Last weekend we ran our Wayfarer’s Weekend course, and instead of being based at our normal camp we based ourselves at a different woodland location on each night and carried all of our kit with us. And so whilst I’ve long held off doing a ‘here’s my kit’ post, mostly because there’re so many out there already, I’m doing one now as some of the students have asked me to! So here goes.
Bag
I use a Karrimor Jag S75; I bought it in 1986 when I was in the army and it’s been all over the world with me. I’ve made a few repairs but it’s proven to be very robust over the years. I prefer it over the Sabre as it’s longer and narrower and is a better fit for my body shape.
Shelter & sleeping
For this trip I took:
- 2.8m Katmandu tarp
- Vango sleeping bag
- Thermarest inflatable mat
- Mosquito net
This is how I had them set up.
Tools
I had my usual tools with me, a Mora knife, Gransors Bruks Small Hunters axe and my Bahco Laplander.
Fire
I took my usual fire lighting kit, consisting of:
- Lighter
- Fresnell lens
- Fire steel
- Cotton wool & vaseline
- Wax covered cotton wool pad
- Bio-ethanol block
Plus a lighter in my trousers pocket.
Water
It was exceptionally hot at the weekend and so staying hydrated was high priority. I took a Water2Go water bottle with filter, a secondary water bottle and a Millbank bag.
I filtered with the Millbank bag and then poured that filtered water into the Water2Go, maybe overkill but it makes life easier for the Water2Go filter.
I also put the filtered water into my secondary water bottle but didn’t drink from it as it wasn’t purified; instead I poured it into the Water2Go and I also used water from the secondary bottle for boiling to make tea.
Cooking
Whilst we did most of our cooking over fires, I took my Robens wood gas stove so I could make a quick cuppa.
On top of that I took a small pot with lid/cup and a frying pan.
Personal admin
I like to maintain personal hygiene when I’m in the field and took a toothbrush, toothpaste and wet wipes. I also took loo roll and hand sanitiser. And of course my personal first aid kit.
Repair kit
- Sewing kit
- Gaffer tape
- Tenacious tape
- Super glue
- Puncture repair kit
- Tie wraps
Sundry items
- Bandana
- Hand torch
- Head torch
- Spare batteries
- Insect repellant
- Note book and pencil
- Leatherman
- Extra fine wet and dry
- Paracord
And at the top of my bag was my Rohan 3/4 length water proof coat, it folds up small and is a great piece of kit.
You can see plenty of photos from this course and all of our other courses on our Facebook page.
