Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

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Cowsham
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Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Cowsham »

Normally at this time of year I'd be checking my camping kit inventory but this year everything is on hold for now, so I'm taking this opportunity to reassess my list of stuff I usually pack.

I thought it would be a good thing to find out what handy stuff other cyclists pack before a cycle camping trip. This could be from a new gadget to something very simple not normally be associated with camping.

I'll start with a simple one ;

Cut a 3" square of Scotch-Brite pad and pack with your dishes for cleaning after each meal. Unlike a cloth it's light when wet, won't need drying out, cleans much faster than a cloth and should last the whole trip.
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Jdsk
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Jdsk »

Cable ties, duct tape, housewife, cotton wool balls, alcohol gel.

All relevant documents such as insurance, tickets, itineraries, contacts on the 'phones AND the Kindles AND somewhere online.

Navigation and communications stuff with no single point of failure.

Travel notes, flora and fauna guides etc made into DIY Kindle books. There's a free automatic online conversion facility...

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Oldjohnw
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Oldjohnw »

More than one means of lighting a stove.
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foxyrider
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by foxyrider »

i seem to add a new 'gadget' of some sort every year then promptly remove from the gear list when i get back as i either found no use for them, they didn't actually work or they broke!

I have had to press my sewing lit into action a couple of times, likewise the first aid kit, after bite treatment has beenessential on some trips but thats about it. :D
Convention? what's that then?
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whoof
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by whoof »

2-3 metre long piece of string. Mainly a clothes line but also used for tying things on to rear pannier and emergency repairs.
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by PH »

J-clothes, multi use, one gets me 70% dry after a shower so I take a smaller towel, also serves to remove condensation from the inside of the fly, and cleans the chain or other muck off the bike - just have to remember to do those in the correct order. I take one for each day I'm away, so two weeks worth is about the same size/weight as the saving on the smaller towel.
Tangled Metal
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Tangled Metal »

Cowsham wrote:Normally at this time of year I'd be checking my camping kit inventory but this year everything is on hold for now, so I'm taking this opportunity to reassess my list of stuff I usually pack.

I thought it would be a good thing to find out what handy stuff other cyclists pack before a cycle camping trip. This could be from a new gadget to something very simple not normally be associated with camping.

I'll start with a simple one ;

Cut a 3" square of Scotch-Brite pad and pack with your dishes for cleaning after each meal. Unlike a cloth it's light when wet, won't need drying out, cleans much faster than a cloth and should last the whole trip.

We cut a cheapo, scratchpads sponge scouring pad in half and keep with some washing up liquid. Is that the same as scotch brite? It's one squeeze and the water goes out of it.

We're a touring family so our kit tricks won't be what most on here would be interested in!!!!
mercalia
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by mercalia »

hammock. These can be got quite cheaply if so called parachute silk and great for lounging around a campsite ( as long as there are some trees. )
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Vorpal »

mercalia wrote:hammock. These can be got quite cheaply if so called parachute silk and great for lounging around a campsite ( as long as there are some trees. )

Yes. I got one last year. Mine closes & has bug net at the openings. I was planning to use it with my rain fly when camping in the woods. I figured that would give me camping opportunities in Norway when I couldn't find a good place to pitch a tent. I was planning on trialling it last year, but my tour was cut short by a mechanical after two nights, both above the tree line.
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Mike Sales
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Mike Sales »

I like to buy a paper daily.
It often comes in handy for mopping jobs in the camp and can be a welcome ground insulation.
It biodegrades, and of course you can read it.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Tangled Metal »

Anti histamine bite/sting cream plus germalene. Easter last year our son managed to get all of his forearm covered in nettle stings. It took anti histamine cream followed by the anaesthetic qualities of germalene plus Calpol for the sting to die down. I've never seen so many nettle stings since I ran through a shoulder high stand of nettles as a kid of primary school age without a t-shirt on. Then had to go back through it as there was no other way out!!! I know just how bad belt nettle stings can be for a kid. That's before you get bad insect bite reactions. You never know if your body is going to over react to bites from the bugs and midges in a new area until they have done their worst.

This isn't really camping stuff but I've seen people with really comprehensive first aid kits who can't do anything for you if you have a bite or sting reaction. Seriously people who could practically sew you back together or glue your broken tooth but nothing for common midge bite reaction.

For camping gear I would simply be boring; I'd say different types of pegs and a pole repair tube with duct tape. It's saved our first camping tour in a very wet Scotland after a brand new tent had a snapped pole early in the first week. Seriously, it snapped while our son was playing football away from the tent and we were sat outside. It just snapped about 2 hours after pitching it. No cause for it other than the pole cracked where the peg was fixed into the end of one pole. Without the sleeve and duct tape we'd have had to seek accommodation for the night followed by a long cycle to the ferry the next day. End of holiday issue.
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Cowsham
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Cowsham »

Tangled Metal wrote:
Cowsham wrote:Normally at this time of year I'd be checking my camping kit inventory but this year everything is on hold for now, so I'm taking this opportunity to reassess my list of stuff I usually pack.

I thought it would be a good thing to find out what handy stuff other cyclists pack before a cycle camping trip. This could be from a new gadget to something very simple not normally be associated with camping.

I'll start with a simple one ;

Cut a 3" square of Scotch-Brite pad and pack with your dishes for cleaning after each meal. Unlike a cloth it's light when wet, won't need drying out, cleans much faster than a cloth and should last the whole trip.

We cut a cheapo, scratchpads sponge scouring pad in half and keep with some washing up liquid. Is that the same as scotch brite?

Yes but I find the cheapo versions we see round here wear out too soon and break down into bits
It's one squeeze and the water goes out of it.

We're a touring family so our kit tricks won't be what most on here would be interested in!!!!
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Cowsham
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Cowsham »

Mike Sales wrote:I like to buy a paper daily.
It often comes in handy for mopping jobs in the camp and can be a welcome ground insulation.
It biodegrades, and of course you can read it.


That's a good idea.
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Cowsham
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Cowsham »

Tangled Metal wrote:Anti histamine bite/sting cream plus germalene. Easter last year our son managed to get all of his forearm covered in nettle stings. It took anti histamine cream followed by the anaesthetic qualities of germalene plus Calpol for the sting to die down. I've never seen so many nettle stings since I ran through a shoulder high stand of nettles as a kid of primary school age without a t-shirt on. Then had to go back through it as there was no other way out!!! I know just how bad belt nettle stings can be for a kid. That's before you get bad insect bite reactions. You never know if your body is going to over react to bites from the bugs and midges in a new area until they have done their worst.

This isn't really camping stuff but I've seen people with really comprehensive first aid kits who can't do anything for you if you have a bite or sting reaction. Seriously people who could practically sew you back together or glue your broken tooth but nothing for common midge bite reaction.

For camping gear I would simply be boring; I'd say different types of pegs and a pole repair tube with duct tape. It's saved our first camping tour in a very wet Scotland after a brand new tent had a snapped pole early in the first week. Seriously, it snapped while our son was playing football away from the tent and we were sat outside. It just snapped about 2 hours after pitching it. No cause for it other than the pole cracked where the peg was fixed into the end of one pole. Without the sleeve and duct tape we'd have had to seek accommodation for the night followed by a long cycle to the ferry the next day. End of holiday issue.


I take the antihistamine cream with hydrocortisone cream --- neutrogena you'd use on your hands is also great to keep your lips from cracking since your on the bike for hours with air moving passed them -- I find a small tube of sun cream is good to have in your pocket to put on your bottom lip as it seems to get more sun than the top one.
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Cowsham
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Re: Handy stuff to have in your camping kit

Post by Cowsham »

Does pole fixing tube apply to alloy poles? I discovered alloy poles a couple of years ago and wouldn't go back to fibreglass -- I take a couple of spare alloy rods bungie with end plug and cutting tool to make new or I take the two ready made ones cos on my vango tent there are only two different lengths.
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