R4nger5 Meet Pack List
On body:
- Well worn boots
- Keys and wallet
- Watch
- Paracord wrapped around right wrist
- Beltline kit (will go over this at a later date)
- Nikon Coolpix S220 camera
- Buff
WebTex PLCE bergen:
- Lid:
- Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski
- Collins Gem SAS Survival Guide
- Notebook and pens
- Paracord
- Baggie of cotton balls
- Baggie of birch bark
- Front pocket:
- 1000/6000 grit combination stone and nagura stone (not got anything smaller)
- Folding spade (normally wouldn’t bring this but will be trying a dakota fire hole)
- Main chamber:
- Section of foam camp mat to act as a seat
- 2 days of clothes, swim shorts, some sort of acrylic beanie style hat, boonie hat
- Caldera cone cooking system
- MSR Titan Titanium 900ml pot with Culinary Upgrade Bag and utensils
- Folding saw
- Hygiene kit:
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Soap
- Shampoo
- Towel
- Loo Roll
- UK Army sleeping bag and DD Hammocks silk liner
- Tarp for poncho floor
- Poncho and ties
- Possibles Pouch (will also go over this later)
- First aid kit
- Inflatable pillow
- Food (cans, clif bars, trail mix)
Between the lid and main compartment is my self inflating roll mat. External to the pack is my french army 2 man tent which is far too heavy. Unfortunatly my Kifaru Paratarp won’t have arrived by the time of the meet. When it does finally come, the heavy (5.2kg, 11.4lbs) canvas will be replaced with 11 grams of silnylon (yay!). I’m bringing both the tent and my poncho so I can experiment with the poncho while having a known adequate shelter. Lashed through the tiny amount of webbing is my trainers so I can go for a run while at the site.
R4nger5 meet in June
V has informed me that there will be a R4nger5 meet at Rough Hey Wood campsite over the third weekend in June (20/21st). Details are still to be worked out but I believe the usual procedure of turn up on the Thursday or Friday and leave on Sunday or Monday.
Usual activities of bushcraft, drinking and music will take place, hopefully with filming as well. Also, seeing as it is in June, the weather should be much better than last time.
I will be driving down as per usual, if anyone in the central belt of Scotland wants a lift, contact me.
Be there or be sane.
Home Early
I got back from the R4nger5 meet yesterday. The weather was utter crap so I decided to bail, along with APIPA and Geddonia. Had wind, hail and rain, the ground was a bog and the whole thing was generally unplesant. Not to say that I didn’t have fun, enjoyed meeting new folks but the weather ruined the meet in my opinion.
Put my Caldera Cone though its paces and it performed really well. Managed to heat up my food with no difficulty (burned my macaroni cheese though) and used very little fuel (Especially considering I use too much).
Bought a stick of Swedish firesteel from Sloe which seems to work well. Gonna need to get a better knife for sparking with though, something with a high carbon content. Preferably a fixed blade suitable for bushcraft etc.
The first night I used my foam camp mat which is utter crap. coupled with a lack of pillow made for a very poor nights sleep. The next day I got a couple of pillows from Tesco and sold one to Jason as well as used the inflatable mattress I keep in my car. Made for a much better sleep. I now have a Gelert self inflating mattress suitable for camping with but have not tested it properly. It is quite comfy to lie on the floor though.
My experimental modular system wasn’t tested properly either but I’m thinking of abandoning it. The camp mat is getting chucked and the new mattress is too big. My tent is also too big and bulky (not to mention heavy, canvas is a bitch). Wanting to get a Kifaru ParaTipi but I need some serious cash for that ($507 USD is about £354). Anyone want to donate to the “Buy Kevin a decent light tent” fund?
Summary: cool people, shit weather, some shit kit. There is hopefully gonna be another one around easter weekend when the weather is better.
Going to Leeds, BRB
I’m off for the R4nger5 meet. Will be back at some point on Sunday.
Might post updates depending on battery/bandwidth. Call/text me if you need anything. Those without my number, try emailing me for it.
R4nger5 invasion of London EDIT: dates changed
Just received word that my good friend Avagdu is gonna be in London on the 17th of July and the 2nd of August. I have tentative plans to meet up and do stuff, all who wish to come are more than welcome.
The idea is to find out where he is staying and book a couple nights in a cheap hotel nearby for each day he is in London. Alternativly, if there are folk willing to put up with us, we could crash somewhere.
Plans are subject to change and are pre-alpha at best.
Rant Report
First thing first, I had an absolute blast in Vancouver meeting all the folks over there. It is a shame that we had to part ways so soon. Really must meet up with folk again.
I’ll save folk the details of the flight there, save it to say that over 10 hours combined on a plane in economy class is not a nice experience. Food was ok but the thing that got me was the lack of leg space. Anyway…
Customs in Canada was the first…interesting…part of the trip. To get into Canada you need to fill out a form declaring what you are bringing in, why you are there etc. Foolishly, I ticked yes to bringing in weapons (packed a multitool) which got my stuff searched. Amusingly, the customs lady was not too bothered about the multitool, possibly due to not finding the blades on it. She was more concerned about what I meant by survivalism and what my arduino was. Thankfully she let me pass. Managed to get a taxi (expensive) to the hostel, checked in and then tried to crash for the night.
Managed to get a few hours sleep, going back in time messes with the head a bit. I had arranged to meet with Ephoy from the forums at a cafe somewhere. After an hour of getting my bearings (had to turn around twice) I got myself to the cafe early. Ephoy showed up shortly after. We introduced ourselves and then started talking about stuff.
The cafe, for those who are interested, is called Subeez and is located on a corner of Homer street and Smithe Street. They do a fantastic classic breakfast, main courses are somewhat lacking though. It proceeded to be the main meeting and hang out place for the whole trip.
We took the skytrain to a shopping center a good distance away. I too noticed something that Pig Monkey noticed when he made the trip up a couple years ago; there is a place to pay for the ticket but no place to have it checked. No conductors, no barriers, nothing. You could just walk onto the skytrain and get off wherever you wanted. In fact, after cruising around the shopping center we did just that.
The rest of the time is somewhat of a blur. At some point we agreed to meet at the Loose Moose, which has a strange policy of needing to eat to get drinks. Yugosaki and Halloween both showed up shortly after, followed by Icehawk. Good times were had, chatting about random crap.
Next day was more of the same, met up with BSV shortly before the new year, spent the time on the streets laughing at the drunks.
The day after, we had breakfast in Subeez (again), wandered around for a bit and decided to make a pilgrimage to Dave’s army surplus. Ye gods that was a trek, all the snow and the streets not having any consistent naming scheme meant that the trip took hours. However, we arrived and took a good look at the wares for sale. I picked up a new EDC pack, a 5.11 Rush 24 – which I gather is a medic pack – and a no name pouch similar to a Maxpedition 3×5 but bigger and cheaper. Yugo and BSV also bought some stuff and we trekked back. Eventually we met up with Avagdu, Hatterofmadness and Pig Monkey. More comparison of kit ensured with an amusing incident of having boots on the table. I’m sure we pissed off the wait staff.
Finally the 3rd of Jan rolled around. After a time, we got to the theatre for the main event. Photos were taken, Cimmerian was filming folk. Almost at the last minute, Alex Peake and Brognought both found their way in.
Bloody hell those two are tall.
We got ushered in to the hall to see a slideshow of amusing images of the Rant team. After a while, the lights dimmed and Server’s prayer was played over the sound system. Sean came out garbed in robes and sat on the floor. This was the new Afternow episode that was promised. Needless to say, lots of video devices were pointed at him, including my phone. Not sure if my vid has uploaded yet, besides the quality is very poor. Avagdu says he got good audio so I’m gonna steal that off him.
After the new show, the lights went off, Sean got up and promptly fell over.
Cimm: “You ok? What happened?”
Sean: “My leg fell asleep.”
Laughter and applause soon followed.
The main video of the event then rolled, going over the history of Rant which was interesting and gave a few hints of what was about to come.
The Q&A with the WhatTheHell?!? cast was awesome. Prizes were given out and I was fortunate to find one of the 5 hidden SD cards under my seat with the main video as well as a comic. I also found out that I had traveled the 4th most distance. Ephoy was 3rd (being from Denmark) but 2 Australians (figures) took the 2nd and 1st prize.
After all the fun and games were over, we had food someplace, probably Subeez yet again. I had to go back to my hostel to drop off some pointy things and my laptop then we made for the club, Sanctuary.
Alex Peake was charged with navigation which…was less than optimal. But hey, we got there and I managed to shake hands with both Cimm and Sean.
I will say one thing about Sean. I suspect the only time he stops talking is when he is asleep. I swear the man could go on for hours. Though I suspect the drinks helped. He dropped some more info about Patrolling series 3, namely the idea of “tactical thinking”.
The rest of the time was more blurry. Folk had to disappear, the group shrank quite rapidly. I too had to leave on the 5th to get my plane.
10 more hours in economy. Joy. Thankfully, getting back into the UK was a lot less hassle, look at the passport and waved me on. Had more trouble getting my case off the baggage conveyer.
So there you have it. My jaunt to Vancouver. Would I do it again? If I had the money, in a heartbeat. I look forward to the day when we can meet up again.
Offline
I’m off to the R4nger5 meet. Probably won’t be online much, if at all. Consider me unreachable unless you have my phone number or send me a direct message on twitter. I might be online via my phone but it is unlikely.
I’ll try and document things but no promises. Will be back on Monday at some point.