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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Original poster

update on: dutch oven, coolbox, kettle

34 replies

thisisyesterday · 05/06/2011 00:23

Well, we got back from Suffolk today, mostly in one piece, very dirty and smelling of camp fires Grin

we ran out of room for our small camp cooker, so just took the dutch oven and it was fine!
I cooked with it every night and it was great, am def not going to bother taking the cooker any more if we're on sites that allow fires. we made hotdogs, stew, stir-fry, eggs, pancakes...

also can highly recommend the coleman xtreme coolbox. we got the smallest one (36qt) which is actually really massive and bigger than we actually need, but hey ho. i froze some food to take with us, and some milk, and 2 of the really thin ice blocks and that's how it all started off. about 3 days in we got 2 bags of ice while visiting the supermarket and it all kept soooo lovely and cold. no re-freezing ice packs, no milk going off... was so nice not to have to think about it at all.
and this was with us opening the bloody thing several hundred times a day to get bits out for the kids, so was really impressed with it

need a ghillie kettle! people in the next tent had one and it was fab. I'd been put off by the price, but seeing one in action has bumped it up to the top of my "more stuff i need when camping" list.
so much quicker than making a tripod out of sticks and dangling a normal kettle over the fire lol

OP posts:
BitOfFun · 05/06/2011 00:24

I have to say that that's not my experience of a Dutch oven Grin

Grumpla · 05/06/2011 00:33

Oooh that cooler sounds good. How big is big though? We are just back from a four day trip, space is getting ridiculously tight and I don't want to leave my lovely pillows at home!

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 05/06/2011 00:37

according to amazon the cooler is Dimensions: 66 x 36.8 x 36.8 cm

and bitoffun... until i saw it mentioned on here my experiences of dutch ovens were pretty unpleasant Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
thisisyesterday · 05/06/2011 00:38

i think i need to vacuum pack all the clothes and pillows so we have more space.

is that a really stupid idea?

OP posts:
MisSalLaneous · 05/06/2011 01:00

Sounds lovely! Re vacuum packing - I take it you have a mattress pump then, right? If so, I think it's probably a great idea, as you can make it as flat as possible and then put in the boot, with other stuff on top. Have considered the same, but would have to take pump just for that purpose, so don't bother.

Ghillie kettle great. We've got a Storm kettle, and it's my favourite camping item, excluding tent obv. I wonder if it would be allowed on no-fire camps though? We always camp where no issue, but I have wondered.

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 08:51

I pack all my clothes in the roll up vacuum bags. Works really well and can four times the amount of clothes (ie for all four of us) into one reasonably sized hold-all.

We have these coleman camping pillows. Take up much less room than standard pillows and they fit into the head bit of the sleeping bag so I can toggle away to keep the cold air out but still keep the pillow next to my head.

brambleschooks · 05/06/2011 09:28

This sounds amazing, I've been waiting for a bit of camping kit updating news.

Slubber, how do you repack the camping bags? Do you have incredibly strong suction to revacuum them?

Our Quechua overnighter pop up was a huge success. The 4 man was very cozy for three of us and we sat in the zipped up porch bit reading when it was too chilly outside.

Has anyone had any success with waterproof kindle covers? Was a bit concerned about the sand on mine on the beach and had to hold it up above my head wrapped in a carrier bag when wading out to friend's boat for a trip round the llyn.

The cooler sounds awesome. Does it freeze stuff by accident? We have insulin to keep cool but it mustn't be allowed to freeze. It also must go above 30 degrees so thoughts of camping on the continent worry me.

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 10:07

Yo bramble. No suction required. Just do up the end and and roll the air out.

I used my waterproof kindle cover with no worries on the beach. Sand and errant drips stayed out. Not sure I would risk using it whilst lying on a lilo on the sea though.

Our new icey tek froze stuff such was the power of its awesome coolness.

3rdnparty · 05/06/2011 11:11

Slubber - which roll up bags would you recommend ???????? bought some from local shop and 1 split on first use and t'other unvacummed itself Hmm and am depending on them to fit everything in for 2 weeks in the summer Grin

am v Envyre icey tek...

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 13:50

3rd, I have a little selection Grin the best ones really are from Lakeland, but I do have one from tesco which is surprisingly good, despite not having those clippy tops. It has a wide band at the top which is very attractive to itself so you shove everything in, press the top together and roll out the air from a penisy hole at the bottom.

brambleschooks · 05/06/2011 14:37

Ok next question... Mattresses. I need a volunteer to let me lie on their fat airics or thermarests so that I can see if they are comfy enough for my aged bones. Blush

Any pavlova news yet?

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 15:23

Thermarest base camps at your service ma'am. House is giant shit pit of stuff so give me a day or two and you can come by and lie on one.

I have to say though, I lay on something this week that was beyond good. A thermarest dreamtime. OH MY WORD. Better than lying on my bed. Sim with memory foam topper. Oh yeah. When I get to 40 I am getting one. Fuck the cost and the space issues, this was the dog's cahoonas.

No pavlova news but did do 3 hour epic breakfast one morning chez Cobb including pancakes.

brambleschooks · 05/06/2011 19:45

Dowsers, bed sounds amazing. I am very over 40 so will qualify.

Looking forwards to trying yours. I will need to get over getting up at 5am tomorrow to get ds1 to the bus for Belgium- now there's a service you didn't know this village run!

Then there is the primping session for my snog in with Howard and Robbie, so if the stubble burn isn't too bad later in the week I'll come and show you my best moves and will be v. appreciative of it.

I don't mind not having a Cobb. Camping with a hungry teen who likes camp cooking is really good, with constant fab food on offer!

You will need to explain the kettle to me. :)

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 19:53

Dowsers!

My new exclamation of choice.

Slubberdegullion · 05/06/2011 19:55

he he

Autocorrect strikes again eh?

you are welcome at anytime to come and lie upon my sim.

brambleschooks · 05/06/2011 20:20

Lardy he'll yes!

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 06/06/2011 14:57

yeah was thinking of the roll-up vacuum bags rather than the true vacuum ones where you need to suck the air out, although I do have a small battery powered pump i could take... hmm

the cooler did not freeze stuff, just kept it nice and cool, so I think it'd do the job for you bramble!

mattress-wise we still take a good old fashioned airbed, simply because it packs into a smaller space than a comfy enough SIM. the kids have sims tho, but I did find that they kept rolling off them

OP posts:
3rdnparty · 07/06/2011 12:48

thanks Slubber any excuse to mooch through lakeland catalogue welcome {saddo}

Bramble- my aged 40+bones are fine on a Thermarest basecamp large and dh 40+++ moaned his was too squishy last trip...so chances of me getting a dreamtime are slim.....
they also make a huge difference to our night temperature cos of all their technical stuff so much so we arent taking our fantastic sleeping bag to france just sheets as get too warm...

fab sleeping bag- not pretty but enormous for wriggly sleepers...

www.towsure.com/product/80oz_Double_Barcelona_Sleeping_Bag

Tangle · 07/06/2011 12:57

If you're looking at the Thermarest basecamp, you might want to consider ExPed as well - we were camping in April this year, and after our first foray in new tent last year (in April in back garden when we froze) the one thing we were determined of was that we weren't going to be cold. So we got two DownMat 9 XL's - and I don't think I've ever slept so well in a tent :) Plus the two side by side make a double bed - we're duvet people, so we just made it up with a fitted sheet and were sorted.

(goes off in hunt of rolling vacuum bags...)

brambleschooks · 08/06/2011 11:06

Ok. Next: sleeping bags. I get very chilly and end up taking a duvet too Blush

Tangle · 08/06/2011 12:14

If you're currently on an air bed it has a thermal efficiency of diddley squat so you're continually loosing heat to it. Mattreses like the Exped Downmat or Thermarest Basecamp are so much more thermally efficient it's not true. Once you're not loosing heat through your mattress anymore you'll need a LOT less insulation on top to keep you warm. Sort out the mattress and you may well find your sleeping bag is fine.

Original poster
thisisyesterday · 08/06/2011 13:36

i was plenty warm on an airbed with a coleman hudson sleeping bag

last year we went with blankets and duvet, and like Tangle says, you just lose pretty much all your body heat through the airbed, it was absolutely freezing!!!

was fine with a decent sleeping bag tho

OP posts:
brambleschooks · 08/06/2011 16:10

I am loving the science of camping.

Slubberdegullion · 08/06/2011 16:32

It's all about the science bramble.

Convection and conduction.

Forces and angles at pegging points.

The beaufort scale and will my tent blow over?

How does the kinetic energy from my winding this little handle here light up the bulb in my lantern?

Who knew that sleeping under canvas could provide such a veritable smorgasbord of science conundrums.

brambleschooks · 08/06/2011 17:16

Rubs legs like vic reeves