Coast to Coast Walk (East to West) 2010

[posie]

Foxy, it's the TASTE of the water for tea, not the look of it....Poe.

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

339 grams for the Honey Stove - I thought you wanted to keep your gear as light as possible! You're also taking meths, which is inefficient for its weight.

I've got meths stoves only as museum curiosities, and use my Coleman F1 Lite with Titan Kettle for lightweight camping. The F1 Lite weighs 70 grams.

Jim

I've been weighting the stoves and if I use the Honey Stove c/w gas conventer, that totals 500gm inc. the 2 pegs for pan supports. Guess that's out of the window, too heavy. however the Primus Gravity stove I also have is 255gm and is a pretty good burn spec @ 3000w and decent pan support, so that may be on gear-list yet.

The Pocket Rocket is one I would love to take, but due to it's small size and small pan support, that's out.

However, Jim. The Coleman F1 lite looks tempting for weight and power output @ 4 800w, pretty impressive. One question to you, is the MSR Titan Kettle pretty stable on the pan supports and the Peek Plastic ring which is suppose to withstand heat from -60 to +320 Degrees, to that I've heard from a certain review site about the Peek Plastic part melting due to the high heat and the simmering is not so good and supposed to cut out if it overheats.

Saying that, it does look like a good stove for the price and for a 2 week back-packing trip, guessing £20 won't break the bank. I did have a EPL stove, now replaced by Coleman.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by foxy mars

However, Jim. The Coleman F1 lite looks tempting for weight and power output @ 4 800w, pretty impressive. One question to you, is the MSR Titan Kettle pretty stable on the pan supports and the Peek Plastic ring which is suppose to withstand heat from -60 to +320 Degrees, to that I've heard from a certain review site about the Peek Plastic part melting due to the high heat and the simmering is not so good and supposed to cut out if it overheats.

Saying that, it does look like a good stove for the price and for a 2 week back-packing trip, guessing £20 won't break the bank. I did have a EPL stove, now replaced by Coleman.

The Titan Kettle fits OK on the F1 Lite, but I don't suppose any better than the Rocket. The main problem I find is knocking the whole lot over - because of the narrow base of the gas canister. Having said that, I've never done it!

I've never seen any evidence of the plastic softening.

I don't know about simmering. I use a 'cosy' made out of 2 layers of radiator foam backed with foil, with a lid made from the same stuff. This is to reduce gas consumption. What I do if simmering is needed (lentils+bulgar wheat), is bring it to a boil, then turn off the gas and put the pot in the cosy to one side. I then leave it for 10-20 mins after which it's cooked. The cosy is so efficient that even after 20mins, the food is still too hot to eat. It also has the advantage that you can hold the pot in the cosy while eating, without getting your hands burnt. It's also safer, as you don't have to watch it balanced on a burning stove and can get on with camp chores. It's one of the most useful bits of kit I have.

If you want to give the F1 a try you're welcome to borrow mine. If our trips in 2010 don't clash, you could use it on your coast-to-coast. P.M. me.

I've still got an EPIgas/Coleman Alpine stove, but it's a bit heavy and I don't use it.

If I didn't already have the F1 Lite, I'd go for one of these:

Portable Strong-power Camping Stove C1 x1 on eBay (end time 21-Nov-09 07:33:20 GMT)

I've bought stuff from them before and it's pretty good. They also have other stoves and small gas lamps (I've bought 2!)

Cheers, Jim

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

If you want to give the F1 a try you're welcome to borrow mine. If our trips in 2010 don't clash, you could use it on your coast-to-coast. P.M. me.


If I didn't already have the F1 Lite, I'd go for one of these:

Portable Strong-power Camping Stove C1 x1 on eBay (end time 21-Nov-09 07:33:20 GMT)

Thanks for the offer, Jim. But, I'm popping into Go-Outdoors on the way to work and going take a closer inspection of the F1 lite. For the price, I will probably end up buying it.

Thanks for the link, yes, it looked like a copy of the Pocket Rocket. My Pocket Rocket on closer inspection this morning whilst trying out the grill section on the Pocket Rocket to see if it could stabilize the Titan Kettle. Seems to work, but two of the pan supports on the Pocket Rocket are very loose. Guessing wear and tear, things nowadays don't last like there did years ago.

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by posie

Foxy, it's the TASTE of the water for tea, not the look of it....Poe.

Tonight, I did the rice in the bag. Tried Tes**'s version not bad, but tasted a bit bland, best to stick to the top brands.

The water was boiled up and simmered for 15 minutes and made a cuppa of tea from the same boiled water, tasted ok.

[posie]

I'm pleased the tea tasted OK Foxy. Do you take any water with you at the start, or do you just pick some up daily. that is a silly question really 'cos you probably drink cold water as you go. Please explain. .....Poe..

[foxy mars]

Yes, the cup of char was nice.

I carry enough water for the day's walking, depending on how warm it is. I tend to carry 2 x 500ml Sigg bottles of water on me and a Platypus 2 litre bladder for when I arrive at the camp-site, usually always a outside tap available.

In the case of wild camping, getting water can be a problem. Maybe not so in the Lake District, which is plentiful, but can be a problem on the North Yorkshire Moors, which is nearly all peat moor. However, there is water if you know when to look such as springs.

When I did a weeks walking back in September, I was walking from Osmotherley to the Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge, the day was very warm and sunny and I was doing 23 miles. I was carrying water, but ran short. There is a cafe up on Carlton Bank and had a beer in there and purchased a 500ml bottle of water, which would do for the 10 mile stretch between Clay Bank and Blakey Ridge. But the heat of the day was getting to me and I was carrying all the camping gear, so I decided to omit the Wainstones and Hasty Bank in favour of the old Jet-Miners track. I knew from a walk many years ago, that there was spring along there. Luck and behold, I came across it. I never tasted water to be so pure, I drank from it using my cupped hands. So, now I know where to look in future walks.


The only thing I don't have is a water filter, I'm looking for something that fits the bill on my Coast to Coast walk. Any advice from the forum would be welcomed.

So, Posie. In a nutshell, I obtain water on a daily basic.

[foxy mars]

I originally was going to do the Coast to Coast walk in 14 days, but I'm now going to have a go at doing it in 10 days, so really more of a challedge.

I tend to start on the east coast of Whitby, so my first night will be:

Glaisdale...11 mls and so on like this.....

Beak Hills fm...21 mls
Danby Wiske...20 mls
Nun Cote Nook fm...21 mls
Keld...16 mls
Bents fm...18 mls
Mardale End...22 mls
Grasmere Yh...15 mls
Low Gillerthwaite Yh...18 mls
St. Bees or Whitehaven...19 mls

Longs days, I know but I used to be a long distance walker, doing the odd 26 miles or 50 miles. I remember doing the Lyke Wake Walk in 1995 on one's own, did from Osmotherley to Ravenscar overnight and the following week-end returned to Ravenscar and walked back to Osmotherley. Had blisters on blisters.

[posie]

Isn't there a lightweight portable filter, suitable for what you want ,on the market. Or you could use a polythene bag with a filter from a small kettle filter fixed across half way down. We've got a kettle with a filter at 'spout' which isn't as good as a proper water filter but is better than nothing. The reason I said polythene bag is 'cos of weight, but you would be carrying some sort of container for other uses and you could filter it into that, from the polythene bag with the charcoal(or similar) filter fixed in a hole in thecorner of the bag,secured and made watertight with a good rubber band. I don't know how much a filter weighs, but I expect they vary, anyway, you could make your own (with charcoal), you could even make your own charcoal.In fact you could make the whole thing from one polythene bag, two rubber bands and some charcoal..... HeHe do you think I ought to come with you to do 'filter duties'........Poe...

[foxy mars]

Thanks for kind offering, Posie. I will probably buy one, but I have one in mind. Mmm, maybe you could carrying my rucksack instead (only joking)

[posie]

No, I wouldn't dream of lugging you AND your rucksack, and the blinkin filter , all those miles, I wouldnt last out anyway ! There was a Countryfile programme on during the night,it must have been a repeat, but was very interesting, about The William Shakespeare Way, (or is it 'Walk' ?) from Stratford on Avon.I was so darned tired I didn't absorb where it goes to, was it via Oxford?, where a friend of his kept a Public House, which is still there,To london, yes that's it cos he went to theatre-land in london. I wondered if you had ever walked that route, though possibly not your sort of terraine, being in a different part of the country, but you might know of it. Another thing I was going to ask you about water, do you divine for water, or does the map tell you where it will be.I've done a bit of divining, and got a smack in the face from the Hazel as I approached the source. I've also done dowsing for water, amongst other things. It is possible to dowse for water on the actual map of the area,But to actually find the water, and not just the general area, you need a large-scale map, (or do I mean small-scale), But if you combine the two things, i.e.Map-dowse to find the approximate area, then Divine with fork to find the exact spot is a good way to do it, I guess. .... If you strike oil, DON'T drink it, SELL THE RIGHTS !(Well, buy the land first,before you tell anyone there's oil there.) ...Posie...

[foxy mars]

Originally Posted by posie

No, I wouldn't dream of lugging you AND your rucksack, and the blinkin filter , all those miles, I wouldnt last out anyway !

I always carry my own gear, no luggage carrier for me. That is the challenge, not slack packing.

Originally Posted by posie

There was a Countryfile programme on during the night,it must have been a repeat, but was very interesting, about The William Shakespeare Way, (or is it 'Walk' ?) from Stratford on Avon.I was so darned tired I didn't absorb where it goes to, was it via Oxford?, where a friend of his kept a Public House, which is still there,To london, yes that's it cos he went to theatre-land in london. I wondered if you had ever walked that route, though possibly not your sort of terraine, being in a different part of the country, but you might know of it.

No, not one part of the country I've been to yet. However, I've done the South Downs Way in Sussex & Hampshire, I loved it down there. Also did the Isle of Wight Coastal path and that was a enjoyable walk. Although, I prefer the North of England and Scotland nowadays. The beer is cheaper and better tasting than the south

[posie]

Don't you go comparing the South unfavourably with the North,( Price of Beer) I'm having enough trouble with Mrmack on flint thread,cheeky monkey. ..........We're really close to old Winchester Hill, South Downs Way etc......

and our farm is actually part of the South Downs National Park......You didn't comment on finding water so you perhaps wouldn't have time..... understood. Posie..

[foxy mars]

With the the long days of doing 20+ miles, probably won't get the time Divining with a forked stick. Always plenty of pubs enroute with Black Sheep on sale or Thwaites to that.

[posie]

Yes,Gotcha, seems more sensible to me....

[foxy mars]

Yeah, it's grim up North as you Southerner's may say. probably right, that's why we Northerner's escape to the beautiful Lake District with real mountains

This is my area:
The Cooling Towers of Teesside


This beautiful bridge is a icon of Teesside with other bridges in the area second to none.

[posie]

Nice photos, Foxy, yes the bridge is magnificient.I expect we must have bridges down here but I don't know where, except London, across the Thames, but I never see them.Only bridge I do know of is the one across our stream, down the field, put there for the tractors etc. to go across to the other side, but it's rarely used because we've let that small area become a natural wildlife site, amongst other things there are Water Voles there...

[richnfamous]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Meals - easy!

Breakfast: Coffee and instant custard.
Lunch: Coffee and a couple of oat cakes (nothing on).
Evening meal: Lentils and bulgar wheat, boiled up with either a packet of leek and potato soup, or a veg. stock cube (I'm a vegetarian). If it's been a cold and damp day, maybe I'll also have an instant custard to cheer me up!

After a few days in the hills, I start to long for chips. I think it's the lack of carbs.!

Jim

Blimey...that sounds a bit spartan.

My diet when I'm out and about might look like this:

Breakfast: Muesli with dried milk, water added and a cup of tea (don't do caffeine so it's herbal for me) and perhaps a banana
Along the way: dried fruit, oatcakes and chocolate (cheapo kit-kat copies) and nuts
Lunch: rye bread and salami with cheese like Brie, with cucumber and maybe an apple
Evening: my fave is bacon fried until the pan goes brown, and then a can of beans on top which soaks up all the lovely brown stuff stuck to the pan. Otherwise, packet soup or suchlike.

I'm thinking of trying pinto beans and/or puy lentils when I get a Honey stove - they take time to cook so the fuel is a factor but where there's wood, no problem.

[richnfamous]

Originally Posted by posie

Isn't there a lightweight portable filter, suitable for what you want ,on the market.

Maybe this one?

Frontier Water Filter Straw : Cabela's

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by richnfamous

I'm thinking of trying pinto beans and/or puy lentils when I get a Honey stove - they take time to cook so the fuel is a factor

Make a cosy like I've mentioned earlier in the thread - then you only need to bring to the boil.

Jim

[richnfamous]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Make a cosy like I've mentioned earlier in the thread - then you only need to bring to the boil.

Jim

Yes and no...pinto beans make a pleasant kind of 'sauce' when you boil them well.

I use the "cosy" technique - it's very common in Scandinavia where it's called 'putting it in a haybox'. People used to keep a box of hay for that purpose.

I wrap the pot (with lid) in a a plastic bag and then use my sleeping bag to keep the heat in.

[foxy mars]

Don't spill the beans, rather messy.

[posie]

Originally Posted by foxy mars

Don't spill the beans, rather messy.

That saying belongs on the other thread too, Foxy. HeHe..

[foxy mars]

Actually I prefer baked beans on toast, mmm, I will have to try it whilst camping on C2C. I know you can get them toasters, wonder if it would work on the Pocket Rocket

[posie]

Don't know about that Foxy, but you could get some at the hostels I expect. Or you could take some rusky things and heat the beans and put them on that. LURVLEY ! !