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Topic: Tips and kit for non-electric camping

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PigletandTigger

10/7/2010 at 1:14pm
Location: Dorset
Outfit: Lots.mainly Cabanons!

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The "roughing it" thread

I wondered if it might be useful to swap tips and ideas for "non electric" camping?

What do you use for lighting, cooling, cooking etc.

Plus perhaps an idea of why you like non-electric camping, whether you do EHU as well and anything else of interest so that those who would like to go non-electric either occasionally or permanently can get some ideas?

Please can we avoid turning it into a thread that discusses the merits of electric v non-electric - there are plenty of those around already

For us...

Lighting

Coleman dual fuel lamp, Gelert battery lamp for in pods, Maglite for out and about and head torches that we never really use but ideal for reading.

Cooking

Coleman dual fuel stove, CADAC and Weber Go Anywhere charcoal BBQ. We use a combination of these depending on the trip.

Cooling

Waeco Mobicool 3 way fridge, we also have an Igloo Marine Cool box which we take as a beer cooler at race events and we've just bought an Icey Tek cooler for the dogs RAW diet (long story of a poorly puppy!).

Other

We tend to camp at non commercial sites, often motor race circuits where there are no EHU's so we had to go non-electric. We now choose to go to non electric sites and low facility sites like the smaller and cheaper CS's.

Post last edited on 10/07/2010 13:28:35

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Piglet

Tidburyboy

10/7/2010 at 1:23pm
Location: Tidbury Green
Outfit: Swift Fairway SE 442

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I don't have an EHU and at the moment I don't intend to get one. I also prefer the smaller non commercial sites. In fact we are off to one in Suffolk tomorrow!

Cooking - Tend to use our Coleman Gas burner/grill combo.
Lighting - Not keen on gas/petrol. We use a range of small battery lamps and we have one of those larger Coleman lamps that pop down into themselves (can't remember what it's called)
Cooling - 50qt. Igloo Maxcool and loads of ice blocks!

All works for me.

hlk01

10/7/2010 at 1:36pm
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Nevada3 Evo 600DL Andorra Elzas

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Cooking - choice of Coleman dual fuel or Coleman Propane
Lighting - Coleman Dual fuel lantern plus now had a Propane Lantern, plus head torches and some UFO's for inside the tent
Cooling - Dometic RF1700 3 way
Heating - Colman Black Cat / hot water bottles
BBQ - Grilleto

oh and

Toasting - single folding toaster thingy

Basically our non-ehu setup is propane or dual fuel
We do have EHU but still use some of the above kit even then.

Post last edited on 10/07/2010 14:38:55

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Christine

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hlk01

10/7/2010 at 1:37pm
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Nevada3 Evo 600DL Andorra Elzas

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oops

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Christine

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kittenshipman

10/7/2010 at 2:09pm
Location: Rotherham South Yorkshire
Outfit: Hypercamp Eldorado & Khyam Igloo

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Lighting

Coleman Northstar(propane), poundshop LED lanterns, solar fairy lights and Maglites. Also got 2 UCO candle lanterns for the wee tent.

Cooking

Trangia, Cobb and firepit.

Cooling

25ltr Icey-Tek in orange - wanted one for years and got one for my birthday, it's fab!

Other

Coleman Black Cat for early/late season but the Northstar kicks out so much heat I'm not sure we'll bother with it again.
We've also got a Handpresso so we can make proper espresso when we're camping. We didn't pay quite that much for ours but it was expensive, we've had ours for nearly 2 years now and my hubby uses it at work every day but if you're not a coffee nut it certainly ain't essential

I would've thought a proper espresso machine would be too power hungry to run off EHU anyway.

Why we don't use EHU

We rarely stay anywhere that has EHU. Or toilets and showers for that matter! Some of my favourite spots are just a field in a good location owned by a friendly farmer or a nice country pub with a spare bit of grass - we've had pubs let us camp for nothing if we have a drink in there. I go wild camping in Scotland and go to a lot of festivals too - less kit but still not roughing it

If we needed lots of facilities we wouldn't get away half as much and it'd cost us a lot more.

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PigletandTigger

10/7/2010 at 2:22pm
Location: Dorset
Outfit: Lots.mainly Cabanons!

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Quote: Originally posted by kittenshipman on 10/7/2010
25ltr Icey-Tek in orange - wanted one for years and got one for my birthday, it's fab!

Ours is Red!

It was much bigger than I thought it was going to be - I'm not quite sure how big I thought 25 litres was!!

Quote: Originally posted by kittenshipman on 10/7/2010

We've also got a Handpresso so we can make proper espresso when we're camping. We didn't pay quite that much for ours but it was expensive, we've had ours for nearly 2 years now and my hubby uses it at work every day but if you're not a coffee nut it certainly ain't essential

I would've thought a proper espresso machine would be too power hungry to run off EHU anyway.

Ohh yes...Coffee - this deserved it's own category didn't it?

We us a Coleman stovetop Perculator for normal coffee and an Italian style stove top expresso pot for expresso - bit of a luxury taking both.

I'm quite interested in the Handpresso - but I'm happy with our expresso pot (actally the latest expesso pot came from a car boot sale with a matching sugar bowl and milk jug for £3 the lot!

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Piglet

hlk01

10/7/2010 at 2:27pm
Location: Scotland
Outfit: Nevada3 Evo 600DL Andorra Elzas

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For coffee we use Smart Cafe mug I'd recommend it.

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Christine

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dk168

10/7/2010 at 2:33pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC

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I believe this thread should be pinned as useful information, come in, Ratty, please?

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weetabixface

10/7/2010 at 2:46pm
Location: Glasgow
Outfit: coleman sahara tentipi safir + others

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don't have and don't intend to get EHU

Lighting

depends on the circumstance use a Coleman dual fuel lamp but it is way too bright for in tent use. Tend to reserve that for wilder camps with reasonable road or water access. Have an UCO candle clone so that and usually UFO style in the tent and head torches. Camped at Loch Fyne 2 days before midsummer and didn't any lighting at all.

Cooking

Coleman dual fuel stove or trangia

Cooling

coolbox and blocks/ice and a bucket for beer - bottles of ale can be enjoyed at a warmer temperature than tinned lager.

Other

Tend to keep mobiles switched to "flight safe mode" to preserve battery life, we are usually in places where there is no reception anyway. Do keep one of those emergency jump start things in the boot that can be used to top up the mobile just in case. OH just bought some cordless/rechargeable straighteners which she seems quite impressed with.

W

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kittenshipman

10/7/2010 at 3:02pm
Location: Rotherham South Yorkshire
Outfit: Hypercamp Eldorado & Khyam Igloo

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Quote: Originally posted by PigletandTigger on 10/7/2010

Quote: Originally posted by kittenshipman on 10/7/201025ltr Icey-Tek in orange - wanted one for years and got one for my birthday, it's fab!

Ours is Red!

It was much bigger than I thought it was going to be - I'm not quite sure how big I thought 25 litres was!!

I keep a measuring tape by my laptop - it's called the internet reality device in our house

- still didn't convey the mahoosiveness of the Icey-Tek though! The capacity doesn't really help, cheapy £7 ASDA coolboxes are only a litre less but half the size. Makes a good seat though and it looks and feels absolutely bombproof! Used ours for a really hot week at the end of June and there was still ice in it 2 days after we got back, bloomin' brilliant!

Quote: Originally posted by PigletandTigger on 10/7/2010

Ohh yes...Coffee - this deserved it's own category didn't it?

We us a Coleman stovetop Perculator for normal coffee and an Italian style stove top expresso pot for expresso - bit of a luxury taking both.

I'm quite interested in the Handpresso - but I'm happy with our expresso pot (actally the latest expesso pot came from a car boot sale with a matching sugar bowl and milk jug for £3 the lot!

If you're happy with what you've got (for £3 with matching bits I would be!) I wouldn't bother with anything else - we'd be using our old stove top espresso maker if I wasn't such a luddite when it comes to camping stoves. I love my Trangia and refuse to try anything else

It's possible to use'em on a Trangia but not very practical. We've got an espresso machine at home so have got pretty hooked on the good stuff!

Another plus point for the handpresso I forgot to mention is the entertainment value. It's a very amusing shape and you have to pump it up like a bike pump which makes it even funnier - to my purile mind anyway

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Happiness is an empty field...

Merry

10/7/2010 at 3:25pm
Location: A quiet pitch with a lovely view
Outfit: Cabanon Noumea

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Lighting
Favourite thing is my spiffy over-spec.ed headtorch for reading, any task based needs, in the inner and also around and about the campsite. Also have two Coleman battery lights, one huge and v bright and one collapsible one. Might take one of those two as well or, at this time of year, just the headtorch.

Cooking

Suitcase stove(s)

Cooling

Have a 3way fridge but that means taking the gas bottle as well if I'm going non-ehu, so much prefer my 25L IceyTek coolbox (even if it is an old white one)

Other
Books! Personal radio with headphones - want a DAB one. Can often spot a socket somewhere to charge my mobile but if not you can usually get it done in Reception.

Keeping warm
Small gas canister heater, Sunngas I think. Fleecey crocs. Good quality sleeping bag and thermarest. Thermals. Fleece throws can be handy eg spread one over a Dukdalf chair to make it snugglier. I have very short hair so my head gets cold quickly, so might put a hat on if the evening temperature drops. Small dog.

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Eileenhoops

10/7/2010 at 3:26pm
Location: Hounslow Middx
Outfit: Sunncamp Constellation 800

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we never use EHU , torches for lighting , head lights for reading and handsfree , and we just bought a ufo light from wilkos for the tent, gonna get another one when in stock, 2 burner gas cooker with grill , massive gas BBQ with griddle (hubbys domain)

2 cheap cool boxes , fresh ice every day , beers in a bucket of fresh water daily

no hairdryer /straightners etc

mobile phone car chargers , and thats it really

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kittenshipman

10/7/2010 at 4:21pm
Location: Rotherham South Yorkshire
Outfit: Hypercamp Eldorado & Khyam Igloo

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Merry - it's entirely your fault I now own an Icey-Tek, it was purchased within hours of you posting about yours!

Forgot to mention we do take some powered stuff too -

Mobile phones - got car chargers for both of ours, never needed mine but my hubby's new android phone is fairly power hungry. I use mine for listening to podcasts and music too and hubby's is handy for the internet (just to check tide times, locations etc. not browsing) and has built-in GPS. We both use the cameras on our phones a lot too.

I also take my netbook (ASUS eee PC 901) which I picked for it's fab battery life (and because I wasn't forced to buy Windows at the same time!) and I've got a car charger for that too. We don't use it a lot, watch the odd film in bad weather, empty the camera or phone and maybe the odd bit of internettery and so far I've only needed to charge it once when we've been away. To be honest we'd both rather pick up a book anyway - saying that I got a good look at a Kindle the other day, very nice...

Top tips for conserving battery power if you're using a laptop or similar - dim your screen as much as you can, you'd be amazed how much power you can save by doing it just a little bit and still being able to see it easily. I gain nearly an hour's runtime from just doing this.
Also, using your wireless munchs up power so do as much as possible offline and your battery will last way longer - if I leave my screen at full brightness and the wireless on I get about 3 hours of power in comparison to just over 7 if I turn off the wireless and dim my screen.

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PigletandTigger

10/7/2010 at 4:33pm
Location: Dorset
Outfit: Lots.mainly Cabanons!

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Quote: Originally posted by kittenshipman on 10/7/2010
Merry - it's entirely your fault I now own an Icey-Tek, it was purchased within hours of you posting about yours!

I bought ours on Merry's recommendation as well - I think they owe her commission!

We run phone and camera battery chargers off an inverter in the boot of the car.

We are also experimenting with a leisure battery and 12v chargers and/or an inverter along with a small solar panel. We don't really need the power source but it's fun to see what we can achieve.

I also have some 12v hair straighteners.

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Piglet

ybyatt

10/7/2010 at 5:23pm
Location: Tean Staffs
Outfit: karsten 300

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Lighting

coleman northstar propane lantern (as gives off heat also)

coleman retro lantern in bedroom (for safety)

torch and head torches

Cooking

triple burner gas stove (also bought a folding firepit for home but may try it on site)

Cooling

coleman 50l (way too big really, don't know what i was thinking)

Other
hot water bottles

thinking of buying black cat heater

i do have a jumpstart/power battery pack as i have a karsten so can plug some 12v products into this but haven't used it that way yet.

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Vonnie
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spiculum

10/7/2010 at 7:16pm
Location: Birmingham
Outfit: 2 Cabs & 2 Outwell 1 sunncamp 1 relum

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I prefer non ehu as i find i normally have a quieter pitch aways from TV's etc. I have just bought a ehu to allow for a heater when i do very early/late camping, seeing my wife turn blue in gale force wiinds in March made me relent to a heater for those times

Lighting- C Gaz lantern, Costco battery lantern

Cooking - C Gaz double burner stove

Cooling - Igloo coolbox

AND phone is turned off all holiday

Post last edited on 10/07/2010 20:52:44

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Mike

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