Jar Jar Binks of the TarpSide

Yesterday I failed miserably to get the hand of the Mountain Laurel Design Spinntex Mid tarp-tipi that Dawn has given me. Helped by the extendable pole that I got from Darren for winning the last caption competition, I needed to head back to the drawing board.

This is what it should look like. I'll need to sort the peg ties. It was a nice afternoon in Duthie Park anyway.

Tarp Another Day

Another great plan scuppered! Took makings of tarp shelter down to Balmedie to make shelter while i took photos. Wind catches poncho-tarp material and wheeches pegs out of compressed sand. After taking some photos, i head back to the grassy areas but there's nothing of interest to snap, and the ground is splattered in human and canine detritus.

Green thing in the camera backback is a Go-Lite poncho tarp.

Ziplock bag of guylines and pegs. I'll need to change the pegs to V-shape ones rather than the spare cheapo peg ones I had kicking around.

Looking south down to Aberdeen. Not much happening. Rain coming in from south. maplink

Definition of Camping

I was thinking of things bushcrafting when doing the dishes this morning (yup, no kitchen scales, but I do wash up). Darren called a few minutes later and we chatted about life, the universe and other such nonsense that we can't change. At the end of it I was left with the question - just what is camping?

In the old days, I thought it was "being under canvas", but not these days. I looked at the CRoW Act (schedule 2 1(s)bans camping on Access Land) - no definition. The Scottish Outdoor Access Code fails to define camping beyond the detailed:

This type of camping is lightweight, done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in any one place.

So, lets think about this. Sleeping under a tent is camping. Obviously.

But car camping isn't lightweight camping.

Sleeping under a tarpaulin is camping.

But is sleeping on the ground in a bivvy bag classed as camping? Like this.

What about sleeping out when night fishing? Or in a hide like this when bird-watching? What about lying under a shelter manufacturer from natural materials? Like this. Sleeping in a sea cave? Like this. Sleeping in a hammock? Like this.

Definitions according to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary: link mentions tents, huts or other buildings. yahooAnswers elected an answer which included a tent, a primitive structure, or no shelter at all (link). Dictionary.net lists tents, huts, etc., erected for shelter (link).

So, if camping on Access Land in England & Wales is banned under the CRoW Act, is sleeping in a non-built shelter, eg a bivvy-bag, or just sleeping under the stars also banned?

Randonner-Leger

When Claude mentioned this site, of course I thought of "leger and ligne troops, I have some in 15mm". No Napoleonic infantry are photographed, instead it's a lightweight hiking website. I like the "avant/apres" photograph. Reminiscent of this month's TGO article by Eddy Meechan.

On recollection, the term "leger" is very appropriate. Brush up on your French, and visit the site:

http://www.randonner-leger.org

By the way, is it mandatory that everyone starts with a 70 litre rucksack? I did as well!

TarpTime pt3

As i was on own and too self-conscious to crawl inside with people around in a public park, here's a photo of tarp with bivvy bag inside it. Hmm, that pole looks like it could be an issue.

TarpTime pt2

A bit cheap n cheerful, but that's because it's cheap and i was cheerfully happy in the cold.

TarpTime pt1

Twilight found me lurking in Duthie Park with a backpack of items. 18m of cheap strong string, 2 walking poles and some tent pegs. Oh, and the car boot liner from Woolworths. After no experimenting at all, here's what i got.

SUW-6

Been in a basement wargaming for 7 1/2 hours today. Summer's here, sun's out, and a pile of us hide from it rolling dice and arguing about rules and having a fine time. Life is what you make of it. Ate gorp and used new multitool to fashion a die-rolling cup out of a chocolate box. Not that the victor let it go to his head, but well done to Ian's side.

As I was packing boxes of figures into my car I noticed the Woolworths car boot liner. Something grabbed my attention, and I finally opened it out. It is a 5'x5' square of plastic. It has 8 eyelets and carrying handles on each corner. "Tarpaulin?" thinks I. Not as light as nysil, but a good temporary shelter if raining or when I get the urge to try out the bivvy bag. Tentpegs in the corner, walking poles and paracord. Or as a tent footprint. For the weight, I think I'll add it to the pack.

Only other prep work was resizing some more mp3 tracks.