What are you 'treating' yourself to, for camping this year?

[Wolfgirl]

My extra little buys are:

new LED lantern (big one); luxury inflatable mat; snuggly warm sleeping bag; Kampa Karze toilet

Will be getting as well: x2 single air beds, x2 self inflating mats, a carpet for the tent (not got one, and I think it is beyond essential ... what else! Mmmm.... I'm sure there just has to be more.

Oh, and I want a combi cooler, one that hooks up to same gas cylinder as the stove thingy.

[YellowDinosaur]

Well...

So far its been sleeping bags for the dses and me (dh has one and the rest of us used duvets last year) and a camping stove as far as dh is aware.

The rest that I'm hoping to sneak past him and are currently hiding out in the garage are a blue diamond wind break and 2 foldy chairs for the boys. I am also going to get a bog in a bag and anything else exciting I see before then!

[bilblio]

Red Icey-tek was ordered last night, Squeeee.

And I forgot I've also treated myself to a SheeWee, but that was purchased more for the pregnancy + Wireless Festival expedition in 2 weeks!

Squeee again, I'm finally going to get to see Pulp live. Something I've wanted to do for about 18 years!

[winefairy]

I so want a Icey Tek but I'm confused about the sizes! What have people ordered? Please tell me they are fabulous and I can't live without one?

[bilblio]

I've ordered the 25L one. Which is about the same size as the rubbish one I got from Go Outdoors last year. this one. I know some people have ordered the larger one, but it looks HUGE and the one we had last year was a great size for a week... it just didn't keep things cold unless we plugged it in every time we went out in the car.
As for how great it is.... pass. I'll tell you after next week when it's arrived and we've given it a test drive on holiday. :)

[winefairy]

Thanks, bilblio. I was getting all carried away with myself and considering the 55L which would probably resemble a fridge and be a nightmare to fill!

Would really love to hear how you get on with it on holiday though. And have a lovely time!

[bilblio]

I'm sad, they left a message a couple of days ago asking me to call them. I remembered today. Apparently the Red iceytek is out of stock for 3 weeks :( So I had the choice between Pink (I loathe pink) Lime green (I avoid green, it's an unlucky colour) or black. So I've gone for black which will probably be more discrete, but I'm still a bit sad at the lack of red... I love red.

I suppose I could have waited 3 weeks, but we've the holiday next week and we're hoping to go camping the weekend after that, so I'll need it before then.

I considered the 55l one too... you get so much more cool box for your money, but then when I got the tape measure out and worked out how big our existing cool box is, I realised 55l would just be ridiculous for us.... unless we had about 4 more children... and a bigger car!

[winefairy]

Oh no, Bilblio! What a shame....although personally think black will look really, really good. I didn't even think of checking colours in stock. Had presumed I would just go for white!

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Oh no biblio. That is a shame. Is the 45l too big to fit in?
Although the 45l is a bit of a monster I was able to make 5 of the 7 nights of meals before we went camping, freeze them in delightful stackable plastic pots and then take one out every day for dinner at the campsite.

They all stayed frozen solid (acting as ice blocks for each other) and it meant I didn't have to do any food prep at all for most of the holiday [bliss]. I could have made and stored dinners for 7 days no problem.

I couldn't have got all that food into a 25l. Is just a thought.

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Black will look cool though. A menacing cool box.

[bilblio]

Most of our trips are weekend ones, so I think the 45l one would be Huge for us. DH is a foodie too so we generally make at least 1 trip to a farm shop every day looking for things for him to cook that night. (While DD and I have something quick and simple and not involving obscure meats.)

I'm thinking black will be more understated, and less likely to go walkabout... not that anything ever has when we've been camping, but you never know.

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Black, yy understated, classic and slimming.

[bilblio]

Ooh, so I can fill it with cheese, chocolate and cider and they'll all have zero calories. :o

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Yes indeed. In the black icey tek not only does your food stay cold, it also converts into negative calories.

In the orange icey-tek however all food is turned into carrots and positive thoughts.

[Blu]

This thread is LETHAL!

Nw I want an Icey tek (had never heard of them before) and a Bivouac Kit stove...

I will get a clip on reading light as suggested somewhere on this thread,

and my treat for this year is one of these Campfire Grills I am very excited about it.

[Blu]

Can you buy Icey teks anywhere in Rea Life? or only online?

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Sorry Blu. these threads are v bad for the credit card.

iirc the icey tek folk are somewhere down south (?devon) so if you are near there then maybe you could have a butchers. Apart from that no, I've never seen one for sale in all the camping stores I frequent.

online service is pretty quick ime

[Blu]

I want one NOW. RIGHT NOW.
But cannot afford or justify one, really.
Unless I can think of other uses for it.
Like....er....oooh, going shopping when miles from home on a hot day..bringing fabulous chilled treats home from France if I went on a cheap deal Eurotunnel day trip...picnics....other holidays...

Could be quite a good investment.

I wonder if they will be in the sale at the end of the summer?

[Blu]

How do you use them? Do you have to freeze the box first? What is the plug hole fr?

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

You pre chill them. So 24-48 hours before you are due to go put in some ice blocks (I use a 2l bottle of frozen water) so the temp inside/thick walls really cool down.

Load with food (pref chilled or frozen even better) and then I stuck a bag of ice over the top of the food.

The holes in the bottm are for draining the water out when the ice melts and comes up to ambient temp. this will take DAYS believe me. The boxes come with plugs so warm air doesn't get in.

Not sure if you could ever consider them an investment (unless you are selling frozen/cold stuff at a farmers market for instance), but they certainly do the job well.

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

afaik they don't do sales. I checked on their web site frequently in the build up to getting one and nothing doing.

The treats back from France angle is well worth pursuing. Nothing worse than warm and gone off treat back from France.

[winefairy]

You are right about these threads! I now desperately, desperately want an Icey Tek, the Bivouac thing with the satisfying click, a Cobb with all it's bits and bobs and whatever else I hear mention of. Please tell me there's nothing else I vitally need out there lurking behind another link?!

I was far safer over on Style and Beauty!

[Blu]

And then suppose we went to Whitstable for the day on a v hot day and I spotted some fantastic fresh fish for sale in the fish market, and needed to transport it home....

Thaks for explanation of use - I was worrying that i would have to put the whole thing in the freezer to pre chill it - which would mean getting a bigger freezer, too.

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

Arf.

No. You don't need to put it in the freezer. Fish justification sounds perfect. So wholesome.

Winefairy you speak too soon. I have a new product which sits joyfully in the ellipse of the camping- style&beauty venn diagram. I am testing it (them) this w/e. If they are as deeply awesome as they claim to be I will report back.

[winefairy]

Slubber, what are you doing to me?! I think I may want it (them) already. Holy Moly, this camping malarky was meant to save money. That went well.

Please link to as many fabulous things as you can stop tempting me.

And I now desperately need clues about the it (them). You realise I won't sleep tonight thinking about what it is I may want?!

[SlubberOnlyInATentCapacity]

They can be worn but cannot be smelt

are soft with no hems but a death blow they dealt (deal)