When it comes to airbeds, mine seem to get bigger and more luxurious every year; I used to sleep on a thin foam ground mat with no trouble. But as time has gone by, getting comfortable has become more difficult and waking up has transformed into a symphony of moans and groans as I try to clamber out of the tent (I can only assume that the ground is getting lumpier these days).
There are tents and then there is the Nimbus 12. The tent itself is enormous, fitting 9-12 people with 3 separate sleeping compartments which fits 3 in 2 of the pops and 6 in the larger section.
There is a running joke within our group of friends that one of our mates couldn’t put a tent up even if his life depended on it. I kid you not, this year all he had to do was peg down the outer layer (someone else had already done the rest) and instead he opted for sleeping in his van all weekend, as the prospect of reaching for the mallet was just too much.
Never let rain spoil your fun outdoors again with the Heron Rain Tarp. This 8.6oz (243g) Silpoly hexagonal rain tarp is ultralight and won’t weigh down your pack. Traditional lightweight tarps are often made from 1.1oz Silnylon that can stretch out when wet, but Hummingbird’s Rain Tarp is made from a newly developed 0.9oz Silpoly which provides a full coverage that doesn’t mist through or stretch.
If you are into travelling, camping or general adventures, chances are you have had some bad experiences trying to get to sleep. Perhaps you were lying in a freezing cold sleeping bag, or had bugs landing on your skin when it was too hot to be in one, or you’ve cringed at the thought of climbing in between some questionable bedsheets in a budget hostel.
Every year without fail, when we go camping, we seem to forget that we won’t have a fridge or freezer. How we haven’t learnt this yet, I’m not sure, but it always results in about six of us turning up with enough meat to feed an army and an attempt to cook and eat it all on the same night. Well, not this year! We managed to get our hands on the Powerbox Plus, a 28L active cooler that operates off of a 12V car plug-in or a 230V electrical outlet (both cables included).
Having the right sleeping bag when camping is important. Lack of sleep can easily ruin any trip; trying to get to sleep when you are too cold isn’t a lot of fun, and waking up sweating you butt off is equally unpleasant.
The iconic VW campervan is the pinnacle of the hippie camping lifestyle, but for most people these days it’s well out of their price range. Fear not! You can get the look for a faction of the price and without the risk of breaking down on the way (unless you have the tent in a car as old as mine then it is a constant risk). The VW Tent is a four-man tent with a divider down the middle creating two rooms and it is an exact licensed replica of the 1965 classic. It is available in Blue (our test model), Orange, Red and a limited-edition Green.
The MightyMo is Jetboil’s first stand-alone universal stove system, meaning you don’t have to have Jetboil’s compatible cookware to use the stove . You can bring your grimy old tins that you haven’t washed since your Bronze Duke of Edinburgh award and they will work just fine (apart from the potential food poisoning). This storable single burner is reasonably lightweight at 95g (3.3oz), although there are lighter models on the market.
Cringe alert! One of the things I miss when we go camping aside from clean toilets, cold beer, and not getting food poisoning from under-cooked sausages, is having a cuddle on the sofa. Before you get excited, no, the Mercury Moon Chair is not a sofa. Also, I must say straight away that the max weight for the chair is 110kg. I won’t tell you how much we weigh together but it is slightly over that… The good news is that we didn’t fall through the bottom of it.