I am so glad there are others who are also not wholly smitten by the ‘leave no trace’ extremism. In any number of unlikely places over the years I have come across ingeniously constructed huts and fishing/hunting camps sprinkled (without eg Government or Parks Vic’s blessing, or knowledge) throughout our wonderful Victorian mountains. 10,000 more […]
‘Windy Old Weather’. I guess you have all heard the old sea shanty at one time or another and you know the refrain, ‘When the wind blows, We’ll all go together’. If you are high on some solitary mountain top in the Victorian Alps and a ‘Southerly Buster’ comes rolling in off the Bight, or
You can now make a hammock which weighs (well) under 150 grams including its suspension system! Given that you can also make a hammock tarp which weighs less than this including tie-outs and pegs, (so a total carry weight of sub 300 grams!) you should seriously consider hammocking as an option, or at least as
Thanks to reader Normand for this suggestion: People often ask when I am going to start making versions of my DIY tents for sale, and the answer remains, ‘How long is a piece of string?’ It is hard to get into a completely new enterprise post-70. If there is someone out there who wants to
Sometimes you just need a really, really ultralight peg, perhaps one which weighs only 1 gram! These guys will not have the same ‘purchase’ as a heavier, thicker diameter or longer peg bu they are super ultralight: only one or two grams each. They might suit for pegging down the edge of your ultralight titanium
Tent poles can’t get any lighter than if you don’t carry any – which is what I do/don’t. This is particularly weight-saving if you are young and don’t need to carry hiking poles, something which I simply did not need until I was nearly 65! Perhaps when I finally get my new knees I will
This is a guide to making your own ultralight tent stove out of cheaply available materials using simple hand tools. The stove is intended to take up practically zero space in your pack and weigh as little as possible (250-300 grams total – about half a pound) cost less than $50 and take maybe an
I am slowly working my way through the many issues involved in constructing ultralight wood burning stoves for tent heating, cooking and electricity generation. This will take some time. The most important first step however involved whether I could construct an ultralight roll-up chimney without having to be able to weld such lightweight metal foil
I tend to buy a lot of tent pegs because I am always making new tents/tarps and I like to have them all complete against need. I have found Aliexpress to be a good source (if you can wait for delivery). The ‘Tito’ brand there is quite satisfactory, for example. I favour a Shepherd’s hook
Omar Khayyam of Naishapur (I prefer the old spelling) was a tent -maker, as I have observed before. In the past the truly great seminal thinkers were all tradesmen of one sort or another, that is they did not expect their thinking to pay their wages, but earned their living with their hands – as
