Bell' Buys

Here's the list from the Bellingham meet.

Footwear

X-Socks Air Force 1 (2 pairs) - this follows the Southern Upland Way, where my 1000 mile socks were my spare, and started to wear through.

Gehwol refreshing balm - I use this a lot, especially as it is similar to the fore-head anti-migraine rubs you buy in chemists.

These items were ordered from Backpackinglight.co.uk, and I asked them to take the order to Bellingham to save me on the postage (hmm, 10 hour round trip, and I save 3 quid, ach well, every little helps).

Cook System

White Box Alcohol Stove - I had a wee trangia, but was put off by the size of the meths container. I'd never really used it seriously, just a few times when I was in the TA for a very short period of time after this photo was taken. Hearing Bob's podcast and seeing his demonstration on Saturday hooked me in. I hope to try it out this weekend coming. (podcast, YouTube review, pdf manual)

Nalgene medium travel kit - this contains lots of wee bottles. I'll rephrase that for non-Scots readers: "this contains lots of small bottles." If I can break down the fuel into small containers, then I can take just what I need for the trip.

Aloksak (pack of various sizes) - to store items in. Not sure what yet, but I watched the Glen van Pleski "Lighten Up" dvd, and then had the opportunity to raid it for ideas. The main one being to only take what you need. Heck, I carry things like bug juice in the bottle it comes in, when I could decant it into something smaller. Ditto for toothpaste, etc. On the whole quite small, but put together with other things, the weight and bulk adds up. I'm lucky to be a wargamer, so I have lots of small ziplock bags around for tea bags, whitener, etc.

Cosy and windshield kit - to make a pot cosy out of. I've tried keeping food warm without one, but no joy, so I'll rig up a cosy for the weekend and give it a try. Good tips from Bob's demonstration. (link)

Drytech meals (two) from Expedition Foods - until I get the dehydrator in production, these are great treats. I seem to have eaten one for dinner on Saturday night. Hey ho.

Others

A small ultralite MSR packtowl (link) - folds down smaller than my mobile phone. Opens up to a useful size - about half the size of the PackTowl I've been using for over a year.

Alpkit tent pegs (link) - having tried them on Saturday night, I think I'll replace 6 of the Akto pegs with 6 of these 'tikes', and leave the original 4 'pins' for the lower corners (they have a hook to secure the base rings to).

The main idea then is only to take what I need. Why carry a box of 12 Bovril cubes when you're going away for a long weekend? Just take what you need. Same with food containers - I could decant some tinned food into the Aloksaks. or dehydrate tinned meals and then bag them. Lots of options, minimising bulk, minimising weight. Hours of endless fun, and who wants to rough it? Sod that, the outdoors are for living in, not suffering through.

Thoughts for next one

Okay, so I said I wasn't going to suggest modifications, but I've had a busy day, so sod it:

• A bring and buy - an idea lifted straight from wargames shows.
• DVD presentations, talks, etc - I'd certainly have paid a non-members fee to get in.

Great show, great first event, I'd love to attend another one that was as good as Saturday.