Midnight Sun Rifle Challenge 2019 : Kit List Pt1

'Hours of misery and fun'

There is a rifle competition I'd wanted to enter since I first saw Thomas Haugland's videos of it.
It's not the genteel 'picnic and shooting' on Bisley's green and pleasant lawns.  This time it's in Bardufoss in two valleys, both dappled in snow, washed by the midnight sun, with stages from 100-1210m, and Vikings. Real Vikings.

A sudden rush of optimism that sounded like this:
Once or twice I've actually hit targets at both extremes, missed a few in the middle, and have a lot of camping equipment. I could, 'almost', enter tomorrow. I say almost. My stalking rifle isn't going to stretch quite that far, svelte german lines and a super simple reticle, might be a thing of joy but nah. I need a dedicated PRS rifle.

There were a few moments of sober reflection, that sounded like this:
There's a fairly long walk involved, and I'm still carrying a little extra ballast, sadly not all of it in the form of my brother's smelly 25+ year old tent.

I entered and before I tell you the tale, it wouldn't be the SBW blog without a kit list.

Let the kit-tart-ism commence.

In this competition laser range-finders are banned, so are weather stations, and all ballistic electronics. With the money I've just saved by not buying the bino's and gadgets, something in a chassis with a folding stock, is now the very intersection of practicality and necessity. Anyone who says otherwise is off my Christmas list.

Received wisdom from the precision rifle crowd seemed to be 'If I was starting again I'd go 6.5mm rather than .308'  Following this advice rules out most of the secondhand fettled Remington 700's on offer in the UK. Surprisingly few of the offered examples have been screwed together by 'smiths with a reputation to up hold. Though some are in those nice Accuracy International stocks, 308 outnumbers the other calibers 10-1. If I could bear the cost of buying and then re-barreling they'd be an option. I'm not that excited by the extra cost(s), interminable wait, and frankly I've already got enough money-pits things 'in development' in my life. But all is not yet lost, there are rifles that have, out of the box, been embarrassing some very nice custom builds on both sides of the Atlantic, but we'll come back to that later.

Human Performance, then Scope, then Rifle.
The plan is weighted quite heavily towards the human performance end of things. never having been further north than the middle of Scotland I imagine the trip being like a longer version of Hill Stalking, Cold Wet Hands is the assumption, and every part of the plan needs to be about negating their affect. As the competition is over 24 hours, and judging by the pictures from previous years, the competitors are for the most part in the first flush of middle youth, so no longer that enthralled by staying up all night, there will, mercifully be a sleep. On a snow dappled hillside.

Camping in Norway! What will it be like? 

It'll be in tents. 

The unavoidable weight of; the rifle, big scope, substantial bipod, and 250 rounds of ammo combine to rule out the use of a ultralight pack. There are some really neat rifle-scabbard packs, but I've already got a tough-as-old-boots pack frame, which fits me really well, so having saved yet more money, I bought a Kifaru Mountain Rambler to replace its LongHunter bag.
A lot of companies claim to make extreme hunting packs. Kifaru actually do. The Mountain Rambler is a rifle scabbard, and day pack, with built in wrap to carry dead things or a bow. Could be a bit lighter, but Kifaru's frame puts all the weight on your hips, and it ain't going to break. Ever.
Best of all it had just been superseded, and Gucci-kit tarts being what they we are, I managed to find another collector enthusiast who just had-to-have the new model and sold his to me, unused, at a no-brainer discount. The face-saving way to do this is to advertise the item as 'bought for a trip that now isn't happening'. I shall not lie. We've all done it. Er, yes hmm. Ice fishing.

"Boots and Bed; if you're not in one, you're in the other"

"Lundhags, they're the boots aren't they. In the Falklands I demanded them for the boys, the MOD flew them out, the boys were very glad of them" - The Colonel

From the snow-blown slopes of Mount Stanley to beating on the Colonel's estate outside Eastbourne in the pissing rain, he was right. All the forces created by the terrain and the weight of your pack meet at, and will be transmitted though, your ankles. I've often been tempted by pairs of Superleggera Italian hiking boots that owe something to sports shoes, but as I side off the thousandth tussock of the morning, and my ankle doesn't twist.  I've been glad I'd saved the cash for other uses and stuck to Swedens finest. I'm still wearing the first pair I bought, still with the same laces. One day I'll buy a pair of the shoes too.

Thermarest & Pump
The sleeping mat, the difference between roughing it and relaxing. Every one I've owned has been lighter and more susceptible to puncturing than the one before it. More expensive too. Suck it up.

Jerven bag
For 30 years the Norwegian military, where frostbite is a court marshal-able offence, has issued these super blankets. They come in a waterproof bag that also contains a pair of waterproof sleeves. So its part survival blanket and part field-dressing station for gralloching beasts on.  It even comes with a signal flag, reducing the amount of time your relatives wait before putting in the insurance claim.
Whatever happens I hope having made the effort to bring the proper kit in the first place will go someway to saving face with the mountain rescue people.
I can totally imagine the look on the 23 year old Viking goddess' face as she arrives to rescue [or collect] me "well you're quite old now, [and stupid], but at least you didn't come walking in beachwear"  


Kifaru stuff sacks
Of all the clever things Patrick Smith designed for the outdoorsman, these might well be the smartest.
You'll be amazed at how much more room you've got for Tapas in your suitcase, when you squeeze the air out of your luggage. I keep telling myself they're a ridicules price and that I'll make my own. I keep buying more of them. It's either that or fight my teenage daughter to get them back.

Areopress coffee maker
Lavazza isn't a luxury, it's the minimum bid for my involvement. After Alan Adler smashed it by inventing the furthest human-thrown object, 1330 yards since you ask, he turned his attentions to making coffee and in doing so transformed my life. It's not only that I can make drama-free espresso wherever I go from jobsite to campsite, but by not buying coffees from stands in the street I save about a grand a year, to spend on gear and ammo.


Leki pole.
It's the knees again. Moving weight onto your wrists and lots of it too. Some people are saying 20%. Hiking poles only look stupid, they're actually excellent. I can't really tell the difference myself but the longterm users seem to prefer Leki and this model doubles up as a mono-pod for your camera or rifle.

Truemiler
In the spirit of utter self reliance that the Vikings seem to be born with, they don't fool around with gizmos that take batteries, they have these neat slide rules that calculate distances. Horrific price but they're listed in the rules, have a stage named after them, and don't weigh much.

Positive mental attitude:
One of my friends, who has done very well in the last few seasons, refused to even think about entering on the grounds that he had no chance of winning. What he didn't realise is the generous prizes are won, not from your score which gets you a plaque, but on a lottery basis. All you need to do is finish.

Just keep telling yerself:  "It's only twenty four hours"

More in Part 2 soon
Your pal
SBW

Unboxing Heavy Cover's Titanium Canteen

I have wanted one of these since the first day I saw one mentioned on BB. So here it is in all it's 'Tec-tro' loveliness. Hmmmmm Titaniummmmmmm.
Full review to follow shortly
SBW

Nomad UK Hill Smock Review

Quiet, warm, waterproof, durable, cheap. 4/5 isn't too shabby.

Back in the mists of time, when this blog was young and it actually looked like I might one day bowhunt an Elk, James Marchington wrote a post about buying a fleece jacket made from material so waterproof the company made waders from it. Later James still seemed very happy with it, another blogger of my acquaintance The Bambi Basher called Nomad 'perfect clothes for the hill'. He's worn his set on every trip to Scotland and wouldn't be without them "Tracky for the house and Nomad for the hill, it's all you need to bring".

Nomad UK are one of those companies from a bygone era, they make some very cool products, that not many people have ever heard of.
While every chump with a facebook account and a misplaced belief in their own innate design skill has launched some kind of outdoor crap. Nomad have been making weather-beating clothes for the outdoorsman and keeping the news to themselves. They have a website that can perhaps best be described as 'obscure'. They don't even publish a list of stockists, clear pictures of the clothes, or any but the most cursory details about their fly rods. I know my own photography isn't up to much, but to be fair I don't put a lot of effort into it and I'm not selling clothes.

The jackets Nomad are famous for are cut in the smock style, the front panel coming well below the waist and the back being longer still, available either hooded and openable only to the waist or hoodless and zippered all the way down. A scottish Shalwar Kameez if you like.
The material is a thick fleece with taped seams, non meeting seams are edged in synthetic leather, by reputation they are 100% water and windproof. They are disconcertingly lightweight. It's a bit like you've accidentally gone out in your pajamas, they are really lightweight. The material is thick for fleece, but its still only fleece.
I've worn the Plus4's and smock beating in a thunder storm that got the shoot called off, at the end of the long trudge to the barn I was the only person who was still dry. I still couldn't quite believe it and put off writing this review. A few days ago I pressure-washed a patio in the pissing rain, and still bone dry at the end of the day, turned the pressure-washer on myself. Still dry. The other thing that's great about this 'outdoor jammy's' thing is, they are the quietest clothes this side of cashmere. Even wool hunting coats rustle, and ventile scratches in comparison

When my box arrived in the post I put the coat on. Before I could get to the mirror, or ask for it, Elfa gave me her appraisal  "Whoever made that for you is no taylor, is it even your size?" I've tried to explain to her that the deer don't care, I just want to be dry or at least warm and wet but it seems her dad always cut a dash while slaying partridges in the semi-desert of Spain. All I could think was 'Thank god she isn't Austrian, she'd want me to wear a cape'.

With their obscure website and strangely cut clothes it would be easy to imagine Nomad being seen as deeply unfashionable, but wait. All that is to change!

Last week, 'Hunter' another brand from the hinterland where practicality once ruled over style made their debut at London Fashion week. This would have passed me by but fortunately the keen-eyed Elfa was on hand to offer her incisive commentary.

"Look at disbeach, Joder, she's got your coat on, ess awful! Joder!"

So aside from the reassuring knowledge that, even afield, you are mysteriously at the very cutting edge of fashion, what else do you get for your money?

Very roomy and soft, outdoor pajamas. Andy Kirkpatrick once wrote an interesting piece about the psychological comfort we seek in very solid heavy outdoor clothes. I'd put Nomad in the same class as Kifaru's Packlock Parka - there's something vaguely disturbing about being in the cold, feeling warm, yet strangely underdressed.

 The bum-warmer pocket is a good idea for keeping a foam mat in place while hunting from highseats/treestands, but it would have been more versatile if the zip was horizontal and the pocket a bit bigger.

 The main zip seems fine but the smaller zips aren't really up to the job, this one has broken already.

The binocular pocket on the right is a stroke of genius, so simple and so effective, the document pocket suffers from the same flaws as the bum-warmer pocket and is unfortunately stitched in vertically so its not really useable if you're wearing a pack or harness.

The Binocular pocket is easily big enough as you can see from these super bargain 8x40's from Eden, there's easily enough room for glass in the 50mm class.

The panel under the sleeve is excellent, this smock is a bowhunter's dream so quiet and such good maneuverability, it'd be great for beachcasting too. Personally I'd have given the smock pit-zips as its very warm and not very breathable. They'd have the added advantage that it would be much more comfortable to wear with a pack's waistbelt worn inside the smock.

After so pretty wet and windy real world testing, and being 'pressure tested' with a pressure-washer here are my findings:

Warmth: Excellent can't fault it.

Waterproofness: Wow really really good.

Quietness: Superb. best yet tested.

Design: Functionally perfect, I couldn't help but feel that the Hill Smock is made up of missed chances to design something really fantastic. The money and time that went into the stupid belt loops could have been better deployed on the pockets and 'pit-zips' which could do double duty, making the smock a joy to wear with a pack rather than unnecessarily annoying.

Build Quality: The material is excellent, the seam tape is well bonded, the main zip is ok, the pocket zips are crap.

Style: I'm told I'm not qualified to make a judgement about that, but I have it on good authority that the deer don't care and 9/10 rabbits didn't respond to the survey.

Would I buy another one?
Absolutely. In a heartbeat. Annoyingly imperfect, but really really good.

More soon
SBW

PS Nomad also make a very highly regarded wading jacket - but more of that later.

Kelly Kettle Review

I've always heated water in a billy balanced on two sticks or rocks, but the method does have its drawbacks. So when the chance to get a mini Kelly Kettle came up I bought one. Handy thing it is too.

As you can see its hard to imagine a method for having a greater surface area to heat-exchange with, and as a side benefit the fire is effectively wind-proofed.

E of SN tells me they originated in Ireland as the preferred brew making apparatus of profesional seaweed gatherers, and with the design's ability to be carried full of water and stay alight in wind and rain, its a highly plausible origin story.

A big advantage of the Stormkettle F1 is 

the neoprene cover which both retains heat and protects fingers.

I've seen and used quite a few Kelly's over the years, the Aluminium models are obviously slightly superior in their ability to transfer heat, and the stainless steel editions slightly better in their ability to resist dents. A lad on Kickstarter was claiming to have invented the idea and was making his out of Titanium. While there are very few titanium things I havent bought over the years, the model from thestormkettleshop.com is I hope the best of both worlds. Ti is light, strong, corrosion and stain-proof, but its a pretty crappy transmitter of heat and ofcourse carry's a price premium that I'm not able to stretch to this week.
This puppy is Aluminium with an anodised finish and so far it seems very good. The other thing I liked about the F1 Storm kettle is it's a brew-kit, just enough water for two cups and not going to take up too much real estate in my fishing bag. I would have bought one years ago, but I've never seen one this petite before: Capacity: 0.5 litres Diameter: 12.5 cm Height - with fire bowl in: 20 cm Weight - empty: 450 g. Most of the companies around the world making Kelly Kettles will sell you gadgets to balance a frying pan on top. Forgive my cynasism but I reckon I'm just too clumsy to cook my bacon and eggs on such a device. The whole kit and kaboodle would be on the ground before the water was boiled.

More Soon
Your pal
SBW
PS yes I'm embarrassed to admit I drank instant so-called coffee

Gear List: Woodland Deer Stalking

Last time I posted one of these Exploriment asked why I hadn't listed the gear I was to use, so here's the kit list for woodland stalking when you're the 'sport' or client. You're not likely to need a Survival Kit in the woodlands of southern England, but a first aid kit is never a bad idea, and if you do actually contact with deer, those latex disposable gloves are a must.

Annoyingly the weather has warmed up a bit in the last couple of days, but so its not really a cold-weather kit or a summer's-morn kit but somewhere in-between.

Boots: While Muckboots are ideal I've hurt my ankle so I've opted for Lundhags Ranger boots as I want a bit more support and, optimistically believe we'll be packing big beast out of the woods.

Gaiters: keep muck and water out of your boot tops. Essential.

Hat: this one has a light in it and came from a bargain supermarket. As well as its camouflaging effect a hat is essential for keeping your rounds together when emptying the rifle. You wouldn't want to drop one from the highseat.

WestWinds Arctic Smock: Windproof, amazingly breathable, waterproof enough, and as quiet as the grave.

Plus Fours: 'old's cool' I know but once you get over looking a complete dweeb [the deer dont care] these are fantastic. Get a pair you'll be surprised how utilitarian they are.

Glue: we'll come to that in a future post

Chorizio: Fatty and Spicy, just what you need to keep you going towards the end of the outing.

Double-Bastard sharp knife: I'm using my 'posh stalking knife' the Falknieven TK6

Head Torch: ZebraLight

Bushnell GPS: borrowed from HunterX

Ear Defenders: for sighting in unmoderated rifles

Binoculars: I'm loving my Eden's and warmly recommend a chest harness over a neck strap. Less than £15/$20 buys you a whole lot of comfort. Or you could make your own in an hour.

Buddhist superstitious string: cant hurt

Base layer: wicking plastic with sent suppression (actually seems to work-who knew?)

Merino wool layer X2

Neck Gaiters AKA Buffs X2: after Rifle, Glass and Knife these are pretty vital, a lot of warmth and comfort in a very small package for very little cost.

Stalking report to follow

Your pal
SBW

Unusual Fly Reels: Franco Vivarelli

 Saw this the other day and though of the Usk, a reel that uses the drag to coil a spring which in turn takes up line. Very neat and tidy for wading through the thick stuff.

Made by Franco Vivarelli carbon fibre, Alloy, or even wood, weighing in at 103g [3.5-ish ounces] not the lightest reel in the world, but certainly the most 'gadget' so far.
More soon
SBW

Eden Binoculars Review

'I don't know how many guides I've met who dressed in rags, lived on wallpaper paste and government cheese but who owned a pair of $2000 binoculars" David Petzal

There is a much held view that expensive glass, for your hands or atop a rifle, is a waste of money. That 'OK' and 'quite good' are all you need. I wasn't convinced. I used to do a spot of stalking with a chap who had a couple of pairs of mid-range binos, his pair were rubbish and the 'client' or 'sport's' pair even worse. Then last summer in the Kingdom of Fife, my pal Andy had fifteen year old Swarovski's that were a revelation to me, binos as they are on TV! You can see right into the trees! 

I've looked and looked; on eBay - they'll set you back the thick end of £500 and a new pair is £1,600+. The Zeiss and Leica alternatives aren't much cheaper. Zeiss now do an entry level range from £650, very nice, but they just dont have the bomb-proof feel that Andy's had after fifteen years of very rough treatment, guiding and keepering in all weathers. 

"Clients are too fussed about their rifles, you've got to see the animal first, with these I've guided clients to animals they couldn't even see through their Tasco scope on their custom rifle" Andy Richardson

I went to the camera store and took a look through the £150 glass. Pointless. Once you've seen through glass brightly it'd be like setting fire to the cash without the fun or Youtube hits. So there I was sitting at home, with piles of junk recovered from lofts and basements across london, hopefully cataloguing it all in preparation for a big sell-off to finance the glass, when and email came through from a chap in the knife business. 'Would I like to take a look at the glass he's now selling?'

He tells me 'Eden have teamed up with a manufacturer to bring out glass to a bird watcher's standard's of colour reproduction at a web sales only price point. '  

My first thought was, 'give them a once over and then sell them to add to the money for proper glass'. He seemed confident in the product 'write anything you like about them, or dont write about them, your choice'. 

That was three months ago. 

I've used them in every condition I can, across valleys, through hedgerows, in English woodland, in the dark recesses of the Welsh tree farms, and scanning the sides of tower blocks. Then I've been into every binocular stockist who would let me do comparison tests [and been chucked out of one that wouldn't], while I'm not saying they are exactly as good as the top-flight Austrian glass, they are very very close. I'd have them over the entry level Zeiss's which are more than twice the price. I've given them to photographers and cameramen to test: they talked gobbledygook about colour saturation and edge definition - I didn't really understand - but they seemed delighted.  If you are, as I was, about to suck-it-down and buy some posh glass, have a look at these first. You wont be the only person shocked to see how far Chinese glass has come on in recent years. 

Big Shout to the chaps at Eden where you can find the Glass and some excellent kitchen knives too.

Now, does anyone want to buy a pair of unused Campagnolo brakes from the 80's? A collection of comix? For you madam a fire surround? Sir! Perhaps a ......

More soon

SBW

PS For more thoughts about glass from a blogger who actually spends time afield Hodgeman knows

Gear Freak, Kit Tart, Blogger

" I know nothing else that so restores the buoyant optimism of youth as overhauling ones kit "

Horace Kephart 1906


"Um-errr, I think I've got everything"
SBW 2012

More soon
SBW

Buying Outdoor Equipment

There's an amusing debate that regularly gets an airing on the outdoor forums between the kind of guy who maintains: that a dullard GF is every bit as good as a smart one, all whisky tastes the same, and cheap outdoor gear mass produced by democracy protesters in slave camps is just as good as gear made by people who A have free time and B spend it outdoors, and those of us who know better. For some people any old crap will do, good luck to them.

From you-get-what-you-pay-for to good-enough, choices in outdoor gear are seriously contentious with brand loyalty sometimes so strong it can cloud judgement and latest-and-greatest so skilfully marketed that, to read the flowery prose, you'd wonder just how humanity survived so long without the yah-dee-yah-dee-ya-3000 and its attendant benefits.

As regular readers, the observant ones at least, will have noticed I'd rather live on beans and rice, bake my own bread, eat only road kill, and limit dates to 'dead certs' if it meant I'd have the cash to 'buy the best and only cry once'.

1. & 2. Boots and Bag - if you're not in one you're in the other. The only thing worse than a day of cold wet feet, is following it up with a night of shivering in a crappy sleeping bag. I've tried both on your behalf, trust me on this one, don't bother. To me unlined boots make a lot more sence than the insulated ones; as they are easier to dry out, and when you've worn through the lining lined boots are very hard to repair.

BOOTS
Money no object: I wear Lundhags Rangers which Nordic Outdoor do some great deals on [often not on the website ring for availability]. But if I really had the money I'd have a pair made for me either by Altberg of Yorkshire or Russell Moccasin of Wisconsin.

Bargain alternative:
The Northern Monkey wears Scarpa bought very heavily discounted from a market stall and loves them, I've never heard a good word said about US military issue boots [and lots of words unfit for family viewing] but the lined British army boots have their fans and are a tenth of the list price of a pair of Lundhags.

BAG
Money no object: Kifaru Regulator for me. Demonstrated here by Goofy Girl



Bargain alternative: The Northern Monkey has the British army issue bag - warm but big and heavy. Our friend serving in Afganistan sings the praises of the US army issue system of bags.

3. Jacket

Whatever it costs to be warm and dry (or second best damp but warm) is a bargain.

Money no object: I wear a Ventile Arctic smock by West Winds and, when its a bit colder, a Kifaru Parka. It took a lot of patience to get them at a price I could afford. If I'd had the coin I was tempted by having one of Wiggy's Parkas made up for me with a Ventile shell. [Wiggy will make up in any combination you ask for for a small premium].

Bargain alternative: I've also got a US airforce issue Goretex Hardshell which is excellent.

4. Pack(s)

Personally I'd rather have a heavier pack that fits and lasts, than an ultralight that doesn't and won't, how much money you have to spend to find this out for yourself is up to you.

Money no object: Kifaru (my choice). Mystery Ranch, Kuiu, or McHale were also on my list

Bargain alternative: I wouldn't be the person to ask.

5.Shelter
My kids have an awesome pop-up tent that cost £70 ($100) and that was for the better model. It doesn't pack away very small but it's streets ahead of the tents we had as kids and they saw out some hoolies in the highlands and very wet weeks in Wales. You can have a really kick-ass hammock and tarp set up for less than £100 ($165). Admittedly up in the mountains the game is played for slightly higher stakes "Your tent is your make or break piece of gear between a hunt turning into an inconvenient adventure or a life threatening event. Choose accordingly."- An un-named pal of Hodgeman
6.
7.
8.
9.
10. Knife Mora of Sweden, and a diamond sharpening stone. Done.

Money no object: Chad has a stunning Charles May, if I had the money I'd have something by Stuart Mitchell. If fact I'd have a drawer full by Stuart Mitchell's to go next to the drawer full of Charles May's!

Bargain alternative: There is no better bargain than a Mora. Anywhere. End of Story.

Six through to nine? I'd welcome your thoughts.

We've come a long way from when buying from the Sears catalog was the only option for outdoorsman supplies.

Here's a round up of other bloggers thoughts on buying gear:


Dave Petzal's been writing for F&S since god was a boy, he's spent a few bucks over the years and has no regrets

"I'm not your investment counselor for goodness sake, I'm a blogger that lives just this side of Timbuktoo. ..." Hodgeman's thoughts on value for money when shopping for outdoor gear

While we're passing The Gear Junkie has complied a mind-blowing list of the most costly tat imagainable

Soon Come
SBW

PS I saw this one the other day
"The pleasure of buying really good quality kit is that the pleasure of using it will long outlast the pain of buying them.The downside of buying really good kit is that you don't need to buy it ever again." Heym SR20

Dumpster Dived Burberry Jacket

Conspicuous Minimalism: the non-ownership purchase of material goods flaunted as a token of moral and intellectual superiority. 


Well who-da-thunk-it? No sooner had I put the last post up when a chance to flaunt my new found 'moral and intellectual superiority' with a bit of dumpster-dived booty. Behold the Burberry Waxed Cotton jacket [£500 to you sir] or free from a posh blokes rubbish! All I need now is a pair of red strides.

More soon
SBW

Unboxing: RedRam Merino Base Layer

The lovely people* at Red Ram have sent me a Merino Base Layer for testing, but frankly the weather is still a warm to be able to tell you anything about it's thermal efficacy. Red Ram is a fair bit cheaper than my current favourite brand, which is no bad thing. The saving seems to come from not having the spiral seams of 'technical' underwear, after one days wear I'm yet to detect a difference. I wore the top last weekend on a  Pheasant shoot where I was over dressed for the weather and under dressed for the thorns and brambles I fought my way through, I was boiling the whole time. As soon as I get round to slinging on a wool wash on I'll let you know how well it survived the rigours of the washing machine, but a true test of the longjohns will have to wait until the mercury falls.

For those of you not afflicted by 'kit-tart-ness' sorry if that's the way the blog seems to be going at the moment - normal service with it's tales of feral failure will resume shortly with a cold weather adventure, a look at the english class system afield, some book reviews, and I may even get the time to finish some craft projects that aren't based in other people houses.

Keep well, your pal

SBW

*Lovely People status is available to pretty much anyone who wants to send me useable stuff

Unboxing: West Winds Ventile Antarctic Smock

Here's one I've wanted for a while, but always sucked a lemon at the price, at the Midland Game Fair I saw one on the remainder rail of an army surplace stall, it was reduced, but not enough, so I tried it on then repositioned it on the rack so I'd be able to tell if anyone else had taken it down.

The Midland finishes at 4pm on the sunday, so as the paying punters were trooping out. I thought I'd do the other kind of 'Trying It On' and made a bee line for the stall. I was defiantly the last person to so as now they had no prospects or customers they were packing up. I asked the owner bluntly "are you interested in selling this before you go home?" as he took a breath to answer I gave him the other barrel "What would you really take for it?". After some face pulling and sharp intakes of breath we began the good natured haggling - he claims to be able to sell it for more online - I point out that it's less hassle to reduce the cost of sale and sell it to me. We reach a figure where honor is served on both sides. I now have a Ventile smock.

So what's so special about this Ventile stuff? Like so much of the UK's history, our tale starts during the dark days of WWII.  As a way of guarding the arctic convoys that brought food to the UK aircraft were launched from the decks of merchant ships using catapults. Sadly once their work was done there was no space for them to land on the decks. When the pilots ran out of fuel they simply 'ditched' their Hurricanes into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic and swam for it. Understandably the mortality rate was pretty high.

Scientists from the Shirley Institute in Manchester (a northern town with pretentions) developed the cloth known as Ventile as a way of keeping the pilots alive for a few precious moments more, life expectancy in the sea soared from 'no chance mate' to around 20 minutes and many rescues were affected.  80% of the anti-submarine pilots who made a splash landing lived to fly again.

Ventile works by using the finest cotton possible (the top 2% of the worlds crop), woven as tight as possible (30% more cotton per sq yard). Woven so tight in fact that as the first threads make contact with water they swell making the weave tighter still. Ventile isnt technically waterproof, but is near as damn it. It allows vapour to pass through but unlike Goretex and its ilk, its breathability isn't affected by dirt or pressure (ever noticed how the first place water comes through is where your rucksacks straps press against your jacket?). Its also so naturally flame and spark retardent that it's used to make the suits firefighters wear. The reputation Ventile has from its use in arctic exploration comes from its tight weave being almost totally windproof. Quiet too.

Gotta be able to post a better picture than this

West Winds make a whole range of jackets and other clothes from it, but I've always wanted the simple smock - it's a real bushcraft classic. Very little is perfect out of the box, and while the smock is pretty good, I'm thinking of it as a work in progress. The logo(s) have got to go, for some reason there's a strap that goes between your legs with is just plain annoying. The pockets are big enough, but the noisy velcro closures have to go. I'd like it to have a big chest pocket for a pair of binos, but in fairness I'd like my other pockets to have enough cash in them to buy the binos I want, so I guess that's a mod that can wait.

More soon
SBW

Kifaru And Mora

One of those Kit Tart's 'gear shots' we like so much. Sad isn't it.

I saw this sentiment on a forum the other day and thought that sometimes sitting in front of the laptop chatting with other kit tarts actually does do some good, and of course it enabled me to bask in the smug glow of I-told-you-so.

"When I first got into bushcraft I bought a £300 knife and had a £50 pack, now I've got a £300 pack and £10 knife"

If this doesn't make sense to you, perhaps best not stray too far from the car.

More sad kit-tartism and occasional outbursts of yer actual kit-usage to follow
SBW

PS I also saw this one "Please, no bad mouthing the next guy's pack, it's like badmouthing his GF. I'm sure it's perfectly fine, unless you have to carry it."

The Most Massively Useful Thing A Bushcrafter Can Have?

A micro fibre travel towel: 
shown in the traditional outdoor blog style, 
with brass and blade [for no discernible reason]

The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels...

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to- hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you - daft as a bush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have "lost". What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with."

The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams www.douglasadams.com

All true, great advice, and well worth keeping an eye out for in the sale bin of your local outdoor store.

More soon

SBW

Hat's Off For The NorCal Cazadora!

A few of you have posted disparaging remarks about my choice of headgear. Only Holly has put her money where here mouth is and sent in a prospective replacement.

The Littlest Bushwacker "It's cool"

Ex Mrs SBW "Looks, er, like it'll keep you warm"

The Northern Monkey picked up the hat, assessed the size and asked
"Did she measure your head or does she just know you? Most people don't make 'em this big"

Your pal
The Suburban Bushwacker

Framed: Old School Pack Design

While we're on the subject of packs, I saw this recreation of the pack frames worn by climbers on the early alpine expeditions in a shop window display. It can't have been too comfortable but it did allow one clever innovation (not included here) where the addition of a drain valve and a fill point (available from any plumbing store) meant that the tubes served double duty as a tank for the liquid fuel of a cooking stove.

More soon
SBW

UnBoxing: The Duluth Pack Pathfinder Review

A short while back the lovely Molly of the Duluth Pack Co. must have been feverish as she came into her office one morning and thought "I need a plumber - to review one of our packs" the winds of fate and the mighty power of Google led her to my door. Ever a fan of free swag I waited all of a tenth of a second before biting her arm off and accepting her generous offer of a review pack. Hoping against hope that she wouldn't come to her senses and say 'sorry I was trying to email a proper outdoor writer'.

I knew the sum total of not-a-lot about the Duluth Pack Co, but as you may have noticed I have questions about everything. All I knew was that they are a heritage brand (not just marketing BS - they've been trading for over a hundred years - 99 of them from the same premises) and their packs are much favoured by the ‘trad’ bushcrafters.

It turns out that when the company started proofed leather and waxed cotton were the cutting edge of outdoor technology and to be fair, while neither of them is going to win any prizes for lightness, they are still about as good as it gets functionally, and have a user experience and smell that Cordura and Goretex will never match.

A French-Canadian named Camille Poirer, made his way west to Duluth in 1870 with his "little stock of leather and tools", he set up a shoe store and as living in a booming frontier town is hard on the feet, found favour as one of the towns shoemakers

Records show that by December 12, 1882, Camille was sufficiently well-heeled himself [ber-bom] to file a patent for a new type of pack. A canvas sack, closed with a buckled flap, with new-fangled shoulder straps, and the first known use of a then revolutionary sternum strap. Wisely he included an umbrella holder (if you need to ask why - best not stray too far from the car).

In 1911, Camille sold his pack business to the new Duluth Tent and Awning Company. Who opened for business on 1610 West Superior Street. 99 years later that's still where you find the company. The company’s facility with heavy weight canvas made them the natural choice of awning maker for the areas stores. If it could be made from canvas they were making and selling them. In the 20's the company made the 'auto pack' a forerunner of today's rooftop boxes, so gear could be stowed on the outside of the a car and a clip-on tent giving birth to car camping. Companies only get to become heritage brands by making what the punters want for good times and what they need for the hard times, the same stout waxed canvas and leather was deployed to make working clothes and packs for the people who made their living outdoors and needed affordable kit that would stand up to hard use.

Pathfinder Pack

I chose The Pathfinder, a pack designed by TV bushcrafter and survival dude Dave Canterbury of the Pathfinder School.  I wanted a pack that would cart a fair bit of kit around, but not one big enough for The Littlest Bushwacker to ride in. For reasons that will be obvious to any parent of lazy offspring young children

Although the design is new the pack screams old school:

Tough 15-ounce canvas construction.

Very tough, you can have any of nine colours, but I went for the waxed natural canvass edition which is actually a far nicer colour than in my pictures or as depicted on the website. I’m thinking the pack will be ideal for fishing trips to the pebble beaches of the south of England where although not soaking everything that sits on the ground ends up getting damp.

Riveted premium leather flap straps.

Which seem like they’ll out live the first couple of owners, although the sturdy metal buckles do make a bit of noise while walking. It should be pretty easy to make some quieters.  

Two side pockets with buckling flaps.

The pockets are a little over ‘nalgene’ sized,  take a hammock and tarp.

The left side pocket has a slide pocket behind it to slide a knife behind the pocket.

I like the idea of a handy yet unobtrusive way to carry another knife when out in public places.

The right pocket has a slide pocket to hold an axe, which secures with the leather cinch strap above the pocket.

This is actually a great idea, as nothing says ‘dangerous axe-wielding maniac’ to the public like an axe on the outside of your pack, but where else would you want your axe to be? I would have put the cinch strap at an angle so it holds the head of the axe rather than the shaft, but only dirt-time will tell if I’m right about this.

Zippered pocket on the front of pack and underneath pack flap.
Maps, Licences, and bars of chocolate all need to be kept to hand.

Leather drawstring attached to the left side of the pack, as well as on the bottom with D-rings to hold extra gear.

Leather looks totally fitting for the pack, but isn’t really as good for this role as elastic.

Cotton web shoulder straps that are comfortable from day one.

They’re wide, they’re cotton, they’re comfy. Yep.

Made with the Pathfinder Leather Logo and a Duluth Pack tag sewn on the front pocket.

Will be removed as soon as I get round to it – No Logo – it’s the way I roll. Other kit-tarts will already know it’s a Duluth and like most snobs I just don’t care what the uninitiated think :-)

  

In the interests of a proper test how’s this? 11 litres (2.9 US gallons) per minute, even if only for two minutes or so, is quite some downpour……

I left it on the wet bathroom floor and went to get dry and changed.It did pretty well at keeping stuff dry

 With only a slight bit of wetness on the paper stored in the outside pocket.

Interestingly the only water to get in came through the seem at the bottom, where the pack had sat on the soaking wet floor. Pretty good. If you like 'Trad' style gear you'll like it.

So that's the unboxing, let the dirt time commence.

More soon

Your Pal

SBW

Unboxing: Agion Base Layer Review

I received an email the other day offering me the a free shirt and as buying stuff to review takes up a large part [a ‘large part’ called ‘all’] of the blog budget and I wear a shirt most days I of course accepted.

The company claims the shirt has innate odour reducing properties, not being currently engaged in any adventure sports, I tested it with a couple of days on a building site carrying sanitary ware and plasterboard (dry lining) up many many flights of stairs. Which amounts to the same thing. Just without the fresh air and photo opportunities.

Did it work?

I really don’t know for sure, but it probably smells less than a cotton shirt

Was it warm?

Yes it was. So much so that I’m wearing it as I write.

Would I buy one?

Only if was available without the hideous promotional message.

What would make buying one a no-brainer?

Being able to choose the hideous promotional message myself.

What can we learn from all this?

The slogans on outdoor-wear are crap.

The ‘add your own slogan’ companies don’t offer base-layer shirts.

SBW loves free stuff even more than he loves cheap stuff.

More soon

Your pal

SBW

PS the lovely Traci has just written in to ask me to tell you that the shirts are currently just to demonstrate the efficacy of the anti odour treatment and will soon be branded with the name of a well-know hunting apparel manufacturer. Go on Traci. Seeing as its you. Normally I'd just have laughed and moved on to the next email but as coincidence would have it - It actually works. Really I've been wearing it for days and it doesn't smell as bad as my other work clothes.

Water Purifiers: Pre-Mac Trekker Review

This afternoon while tool shopping in 'crack converters' ( a chain of pawn shops) I found an unused Pre-Mac Trekker, complete with vintage picture of Ray Mears on the Package

Ray Mears had a period where he looked a lot like BoB

There are lots of rubbish water purifier systems availible, quite a few so-so ones and a couple of really good ones, each with thier own advantages. Here are some thoughts on the best options I've used.

The MSR miniworks is highly regarded, although perhaps a little bulky, and has an amazing flow rate of 1 litre per minute. The miniwoks uses a filtration system down to 0.3 microns which is enough to remove all bacteria, protozoa, etc. Of course, the ceramic filter can do nothing about viruses. They must be killed pre or post use, by either high temperatures, ultraviolet light, or chemicals like iodine and chlorine. Where you believe the water to be virus free [and you're right] the filtration-only design comes into it's own avoiding the taste of iodine or chlorine.

The british army and some NATO forces use the Pre-Mac Trekker which, while is has an annoying flow rate of only 0.4 litres per minute, does have other things going for it. Designed 'to produce safe drinking water from contaminated sources by elimination of pathogenic organisms - bacteria, viruses and cysts' in tests by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine the Trekker achived total elimination of the bacteria Eschedria coli and a reduction of Poliovirus in excess of 99.9%. One clever feature is the use of a resin that has iodine in it, so very small amounts of Iodine are present in the filtered water - leave the water to stand for three minutes and everything's zapped. I like the Trekker a lot, while it pumps slower and has a slight taste of iodine, it packs smaller, and is the best choice for when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every virus in the cup.

More Soon
SBW