Been away a few days in the camper van through Shropshire into mid Wales. Sounded out some friends with a couple of fields, they have a barn where i can leave some “bits and pieces”. I decided to camp as basically as the OH would allow, interesting week, very successful due to good weather, if weather had have been bad it probably would have been very different.
By basic camping i mean i cooked on a wood fire and lived outdoors under a tarpaulin shelter, no gas or electrickery used, wanted to dig a latreen, but OH refused to use it if i did. I enjoyed it more than she did. Bits and pieces will be camping gear, bow saw, hand axe, entrenching tool, a couple of tarps, stuff that could make a difference after an event, all things i already have so no expense involved.
What you were doing has a name over here Pete, we call it "boonedocking".
You take your camping vehicle, whatever it is from a motor home to a small hatchback, off the trail to some likely spot 100 yards or 100 miles off the road and set up camp.
We have "national wilderness areas", where camping in "undesignated areas" is allowed and encouraged. I have one such place near me that is about 50 miles wide and 200 from north to south called Daniel Boone Wilderness Area. You can google it and see the lay of the land.
It is excellent for taking the "new" or less than delighted camper into the bush without the stress of backpacking and hiking. They always have the knowledge that they have a vehicle full of gear and a quick way out of the place if things go wrong. (I was once run off a camp by killer mosquitoes)
Sometimes you sleep in the rig, sometimes under a tarp or tent. Most of the time I cook on the fire but sometimes I use the stove when there is a fire ban in place.
I have been doing it all my life and some of the funniest moments of my life in the outdoors were on those trips.
Great fun! And don't try to push the significant other past she confidence/comfort level. I actually own a portable shower with propane water heater and a portable chemical toilet just to keep the womenfolk in the family happy and returning to the woods.
Boonedocking is a great name MB never heard it before.
I’ve camped most of my life, (i’m now 74), at all levels of comfort, as a child with my parents in an old army ridge tent in the late 40s, then with scouts and then my own family, now just me and my wife.
Our camper van is fully equipped, toilet, shower, cooker, fridge, even heating, so we don’t have to go without our home comforts.
I did sleep out last week and cook on a wood fire but my only cheat was to keep the beers in the fridge.
Pete, one of the things I noticed when I turned about 40 was that I needed good sleeping gear more than as a youngster.
I am not talking about the sleeping bag and such, though they are also important.
I am speaking of the mattress, padding or cushion between me and the ground.
After the first back surgery that became the most important thing in my list of gear and it changed the way I approached camping.
Even my backpacking changed and an expensive "self inflating sleep pad" became part of my back packing gear.
The other thing I noticed as I got older was that it was much more difficult to get from lying on the ground up to standing position and felt like a real accomplishment once it was completed.
Because of that a "real bed" was added to my vehicle camping equipment. I am talking about a real folding bed with springs and a foam pad!
Every time I read about someone intending to live under a tarp and sleep on a bed of leaves my first thought is that would work fine as long as they die at 35. I really do not remember enjoying it a great deal when I was in my twenties.
Your right about the need of a real bed as you get older MB.
Our camper van has an excellent double bed and is nearly as comfortable as our bed at home.
When i slept out it was on an old airbed, the secret is to inflate it just enough so when you sit on it your backside is flat on the ground, then when you lie your body is supported all over.
If the airbed is over inflated it is like lying on four logs.
Alcohol is an excellent anaesthetic, i recommend a good malt but if i remember rightly you prefer pussers rum.
My outdoor sleeping solution is a sturdy hammock adequate to support a fat man, used with insulated underblanket and a Woobie, such as the SnugPak Jungle Blanket or USGI poncho liner. In wet, wintery weather two wool blankets under the tarp windbreak work well.
https://www.ddhammocks.com/
I did the hammock thing for a while when I was young.
After the back problems started it no longer worked for me.
I did fine with a couple of wool blankets right up till about 1997 when I went hypothermic at a winter reenactment camp. I did not get warm for the rest of that winter and have never been the same in the cold since then.
I want my zero bag, chemical warmers, the propane heater, and if possible, a nice warm woman.
Trip to LIDL to top up some food stores. A great deal on 4 tins of Newgate Baked Beans for 94 pence and own brand Simply Long Grain Rice at 45 pence a kilo (was 40 pence a year ago but still quite cheap). It's a soft sticky type of rice which I like but maybe not to everyones liking. Works out just £4.50 for 10 kilos.
The raised beds with straw bales looks like it might not be so good after all.....i have sown carrots, beetroot , parsnips and radish .....although ALL is popping up (the best being radish and carrot ) none are doing that well ....this is the first attempt using this method...i have followed the charging process to the letter using nitrate to charge the bales up ..and soaking them a week prior then dressing the top with compost, the results in these early days are not impressive , all other raised beds are doing great using conventional methods .... although these straw bales are new ground for me and are a test ...time will tell ....been busy logging up and splitting firewood for next winter ...all ASH the wood shed is nearly full ...three cords .....mornings are spent completing this task....gave wild child a break today......lunch .....one punnett mushrooms, one pouch of king prawns , three garlic gloves (pressed) one knob of butter , one glug of white wine , one glug of olive oil and one glug of double cream along with a fresh french baguette cut into rings and buttered ........here we go ! peel mushrooms and slice up , on low heat 10 " frying pan add the olive oil and butter....add garlic ....add all the mushrooms .... simmer ....add the prawns .....simmer......stirring .....add white wine ....simmer add a bit more heat ....stir ...allow the wine to reduce down .....then add the cream and mix in ....serve hot ....in a bowl on a plate with the rings of crusty french baguette placed on and around the plate .......enjoy !!!