A Beginners Outfit (Low Budget)

[Erbswurst]

The Zebra billy cans aren't light, but relatively cheap. And they are bomb proof quality. They last a life time.

Here the 14cm pot with 2 litres capacity costs 22 £ and they deliver it with metal clips instead of the usual plastic clips.
So if you want a two persons zebra pot, you should buy it here. Weight: 740g

Zebra Billy Can with Metal Loop Handle Clips

Zebra Billy Cans have always represented one the best value products you can buy as they are superb quality stainless steel and will last for ages

www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk

This pot exists in smaller versions too. For one person a capacity between 750 ml and 1000 ml is the right choice.
Of course it is possible too to cook for only one person in a two persons pot between 1,6 litres and 2 litres, if somebody sometimes wants to go out alone, but often with a second one.

The second one could eat out of the 400 ml Decathlon mug, but of course the 750 ml Tomshoo titanium mug would be better.

Light is the 1,6 litres Toaks titanium pot.
1600 ml using capacity
1750 ml total capacity
Large enough for two persons.
Weight only 210 g
Price unfortunately 66€

Currently I don't know a lighter stainless steel or aluminium hanging pot with a good price. Tatonka pots I do not recommend. Perhaps you can find an other one if you surch. Or you just drill two holes in another pot and attach yourself a steel wire handle to hang it over a fire.

 

[Erbswurst]

With 1,5 litres capacity in the pot
and 0,5 litres capacity in the pan-lid
450g weight
and 20€ price (new)
this is an option too.

That is the original Austrian Army mess kit.
Pot and pan are made from high quality aluminium, the pot handle is made from steel wire.

This pot isn't good to use it with a gas burner. If you want to upgrade later your kit with a gas stove, you would have to buy another pot.

I am not sure, but I think this pot fits in the central outer pouch of the recommended Austrian army ruck sack.

This pot is a mouse proof container.
That is very interesting!

The seller sells the pot and the ruck sack too.
And he sells a lot of very cheap very interesting clothing from the Austrian Army as well.
(I will write about it later in this thread.)

Bundesheer Essgeschirr, oliv, Alu, neu - Army-Warehouse GmbH

army-warehouse.com

 

[Erbswurst]

This pots here are mouse proof containers too.

The question is only, how to attach the handle to hang them over a fire.

That is bomb proof quality stuff.

Backpacking Cookware: Alpine Stowaway Stainless Steel Pots | MSR

Our line of stainless steel pots stands up to heavy use and offers a high quality, durable option in cookware. They’re perfect for scouts and emerging campers, as well as budget-minded travelers.

www.msrgear.com

 

[Erbswurst]

I use and recommend for trekking tours the ultra light head torch Petzl e-lite.
It is secured against switching on by accident alone in the ruck sack. The spare batteries weight next to nothing.

If you can't afford it, take this here!

HEADLAMPS HIKING/TREK - HEAD LAMP ONNIGHT 50 - black

£3.99 - HEADLAMPS HIKING/TREK - HEAD LAMP ONNIGHT 50 - black - FORCLAZ

www.decathlon.co.uk

It isn't constructed to surch a way in the darkness in the mountains.
It is meant to use it in a camp.

In flat country you can use it on the march too.
It isn't very bright, but ok.

I use it for car supported camping tours, because the batteries are cheaper than the batteries for the Petzl e- lite.
I have it in my kitchen bag.

 

[Erbswurst]

I recommend the "Victorinox Compact".
It is the best trekking and traveling knife in the world.

Very similar is this here. It is heavier, has a few tools less, but it is cheaper.

Swiss knife - red

£19.99 - Swiss knife - red

www.decathlon.co.uk

Both are legal to carry in the UK.

For short tours I recommend this knife:
Opinel No7 carbone.
It is a good kitchen knife and a good bushcraft knife.
It is one of the lightest knifes in the world.

You can shorten the tip a bit to make it UK legal.
If you lock it in closed position and open it with pliers the locking ring will fly away.
Than it is UK legal to carry.

You can press the locking ring back in position without any tools.

Opinel n°7 Carbon Knife

£4.99 - Opinel n°7 Carbon Knife

www.decathlon.co.uk

It is easy to sharpen.
Put a thin film of olive oil on the blade if you store it!

Do not forget to cut your toenails and fingernails before you go out with only this knife!

(To Germans I recommend the
Opinel Carbone No 8.
It is the same knife with a longer blade and a longer handle. It is the better bushcraft knife.
In Germany it is legal to carry how they sell it.)

 

[Erbswurst]

I recommend to buy two small Bic lighters in different bright colours, for example pink and red.
This colours you can find in grass, sand and snow.
(Should you find the orange ones, take them, they are the best visible of course.
But somehow they unfortunately disappeared.)

Put one in your pocket and seal the other with a zipp lock bag or however and put it in your ruck sack!

Make sure, that they can't fall in the fire!
They would explode!
That's really dangerous!

Never store a gas lighter in the pocket of your shirt!

Children should use only matches.

 

[Erbswurst]

That is a very good towel for trekking.
It is large enough and very light.

TOWELS - Microfibre Towel, Grey, S

£2.99 - TOWELS - Microfibre Towel, Grey, S - NABAIJI

www.decathlon.co.uk

After you dried half the body, just wring it out and continue!

After use you wring it out ones more and attach it somehow under the straps of your ruck sack, on top of it if possible.
After round about one hour it is dry.

You should wash it several times with black clothing, before you use it. It can bleed out.

It is a bit small as a scarf, but you can use it in this function too, if needed.

Additional you should buy in the drug store a folding toothbrush, a travel size tube of toothpaste, 20ml for example, a shampoo, 40ml for example and a package of that orange Wilkinson one way razors. They are incredibly light and surprisingly tough.
Because on a trekking tour we don't shave us every day only one is enough for 4 weeks or more.

Some little shampoo bottles you can refill.
That's off course cheaper.
Just try it out, I can't tell it you, because I don't know what you can get in Britain.

(Dm balea fresh men shower gel I recommend to Germans.)

Use a zipp lock bag to store it all.
Try to dry it all before you store it!

 

[Erbswurst]

I recommend to buy for round about 10 € a used German army folding mat.

The new ones on the market are bad copies.

It is thin, but very light. It packs down very small. You can put it in your ruck sack, next to the back.

In cold conditions put some twigs under it. In cases of emergency fold it to half the length and put it under the torso.

You can put your jacket under you if you don't wear it in the sleeping bag or use it as a pillow.

The ruck sack you can put under the head, what I usually do, but of course you can put it under your legs too.

The side which you fold in at first, if you want to put it in your ruck sack, is and stays strictly the dirty ground side, on the other side you should write in a corner your name with a black Edding, to make it easier to see, which is the clean side.
If you use a bivvy bag, you don't need an additional ground sheet.

If you don't find it in a British surplus shop, try it in a German one, for example at Raeer in Hildesheim.
Currently they have a problem with the homepage, but they are working at this problem.

 

[Erbswurst]

I recommend to buy the Snugpak Special Forces Bivvy Bag.
It weights only 340 g and this is less than half the weight of the British army Goretex bivvy bag, what you could get used for half the price.

Special Forces Bivvi Bag

Snugpak® Special Forces Bivvi Bag lets you travel as light as possible, and be prepared to take cover quickly in adverse conditions. This is extreme camping. As the name suggests, this is a hard-working and reliable Bivvi

www.snugpak.com

If you put it on the german army folding mat that will protect the bivvy bag against thorns, so it will not get so easily holes in it.

I recommend to buy the Snugpak Special Forces 1 Sleeping bag.

It is made with a Swiss synthetic filling in Britain. That is a real high quality product and relatively cheap for this price.
It has like the bivvy bag a NATO stock number.

The olive one blends perfectly in British nature and is cheaper than the camouflage version.

Special Forces 1 WGTE

The Special Forces 1 WGTE Sleeping Bag can be used on its own or bought as a set of two, which can be zipped together to create an extreme bag for temperatures -15°C. Available for purchase as a whole system or can be built up from the various Special Forces WGTE sleeping bags. Comfort and...

www.snugpak.com

In this thread here you can see how it blends in German nature and how I use it.

https://www.thebushcraftforum.com/threads/wild-camping.9112/

I store the sleeping bag in the bivvy bag and both together in the Ortlieb ultra light dry bag 7 litres, olive green.

This Dry bags are the best at the world market in my opinion. But the dry bags from Snugpak I use too. Snugpack offers some sizes, that ortlieb doesn't offer, and different colours. But for the beginning you can work with zipp lock bags.
Perhaps you should buy one large olive green Ortlieb ultra light dry bag as rucksack liner. It must be in the diameter exactly as large as your ruck sack or a bit larger, but not smaller!
For the first days out a large grey bin bag will work too in this funktion.

In the wild camping thread you always see the sleeping bag in the bivvy bag.

Later you can buy the Snugpak Special Forces 2 sleeping bag and the adapter to connect them both to an ultra warm winter sleeping bag.

If you can't manage to buy the SF1 sleeping bag, I recommend, to buy at first the bivvy bag if somehow possible.

Aldi and Lidl offer every spring or early summer incredibly cheap sleeping bags, usually a warm and bulky version and a light and compact summer version.
This summer version you could buy for round about 25€. It will survive perhaps one or two years, and than you could buy the Snugpack SF 1.

Or you buy for round about 30 € the 1kg Miltec Commando sleeping bag in olive green or Flecktarn, but not in US Camouflage!
The US pattern is wrong copied and far to bright in the bright green spots.
This is the only Miltec product I know, that is relatively OK. The rest I bought from this brand was rubbish!
Aldi, Lidl or Miltec summer sleeping bag you can use by wearing the clothing I recommended perhaps till round about 8*C.
That depends of course on your feeling and toughness.
And you could by at Woolworth or somewhere else a fleece blanket or two, to boost the cheap sleeping bag a bit. That blankets cost perhaps 6€.

Better you buy such an ultra cheap version and try to reach as fast as possible the Snugpack SF1, than buying a lower middle class bag.
What Decathlon offers is rubbish against the offers from Snugpack!

You should compare the prices well!

The Snugpack jungle bag is a very thin and light summer sleeping bag.
But this is high quality stuff too!

But you should try to get as fast as possible the SF1 because with the central zipper that works optimal with the zentral zipper of the bivvy bag!

In my opinion the Snugpack Special Forces Sleeping bag System is the best in the world for bushcraft use in British weather.

Of course!
It is a British product, mainly made for Britain!

And if you think about, that it is mainly Swiss and British production, it really isn't expensive!

For outdoor camping a good sleeping bag system is of course the most important piece of equipment.
Only boots and Rucksack are round about so important like this.

 

[Erbswurst]

 

[38thfoot]

As a cheaper alternative to the snug pack special forces Bivvi consider the alpkit hunks.

Hunka Waterproof bivvy bag

A waterproof and breathable bivvy bag to keep your sleeping bag dry. Weighs less than 400g and packs down small. For weight-conscious bikepackers and wild campers.

www.alpkit.com

Half the price; similar spec

38

 

[Erbswurst]

It has no zipper. An option for younger people who stay in Britain. (Like the other Snugpak bivvy bag)

For France, Poland and Germany it would become to warm during half the year.
It is less versatile. No option in a hammock I guess. Surely no good option for Grandpa.


I am a German who lives in France and Germany and I can recommend only what is sold in France and Germany, and what I know.
I can't empty the internet in order to recommend beginners stuff. I need to have a look to the stuff before I buy it to test it.
I am not poor, but unfortunately no millionaire.
And I can test only one equipment per year. Testing it really means to use it minimum 1000 days. And I am only one guy!

But yes, I heared several times, that Alpkit would sell good stuff for a low price.

The equipment I recommend in this thread I tested my self in most cases in minimum 300 days of use.
Most of It I tested far longer and in all conditions between +45C in the south of France and -25C in eastern Germany.

I can recommend to a beginner who has to count with every penny only equipment that I really tested over a longer time.
Often stuff looks good in the shop, even if you can hold it on your hands, and after a couple of time you see, that it is rubbish, a throw away article for dog walking for example. Lidl and Aldi outdoor equipment is often made like this. OK if dont use it often. But if you use it every day, after one year it is surely destroyed. I tested a lot of this stuff.
An option for a relatively seldom used sleeping bag, no good option for clothing in my opinion, because a poor guy would really use it every day.

So I am very very careful, before I recommend stuff to a beginner.

It would be nice, if another member of our forum who is relatively rich would buy this article, use it for 300 days under al British weather conditions and then tell us in this thread his opinion about it.
But I know, that's not so easy. I have a job that allows me to sleep round about 150 nights per year outdoors, I have a job that forces me to walk 20 km nearly every day of the year.
I am able to tell you a year after an article was created how it looks after 300 days of use. Most people can't test stuff like I can.

This alpkit bivvy bag I can't test, because it isn't constructed for the area, where I use my stuff. I need to have a zipper in the bivvy bag.
And because I recommend here a four seasons equipment that can be used all over Europe, I recommend the Snugpack special Forces bivvy bag.

I'm not a Brit. I do not pray every morning "horses four courses". I develloped a four seasons trekking, traveling and bushcraft equipment, that can be used in all conditions and everywhere in Europe.
An as much as possible versatile equipment is the cheapest in the end.

To a poor beginner I can say:
Alpkit usually has a good name.
But it is your risk!

If you really can't afford the Snugpak SF bivvy bag, you could buy the heavier British army Gore-Tex bivvy bag.

That we all know very well. You can get for round about 40 € a used one in good conditions.
It will last you for decades, if you tread it well!
With 800g it is the lightest NATO Goretex bivvy bag and you can get it in Britain every corner and look at it from the inside against the lamp or sun, if there are holes in it.
A few small ones you could repair with seam sealer, which costs less than 10€.

But yes, the Alpkit bivvy bag looks interesting!

 

[Madriverrob]

As a cheaper alternative to the snug pack special forces Bivvi consider the alpkit hunks.

Hunka Waterproof bivvy bag

A waterproof and breathable bivvy bag to keep your sleeping bag dry. Weighs less than 400g and packs down small. For weight-conscious bikepackers and wild campers.

www.alpkit.com

Half the price; similar spec

38

The Hunka has a good reputation .........

 

[Madriverrob]

I require a bivvy bag that is both breathable and water proof .

I agree for a guy of my age needs a zip .
The alpkit Hunka has a good reputation for wear and tear and its waterproofness although I've never used one . having seen one in the store it appears robust but does lack a zip . People seem to prefer the Hunka XL for ease of entry/exit.

The MOD bivvy is indeed bombproof , I have had a side zip added to mine and this is my preferred option . Mine is in a stuff sack and packs pretty small .

I have handled the snugpack sf but never slept in one , it seems less robust . What is its water proof ness like ? I think @Bopdude has one and on a Lakeland wild camp it became overwhelmed by the rain ......

I'll see if I can find the hydrostatic head figures for comparison.

 

[Bam]

I require a bivvy bag that is both breathable and water proof .

I agree for a guy of my age needs a zip .
The alpkit Hunka has a good reputation for wear and tear and its waterproofness although I've never used one . having seen one in the store it appears robust but does lack a zip . People seem to prefer the Hunka XL for ease of entry/exit.

The MOD bivvy is indeed bombproof , I have had a side zip added to mine and this is my preferred option . Mine is in a stuff sack and packs pretty small .

I have handled the snugpack sf but never slept in one , it seems less robust . What is its water proof ness like ? I think @Bopdude has one and on a Lakeland wild camp it became overwhelmed by the rain ......

I'll see if I can find the hydrostatic head figures for comparison.

Its the Army goretex one I use. The lack of zip is a pain when you're trying to wriggle out for a middle of the night pee but I don't always use the bivvy bag so its not a huge deal breaker and I got it pretty cheaply. What's not to like.

 

[Bopdude]

The weight saving of the Snugpak isn't worth the robustness and space you get from the MOD bag imho, I have one that's been modded with a centre zip, I'm mostly under a tarp.

 

[Madriverrob]

Its the Army goretex one I use. The lack of zip is a pain when you're trying to wriggle out for a middle of the night pee but I don't always use the bivvy bag so its not a huge deal breaker and I got it pretty cheaply. What's not to like.

Get a zip fitted .......

 

[Madriverrob]

Alpkit Hunka Bivvy

376g /13oz

Coated nylon

10,000t.

£47



Alpkit Hunka XL Bivvy

503g /18oz

Coated nylon

10,000

Extra large version of Hunka.

£64

Fabric: 2.5 layer Ripstop nylon

Waterproofing: HH 10,000 mm

Breathability: MVP of 10,000 g/m²/24 hour



Snugpak sf

340g/12 oz

Fabric: Paratex Dry

Waterproofing: 5000mm Hydrostatic Head

Breathability: 7.5L of moisture per m² per 24hours.

£90.55



MOD

Ex-Army Bivvy Bag

800g/ 28oz

Fabric : Gore-Tex or MVP

Waterproofing : HH 20,000mm Specs vary depending on age and condition.

£35

 

[Bam]

Get a zip fitted .......

How much did it set you back ?? My missus was a bit reticent about sewing a zip on my Lavvu so I'd have to call in a pro if you excuse the expression.

 

[Madriverrob]

My mum got it done for me in Manchester , I'd origionally asked her to do it for me but I think she felt it was too big a job for her machine .
Was about a tenner I think .......

I shall be using mine this weekend