This is Paul looking a little tired. We had one last climb to go but the tank was starting to get a bit empty ... enter a mini packet of Haribo, injest, wait 30 seconds and continue ... the joy that only pure, quick release carbs can bring!

Good view of the sky at the weekend but nowt else. Happy I was comfortable in my Rab Nutrino bag despite 0 degs though. Thetford forest resonates to the sound of gun fire late into the night though which was worrying :?


Untitled by numplumz, on Flickr

Chuffed with the Zpak Bivy though, could see my breath all evening but absolutely zero condensation in the morning.

Left February a bit late, got out last night. Was just going to ride about 6 miles to a quiet spot but it was such a nice evening I rode for about 2 hours before setting up for the night:


P2290804 by blackhound59, on Flickr

Well.....that's March ticked off!

Spent two great days (and one night) in some unseasonally warm weather (it snowed the day before and then again today) a couple of hours south of here.

Here's a few pics.....

A nice view:



My sleeping spot:



My newest homemade stove cooking me some noodles:



And another nice view:



You can take a peep at a little video I made of the trip here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2hszyIM ... AAAAAAAAAA

The only problem now is that I don't want to wait until April to get out again (and this 'challenge' was a nice excuse).

Anyone else managed their March bivi yet....?

Stunning scenery, you lucky chap. Nice vid too. Not sure I'll get quite so much dust & sun, but I'm off to that there Wales place this weekend, with a bivy planned at a certain neolithic monument with a view. (That'll get Ian guessing :D )

My newest homemade stove cooking me some noodles:

Is that the one I sent you gairy or have you been busy making?

Nice video, so jealous of the dust clouds you created.

Stu and I are out next week for two nights for the March edition.

s8tannorm wrote:Is that the one I sent you gairy or have you been busy making?

no, it's one i've made (from a deodorant can) - i've been experimenting.

yours works perfectly but not with my new GSI Halulite Minimalist cookset (the flames spill out of the side for some weird reason???) and so i've been playing around with some other designs.

you'll either be miffed i've shunned your stove or happy to know that there's another meths-stove nerd in the making.

i utilised (bastardised) the wind-shield you made (it still works with your burner) by cutting down the center so that it can open-up for use with both stoves (and now stores perfectly around my tin).

all-in-all i'm loving the meths cooking approach - takes some fiddling with (which is why i think it gets some bad press) but once you get yourself sorted it's a joy.

flatfishy/pedalhead,

yeah, snow in the morning and then dust-clouds and sunburn in the afternoon (where we live is at 1000m and so it's not that weird)!

it's also weird that despite absolutely loving living/riding in France the one thing i miss about the Uk is riding in Wales (it's the one place i make sure i go whenever we're back).

you'll either be miffed i've shunned your stove or happy to know that there's another meths-stove nerd in the making.

Not at all miffed ... the more geeky nerds there are out there, the easier a time I have convincing people that, building things from household rubbish then setting it alight, is somehow normal :D

yours works perfectly but not with my new GSI Halulite Minimalist cookset (the flames spill out of the side for some weird reason???) and so i've been playing around with some other designs.

Yeah you've got to try and match your pot to your stove ... the neoprene cover on your GSI pot will only handle so much heat. You could minimise the 'spill' effect by raising the pot a little (IYCBA)

a bivy planned at a certain neolithic monument with a view

In Wales that doesn't give me much to go on. Moel Ty Uchaf looks nice though:


Can you be a bit more specific with the term "monument"? e.g. standing stone, circle, round barrow, chambered cairn?

Bloody hell, Ian's stumped!

Ian wrote:

a bivy planned at a certain neolithic monument with a view

In Wales that doesn't give me much to go on. Moel Ty Uchaf looks nice though:


Can you be a bit more specific with the term "monument"? e.g. standing stone, circle, round barrow, chambered cairn?

Holy cow, you're good

Now, if any of you lot turn up at 3am and pretend to haunt the place I'll have to own you with my Niners!

Might have known.

pdealhead wrote:Holy cow, you're good

Thank you :)

flatfishy wrote:Might have known

Shouldn't the person in that picture be naked?

When the hippys come to town round here, they at least do it properly

We had two turn up in the yard one evening last summer. I asked them if they were lost and were they possibly looking for the 'hippy camp?'. Wow came the reply, how do you know that ... 'cos you've got no bloody shoes on!

Shoes, oh I thought it was leading to something else

Nowt for me for March yet, but it's my birthday next Thurs so should have some new toys to try out. My first GPS for a start :) The Pennine Bridleway is crying out to try it.

I'm tempted to make a silnylon version of that zpacks tarp, it does look a very good shape.

Shoes, oh I thought it was leading to something else

They do that too ... the hippy camp is known as 'The furry Triangles' by some of the local old boys

Shouldn't the person in that picture be naked?

Never mind that, aren't you going to ask how I got the answer right first time?

Never mind that, aren't you going to ask how I got the answer right first time?

It's an ancient stone circle, full of mystic powers ... I just assumed it was witchcraft

Ian wrote:

Shouldn't the person in that picture be naked?

Never mind that, aren't you going to ask how I got the answer right first time?

If Kevin spilled the beans then it doesn't count

No, he didn't actually. It was a combination of lateral thinking, extrapolation and, as Stu says, witchcraft

Well in that case I remain dumbfounded :D

No I didn't spill beans and wondered how Ian got it. I kept out of the answer as I had prior knowledge. Have a great weekend Mark.

Thanks Kevin. All packed & ready for an early morning. Hope your recent trip was good.

Just got round to watching Gairy's vid. I can't imagine a bivvy trip where you'd need a tarp to keep the sun off.

I failed to get a trip in Feb. We'll see what March brings, maybe a mid-week bivvy from work, not too far from the Square & Compass at Worth Matravers (is that allowed?!).

A Mate at work has also suggested using his inflatable raft to bivvy for a night on one of the small islands in Poole Harbour, which might be a laff. The great thing about Poole Harbour is if you get into trouble you can just walk back; it's about 4ft deep max.