Just starting out

andrew_s · Post by **andrew_s** » 22 Jan 2015, 7:54pm

The Karrimor Alpine is a rebadged Fire Maple FM-118, with a piezo igniter that you don't usually get.
£17 is the standard Sports Direct/Field & Trek price, but there are others are selling it for the £45 (UOG).

NATURAL ANKLING · Post by **NATURAL ANKLING** » 22 Jan 2015, 8:17pm

Hi,
Like others have said, if your just starting out you can do it for peanuts, you could buy super kit but you don't need to on a technical basis.
Then you will form your own opinion on what kit you need.
Spend a fortune then find out its not for you, money wasted.
I have a solid fuel bent tin burner, and my old Camping Gaz GT pan, now over 30 years old and still works fine.
I started camping 42 years ago with the standard camping gaz cooker.
When the canisters are empty you set them alight the little hole in the top and play football in the dark.......... :lol:

jags · Post by **jags** » 24 Jan 2015, 4:56pm

Decided to keep my gear no longer for sale. :wink:

fluffybunnyuk · Post by **fluffybunnyuk** » 25 Jan 2015, 1:40am

I started out on the malarkey about 18 months ago.With very little kit.When it rained on me I decided it might help getting a tent.When it got cold a sleeping bag.And when hungry some cooking gear. I still dont think ive got everything i need but i can cover most things ive experienced.
I found this is all a bottomless fire pit you can throw money into. So get what you need as and when you need it. My gear is heavy, cheap and more suited to non-mobile camping. I laugh a little at the weight weenies chasing 1kg tents..mines 3.5kg.Sure id like a light tent but i just cant afford one for the same spec as what i have.

For me the bottom line is if i wake up dry without having slept on a large stone, and can have a nice hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows to get me going, then all is well in the world.After that whatever will be...will be.

The key is just getting out there and enjoying the open road.
My favourite is the local cyclists i run into of an evening doing hill climbs south of st ives. I always appear like death warmed up after 70 miles in the saddle, but theyre always nice enough to ask if i need a crash cart... :mrgreen:

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 25 Jan 2015, 9:05am

fluffybunnyuk wrote:I started out on the malarkey about 18 months ago.With very little kit.When it rained on me I decided it might help getting a tent.When it got cold a sleeping bag.And when hungry some cooking gear. I still dont think ive got everything i need but i can cover most things ive experienced.
I found this is all a bottomless fire pit you can throw money into. So get what you need as and when you need it. My gear is heavy, cheap and more suited to non-mobile camping. I laugh a little at the weight weenies chasing 1kg tents..mines 3.5kg.Sure id like a light tent but i just cant afford one for the same spec as what i have.

For me the bottom line is if i wake up dry without having slept on a large stone, and can have a nice hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows to get me going, then all is well in the world.After that whatever will be...will be.

The key is just getting out there and enjoying the open road.
My favourite is the local cyclists i run into of an evening doing hill climbs south of st ives. I always appear like death warmed up after 70 miles in the saddle, but theyre always nice enough to ask if i need a crash cart...

Good post. I've also found in the past when travelling with others with better kit it's really easy to go all drooly and the green eyed monster manifests itself. DON'T GIVE IN TO PEER PRESSURE. By all means try the kit out with them and make your own mind up. Years ago I nearly bought one of the tiny lightweight stoves because they had just become fashionable. There was a young lady in there who whispered in my ear, 'Don't do it!' In a sleepy haze one morning she trod on it and that was that. Too flimsy. I spent a wee bit less on a robust Primus duel fuel and it's still going strong after 2 decades. Not in the same league as my Trangia but it has its place.

I've got lots of other useful bits of kit like the Crusader cook system and a Hobo stove I made out of an IKEA cutlery holder. They all have their uses and changing kit occasionally adds a different dimension. I'm in the market for a one man tent and a 3 season sleeping bag so I feel your pain. Too much choice and too little money[emoji37]...hc

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 25 Jan 2015, 5:24pm

Oooh! Forgot. Never carried it on my bike (yet) (and could be a sight lit on my rear rack!) but I use a Kelly Kettle a lot. Handy at work (I work outdoors) and dead handy car-camping. Tea everyone? Only downside is that it provides enough boiling water for you ALWAYS to get roped into doing the washing up....hc

PH · Post by PH » 25 Jan 2015, 6:01pm

Sorry to go back to basics, but before you choose your cooker choose the sort of cooking you want to do.
I have a Jetboil for heating stuff up and a trangia for cooking (Not carried on the same trips)
Pans - In my limited experience, hard anodized aluminium pans are my favorite for cooking.

thidwick · Post by **thidwick** » 25 Jan 2015, 8:52pm

Useful topic for me. Right on the need........ Sportsdirect still have the Karrimor Alpine stoves at £17, so I ordered one. They also have some Karrimor pansets. Including an anodised aluminium set with a 1 litre kettle (and a meths burner) for another £17. Should I?

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 25 Jan 2015, 9:11pm

thidwick wrote:Useful topic for me. Right on the need........ Sportsdirect still have the Karrimor Alpine stoves at £17, so I ordered one. They also have some Karrimor pansets. Including an anodised aluminium set with a 1 litre kettle (and a meths burner) for another £17. Should I?

Don't get me involved, but the cook set looks like a Trangia copy, so if it it works it's a goer. The most useful, used and most cherished is the kettle....hc

Vinko · Post by **Vinko** » 26 Jan 2015, 12:18pm

I brought a Trangia in 1982 for backpacking.

I have used all sorts of other things since for backpacking and cycle camping.

I sometimes use one of several Gas stoves when just needing a stove for a quick brew.

....but stove of choice, still my Trangia

Of course nothing to go wrong at all and thus the same one serving well, with all its pans (gained a few dents though) after 33 years.

Vinko · Post by **Vinko** » 26 Jan 2015, 12:23pm

fluffybunnyuk wrote:
For me the bottom line is if i wake up dry without having slept on a large stone, and can have a nice hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows to get me going, then all is well in the world.After that whatever will be...will be.

Dry

Without having slept on a large Stone..... :lol:

Hot chocolate and marshmallows.....

fluffybunnyuk · Post by **fluffybunnyuk** » 27 Jan 2015, 12:55pm

lol...next you'll be criticising my ginger beer, and my beetroot sandwiches... :lol:

thidwick · Post by **thidwick** » 27 Jan 2015, 7:05pm

Heltor Chasca wrote:
thidwick wrote:Useful topic for me. Right on the need........ Sportsdirect still have the Karrimor Alpine stoves at £17, so I ordered one. They also have some Karrimor pansets. Including an anodised aluminium set with a 1 litre kettle (and a meths burner) for another £17. Should I?

Don't get me involved, but the cook set looks like a Trangia copy, so if it it works it's a goer. The most useful, used and most cherished is the kettle....hc

The Karrimor panset including the meths burner "trangia copy" arrived today. I must admit I am pretty impressed ...... seems a real bargain for the price, and it arrived really quickly.
Only issue now is that the Alpine gas stove, which I ordered a whole hour before the panset, isn't here yet......but I can be patient (sometimes).

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 27 Jan 2015, 7:08pm

thidwick wrote:
Heltor Chasca wrote:
thidwick wrote:Useful topic for me. Right on the need........ Sportsdirect still have the Karrimor Alpine stoves at £17, so I ordered one. They also have some Karrimor pansets. Including an anodised aluminium set with a 1 litre kettle (and a meths burner) for another £17. Should I?

Don't get me involved, but the cook set looks like a Trangia copy, so if it it works it's a goer. The most useful, used and most cherished is the kettle....hc

The Karrimor panset including the meths burner "trangia copy" arrived today. I must admit I am pretty impressed ...... seems a real bargain for the price, and it arrived really quickly.
Only issue now is that the Alpine gas stove, which I ordered a whole hour before the panset, isn't here yet......but I can be patient (sometimes).

Happy cooking [emoji477]️ Mine's a builder's, milk no sugar thanks...hc

thidwick · Post by **thidwick** » 27 Jan 2015, 8:35pm

Can't actually try it yet.....no meths. I must have drunk it all at the last outing, :evil:

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