Kit – what to wear at camp Friday, Jul 15 2011

This isn’t a check list of specialist kit, but more of a share of information. If you also have any special tips, please add the comments to the bottom.

The starter for what to wear is to think layers rather than having one super-warm jumper. If you get too hot you can control the temperature better.

Hat and gloves (especially for colder camps) are also a good thing to have – but think about what you may need to do over the camp – will the fleece lined mittens really help you?

Wellies are great for sploshing about puddles, but they generally don’t retain the heat and being solid rubber aren’t designed to be worn all day. Better still is to invest in a reasonable pair of hiking boots and liberally apply Nikwax or Dubbin (more about this on the Boot Blog published July 1)

Waterproofs should be an automatic consideration for camp. In addition during colder camps the waterproof trousers can give an additional layer of warmth.

If you’re skiing – wear a ski-jacket. If your camping – DON’T wear a ski-jacket (unless you also have a waterproof jacket to put over it). Ski-jackets are good for keeping you warm, but they are designed to stop snow – not rain – so in a downpour they will get wet and will take a long time to dry out. Once the wet material cools down, the next morning it is a horrible feeling to put on a cold wet jacket to face the world…

Jeans are quite good and robust for camp – but remember they are an open-weave material, so once wet they will get heavy and let the cold in (which is why they discourage using them for the swimming personal survival badge).

Unless you’ve bought specialist outdoor equipment, save the expensive designer gear for Harrow High Street. D&G may have the bling, but covered in mud they don’t have the staying power. Typically most Scout Leaders don’t think very highly of anyone who says “I can’t do that, these are my best trousers” – the thought being “why bring them to camp then?”

 

What I have found – and this must be the Scouting top tip! – is that the activity Scout Trousers are FANTASTIC camping trousers, so even if you pack one for “smart” and one for camping it’s a worthwhile investment.  I discovered a couple of shops in Camden that sell the old german army shirts – these are very hard wearing and very cheap too.

 

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Teaching in Lego Sunday, Jul 10 2011

One of the challenges that face a Leader is how to communicate an idea or thought to their young people.  Ideally, that method should be easily repeatable – and ultimately, not require the Leader to have to spend a large amount of time or money replicating.

The largest challenge I have found is translating outdoor skills into table top demonstrations; it isn’t always easy or practical to take a Troop off to a campsite just to teach a skill for a variety of reasons.  Take teaching how to set out a campsite for example.  Getting the scouts to put Patrol tents up can be challenge enough, but to start moving them round the field to get them to the optimal position… To that end, I did create a number of paper scale models that I could put together.  This was mostly repeatable as it required me to print out an A4 sheet of paper and then cut and sellotape the tents into shape, ready for the patrol to sit down.

More recently though, I have been making use of a more sturdy solution – that of the Lego Brick.  Using a number of bricks I have been able to make up a small set that can be used to teach site layout.

The set (when built) comprises two patrol tents, a dining shelter, a fire/cooking point, wood store, a water barrel, a litter/rubbish bin, a flag, a campsite water point and a campsite toilet block.  The intention is that the leader can get the flag to indicate the wind direction and then allow the scouts to place the tents, the fire, etc. and then discuss the merits of having the water nowhere near the fire / dining shelter; or the problems of being too close to the communal toilets / water point.

Using the Lego Designer, I have uploaded it to the Lego site, but the image of the build is displayed here:

The parts list (if you want to build it yourself) can be found at the end of this article.  If you do decide to go to the Lego.com “Design by Me” part of the website, look up “frog_101” as a username.  The whole lot can be purchased there!

Just for the record, I don’t have shares in Lego, but for those who have been following this blog you will note that I do make a lot of use of it!

 

 

Parts list

Part #	Item	Colour	Qty
3001	BRICK 2×4	Dark grey	3
3299	RIDGED TILE 2×4	Bright Red	2
3297	ROOF TILE 3×4	Bright Red	1
4490	BRICK W. BOW 1×3	White	1
3004	BRICK 1×2	White	2
3005	BRICK 1×1	White	1
3010	BRICK 1×4	White	1
3048	END RIDGED TILE 1×2	Bright Red	2
3044	RIDGED TILE 1×2	Bright Red	4
3004	BRICK 1X2	Bright Blue	1
3794	PLATE 1×2 W. 1 KNOB	Bright Blue	1
4085	PLATE 1×1 W.Holder	Black	1
86208	BUTT	Grey	1
61780	BOX 2x2x2		1
4738	CHEST 2×4		1
2489	BARREL 2×2		1
3022	PLATE 2X2	Bright Red	1
2412	RADIATOR GRILL 1×2	Bright Red	1
2412	RADIATOR GRILL 1X2	Black	1
3957	STICK / AERIAL	Black	1
60719	FLAG W. 2 HOLDERS	Bright Blue	1
3899	Mug		1
3835	MINI FIREMAN’S AXE		1

 

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kit – plates and cutlery Friday, Jul 8 2011

Whilst this may seem like the simplest of things, plates and cutlery can create some of the largest problems at the washing up bowl at camp.  Typically because everyone buys their camping plates from the same outdoors shops, we tend to see a lot of plates that are the same.  So here’s a few tips to consider when shopping for plates

 

1. How hard is the plastic?  Some camp plates are quite brittle and don’t flex especially well.
2. You may want to consider using metal plates – or even using “mess tins” (a favourite of mine as you can just pile in the food without it spilling. However you don’t get a nice presentation on the plate though).
3. How “common” is the colour?  Orange used to be a standard colour.
4. On mug shopping, look at the handle – how flimsy is it?

 

Once you’ve made your purchase, you need to consider marking it in some way.  My suggestion (if you have one) is to use a Dremmel to cut the name into the plate.  I would not use nail varnish because:

1. You’d be surprised how many people have the same colour nail varnish
2. Even the most flexible of paints will chip off the plate when Scouts wash them

 

Some people have used sellotape and plasters – and if you’ve ever taken a bath, or had a shower with a Band-aid on you’ll know how effective that is.

 

 

Cutlery (the K-F-S or Knife-Fork-Spoon) is a little favourite of mine.  There are many different types of cutlery that you can buy, including ones that clip together.  I like these as they are great for packing – but again, you need to make sure that they are properly marked or drilled in some way that allows you to identify yours over the other 5 similar items in the drying rack.  However, you may decide to just use “normal” cutlery.  That’s fine – but watch the knife (I’ve managed to cut myself getting my dinner knife out of my rucksack before).  A surprising success for me has been using “children’s cutlery”.  Whilst the knife isn’t especially sharp (at all) I have yet to not be able to identify my brightly coloured K-F-S from anyone else’s!

 

 

Finally – and I need to state this – DO NOT give your child paper plates or disposable cutlery to bring to camp.  This teaches them nothing about camp hygene, it is not “green”,  it does nothing for team building (the “why do I need to wash up your plates” question) and if they are more likely to break in transit.  They are also rubbish at holding hot wet food for any length of time.

 

Also, for similar reasons,  there’s little point in giving them a hybrid device such as a Spork (a combined fork and spoon) unless they are doing something really specialised such as expedition hike.

 

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Kit – hike boots and footwear Friday, Jul 1 2011

This has been (and should remain) the staple item in every Scouts camp kit bag! Over the years, technology has moved on to make boots more specialised and so buying these more challenging (and in some cases more expensive, that’s true) – but this guide should enable you to identify what is useful and perhaps what you won’t need.

 

So let’s get an idea of what we need the “camp shoe” to do:

1. Stop water from getting feet wet – first thing in the morning (even in summer), UK grass is wet and will soak trainers quickly
2. Be comfortable – these shoes will typically be worn all day
3. Be adaptable – they will be worn summer, winter, spring and autumn
4. Be supportive – they need to be worn when on hikes over rough terrain
5. Be protective – especially if using axes, saws and knives
6. Be grippy – especially on obstacle courses and on hilly hikes
7. Be tough – these will need to last the whole week!

 

Linked from www.abc-of-hiking.com

 

Whilst the image is of quite a technical boot, it does details what a typical hike will look like, and some of the reasons for the extra twiddly bits.

 

The most important items in the hike boot are:

1. A sewn-in tongue.  This gives the boot more waterproof-icity (you will need to maintain the waterproof nature – more on that later)
2. A knobbly base.  This gives the grip to the boot.  Vibram is a good name to look for in terms of boot soles.  Years ago, when I was a Scout I was told “DMs are good for kicking people, but rubbish for hill walking”.  Having now seen someone not be able to scramble up a slope because they were wearing DM boots I understand this)
3. A good leather upper.  Apologies to anyone who is vegetarian but (as yet) I’ve not seen a reasonable Scout-proof hike boots that didn’t have a decent leather upper.

 

The boot should come above the ankle as this will reinforce the support to the ankle. There is a whole discussion on how much a boot should twist as you turn it between your hands – but as a simple rule it should be reasonably stiff – too loose and it won’t support anything.

 

 

When you are trying on hike boots, you need to go prepared – more so than buying normal shoes.  This is because you should always wear two pairs of socks inside your boots (the jury is still discussing whether it should be two the same thickness or one thick, one thin).  The reason for this is due to the length of time that you may have these on your feet, especially hiking.  The outer sock will move with the boot, the inner with the foot – and you won’t get blisters.

 

Once you’ve bought your boots, you should walk around the house with them on for a weekend.  As a note to anyone with light carpets in their house – ONLY wear them in the house when breaking them in!  This will start to get the foot bed to mould to your feet and to get the leather to warm to the shape of your foot.

 

Additionally, you can also rub in NIKWAX or DUBBIN.  This is also the stuff that will make the leather more waterproof.  This is really gunky stuff to work with and you need to make sure that it’s rubbed well into all the seams.  If you’ve been wearing the boots, or have made them warm then the stuff will soak in much better – it is effectively an oil.  You won’t need to use leather polish (and to be honest, for these boots its not as much fun either!)

 

 

So okay, that’s a quick run through the boots.  Some other questions that you may have:

 

How high should the boots go?

In this case, you don’t need calf high boots (such as the classic DM or the Rock Boot).  They do offer good protection, but after a point they are just keeping your ankles warm.  Also, just because the leather goes further up your leg won’t mean you can stand in deeper puddles – you need to check where the tongue stops getting sewn to the boot.

 

But what about Wellies?

Ah yes, wellies.  The most waterproof boot going.  These are reasonable for sploshing through puddles on a Sunday morning when walking the dog, but because they 100% waterproof and are not breathable, aren’t laced to your foot / ankle and typically are one piece with a thin sole they will make your feet sweat, will not support your feet and early morning will be cold and will not keep your feet warm.

 

My dad’s got cross country trainers – could I use similar?

Early on in this post, I noted that technology has advanced.  There are now some quite decent cross-country trainers on the market – but at £50 for a cheap-ish pair you won’t save much – if anything.  Additionally you need to remember that these trainers are designed that they will shed any water getting in – that means holes – which means they’re not going to be waterproof.  Also the trainer is designed for someone who will be moving their ankle a lot – so won’t offer the same protection.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: cross country trainers do have something that normal trainers don’t have – a decent grippy, knobbly sole rather than a road-based shoe.

 

I’ve heard of things called “Monkey boots” – any good?

Monkey Boots seem to sit to one side of fashion in regard to footwear.  They do have a reasonable grip on them and would tick most of the boxes.  However at the time of writing these are difficult to find on the high street, so it’s unlikely that Millets or Blacks will be stocking them any time soon.

 

What about steel toe caps?

Aha – the solution if you’re using axes and saws.  These are quite useful, especially for this purpose, but you shouldn’t go out of your way to buy boots with these (and typically you won’t get proper hike boots with these anyway)

 

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Can You Handle it? Wednesday, Jun 29 2011

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Cycle Weekend – 8-10 April 2011 Tuesday, Apr 12 2011

We met at the 8th/12th Church on Friday. The group consisted of: Ash, Alan, Bruce, Dave, David, Sam, Anand, Matthew, Daniel, Oskar, Benedict, Tommy, James, Ahkmed, Fraser, Alec and Charlie. The journey down was surprisingly smooth with no holdups at all. We arrived at 1st Fordingbridge Scout headquarters and settled down for the evening.
Saturday morning came quickly enough, with Scouts in typical form – “no fighting. Not before breakfast”, being Ash’s comment! We had breakfast and got the bicycles ready and set off. We cycled through Fordingbridge and out into the New Forest Park. We confidently set off downhill along a gravel track and soon we reached a stream. Some of the Scouts attempted to cross the stream directly – a couple managed to cycle all the way through! Once on the other side, Alan realised that we had been following the wrong track… so we cycled back across the stream and back up the hill! Although the cycle tracks were of good standard, there was a lot of holes that caught some of the scouts out – by the end of the day we’d nearly run out of plasters in our First Aid kit! Being at the back of the group I didn’t see many of the spills – just the Scout lying on the ground. I did manage to see Daniel’s impressive spill – he was cycling downhill and his front wheel hit a pothole. He went over the handlebars and landed face down, the bicycle flipped over and landed square on his back. It looked horrific – but Daniel quickly stood up shouting “I’m alright!” and after a quick check we were also surprised that there were no cuts or scrapes either! The day itself was a lovely hot sunny one – so we did spend a while by the streams and open spaces enjoying the views and the distractions.

Back at the headquarters, we mended the two punctures that we had suffered and then Alan and David took eight Scouts off geocaching (there were two caches in the town). Back at the headquarters the Scouts settled down quickly – it had been a long day.

After breakfast on Sunday we set off again – this time to cycle through Verwood Forest. The weather was again hot and dry – and several of us found the going a little harder having spent so many hours yesterday in the saddle in the sun. Fortunately, no Scout added to the injury list today – but about 2/3 of the way into the cycle we found a very boggy path to work our way along. It was too sticky to cycle in – and as we walked the bikes along the wheels sunk down up to the axles. For a couple of Scouts this make things very difficult to navigate – and for one he had to sink his hands into the mud – up to his elbows – to retrieve his shoes that had come off!

Back at the Headquarters we quickly cleared up and set for home. Again I was surprised at the traffic flow – no hold-ups or problems and we were quickly back at Harrow.

The (very small selection of) pictures below reflect the weekend’s cycling:

Cycle Weekend April 2011, a set on Flickr.

A better slideshow of these images can be found at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/frog101/sets/72157626357872783/show/

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Choosing a campsite Friday, Feb 11 2011

In order to make the best of any camping experience, picking the right place to put your tent will be a key consideration.  We can’t always have control over all the aspects, especially if the site is allocated to us by the warden, but if we’re aware of all the points then we can make the best of the situation.

designing the ideal campsite

Firstly, let’s consider the ground.  Is it on a slope, or are there dips?  Sloping ground can be frustrating as if you pitch wrong you’ll either roll out the tent, or sleep with your head lower than your feet.  Dips – even shallow ones – can be the first point for small puddles in the rain.  Frustratingly you can’t always spot them, but if you’ve managed to avoid the obvious ones then you’re doing well.  If you are nearby a river or stream, have a look at the grass – if it looks more lush and green than neighbouring bits then it will probably get quite squidgy if the rains come and the water level rises.

 

Another ground consideration is how rocky it might be.  You need to find somewhere that doesn’t have obvious sticky-out rocks (or your sleep will be disturbed) but you might find that if the whole ground is rocky then you will need to use other pegs (as an example, the Scout site in Kandersteg, Switzerland is so rocky that hike tents need 6-inch nails rather than aluminium pegs because of the rock).

 

You might also want to consider how much of a tree canopy you have.  If it’s a lovely hot summer’s day the canopy is brilliant – but if it rains it will shelter you from the sun, so everything will take a lot longer to dry (and the trees will continue to shed the water long after the rain has gone).  Also, it will get darker quicker under tree cover and of course, things live in the trees and may land on the tent roof.  Oh, and of course the root systems could make the ground an interesting challenge!

 

But before you pitch your tent, there are a couple of other things to note – where are the toilet blocks and where is the water tap?  The water tap is typically used by loads of people on the campsite – and whilst you wouldn’t walk across someone’s site other’s might – so can you set up your site so people can get to the tap easily without disturbing you?  The toilet block is a similar consideration – whilst it’s great that it’s close, first thing in the morning EVERYONE on the site will want to use it.  As a follow on from that, how easy is it to get to your site (or indeed for others to get to theirs)?  Some sites may be secluded to the point that access is through another site – again, can you design your site accordingly?

when designing your site, remember that the water tap is used by everyone and ground near water can get boggy

 

The image below shows two suggestions as to how you could lay out your campsite.  Note how the direction of the wind is taken into consideration for the campfire and the litter (brown box), how the store tent (smaller house)  is close to the cooking area and how the water point (red mug) is available to everyone (but also note how the water is near the cooking / fire area just in case).

two suggestions for site layout. My preference is the one on the left!

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Farewell – for now? Friday, Dec 17 2010

For many of us, the end of term is a short break before 2011 brings a new programme full of exciting activities. However, for Ivor and I it is also the time when we will be stepping away from being part of the team running the Troop and focus on our own pursuits.

Both Ivor and I have been involved in Scouting for many years, so I don’t think that either of us will truly walk away from Scouting (Ivor still intends to be involved in Scouting in some way in the District); I believe that the Scout Promise isn’t just something you say to get some badges, it is something you agree to try to live your life by.

For myself, I first joined the 19th Harrow as a Cub – and my Akela is the same Akela that runs the 19th Cubs now! My Scout Leader isn’t the same – although I think we’ve worked out that Malcolm’s first night at Scouts (as a helper) was my first night as a Scout! Apart from a short period of 4 months I have always had some connection with the 19th Harrow; the last 21 years as a leader (even if it was unofficial whilst I held District and County positions).

I hope that in your time with the Scouts you get to have memories that you can recall in years to come. Just a few of the memories of things I’ve been able to experience – but there are many, many more :
 Sleeping in a shelter made from the leaves and sticks of the surrounding area
 Walking through a waterfall and standing in the cave behind it
 Winning the “Fastest Scout” Trophy for the 125-mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race
 Invest a Scout 20 metres in the air on a High Ropes course
 Camping in the snow
 Camping in the cold (we lined the tent with wooden pallets to get us off the ground!)
 Walking to the top of Snowdon, Sca Fell and Ben Nevis
 Sailing to France (although that was with the Venture Scouts and the London Sailing Project)
 Panicking as the minibus engine broke down and flooded the bus with smoke!
 Catching my own fish and cook it for dinner
 Beating Ash at Quad biking (but it’s a good job I’m not competitive!)
 Playing Petanque on some of the craziest ground going
 Investing a Scout abroad
 Following a County boundary on a hike thinking it was a footpath (not to be recommended!)
 Having my birthday aboard a boat going to France
 Having my birthday at the top of Snowdon (where my Scout leader had carried a cake all the way to the top!)
 Learning that you can’t connect a red gas cylinder to a cooker that uses a blue cylinder!
 Finding out exactly how strong the wind can be when it lifts an army marquee in the air
 Learning how awake I can become when I have to drive a Scout to the hospital at 1:30 in the morning
 Tasting exactly how bad things are when you put washing up liquid in the dinner instead of cooking oil (it is NOT lemony fresh)!
 That it is possible to challenge and beat your fears
 Making massive ballisters from pioneering poles
 Having a go at SCUBA diving in a swimming pool
 Being presented with the Queen’s Scout Award and the Medal of Merit.

I had a quick look through my photograph collection of scouting memories, and quickly put a few images together. I hope that you enjoy them.

Obviously I don’t know what the future holds and who knows – I could be back helping the Troop once again and I hope that my diary will allow me to pop up from time to time. However, until that time, could I take this opportunity to thank Malcolm, Ivor, Ash, Alan for their support as part of the main team – but also Nandesh, James, Alison, James, Caroline and Sue for helping the team as well. Without this starting to look like an awards speech (too late!) there are all the leaders and friends who have helped me along the way. But finally – and in no way least – I would like to thank all the Scouts that I have had the opportunity to meet and work with; no matter how enthusiastic I am, without the Scouts I would not have the Troop to run.

Thank you for reading this and can I wish you and your family the very deepest of Seasons wishes and hope that 2011 will bring you all health and happiness.

Frog
(David)

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Pathfinder Weekend report Monday, Oct 18 2010

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frog101/sets/72157625189608810/

Ivor and David met the first group at the Church, before driving round to the 19^th and picking up the last Scouts and all the camping equipment.   We then drove up to Lees Wood with just about enough light to get the tents up.

With a little struggling by the Scouts – and leaders wondering why the tents weren’t reaching the ground all the way round – the site was prepared.  The other members of the District (Vince estimated that there was about 60 present at the weekend) were setting up the tents, or exploring the site – or having a go on the Radio (this was also a weekend for Jamboree on the Internet – JOTI – and Jamboree over the air – JOTA).  It was nice to meet up with the boys that we had taken to Kandersteg, Switzerland as part of the District Contingent – and really pleasing that we could remember their names too!

Once our site was ready, we drove to Sainsbury’s so that the Scouts could buy the food for their menus.  This was quickly sorted and we returned to base.  Surprisingly for a first night, we settled down quite quickly and early.

Saturday morning was cold but pleasant – the boys cooked their breakfasts, made their lunches and we were ready to go quite early.  David drove the groups to their drop points; Ash and Alan were dropped at Coleshill (SU948953) and Ivor and Nandesh at Black Park (TQ005832) with a final destination of the Aquadrome at Rickmansworth (TQ056937).  Once dropped, David then drove between the two groups making sure all was OK.

The leaders walking with the groups hung back about 30 metres so the Scouts had to do all the work!

Fortunately, all was running to time and Alan and Ash’s group got to the Aquadrome for about 3:45pm; Ivor and Nandesh was about 30 minutes later.

Arriving back on site, the Scouts cooked their evening meals and washed up; they then listened in as contact was made with Scouts from aboard (Anand managed to make contact with a number of groups, including a group from Malta!)

 

Sunday morning quickly came round; the boys had to be pushed a little to make their breakfasts and cook all they had bought, but breakfast was sorted and with lunches packed both groups were dropped at the Aquadrome ready to walk back to Lees Wood.  Ash and Alan would use some of the Ebury Way before heading North to Croxley Green; Ivor and Nandesh headed through Rickmansworth to pick up the Chess Valley Walk.

Ash and Alan’s group had no problems on their walk and all went to plan.  Ivor however had a small challenge as for a short while the Scouts managed to evade them! Fortunately they were re-united and after a very brief lunch were able to walk onto site – although they still managed to take an unusual route to get to the base.

Back on site, the tents were dropped and the trailer was packed.  Because we were the only ones with a full programme on Sunday when we arrived back on site we were the only Scouts still there; it was a little surreal being the only Scouts on a huge field.  We drove back to the Cabin and after the tents had been hung to dry we let the Scouts go home.

 

It had been an interesting weekend, allowing the Scouts to demonstrate their map reading skills.  My thanks go to:

Ivor, Alan, Ash, Nandesh as Leaders

Anand, Aaron, Alec, Charlie, Frazer, James R., James Z., Nathan, Oskar and Steven

 

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Eurohike Flash Fuse II – a short review Monday, Aug 23 2010

I decided that I really wanted a small 2-man tent that I could put up quickly so that I could focus more time on helping my Scout Troop put up their tents – a traditional problem for a Scout Leader (if it takes too long, your own kit will get wet in the rain)

I had a Khyam tent in the past where everything was connected; I wondered if the newer “pop up” tents would be any better.  Fortunately, I noted that Millets had a sale on, so I was able to purchase the Eurohike Flash Fuse II at half price.

I managed to buy this in time before I went off to Switzerland for 10 days with the Scouts; over that time I think I experienced all four seasons of weather… and a lot of rain; so I believe that this tent has been properly tested now!

(The tent in it’s unpegged state!)

So let’s start with what it is.  A double skinned pop up tent.  It has a single entrance and two side pockets.  How it comes in the bag is the first challenge – like all pop-up tents these are flat, disc shaped bags about 3 feet across; this is not a tent for the backpacker (unless they want to look like they’re carrying a massive, bulky satellite dish.

Once on site, the tent is removed from the bag and after slipping an elastic strap off the material, the tent pops up into shape (and if you’re not ready, it is easy to go “oh!” and drop it!).  You can then put in the 4 pegs to hold the groundsheet, four corner guys to pull the material out and four guys for the (bright yellow) guy lines.  And you’re done.  It took me well under 30 seconds to have the tent up and nailed down.

The first thing that I noted with this tent over all my previous tents (including Khyam) is that there is NO AWNING.  If you’re camping in good weather this won’t pose a problem, but in the rain the shape of the tent means that the first two feet into the tent is exposed to rain coming straight down.  I found I needed to make use of an umbrella to act as an awning as I got into and out of the tent.  This lack of awning also meant I had to be creative in putting my boots away – there is a little gap outside of the inner, but it isn’t huge.

Inside the tent there is space – but I would suggest that this is for two people who travel light – there really isn’t space for a heck of a lot of luggage (but then given the shape I feel it more likely that anyone using this would have a car to transport the tent anyway).  As a one-person tent, there is enough space to put a decent rucksack down one side.

The shape of the tent also offers another item for consideration.  If you have moved from inflatable mattress to a camp bed, be ready that you will be touching the tent at either end as it slopes to the top.  Not a huge impact, but one to be aware of – and the only place you can put the bed will be down the centre of the tent.

Over the ten days, we experienced a lot of rain – and I’m pleased to report that with the exception of the water coming in through the door, water only really came into the tent during the heaviest of down pours.  I would like to test the tent during a warm, dry camp, so I can properly report whether the tent suffers from condensation – all I can say at this point is that my kit remained dry throughout the week, which can only be a good thing.

Dropping the tent is a little more complex as you will need to fold and tuck – but once you’ve done it a couple of times it becomes much easier.

So as an overall review, I would say that this a great small tent for those who require something that can be put up quickly and easily.  It is a superb introduction to the first time / festival camper, as it means that they can be confident that the tent will be adequate for their purposes.  Even allowing for its size, this is not a tent for the backpacker, or those travelling using panniers on a bicycle, but perhaps more for those people who are on a car touring holiday or where transporting camping equipment is not an issue.

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