pets, frankly I'd need an minibago or something, then your not really roughing it are you?

I have questions and I'm not nit picking, I'm learning from your experience.

So how did you get to this location and would it do as a temporary escape?

How would you (or anyone) expect to do anything similar in weather like we have just had?

Now that you have tested this kit, what modifications would you make A. on your current budget and B. if money were no object ( or somewhere in between)

I've thought about getting fishing trolleys for the family, would something like that be an idea for someone with a bad back, or does the terrain rule out anything you cannot pick up?

[neverready]

Agreed good post, and practical too it has to be said many of us are well prepared in kit and theory but less prepared than you,(though I wouldn't need a nights practice to know I'd be a disaster in a hammock) my family simply couldn't all do it, some are disabled and wouldn't want to leave the pets, frankly I'd need an minibago or something, then your not really roughing it are you?

I have questions and I'm not nit picking, I'm learning from your experience.

So how did you get to this location and would it do as a temporary escape?

How would you (or anyone) expect to do anything similar in weather like we have just had?

Now that you have tested this kit, what modifications would you make A. on your current budget and B. if money were no object ( or somewhere in between)

I've thought about getting fishing trolleys for the family, would something like that be an idea for someone with a bad back, or does the terrain rule out anything you cannot pick up?

The location is a 30 minute drive to a farm that I had permission to camp on. It's not a suggestion as an actual bug out location but just somewhere to test out my kit. I don't think it's remote enough for a temporary escape. I can get to bigger and denser woodlands much closer to home but just wanted to go legit for the gear test so I didn't have to be looking over my shoulder.

Obviously bad weather would be a real issue for anyone. Personally, keeping in mind I'm not really a prepper, I think I would just find a structure to shelter in. There are plenty of barns, sheds and garages around that could be utilised. Of course, there is a huge difference to testing out kit and actually trying to survive. I might be very polite and considerate at the moment but if lives depended on it I would have no qualms about "gaining access" to any empty buildings I came across!

Modifications: If money was no object I would just build a bunker, fill it with food and bug in! For budget bugging out I wouldn't mind a better quality tarp. The cheapy one is perfectly serviceable but I was very conscious of how noisy it was while putting it up and taking it down! Not very stealthy but for the moment it's good enough for me. I do need to work on a better sleep system as well, or at least practice getting into the bedroll!

If my only option was to head for the woods I think trolleys would be an issue. Just making my way around the farm, which I checked out earlier in the day, I had to climb over several gates, through a hole in a fence and over a sty.

I have strayed into speculation here though because as I say, all I have done so far is too test out some kit suitable for fair weather in woodland. I think there are as many solutions as there are scenarios! I guess all you can do is prepare!

[rik_uk3]

Lovely report but a litre of water in 24 hours is not good at all, do the same on day two and your getting dehydrated without a doubt. You need as much water in cold weather as you do in hot so up your fluid intake on the next trip chap. "Air is heated as it enters the lungs and is exhaled with an extremely high moisture content" https://www.princeton.edu/~oa/safety/hypocold.shtml

[Plymtom]

a litre of water in 24 hours is not good at all,

I don't think it was a full 24 hours Richard?

Very good answers, permission to camp.. very good, if that extended to permission to forage hedgerows etc and take a little game like rabbit, pigeon or squirrel, what you would have is the perfect testing ground, also if there happened to be a disused outbuilding, then you have your fowl weather test too.

You not calling yourself a prepper as such is also encouraging, by proving or disproving the viability of different aspects before deciding to put on the hat, you have a credibility few of us can lay claim to ( I don't mean in a bug in sense of the word, it's far easier to gauge and test how you can cope at home) bug out, camp out, live off of the land experiments are both fun and crucial to all of us who may have to do such a thing and a good fresh forum enhancing approach.

The noisy tarp, I've heard this before and also that the plastic/polyester ones do not stand up to use too close to a fire, though noise in the country may not be as big an issue, I say that because I was surprised to notice how short a distance the bang from a shotgun blast became quieter, still if choice and weight permitted a canvas tarp would be more the tool for the job, you painted the picture well though so to speak, it sounded akin to eating a crunchy packet of crisps during a film in company.

Bedroll indeed getting into or out of for that matter any kind of outdoor sleeping system has elements of difficulty and vulnerability which I'm sure anyone could improve on but never perfect, for me the getting out in an emergency from a mummy style sleeping bag in a hammock sounds like a task for a professional escapologist, being in one feels cosy yet incredibly vulnerable.

Trolleys.. pretty much what I thought if your route for the most part is not along footpaths and tracks, then they could be a liability, yet what one can carry on one's own back especially for unfit, or older folk is so restrictive, I know that easier options or multiple short trips car to campsite pop rather quickly into my head, I'd also want to consider including the vehicle ( even if it meant hiding it) at the campsite/location, much like a holidaying camper would, old barns/garages and the like could be ideal for this.

[neverready]

I was there for about 25 hours actually. You are of course completely right about the water. I was very thirsty during the night and did feel dehydrated the next day. I think I would have "survived" for another 24 hours but it wouldn't have been comfortable.

I am on the lookout for a another test site that will hopefully have a nice fast flowing stream. There was a stream at this first location but it was pretty dirty and there was quite a bit of rubbish in it.

Hopefully my next test will involve purifying/boiling water from a natural source, and the building of a campfire.

[munchh]

Firstly, welcome aboard, for a non prepper/bushcrafter you seem to have been lurking quite well and taken all the good stuff in, just coming on hear i recon means you are preppering your way of thinking, your more prepper than you think

But what a great first post, i like the 'no thrills' thinking, i am that way inclined but cant help spending money on stuff!!

Your noisy tarp, i have tried many, the best all round for the money is in my experience an army basha, normally camo and very waterproof as they are silicone coted, but this also makes them quieter than the type you have, also a great second hand item at a good price, army surplus or ebay.

I have the cheq bedroll, i took out the cotton liner as it is cold to the touch and if it gets damp its not really any help, i added another of the wool blankets, i can put my jungle sleeping bag in aswell and it is very good, but try getting in it then getting in the hammock?
Ive yet to sleep in my hammock, its on my to-do list.

Ive also got that swiss army backpack you have, i got some extra straps which meant i could lengthen the ones on it to alow the bed roll to go on the bottom, but its all personal preference to how you carry stuff.

I am hoping to do exactly what you have when i'm off work next, although its going to be a bit of a stealth camp, i may drop the kids at school and then spend the day up there first.

Good cook kit to start with too. Poundland shop have started doing a foil shelter, just the same as an emergency blanket but a big tube that comes with a cord for a ridge line, so it makes an a frame tent, cxant complain for a quid!