Wild Camping, Wicklow Mountains – Saturday 10th December, The SodShow teamed up with Gelert and Millets Mary Street to take five people and record the journey as we hiked, trekked and wild camped overnight, without tents, in The Wicklow Mountains.
The 4 part mini series will air on radio/ podcast for 4 weeks from Dec 23rd & Jan 6th – 20th.
The following is the equipment we used.
My Clothing: [see image above]
- Gaiters: Frontier RS Gaiters
- Trousers: Mens 4 Way Stretch Venture Trousers
- Base Layer: Mens Alpha Long Sleeve T-Shirt
- Mid Layer: Plateau Half Zip Fleece
- Mid Layer: Freedom waterproof jacket
- Outer Layer: Mens Ridge Waterproof Jacket
- Hat: Mens Thaxted Peaked Beanie Hat
- Rucksack: Crag 45
Survival Bag – I cannot emphasise how important these can be. It not only doubles as a full water and wind proof for your sleeping bag but in emergency situations it’s uses are literally endless [ieg. can be turned into a stretcher]. Costs around €4.
Waterproof Kayak Bag – Used to keep all of my recording equipment dry for the two days. The roll down taper and also the clips allowed it to be easily tied to the outer of my rucksack. Could not have done this gig without it. Cost €7.25
Gelert Tarp – For shelter purposes I can’t speak highly enough of the Gelert tarp range. It does come with a set of poles which I’m sure are quite handy if you are having a garden féte on a fine day. But any as experienced camper will tell you a length of rope and some well placed trees do a much better job in 60 plus mph winds. Do note, this is not a tent, more a waterproof sheet and you can see from the image below we used random branches [and later waterproof rucksacks] to create a wind filter of sorts on the most exposed side.
The Phoenix Cookset is a bit like a slow cooker for the great outdoors and again a serious bit of logic kit. Not even the rain and gales could slow it down. It cooked full evening meals [rice, chicken and sauces] for 5 people and morning meals of potatoes and sausages.
Aluminium Mess Tins – Lightweight, cook in them, eat from them, strap them to the outer of your rucksack. The mess tins [2 pack] cost €5.99 and are worth their weight in gold.
Aluminium Knife, Fork, Spoon Set and Carabiner – If ever you need to eat, when it’s lashing out of the heavens and somewhere in your rucksack is a spoon and somewhere else is a fork…. The Carabiner [little keyring hook clip] keeps it all together and on your outers. Simple but so glad I had it on my belt clip. Costs €5.99
Freedom 350DL Sleeping Bag – With no tent, in December in Ireland, this is what I slept in. Enough said. QED. Also stuffs [as it sounds] into its sack in about 7 seconds. Logic.
Other:
- Hot Pad Hand Warmers
- Gelert Wind up Solar Power Radio
- 8 + 2 LED Head Lamp
Further information
- Original Blog Post: Wild Camping, Wicklow Mountains
- All Products: Gelert and Millets of Mary Street
- Radio & Podcast: The SodShow
- Contact Peter
- info@DoneganLandscaping.com
- twitter.com/DoneganGardens
- Facebook.com/DoneganLandscaping
