This affects US ALL

[Steve T]

 

[Rubberchicken]

"They may go silent over dinner"
"cutting toothbrush to save space/weight"
"luggage may have become extremely optimized"

All except Pete then.

 

[Buggles]

I've been slowly trimming down my kit, but it's probably still too much.

Going to change my sleeping mat and bag this year (finances permitting).

Good to see Pete, is he on this forum as well? There's a couple of folks (Chad, Vader, Boboneleg to name but a few) from the old days that I'd love to see again that I haven't seen on here.

JB

 

[Rubberchicken]

I suspect there's only a few of us left who are still regularly on this forum.
It usually perks up a bit around September.

Most of it seems to happen on facebook, but I've been off facebook for a few years now so I wouldn't know.

I think I'm going back a bit on kit. Went minimal for a bit but my knees are starting to have opinions on tiny tents so I'm considering the Vango Galaxy that seemed mighty popular last National. Yeah it's a bit heavier but oh man standing height...

 

[Buggles]

I've been off Facebook going on 10 years this year. No regrets, but it does make it harder keeping in touch with some folks.

I have the MSR Elixir 2, a lot smaller than the Khyam Biker I had before this. I can sit up straight, but standing is not an option.

The space I've saved going with a smaller tent, I'll spend on a bigger sleeping bag, but those buggers are expensive!

 

[Rubberchicken]

Bigger sleeping bags generally aren't a problem. It's the small ones that are still warm where it gets pretty dear.

I've got a Decathlon synthetic one that really is pretty good for its price/size. Not a bad place to look, that.
(And a 20 year old down one that packs a lot smaller but isn't *quite* as warm.)

But yeah facebook, the last time I had a look before deleting the account it was truly shit, ad, ad, ad, oh hey a post I actually want to se, ad ad ad. It's SO spammy.

 

[The Don]

This forum is ever so quiet these days ....... very few people still posting on it .....

 

[Buggles]

I have a Snugpak Softie Elite, which is pretty warm. I really like the new Quilt-style sleep systems that are out there from the likes of Zenbivy and Sea-to-Summit, but they're super expensive (€340 for the quilt + sheet, and then you still need a good mat to sleep on as well).

Still, I'm finding quality sleep more and more important, even if I don't get a chance to camp as much as I used to. I still prefer camping over hotels/airbnb.

We'll see how the months leading up to summer go work-wise, and hopefully there's a new sleep system in my bag when I go out camping this year (I really want to make it to the National).

 

[Rubberchicken]

@Don, yeah, it's very quiet here.

*Rattles bucket* come on everyone, it's time to get off the American rage mongering propaganda outlet and back on here.

@Buggles A good mat is a game changer anyway. Especially if you're a side sleeper.

I had a really good one, an Exped Downmat that I bought in 2009 and had a seam fail when I dug it out in 2023 after it had last been used in 2016. By todays standards that was *huge* though. The replacement (Nemo Tensor) is just as comfy but about half the packed size, and even that is not the smallest pack size thick comfortable mat you can get nowadays.

I have been eyeing those quilt systems as the bottom half of a down bag doesn't really do much anyway. But the 19 year old down bag I have is still good, so, yeah. The downside of following some gear heads (dork in the road is fun tho) on youtube.

The hotel lobby is technically better and more comfortable, and yet there's something about sitting in a field in the arse end of nowhere with a cup of tea listening to the birds. And the drunk Brits. As long as I can still go camping I'm not old yet.

 

[Lowflyer]

Well for years I used an exped down mat and a three seasons bag. Very warm but rolling about in it was a bit of an issue until I discovered I could wedge myself in between jacket, trousers etc.
Then I upgraded to a camping bed, what a difference. No more rolling about, great nights sleep.
So now I use the camping bed, an old inflatable mat ( coleman I think ) and the three seasons bag. I also use the snugpak bag during the summer or trips abroad.
Even have a small mat so my ancient tootsies dont get cold when I get up.
That and the vago galaxy tent makes for excellent head room and comfort.
Yeh, I guess I could shave off a few kilos, but when you get to a certain age, you learn to sacrifice weight for comfort.
Been there, done it in a miniscule tent, fun when your younger, an adventure even, not now.

 

[stumpy]

I used to use an army surplus sleeping bag, it is great down to very cold weather. I woke up early one morning to refuel a troop of trucks and the outside of the bag was frozen solid, I was still toasty. My last trip to the ABR festival, I used a sleeping bag from Argos, it comes complete with air bed, it was easy to pack and quite comfortable.

 

[Rubberchicken]

I have a Dutch air force sleeping bag somewhere. It's my wife's and I was thinking I'd use it for winter camping sometime. That never happened and even if it would they are simply wayyy too big. As in eyeballing it it's about 50-60 liters (compressed!) or about twice the volume of my 2 normal sleeping bags together, and I'm pretty sure putting those two inside each other would be very very toasty indeed.

 

[Buggles]

I got the Big Agnes Rapide SL sleeping mat as a late birthday present. It's a little wider than a normal mat (64cm) and has bigger baffles on the side that are supposed to keep you from rolling off. Itching to see how that will sleep.

It's also a lot thicker than my previous Exped mat (almost 10cm thick), so I have high hopes.

Still looking at/thinking about a new bag. I hear the Big Agnes Echo park is like a happy medium between a quilt and a bag, it attaches to your mat, so you can't roll off and you can still move around inside the bag. That might be the one for me.

I have an AliExpress knockoff Helinox chair. It doesn't pack quite as small as a Helinox, but at 1/4th the price, I'm not complaining.

And I agree @Rubberchicken, as long as I can camp, I'm not that old . Nothing beats waking up to a dewy field of grass and making your own cuppa in the morning.

 

[Rubberchicken]

Ali chair here as well. With the essential tall back that helinox didn’t even offer for the longest time. And the non-stupid legs that don’t sink into the grass.