A glass of wine sat around the campfire...

[SeaShellsAndTheInlawInvasion]

so I am fed up with the rest of MN (this whole mamazon shite really is the ,last straw), so I am assuming that if any of you are trolling you are showing extraordinary persistence by delving into the thrills of iceytec and are worth chatting to.

So anyway, hi, I am SeaShells, I have 2 dc and have been camping and trapsing through the Great Outdoors all my life. I hang out here as my love of camping is more a love of the countryside and life, and you lot have a similar outlook.

< admires well made fire and tastefully arranged logs with throws>

Or maybe this stuff??

Hello

So sorry I havent read all the thread but Im feeling sorry for myself and excited at the same time

I was camping for 2 weeks and on Sunday my tent fell down so we had to come home

But I have reserved an Outwell 5 man tent and will hopefully get it today or tomorrow and we will head off again for 2 weeks

I am soooo peed off that the tent let us down as we would have stayed despite the weather

I will have a glass of wine tonight and pretend I am still camping

Reshape - I'm sure I was one of those who recommended the Aldi SIM ? - I've never felt swooshy myself, but maybe you could just buy the children some brushed cotton PJS and velcro them direct to the SIM ?

Hasn't this been a lovely, twaddly, thread everyone?

I've almost forgotten about all the lunancy that was going on, on the other side of the tent flap......

And thanks for your lovely thoughts. It's quite reassuring to know you're not going to cark it before you've had a chance to use the odd mountain bit of new equipment you have treated yourself to this year....

Sorry, where are my manners

Hello RCT, sorry your tent fell down, that kind of puts a dampener on camping doesn't it?

Still, a nice shiny new one and the prospect of a fortnight away again, should make you feel better.

I think we may have started with glasses of wine, but I think we've moved onto wine boxes, carafes and Icey-Teks full of gin. This is called Progress.

notwaving, so glad news is good and nice consultant called you too.
An icey-tek of gin eh? There are drainage holes in the base so this is indeed a possibility if I lay on the floor under the camping table with gob open.

Welcome RCT, ooh nice new Outwell. That more than makes up for dead tent. I am always so impressed with the little things that Outwell thinks of, like the itty bitty Velcro straps that you can secure your beautifully wound guy lines when you strike camp. I LIKE them. A Lot.

lost keep the forrin updates coming. Even ones that cover uber rain. I am also camping vicariously through you.

Well I am now the proud owner of death trousers. Unsure if they are as deadly as the Craghopper death socks as these are super bobby bargains from Peter Storm (millets) £20 in the sale. They are however two length zip offs so even if they don't kill stuff (I would be satisfied with Mosquitos being slightly poorly after landing on them) I can transform them into cargos and shorts.

great news, notwaving, really pleased that she rang and put your mind at rest :)

Hi RCT, what a pain your tent fell down - nightmare! Lovely new tent to look forward to, though, which is fab.

Lostin, the free swimming sounds amazing... am too cowardly to do it myself, I like to know where the bottom is when I'm attempting to stay afloat. I keep saying I'm going to go to Hampstead Ponds one summer, DD would love it (at 6 she is a far better swimmer than I'll ever be) but I fear it would end with her having to rescue me...

An Icey-tek of gin sounds good right now... having finally persuaded DH that we ought to hire a roofbox, it's now of course too bloody late to get one anywhere, they've all been booked out . As we have no storage space whatsoever, buying one is out, has anyone ever used the inflatable jobbies? Amazon can get one to me by the end of the week if I order today, but I'm hesitating...

Slubs, are the death trousers also impregnated with mozzie killer or do they just look like death? (love you really....:)) Am jealous of the short-conversion facility - I bought some ugly practical trousers in Decathlon a few weeks back as I urgently needed something to change into after the stream-clearance business - I grabbed without really assessing (everyone else was on the way to the pub - priorities!) and although mine look like they ought to zip off into shorts, they don't. Just got that weird seam around the knee that promises a zip, but they don't have one. Most unsatisfactory. But they are water-repellant and have lots of pockets, so I should count me blessings.

Bloody tent been pegged out all day and every time it approaches dryness the friggin' rain sets in again! And the neighbours' kid came over looking for his ball and it was ME that got scratched by nettles in the back border getting it for him.... (to be fair, he's only 5, I didn't feel I could send him in after it) Aaargh!!!

Ooh, on the rain-jacket front - I cut through TK Maxx to get to Millets (Ilford, home of premium shopping...) and they had racks and racks of them. I bought a rather fetching jade green number that claims to have a HH of 5000 and a similar breathability factor for £20 less than I'd planned to spend on the North Face jobbie. And it has loads of cunning pockets. I'm a sucker for a hidden pocket, me. I also got a GORGEOUS dress there for the wedding, now I have to have a haircut so I don't let it down too badly... I hate self-maintenance!

lovecat have you seen Aitch's Tail-Crate thread? Could that be the answer to your packing problems? Looks pretty good.

Re the death trousers, They are made from this stuff. Site is rather vague about what is in them (unlike the Craghopper stuff) but tbh the anti mossie effect is just an added bonus really. Having got dh some zip off technical trews a few weeks back and watched him zipping the legs on and off all weekend I surmised I needed some too. So these are THE trousers singular I will take on the big trip.

Bugger that you thought you had zip offs but in fact did not. But result! on your multiple pocketed raincoat bargain. I love TK Maxx.

If you leave your tent up could you do some spot test mildew removing on it? easier to see what you are doing if it's all up and taut.

at 'home of premium shopping'! I love a good TK Maxx, me. Closest one is Reading and not very good. And Reading with 2 x DS...

I must have missed something, because I thought the Death Socks were merely Socks of such stupendous hardcoreness that they were well 'ard and, well, Deathly. I didn't realise that they also killed bugs! Can they also navigate to obscure Welsh campsites? What about filling in IR forms? I clearly need more multi-tasking garments in my own wardrobe.

oops, crosspost. Do they smell insecticidey, Slubber?

here is the science-schpeel on the death sock fabric. Ellis brigham dude went at great lengths to explain it to me. Permethrin (a neurotoxin to insects, fish and cats ) is bound to the fibres before it is woven into socks and other stuff.

Now I wasn't born yesterday so the thought of a fly alighting upon my sock and then staggering off to stage left gripping its tiny throat while it mouths "I'll always love you" to its maggot progeny seems a little far fetched BUT

a) he was very convincing and earnest and leant forwards with his manly tanned forearms
b) even if my socks don't kill, at least and nasty-fuck ticks will drop off them pdq.
c) I want death socks. Who wouldn't?

Next time I'm in I'll enquire about other multiple-tasking clothes.

Nope, no smell.

Are smell-less.

at Death-to-Cats socks.

my old supervisor at uni had Cat-Attracting-Trousers. It was in Turkey and it turned out he'd been leaning heavily against a very smelly fishing boat while someone talked archaeology with him. He then spent the entire afternoon attracting most of the town's cats to his legs, much to his bafflement. I took photos and chose not to tell him why he was beloved of cats.

I don't think the socks are dangerous to cats.

I'm extrapolating somewhat.

I have a bottle of permethrin spray (to go on mossie nets) and after a bit of a google on what it does discovered that is not so good for our feline friends, not that I have any.

Arf plus at cat attracting trews

I'm loving the cat-attracting keks. Especially as you didn't tell him why :o

I'm trying to entice DH upstairs as I type to have a look at the Tail-Crate link, as it does sound fab (although given the bastard, bastard rain we may then end up towing a small lake to Cornwall along with the sleeping gear) however he and DD are engaged in a Super Mario DeathMatch marathon (or whatever tf it's called, they scream at each other enough when they play it - and we bought the Wii because we thought it would bring us together as a family - ha ha haaaaa!) and he won't come. I really need to get my laptop internet connection working so I can shove it under his nose (and then get told off for putting him off his stride)...

Don't drop those socks in your fish tank or rub your cat with them slubber other wise you will get some very twitchy little friends!!

Dh is loving the Icey-tek, I've finally got round to having a look at them and they are lush

Slubber, you must be, like me, in the final throes of organising your summer.

Do you intend to keep on touch with us all during the ABA* ? Or do you shun such fripperies in favour of more wine?

Actually, on the issue of permethrin, never use bob martins dog spot in on cats - really common accidental poisoning

See, camping, a wealth of knowledge advice and support here!!

Socks will remain at a safe distance from all aquatic and feline life forms at all times

Blimey. Seashells, we are practically a sub-culture with our amazzin knowledge of everything!

Camping rules!!

Yeah yeah technically I'm doing a week on forrin hols with a roof but, you know ??

We were trekking in the himalaya and would spray our boots socks and trousers with similar stuff-it did work (though the blaming leeches loved me and would drop off the trees onto me

Argh blaming=blimming

Ooh yuk. The mozzies LOVE me. Shame I'm really really allergic to bites! Have spent an utter fortune in Boots today.

I am notwaving. Today was the final splurge. Zippy trews, solar charger and our first ever sat nav. I doubt I will be able to keep in touch on the ABA. Dh is turning roaming off on his iPhone to keep mobile costs down. If I can find the odd Internet cafe (do they still even have them?) I will nip in have a quick catch up on this lovely thread.

I did know that SeaShells