Ordered another 2 solar street lights for the garden if the leccy goes off crime will go up so a well lit area may well be a good put off 2 of my older units are now struggling sometime for a replacement/ upgrade
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
itsybitsy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2026 10:08 am
I was actually thinking about a sleeping bag but am wondering if it's overkill as I have two huge quilts and a lot of woolly blankets.
Depends if you are ever thinking of bugging out. Bulk and ease of portability come into play.
If not, you are set itsy.
Even a sleeping bag could be a problem if you were on foot, or in my case bike. Some weigh over 3 kg. For comparison, the ultralight 'pied' style that come just past your waist (you sleep in your insulated jacket) start at under a tenth of that. My bugoug bag sleeping bag is 236g. It's Primaloft, but you can get down ones. Ultralight backpackers however seem to go for 'quilts', which are basically a sleeping bag with no underneath. The reason is the underneath of a sleeping bag is compressed, and doesn't insulate you. Your mat is what insulates you underneath, and is as important as what's on top. I also have a cheap synthetic 'camp blanket', that's like normal rectangular quilt and is very light and packable, in my bugout bag.
itsybitsy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2026 10:08 am
I was actually thinking about a sleeping bag but am wondering if it's overkill as I have two huge quilts and a lot of woolly blankets.
Depends if you are ever thinking of bugging out. Bulk and ease of portability come into play.
If not, you are set itsy.
It would have to TEOTWAWKI for me to be bugging out in a serious manner and, even if that was the case I'd be going in the car as far as it would go and then the car would probably become my home.
My bank account has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of months with the extra preps (food, equipment, security and stuff for the truck) plus the bits on the house which need doing and Christmas is coming so I need to rein things in a bit. I would like a British Berkefeld gravity filter but we have the lifesaver jerrycan and a couple of sawyers so unsure if it is really needed as it is not exactly portable, alternatively the same cost would mean we could buy an extra 3 bags of hardwood logs for the log burners which would probably be more beneficial. I was looking at another ultralight gas stove for husbands BOB but as someone else mentioned gas stoves seem to be mostly out of stock so I might just buy some extra meths and let him have the Trangia in his.
With gas/picnic stoves being in short supply google “Ikea rocket stove”, use outside obviously
and burn any wood scraps for under a fiver, an ultimate emergency prep.
We have a two burner calor stove running from propane cylinders, a bistro stove, two old “camping gas”
stoves with cartridges for both, and two diy ikea stoves, gas won’t last forever
Medusa wrote: ↑Thu Oct 29, 2026 8:42 pm
My bank account has taken a bit of a hit over the last couple of months with the extra preps (food, equipment, security and stuff for the truck) plus the bits on the house which need doing and Christmas is coming so I need to rein things in a bit. I would like a British Berkefeld gravity filter but we have the lifesaver jerrycan and a couple of sawyers so unsure if it is really needed as it is not exactly portable, alternatively the same cost would mean we could buy an extra 3 bags of hardwood logs for the log burners which would probably be more beneficial. I was looking at another ultralight gas stove for husbands BOB but as someone else mentioned gas stoves seem to be mostly out of stock so I might just buy some extra meths and let him have the Trangia in his.
Ultralight gas stoves here. I don't see any out of stock. If you get a cannister top one, get a plastic cannister stabiliser as well. This is vital. I have this combo. But when I was younger, and did a lot of camping (including wild camping at altitude), I used the remote type, which are way more stable and easier to shield from the wind. They are far better in my opinion.
Not only do remote stoves have a built in stand, the crucial difference is they lower the centre of gravity greatly. They should still fit in a pot. You just have to pack the cannister separately, which you would with a medium (normal size) anyway.
hot hands , hot water bottles and gas 
