The up-dated calendar

Another couple of months and the picture won't have to have a light taking pride of place.

In like a Lion

They say if March comes in like a Lion, it goes out like a Lamb.  Well the good news then is that it will be going out like a Lamb, at least in Cheddar anyway!  I know this because at midnight last night it was windy and lashing down.  I managed to stay toasty and warm in the Czech Army sleeping system, there is definitely something about being tucked up in a linen liner with a wool blanket rather than a lightweight pertex and quallofill sleeping bag.  Even with the waterproof cover on the sleeping bag, 

I was glad of the bivvi bag.

The Czech Army sleeping roll

I am never completely convinced when something claims to be completely waterproof, too many wet days of my life have been spent wondering how the hell the water is getting into whatever waterproof thing I am currently wearing or laid in!

The added touch for this adventure was the great little 'lightbulb' hanging in the basha.  I think I got it from Aldi or Lidl for a couple of quid, and have used it loads of times in all sorts of situations for the last year.  The flashing mode is a bit Blackpool Prom, but the light gives enough to read by and gives the basha a lovely homely feel.  

The bulb of lightness

Of course, the act of remembering took up some additional brain capacity, which was already being used to remember to take a book, so last month was book but no bulb, this month was bulb but no book, next month will be both (or more probably either).  It's just lucky that I always seem to remember the beer!

I remain on course for a microadventure a month then.  The Boy will have a very comfortable one next month, at least he will if Alpkit get the stock of their sleeping mats in, he has pre-ordered a Numo.  It looks so much like a '80s lilo that I expect to see him floating 150m offshore at some point over the summer.

One last thought, has anyone ever taken a decent #microadventure sleeping bag selfie? I was going to post mine up here, but it's too scary!

A School Night Microadventure

February is ticking on, and I have not yet been out for my Feb adventure, I missed the 'official' date of Valentines day.  So I was wondering about trying to get out and do the Feb #Microadventure on a school night (although I guess as it half-term it's not technically a school night).

My plan for this month is get a couple of sneaky pints in at the cider barn just outside Draycott, then walk up the hill to Draycott Sleights, which is a very steep hill with a gliding club at the top.  The south-western facing slope has a lovely little sheltered crag of rocks, perfect for a sneaky bivvy bag night.  It is also going to give me a lovely view of the action should the reactor at Hinckley Point go up!

South-east from Draycott Sleights

 Somewhere up here, then a gentle bimble back to the village.

I went to watch @Al_Humphreys last week in Bristol at St Georges.  It was a very inspiring talk, and I came away with some added motivation, but not to cycle around the World.  Definitely a lap of the Somerset Cycleway though, with an overnighter somewhere half-way round.  Obviously on a hill somewhere.

Next time I post this then, we should have the second picture in place too.

January done

Kit check

All those years in the Army taught me one thing above all others, but getting the first punch in quick while they aren't ready will hopefully have little relevance to microadventuring.

The other thing we had drilled into us was drill.  Maybe that will come in more handy, possibly.

But KIT, have the right kit ready, so how about I put in what I am using for the winter microadventures?

The first winter microadventure kit

Here it is then, apart from the small 35l rucksack it all went in.

The big orange stuff sack is an Mammut 3 season sleeping bag, it's seen a few years use now, but never lets me down.  Well warm enough for me.

Then green thing under the cooker is a meraklon sleeping bag liner, easily adds a season to the sleeping bag, I am looking forward to the July night when it will be all I need!

The little orange box has the gas cooker in,  I would tell you it was some exotic make, but it was£3, delivered, from Hong Kong.  It self-seals and attaches to the small gas canister.  It even lights itself and hasn't yet blown me up!

Then there is my bobble hat, a small radio (I can't contemplate the idea of no music), a pack of Organic fruity porridge, some waterproof trousers and a 3/4 length self inflating sleeping mat.

Then of course there is the key microadventuring staple item.  For me it is an ex-Army Gore-tex bivvi bag.  It is massive compared to non-Army types I have come across.  It's a bit heavier than other ones, my son has an Alpkit Hunka, but it also allows for a lot of nocturnal movement, and I can even get all the way in mine and pull it shut around my head.  It was also a bloody bargain, £17 on e-bay and brand new to boot!

On this occasion I also took a basha, as a bit of extra insurance as the weather forecast was shocking, it also turned out to be surprisingly accurate, sadly!

Other stuff that didn't make the picture, a couple of warming tinnies, a handful of Buffs and an Ayup headtorch and of course a brew kit.  You can't beat a warming brew, it sort of just makes everything seem slightly less crap.

Microadventure Number One.  17th January

Keep it easy, keep it close, try and keep it dry.

The last one was never going to happen was it?  The weather was heavy with rain, the ground was saturated with the previous days thawed snow and the clouds looked like they were threatening more bad stuff.  But microadventurers are a hardy breed and hey it is only weather eh?  Besides I had my son along, and I couldn't wimp out then could I?

The chosen site was in the woods above Shipham Hill, and with an an extra added fence to provide somewhere to get the basha up against, it really was looking that bad.

The microadventure kit list for this one was probably more than normal, but it was bloody cold, and I had a new sleeping bag to try out.  The Czech army are obviously warm blooded and have a lot of carrying capacity!  Nice style though.

Soon enough we were basha'd up and ready to go.

Snuggled and ready to go

This would also be the first chance to go head to head with the Alpkit Hunka and the British Army surplus bivvi bag, the size difference is quite something, but I guess Alpkit don't allow for belt-kit, webbing, a rifle, boots etc etc

Just in case there is confusion, the Army one is on the right

 The size difference is quite a thing though.

As it was the January microadventure, it felt fitting to mark it with a seasonally appropriate foodstuff.  And as we all know early January is the time for.......Easter eggs!

January creme eggs, hard boiled by the morning!

The evening bought a downpour of biblical proportions, but luckily it was only rain, the snow had already come and gone earlier in the day.  Nothing stops me sleeping though, except if my ears are cold, but the Buff sorted that.  So it was off to sleep for both of us.

The morning bought a hard frost, a frozen basha and two frozen bivvi bags.  But not two frozen microadventurers, the many layers, double sleeping bags and bivvi bags had done their job.  Not exactly warm as toast, but certainly as warm as a reasonably recently toasted crumpet.  What would be as warm as toast though would be the toast in the breakfast that was beckoning at the Lillypool Cafe just down the hill. Never has a hot chocolate been so eagerly consumed as by the boy that morning, the double whammy of a warming brew and a finger defroster worked wonders and he was back smiling within a few minutes.

January done then, 1 down 11 to go.  Hopefully each one will bring new experiences and new (hopefully warmer) nights under the stars.

Let's see eh?

#microadventure

The idea of the microadventure is being promoted by Alistair Humphreys, he has even written a book called Microadventure, strangely.

He then threw down a gauntlet to the world of doing 12 microadventures in 12 months in 2015.  Not one to ignore a thrown gauntlet I decided to pick it up and am wondering where it will take me.  So has begun my year of microadventures.  The way others have also decided to go with the concept is inspiring, and the ideas I already have will soon have the 12 months planned.

As the year begins then, I have decided to keep this blog and be keep a record of the adventures, micro or otherwise, that 2015 brings.................