The Essex Way

The Essex Way,





No this blog has nothing to do with that c**p TV show or a new diet regime but the long distance footpath running for 81 miles from Epping on the outskirts of London to Harwich on the mouth of the Stour river, the initial plan this week was to walk the whole of the route but due to unforeseen circumstances I was only able to do a small section, in this case Harwich to Manningtree, a distance of about 12 miles or 20 kilometres.
          Because the route was established in the 1970s when car ownership was still relatively low the route was established around the availability of good public transport (remember that?!) which is why the route starts at Epping tube station and  finishes opposite Harwich town railway station.
I looked at the train times the day before and decided to catch the 09.04 to Harwich Town, I'd also downloaded the run keeper app to keep track of time and distance and see how accurate my estimations were, with the very basics packed in my bag (waterproof, warm jacket, water, map, penknife, sunscreen, some food, phone, basic first aid kit and emergency charger) I headed down to the station, the local train station is unmanned and doesn`t have a ticket machine meaning that all tickets need to be bought on the train, this is where I scored a massive bonus, the guard never came round meaning a free train ride for me! I arrived at Harwich town just after 9.30 walked to the lighthouse marking the start of the Essex way and set up my phone took a few photos and started walking.

           5 minutes later a heard a voice I wasn`t expecting that was to follow me for the whole walk, it was my phone telling me I'd gone 1/4 of a mile and was averaging one mile in 18 minutes and 25 seconds a good pace equalling about 3 miles an hour or just under 5 km an hour, the first section of the walk took me along Harwich and Dovercourt`s sea front with its various lighthouses and beach huts all along a concreted promenade which after a few minutes in walking boots really started hurting my feet.

Beach Huts

WW2 Gun Emplacement

Lighthouse



 thankfully this didn`t last that long and I was soon onto the dyke that over looked an expanse of marshland and protect the lower lying parts of Dovercourt from flooding. I couldn`t help thinking whether this area was once used by smugglers but given the proximity of Harwich probably not.





It took about an half an hour to cross the marshlands and regain the high ground heading towards Ramsey church, at one time the route took you past the church but now it takes a slightly different route and heads straight for the A120, with this crossed I headed into the village of Ramsey and made for the windmill at the top of the hill. restored on the outside but without sails



after a few kilometres of open farmland I reached the next area of significance, Wrabness woods and specifically Copperas Woods this would lead me back down to the shoreline of the Stour estuary where I would follow it for a few kilometres before heading back up hill and inland past Wrabness church with its temporary (from the 17th century!) bell cage.

Bell Cage





 just after the church the footpath becomes hemmed in by hedges on either side, at least you cant lose you way along this section, after a another short section of farmland the longest sustained uphill section was reached and followed into the village of Bradfield where the major temptation of the day lay, the Strangers Home pub, to have a swift pint or not?

Pint or no pint?



with only a couple of miles left to go I decided not to, after all it would only mess up my timings, more farmland had to be crossed before crossing the final road and heading towards furze hill where my walk would end.

Walks end (for now)



           the walk had covered 12 miles or 19 kilometres and had taken 4 hours 4 minutes giving an average speed of 3 miles or 4.8 kilometres an hour, not a fast pace but not a bad one either based on this and by my rough (very rough) maths I would have to cover 27 miles a day to do the whole route in 3 days, possible but quite tiring which is why I would recommend anyone contemplating doing the route to take 4 days and try to average 20 miles a day, I would recommend anyone thinking of trying long distance footpath walking to start with something like the Essex way as a good introduction, its not too difficult, well signposted and with useable public transport at both ends.
          what would I change? although I had sunscreen with me I would definitely take my hat with as the sunscreen wasn't enough and I still ended up with a sunburnt neck.

Follow the link below to go to the Lone Wolf Mobile Bushcraft website.
www.lwbcfs.com

Nanok Endurance -10 vs. Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20

Yes it’s another vs. blog; I know I did one last week on the Hilleberg vs. Wild Country tents but thanks to another act of temporary insanity (and some money I’ve been owed for a couple of months!) I’ve ended up with a new sleeping bag but what was wrong with the old one, short answer nothing it was fine, long answer it was too big, too bulky, too heavy, damaged and had missing parts (I’ll explain later) but it was warm. However The new sleeping bag is considerably smaller and lighter as the pictures below show.

                I bought the Nanok about 11 years ago whilst I was at university in the Lake District and was the best bag I could afford at the time and had some novel features including being longer than a standard length sleeping bag, 195 cm as opposed to 180 cm, not that I’m overly tall, zips on both sides rather than just the one side and a removable waterproof bag for boots at the bottom, these features come from the fact that these bag are based on a Norwegian military design, however this didn’t make it totally immune to being damaged as I had lost the waterproof bag and broke the elastic to the shoulder baffle. Good as this bag it has now got the point where replacement is inevitable, much like most equipment which is why I ended up buying the Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20 a sleeping bag I have coveted for some years now.

                Firstly a little background on why I rate Mountain Hardwear so highly, several years ago whilst I was at university, my now ex-girlfriend and I went on an expedition along part of the Pennine Bridleway and the tent we were using was an older Mountain Hardwear which thanks to some drunk people ended up being broken. Without shelter for the next few nights it looked like we would have to abandon the expedition however a call to Mountain Hardwear to see if they would be able to fix the tent yielded surprising results, not only would they be able to fix the tent but they also asked for our next campsite address, when we arrived there was a new tent waiting for us along with a letter essentially saying, use this tent for the rest of your expedition, send both back and we`ll repair your one free of charge, I’ve never known customer service like it before or since and as such have become a loyal Mountain Hardwear customer.

                As I mentioned above I have wanted the Mountain Hardwear Lamina 20 since I first saw it whilst working at Cotswold Outdoors several years ago, it cost a small fortune for a synthetic bag (£90) even then but was and still is worth every single penny, £135 (todays price) buys you what is, in my opinion at least, one of the best synthetic sleeping bags on the market, the first thing to note about this bag is being an American company the 20 in the name means 20® F which is about -7®C, a one sided zip (make sure it’s the correct side for you), shoulder and Face baffles that close fully, and an accessory pocket, the bag also comes with a storage bag for when the bag is not being used which is not that common for a synthetic bag (it is crucial that sleeping bags are not stored in their stuff sacks as this can deteriorate performance) and being 180 cm it feels about the right size when i`m inside, it feel instantly warmer when I got inside and did everything up, this was probably due to the baffles not being broken and that both the shoulders and face baffles can be closed down.

                as you can see in the photos the Lamina is considerably smaller than the endurance yet it only loses 3 degrees in warmth this is due to the filling used, a more or less standard hollowfibre in the Nanok as opposed to the thermal Q ® used in the Lamina which is considerably smaller in size and weight to standard hollowfibre yet still retains warmth.

                In terms of practicality the Nanok does win out over the Mountain Hardwear as it does have the dual zip the boot bag is 3® warmer and has the extra length, however it does lose out to the Lamina in terms of bulk, weight, and pack size. I`ll be keeping both bags for the time being as I do have slight hording tendencies and I’ll be using both until I can bear to part with the Nanok.

Nanok on the left, Lamina on the right

   As with all outdoor equipment personal preference is key to any decision you make.

Follow the link below to go to the Lone Wolf Mobile Bushcraft website.
www.lwbcfs.com

Hilleberg Akto VS. Wild Country Zephyros 1

Hilleberg Akto vs. Wild Country Zephyros 1  

                I`ve been agonizing over a decision for a little while now and on Friday I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a new one man tent, the Wild Country Zephyros 1, up until recently however I have been using the Hilleberg Akto, so why the change? And how do two compare?

                Firstly why the change, due to using the Hilleberg practically every day whilst working in Australia it received quite a lot of wear and tear, including breaking the pole twice and tearing the fabric a number of times. The reason I didn’t replace like for like was quite simply cost at £425 the Hilleberg Akto is expensive but is worth every single penny however I didn’t have that much to spend and so started looking for a cheaper alternative but of the same quality and similar specifications, a search of the internet produced several alternatives, ranging from the newer version of the Hilleberg through to the cheap (very cheap) Hi Gear Soloista, given the high specifications of the Hilleberg I quickly dismissed anything with less than a 3000 mm hydrostatic head or single skin design as well as 2 pole designs (nothing wrong with 2 poles it`s just personal preference) longitudinal poles or bivvi bags, (yes I’m a gear geek and a gear snob) this left a choice of four tents, the Akto, the Terra Nova Laser comp, another tent I`ve used, the Wild Country Zephyros 1 and 2 and the Jack Wolfskin Gossamer, the Hilleberg Akto was painfully dismissed as was the laser comp for the same reason, the Gossamer was dismissed for being bivvi bag, this left the two Zephyros tents and whilst a little bit of extra room would have been useful it would probably prove to be unnecessary so the Zephyros 1 looked like a sure fire winner, at least on paper, I don’t like buying outdoor equipment online and I don’t recommend it either (unless it’s a direct replacement),  although advertised in the Millets catalogue I know that it is very difficult to get hold of through this company, (I work part time for them), Go Outdoors were also advertising as not only having this tent but having an extra 15% off of it, double win! Or at least I thought, turns out that they hadn`t got either of Zephyros tents in stock. A quick call to the Cotswold Outdoors store 15 miles away not only confirmed they had the tent I wanted but that they would put it to one side for me, a quick drive across to the store and I had the tent I wanted, so how does it compare to the old tent?

    

(Zephyros 1 in local park)

(Akto in Australia)

             

On first impressions the two tents are incredibly similar in design and specifications, both are incredably lightweight, a very small pack size and designed around a tunnel shape, however there are major differences, primarily the way the tents are pegged out, where the Hilleberg uses 2 pegs at each end and a clever guy line system to ensure that correct tension is always supplied to the tent wherever the pegs are placed, the Wild Country uses up to 5 pegs and a conventional guy line system (note: I’ll probably change the pegs as they hurt my hand trying to push them in first time, I didn’t want to bend them if there was something wrong with the tent), out of the two peg and guy line systems used I do prefer the Hilleberg this is because of the way the guy lines work with the Hilleberg in keeping tension through fabric.  the other thing that’s different is the way the pole fits into the tents, in the Hilleberg the pole is made from DAC aluminium and fits in one side of the sleeve only, the other end being sealed with a plastic pocket which the pole sits in, in contrast the Wild Country uses a conventional system of open ended sleeves which is a little bit more useful in putting the tent up as the pole can be pushed through from either side, both systems have their advantages but for ease of use I do prefer the Wild Country.

                Moving to the inside of the tent the first thing I noticed was the fact that the Wild Country didn’t have a bucket or bath tub type ground sheet on the inner tent this could prove problematic in future use but could be overcome by careful pitching, the second thing I noticed is the way the inner is attached to the outer by buckles, different and it`s going to interesting to see how they last in future use, with ventilation holes at both ends of the inner tent there is more flow for air to move through compared to the Hilleberg (at least compared to the one I owned), the Hilleberg uses the more traditional form of loops and toggles to secure the inner to the outer tent. I`m not sure which of these fixings I prefer but I do prefer the deep groundsheet of the Hilleberg because of its better protection.

                Although there are a number of differences between the two tents I am looking forward to using the Zephyros 1 in the future and whilst there are things that I would change about this tent it does compare favourably to the Hilleberg, as a colleague of mine said “it may not be a Hilleberg but you did get it for a quarter of the price”

   As with all outdoor equipment personal preference is key to any decision you make.

Follow the link below to go to the Lone Wolf Mobile Bushcraft website.
www.lwbcfs.com

Trade Fair

Trade Fair

In a bid of shameless self-promotion this week I exhibited at a local small business trade fair.

                The actual plan to exhibit had been in place for a few months now but Thursday was the actual event, although Murphy`s law intervened a number of times the day was a success.

                The fair itself wasn`t until the afternoon which, I thought, would give me enough time to get a few last minute things done and arrive at the venue with more than enough time to spare, I`d packed the car the night before so didn`t have that to worry about, the only things I needed to do was collect some materials for basic cordage and have some pictures printed, this was Mr Murphy`s second intervention (I’ll mention the first later), 5 of the machines at the supermarket had broken down and the only one left had a long queue to use it, luckily it was only 10 am and I still had 4 hours to go…unfortunately no because of the backlog I had to wait nearly 2 hours to get my pictures, time enough to get a coffee.

                With 2 hours left to go and having only half an hour’s drive to get the venue, at least according to the sat nav I still had plenty of time and so decided to nip back home quickly and collect my cordage materials, that done I set the sat nav and left, 34 minutes to get there and it was 1pm, I had 25 minutes once there to set the space, easy…. no of course not, Mr Murphy had decided to come along for the ride. I was directed through a town to the dual carriageway, on to the dual carriageway, off the dual carriageway and back through the town I had just been through!  I knew there was a reason I didn’t trust sat navs, fortunately enough the venue was near a town that I knew quite well anyway so headed off in that direction.

                I made it to the golf club that was to be the venue with about 20 minutes to spare, this still gave me enough time to set up and also talk to the organisers, which brings me to the first instance of Murphy`s law, in the week prior to the event the organisers had sent me an email asking for my business name, business logo and website address, which I duly sent, however when I went searching on their website under the exhibitors section I discovered that not only was the name of my business wrong, they had spelt forest with 2 r`s, but also the website address which took people to the living word bible church website, I did wonder aloud with them how many potential clients I had lost because of this error, (the poor quality logo was my fault and I don’t blame them for that), within minutes of this discussion with the organisers both the name and web address were changed but I still wonder how many hits I missed out on.

                5 hours of fair lay ahead and with this being my first one I had no idea what to expect, a short wander around the hall revealed that I wasn`t alone however and found that a few of the exhibitors there were newbies as well, interest in the stand was steady and a number of people were trying their hands at getting a spark from flint and steel, all eventually successful. About an hour into the fair I was approached by an outdoor education company and asked if they could utilise me for some bushcraft sessions at their sites, to which of course I said yes and at the same time proved to myself that this was the money i`d spent on the stand. The only downside to the whole experience was the music system, after 3 hours of the same music I was I had brought something with me to throw at the speaker.

                Although the fair had cost a lot of money, it has potentially paid for itself in the contacts I have made.

www.lwbcfs.com

Budget outdoor equipment

BUDGET EQUIPMENT

(all prices given are full retail prices and are correct at time of writing)

Most people shudder at the thought of the words `budget equipment`, images are conjured up of cheap nasty gear that fits badly, causes pain, falls apart, is heavy and generally makes an outdoor experience a miserable one, there may be many reasons why someone chooses budget equipment besides price, these may the persons first time in the outdoors and therefore they may not wish to spend money on equipment they will never use again, they may not have the experience to know what is the best fit or works best for them, they may not have heard of the more expensive brands or cannot see why they are different from the budget brands.

A Prime example of this `Cheap, nasty tat` is a 65 litre rucksack from a supermarket, cheap to buy and for good reason, it is a very poor example of what constitutes a rucksack, cheap nylon, poor stitching, no frame to carry weight comfortably and a non-adjustable fixed harness (although this does have its advantages) this would probably be the worst choice that someone could make but how do alternatives compare?

First what do I consider to be budget equipment? To me budget equipment should be shops own brand equipment but that shop should be specialise in outdoor equipment, such as Millets (Eurohike) Black (Eurohike, Blacks), Mountain Warehouse (Mountain Life) ETC, where advise on equipment is available. 

I always advise that even if you are buying budget equipment that the two pieces of equipment that you should never compromise on is boots and rucksacks. A badly fitting pair of boots will rub, cause your feet to become sore and cause blisters; a rucksack that is badly fitted or does not have a frame would cause pain in the shoulders as the weight pulls on them and pushes into the lower back causing pain throughout the back as well.

A pair of budget boots should cost no more than £80 regardless of whether they are leather or fabric, in this price range don’t expect to see Gore-Tex waterproof linings or vibram rubber soles however there are occasionally some surprises,

Boots from the Peter Storm, Thomas Black and Mountain Life ranges are good examples of what good quality budget boots should be. Although the majority of Peter Storm boots do not have Vibram rubber soles or Gore-Tex they are still fully waterproof and have decent soles, of these the Ormskirk (fabric) and Langdale (leather), retailing at £50 and £60 respectively are probably the best buys within the range. 

                The Thomas Black Jura can almost be viewed as upgraded Peter Storm Langdale, and indeed the family resemblance can be seen when the Langdale and Jura are placed side by side, the upgrades start from the ground up, literally, although both have Vibram rubber soles, the Jura is stiffened even further with a metal shank running through the mid sole, the stitching on the leather has been has been reduced to a bare minimum and a soft leather ankle cuff is used to provide even more comfort. Although pushing the top end of what could be classed as budget at £90 these would be an investment as they would last for a long time.

                The Rapid boots (fabric) from Mountain Warehouse also represent very good value for money at £59.99 although without Vibram rubber soles the rubber on these boots is still made from a hard rubber compound adding to its durability and although not Gore-Tex lined they are again fully waterproof and have a soft ankle cuff to provide more comfort.

With the amount of weight that could end up being carried investment in a decent rucksack is a must, as stated earlier rucksacks can be picked up very cheaply from supermarkets however with no technical features this may end up being a bad decision, as a bare minimum a rucksack needs to have some sort of frame to carry and distribute the load evenly, the absence of a frame in this size of bag should be a real concern as a relatively average weight of ten kilos could end up causing pain to the shoulders and push into the lower back, there are many different designs of bags from bags with no sleeping bag compartment, to no top lid pocket, to bellows side pockets but as long the bag is big enough to take everything you need, fits properly and is comfortable when loaded the choice of design is ultimately yours.

                Three bags I would recommend would be the Eurohike pathfinder 65, the Blacks Alpine 60+10 and Mountain Warehouse Tor 65, the pathfinder 65 is perhaps the most basic of these, with the classic design of main compartment, sleeping bag compartment, two side pockets and a top pocket, it does have an adjustable harness and a frame and retailing at £79.99 it won’t break the bank either,

With three bags to choose from the blacks range I have chosen the middle of three, the Alpine 60+10, retailing for £75 this is a technical bag as you can get from an own brand budget range, with a frame an adjustable harness, bellows side pockets, a main compartment that boasts a waterproof roll top lining, a sleeping bag compartment, top pocket, hip belt pocket, bungee cord holder and several gear attachment loops, there is a lot this bag has to offer.

Mountain warehouse equivalent is the Tor 65 which retails for £79.99 and like the Eurohike pathfinder 65 boasts an adjustable harness, a sleeping bag compartment, main compartment, two side compartments, a top compartment and gear loops.

To apply the same rules to waterproofs that I have done to boots and rucksacks to boots and rucksacks would result in close to 100 jackets and trousers so additional conditions need to be applied in this case I have a applied a £40 upper limit to jackets and a £30 upper limit to trousers. Again in this price range don’t expect to see Gore-Tex, eVent, waterproof zips or extremely lightweight fabrics but what you choose does need to be waterproof and not water resistant and also needs to be breathable, although in this price range these jackets will not be as breathable as some of the higher priced equivalents.

Retailing at £40 is the Peter Storm Journey jacket, this jacket although basic is still fully waterproof and breathable has 2 normal pockets as well as a chest pocket and an MP3 pocket all of which have zips to secure any items and are covered to prevent any rain getting in, the hood does not have a stiffened peak but does roll away into the collar and has draw cord to adjust the volume and size whilst wearing it. 

Unfortunately Blacks has no equivalent to the Peter Storm Journey jacket so I’ll move on to Mountain Warehouse, the waterproof Trek jacket retails at £64.99 and is the cheapest fully waterproof and breathable jacket in the mountain life range. This jacket has fully taped seams and a fleece lined collar for more comfort, the hood is detachable and has a volume adjuster for a better fit.

                With sleeping bags unless you are very lucky you will not find down fill within the budget range, this means that all the bags that you will find will be made from synthetic materials, although this means an increase in weight and size but a decrease in warmth to weight ratio they do however have an advantage in that they are water resistant and wont suffer if they get damp, the list of must have in a sleeping bag include a stuff sack with compression straps and a desirable feature is women`s specific fit.

                The Eurohike adventure 200, retailing from £25, has a long history and called many things over the years and is currently the nucleus of a range 2 and 3 season sleeping bags, the technical capabilities of the standard 200 bag are a hollowfibre construction giving an extreme temperature of 0 degrees, an overall length of 220 cm and a width of 80cm, the bag also comes with a square toe, women`s specific fit and junior sizes, as well as it warmer and bulkier 3 season version.

                The Blacks equivalent is more or less the same as the Eurohike but with a better extreme temperature rating of – 16, this is reflected in the price of £35, this means that although you will survive in your sleeping bag at this temperature you will not have a comfortable night.

Mountain Warehouses Odyssey 200 retailing from £29.99 is certainly a better option for the slightly taller person as the overall dimensions of this bag are bigger at 230 cm and an almost standard 80 cm in width the filling is polyester which does mean that the overall warmth rating is affected and comes in at an extreme rating of 0 degrees.

               

The next thing I shall be looking at is the mid or insulation layer, this comprises of both fleece and synthetic down, as with everything when it comes to outdoor equipment the choice is ultimately yours, once again i`ll apply a price restriction of £50 and a full zip restriction to items as well.

Even with these restrictions in place there are still a number of choices, within the Peter Storm range two fleeces stand out as being the most suitable for budget purposes, these are the Carrick fleece retailing at £25 and the full zip micro fleece retailing at £20.

The Carrick fleece is made from 100% polyester fleece features an interactive zip and 2 zipped pockets, being a basic budget fleece this is all you would really need.   

The peter storm full zip micro fleece is a lighter weight fleece than the Carrick and does not boast an interactive zip, to make up for this shortfall however it does have one extra pocket in the chest, the lighter weight and smaller size does mean that this fleece can be worn under waterproofs without feeling too bulky.

Mountain Warehouse also have 2 fleeces that meet the criteria, the Ash and the Evergreen, unfortunately neither of these fleeces are interactive but is this really a necessity?

Both the Ash and the Evergreen have adjustable hems and anti pilling fabrics and are made from 100% polyester fleece, the difference between them lays in a slightly different design, with the Evergreen (£39.99) having two zipped pockets and the Ash (also 39.99) having three, two on the outside and one inside.

Ash

Evergreen

The last thing I will be looking at will be base layers, the worst thing to wear in an outdoor activity environment is cotton, this is because although cotton feels cool, it absorbs sweat and doesn`t wick it away from the skin, eventually causing you to become cold, it also takes a long time to dry compared to other materials and has also been known to causing chafing to the skin.

Again there are plenty of options within the base layer market to choose from including wool, polyester and a blend of both, however with the budget end of the market in mind, the vast majority of the base layers will be polyester or a synthetic material.

Within the Peter Storm range there is one base layer that stands out, this is the Peter Storm ½ zip stretch base layer top (£30), as its name suggests it has a ½ zip for further ventilation, is made of stretchable polyester and can be worn as a base layer.

The Mountain Life Endurance base layer comes in both long and short sleeve varieties but no zip, like the Peter Storm it is high wicking and quick drying and also boasts a UV protection of SPF30.

This is just a short choice of products suitable for budget hiking and is by no means a complete list.

As with all outdoor equipment personal preference is key to any decision you make.

Follow the link below to go to the Lone Wolf Mobile Bushcraft website.
www.lwbcfs.com

highest points

Is it possible to travel to the highest points of 5 counties and get back home all within the hours of daylight? This was the question that was going through my mind as I was staring at a list of the highest points on the internet and the fact that the highest points of Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk run in an almost straight line in a northeast direction made this even more of a temptation. At 6.01 I started my car determined to prove that it was possible (yes I have heard of the 3 peaks challenge, the 4 peaks challenge and the 5 peaks challenge.)

                What could this possibly achieve, Apart from using a hell of a lot of fuel, creating a lot wear and tear and wasting a day? It would give a foundation on which to extend the principal of reaching the highest points to the whole of the UK with the aim of raising money for charity. With the engine ticking over I entered the first set of coordinates in the sat nav, 99 miles and 1 hour 52 minutes, (yeah right!) according to the mapping software the whole trip would take me 8 hours and 3 minutes so about 9 hours if I included breaks and walk ins and would be 390 miles in total. With sunrise at 06.04 I only had a couple of more minutes to wait, of course with anything like this the doubts start creeping in will the car breakdown? Have I got the coordinates right? Will I fall asleep! The clocked ticked over to 6.04 and the challenge had started, knowing the roads of the UK and the fact that I had to use the M25 didn’t fill me with confidence but it didn’t put me either.

                The A12 was unusually quiet and with cruise control sat at 70…ish, I started thinking maybe this would be easy, and then I reached that glorious traffic jam known as the M25, mile after mile of 50 mph road works with their associated average speed cameras and truck drivers who don’t know the meaning of the words “stay in lane.” Blessed relief came once I had turned off the M25 and onto the A41, I could finally get my mind back on the task in hand, Hertfordshire`s highest point just outside Tring and no more than 30 minutes’ drive away, the point I was looking for was in the middle of a field but was the field accessible? I`d find out that it was and also (almost) handily marked by a lone tree, it was 8.15 and had taken me over 2 hours to reach this point, never mind time to push on, (coordinates SP914091).

 

                It was on the way to Essex that I realised that I could have also added Bedfordshire`s highest point to the list as well as the route I was using took me straight past this.

                Essex, land of the fake tan, fake hair, fake everything…well not really. Where I was going was actually on the border with Cambridgeshire, I didn`t know Essex had a border with Cambridgeshire until this point. Parking at a church in Langley I followed a path for about a kilometre until I reached the point I was looking for (TL443362), with the pictures taken I headed back to the car and programed the sat nav for Cambridgeshire’s highest point, it came back as being 4 miles and 9 minutes away, I didn’t think this was right and tried again, 4 miles and 9 minutes away.

With nothing else to do I decided to follow the sat nav and within 5 minutes was in Cambridgeshire, curiously a village hall had been built right next to the highest point with two skate ramps in the grounds…did this mean that the highest point in Cambridgeshire was a skate ramp? (TL427386) probably, I`ll let you decide.

 58 minutes away was Suffolk`s highest point (TL786558) and a relatively easy drive mostly along duel carriageways, I could actually see the point I was heading for some distance away thanks in part to the mast constructed at this point, which also meant that I could actually park the car on the point I was going for, after a brief rest stop it was time to get back on the road and head for Roman Camp just outside Cromer, this was going to be the longest stint of driving and as it was getting close to lunch time it would also mean stopping off at some point, this posed a problem, dodgy sandwich from a garage or dodgy burger from a van? In the end the garage won and a slightly dodgy sandwich was more than made up for with a surprisingly good coffee. Arriving at roman camp I was not only to find a car park but a campsite at the top of the hill , the walk in to Beacon Hill (TG183414) was disappointingly short but was more than made up for by the views out to sea.

 with all the points done it was time to head for home another 2 hour drive lay ahead but with the sun due to set at 19.51 and it having on just gone 13.35 I had more than enough time to make it home, on the way home I started thinking about the wider ramifications of my journey, yes it was possible to do this type of journey, yes it would be possible to reach more than one point in a day. However this would not always be the case especially as I got further north and I would need to plan the route very carefully to minimize wasted time on the road and maximum time in the hills, I now also know that not all mapping software is accurate as the software I used said the journey would take 390 miles and 8 hours and 3 minutes to complete, 350 miles and nearly 10 hours was the final journey statistics, with careful planning and attention to detail a journey to reach the highest county points of the UK should take no more than 4 to 5 weeks.  

 

Is there still a place for Trangia’s in the outdoors?

Is there a person out there that participates in outdoor activities that hasn`t at some point used the venerable Trangia stove? The familiar sound of clattering metal as the 3D jigsaw is put together, the sight of methylated spirits disappearing into the side well as if by magic and the frustration as you realise you`ve put the top on too soon and melted the rubber ring to the burner (you only do it the once!) with more and more alternatives coming onto the market how much longer will Trangia be with us?

 Having both personal and professional experience with the Trangia I can say I both love it and hate it. From a professional instructors perspective the Trangia is one of the best stoves on the market, the size, shape and low centre of gravity of the base of the unit makes it very difficult to tip over and spill contents over clients, the windshield is very high compared to the position of the burner meaning less heat is lost to the wind, the lack of any moving parts (if you discount the pin on the simmer ring) makes the Trangia one of the most reliable and maintenance free stoves on the market, with the exception of cleaning, another benefit of these aspects is that very little training has to be given to anyone in terms of cooking on Trangia`s, in most cases it is safety that has to be reaffirmed with most groups.

However from a personal perspective compared to other stoves the Trangia is very bulky, approx. 22cm x 10cm, very heavy 1170grams, very slow to boil one litre of water approx. 15-20 minutes (all dimensions based on Trangia 25)and fuel can be hard (but not impossible) to find.

Over the years alternatives have been slowly coming onto the market these range from flameless cook sets through lightweight wood burning stoves to homemade stoves, but do they really spell the end of the Trangia?

Trekmates flameless cook system

This is claimed to be a “revolution in cooking outdoors” and is one incredible piece of equipment, no liquid fuel is used, neither is gas or solid fuel, just add water to a sachet and within seconds heat is produced, within minutes the heat reached cooking temperature this stays hot for a few hours allowing potentially more than one meal to be cooked by one sachet, it has less bulk and weight than a Trangia, is just as maintenance free and is just as reliable. However the relative cost of running these stoves is high, £10 for 5 sachets, and each sachet can only be used once. There is also the amount of waste generated by the product, not only the used sachets themselves but the wrapper as well, all of which has to be carried out, although the same can be said about food in general, although a very good product the cost has to be considered as well as obtaining these sachets.

Wood/multi fuel stoves

These stoves have been gaining popularity in recent years within the bushcraft community because of there lightweight, compact and versatile nature, there are many different types of these stoves offered one example of which is the “honey stove”, this is several pieces of interlocking metal that clip together to form a rigid hexagonal stove capable of burning small amounts of wood or if a centre ring is used a Trangia burner, it can also be used in a square shape just using the Trangia burner, the advantage to this stove is depending on where you live fuel is always available and free in the form of small sticks for burning, it packs away to virtually nothing and weighs very little. However when burning wood using this stove takes practice and patience the risk of burns increases as does the risk of failure. Again a good product however training to use these stoves would be required to use them properly.

Homemade stoves

                These stoves have been gaining popularity amongst lightweight backpackers as they can be made at home using very basic materials, often using drinks cans, knives and pliers, there are several videos on You Tube of these stoves being made (search for “penny stoves”) they primarily run off of methylated spirits and can be built in different configurations, they are very lightweight, very compact and if built properly can be very fuel efficient and very strong, I have built one of these and defrosted a frozen block of ice to 80 degrees in one fill, they have a relatively low centre of gravity but because of there light weight can be blown around by wind fairly easily, further disadvantages of these stoves are if built incorrectly can be inefficient and spill fuel, other disadvantages include the need to carry a windshield to decrease heat loss, the cost of these stoves makes these a very promising alternative however because of the disadvantages these stoves require a lot of practice not only to build properly but to get the most out of them as well.

How have Trangia adapted?

                Although the design has changed little since its introduction, Trangia has adapted what it makes to stay current, including making the sets out of titanium, cutting a hole in the windshield to allow gas burners to fit, introducing the “mini Trangia” which is a single pot compact lightweight version of the Trangia as well as other adaptations.

Conclusion

                The fact that Trangia`s are still being used by various companies as their main group stoves shows that Trangia`s still have a place in the outdoors and probably will for the foreseeable future, be it because of cost, safety or ease of use.

As with all outdoor equipment personal preference is key to any decision that you make.
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