This is a quick run down of the top 10 most used and most useful bits of kit I used last year.
1. North Face Cedar Ridge boots
I only use these in the autumn and winter but I certainly look forward to putting them on. They are a technical boot with Goretex lining, but you can actually stand in a puddle and not get your feet wet. For hiking they are wonderfully comfortable and they literally fit like a glove. Not the best bushcraft boot (I’ve melted the toe against the fire) but if you’re walking, hiking or tracking then these are great.
2. Gerber Profile Folding lock knife
Oops! I haven’t done a review on this but I can say if I’m merely out for the day tracking and don’t want to take too much kit, I’ll reach for this handy, lightweight folder. It has a stainless blade that sharpens up pretty well. It has an all plastic but comfortable handle and is great for small jobs if you keep it in an easily accessible place. Extremely cheap at £25-00 and worth much, much more. Be aware that it’s a lock knife, which means you might have to justify carrying it in public in the UK.
3. Mini Trangia
After the local camping store closed down, I had to go for miles to get gas canisters. When I got there, I found they had doubled in price from last year. I picked up a mini-trangia in a sale and, dubiously, set to work carrying it about during the summer. The result is that I’m absolutely delighted with this cookset. You don’t need a billy as it has a little frying pan and an aluminium bowl. As long as you’re not cooking a three-course meal, this set up is fine. You might have to protect the flame in windy conditions as the stand is just that, a stand, and not a wind shield. I just love the shape and size.
4. Snowsled Classic Smock.
I treated myself to this last spring and is currently the most expensive item I own. I like this smock because it gives you great freedom of movement. It’s just so well designed having pockets exactly where I want them (although these can be customised – at a price) and provides enough windproof capability if you have the correct layers underneath. It’s okay in light showers but struggles to keep out heavy rain as it’s only single layer. Even so, this is a great smock to work outdoors with and currently one of my favourite items of clothing. If it’s good enough for Ran Fiennes it’s good enough for me!
5. Maxpedition Falcon 2
I bet you never thought you’d see a MaxP bit of kit making my top 10! Well, credit where it’s due and I do like some MaxP kit as long as it’s used for the right purpose. This is a great day sack and fits extremely well, as long as you don’t pack it to the brim. It’s very comfortable and I can move fast and for a long distance without getting fatigued. I wouldn’t use it for anything but a day trip and the internal organisation is a bit fiddly, but it is a good stable, bomb-proof pack.
6. Karrimor Predator 45
This is simply an excellent bag for use from a day out to a long weekend. Unlike the MaxP Falcon 2 this is a top loader and you can compress stuff right down to the bottom of the bag. I like the square design (as opposed to the Sabre’s round design) and I like the flexibility of adding the 15 litres side-pouches. The Omni pouch is kind of useful for storing odds and ends, but the new side pouches is pretty useless for bushcraft use. The lack of hydration space is slightly annoying, although you can buckle a bladder to the inside back of the rucksack by two internal straps. Apart from this little moan, this is, overall, an excellent bushcraft bag.
7. Leuku/Puuko Combi
This knife pair has again made it into my top ten. I’ve tried many knives over the years but always come back to this set up if I’m going away for a couple of days or more and not taking an axe. I like the flexibility of the longer (7inch) leuko for light chopping and slashing down vegetation like nettles. The smaller and much sharper stainless puuko is good for carving and food prep. This set up is a mixture of a Stromeng Leuku and Jaavenpaa puuko squeezed into a Jaavenpaa sheath.
8. Highlander camp-bed
Okay – now I’m in for a bit of flak!! The purists will say what on earth is he doing with this! Comfycraft at it’s best!! Well, ok. Hands up! I’m not getting any younger and if I can get away with carrying this in, then I will – especially in the winter months! This is the most lightweight folding camp-bed I’ve seen. I still wouldn’t like to carry it any distance, but it is definitely a luxury bonus when you know that you have a flat surface to camp on. Set it up to one side of your tarp and you have a convenient living area where you can sit down and carve or cook – or errr…just lay down and snooze!
9. Silky saw
I have two of these saws – a larger Gomtaro and a folding pocket boy. It amuses me watching people sawing back and forth for all they’re worth at a great rate of knots expending huge amounts of energy, when I merely have to utilise the pull-cut action of the Silky’s backward facing teeth to effortlessly cut through my branch. This saw is especially good on green wood but nearly as good on dead wood. One thing to be careful of is that the blade is a little thinner than say the Laplander saw. Otherwise, this is a fine tool.
10. DD hammock
It’s not very often I go out without a tarp and hammock combination as a matter of course. I’ve been using this same hammock for nearly 7 years now. Barring some replacement tapes, I’ve had no problems with it. It’s the original DD hammock now called the scout hammock and comes in at the princely sum of £25-00. There’s no mossy net or any other frills, just two bits or rip-stop sewn together. Just the job!
Thanks for the visit.
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