Sykeside 2005 - the wanderers return

mercifully mild weather..very light snow sun am . reporting a good time had by all .
no casualties. one singed tent one singed stove no frost bite no suntans .. a couple of
hangovers.& last nights multi body flatulence & snoring would be worthy of an audio link.
NEXT....a southern meet has been mentioned....feb new forest??..will have to dig out my passport....thanks to all & especially ian & paul .the instigators of the gig .... nice one fellas sorry to have mised you rik & son ...if not before ... newark 2006
cheers me dears nick.
the tents airing..now to fix the cold start heater plugs on my ladys car.... in glorious pendle sunshine

 

Great to know you had a good time you lucky buggers. Friday morning we had local train disruptions, so I would not have made Manchester for the 13.13 planned, it would have been nearer 17.00

Temps Thursday night dropped to about -4c (according to my Oregon Scientific weather station in the garden) and we woke to around 4" of snow Friday. Very cold Saturday, but a thaw today and a raise in temp.

New Forrest looks good to me, the lad and I are still packed, so its just a matter of picking up kit and locking the door behind us.

Looking forward to seeing a few pics of the meet, have to go now, I feel a little green

 

" ....my Oregon Scientific weather station in the garden"

Would that be at all similar to the famous and very accurate "Lakotah Weather Rock?

Lash up a tripod of stout sticks, mine is about 4 feet tall. Select a good looking rock about the size and wisdom of a politician's head. With a stout bit of cord or light rope hang the rock, (no matter how tempting, it's frowned upon in polite society to hang politicians,*) a bit above the ground.

Put up an instruction card on good signboard reading:

"This is a Lakotah Weather Rock"

If the rock is wet, it's raining.
If the rock is warm, the sun is shining, or there's been a forest fire recently.
If the rock is swinging, it's breezy.
If the rock is standing right out, it's quite windy.
If the rock can't be seen it's either night time, or foggy.
If the rock is white, it's snowing.
If the rock is white and standing right out, there's a blizzard.

* Oh, what the He**, hang a few politicians. It's been far too long and it's high time we observe this fine old holiday tradition once again. Remember the old Holiday motto: "Rope, Tree, Politician; some assembly required."

Our neighbors directly behind us are fairly recent immigrants from Ethopia. When they moved in two or three years ago, they began taking walks through the neighborhood. Discovering my Lakotah Weather Rock they stood around it, inspecting it from every angle for five minutes or so. Later that afternoon the eldest son came back, knocked on my door and asked permission to photograph it, saying that friends and relatives in Ethiopia wouldn't believe such a thing existed if there weren't pictures to prove it.

Gerry

 

meet was wet n cold , got to meet a few chaps ..i was already there and had the conundrum of walking up to newly arrived campers and asking if they were with the classic stove mob, luckily i spotted an optimus 22 from a distance and wandered over to be greeted by fyldefox ......so standing around drinking cans of lager in ice cold wind is what classic stoves is all about , i thought the initiation was over until Ian turned up with a full size canvas patrol tent , which i admit i had been forewarned ...this immediatley bought back fond memories of me being interorragted by bored instructors years ago..after mutual banter we soon realised that in fact he was to have the last laugh as he would be most likely to survive the night ..i assumed Dave thought it was a survival exercise as he bought along a 14.99 silver tent and was dressed in cammo ..as per standard operating procedure we soon bimbled up to the pub for a few ales..the sane amongst us decided that due to the alcohol consuption and inclement weather we woudl order food from the pub ..Not paul- in true SAS style he bravely faced intoxication and wind and trundled off to cook himself stew in a can!! from the pub i scanned the campsite watching for the huge orange glow as paul and his tent went up . in flames..luckily for us he didnt ...the next morning saw the most dangerous event ..it was fooking hammering it down with ran but we were all stood round a table as "dangerous" Dave demonstrated to the new boy (me) how to light a pre-1911 Primus No.1 ..before i went down with exposure i offered to help by "pricking" ..the effort resuted in ball of orange flame and four grown men leaping out of the way ..i departed shortly after hearing mutterings of "Well, Scott managed to light it in the Antarctic"
a good event ..look forward to summer meet ..cheers Jim

 

Pics please! The bride and I went for camp as well this weekend. We went to the top of Mt. Graham. At about 11000ft it was chilly when we arrived. As the night wore on and several beers into it I realized, upon looking at my rigored wife, that it was a might cold. Being an old scout I fired up a larger fire. At about 8pm the wind started shooting up the mountain from the desert floor. Man it was blowning. Weather reports the following this morning monitored wind speeds on Mt. Graham at 70+. We packed it in and hunkered down in our North Face VE25. Stood the wind like a champ too. About 30 min after bivvying up we could hear trees and limbs snapping. It really was a sight and the two of us lay mortified that the next tree to topple would be the one next to us. I didn't sleep a wink. I awoke to find everything we had left out was gone, scattered in the wind. I trekked around and found most of it but the funny thing is there was, and I kid you not, about a quarter of an inch of sand in our tent, on our bags, and in our hair. It was nasty and to top it off just before we took up camp we notice that the tree that was about three feet to the rear of our tent had snapped and was leaning against another. I do have pics and will post. Our evening low was not as low as your minus 4 but we did dip below 0C and it was that way when we awoke. The wife and I wish we could have made it and are really setting our sites on the one that Rune is trying to pull of in Norway. I hope for the chance to one day meet. Congrats on a miserably wonderful time, know that you were not alone.

Rob

 

An interesting take on the phrase
'Let there be Light'
Perhaps you should stick to the lamps David?

Enjoy the Flame (but at little less enthusiastically)

spudz

 

What Paul has omitted to mention was that, after a deft bit of fettling, the stove ran perfectly for about 10 minutes before the pic was taken (and there's a photograph to prove it!) 8) Then, as usual with my stoves, the pump check valve gave out and panel wipe started to leak into the tray - hence the image... I wasn't particularly worried at first - as conflagrations go, this was a minor one for me and outdoors to boot; but when Ross realised the tank had panel wipe in it and retreated into the distance and then a fire extinguisher miraculously appeared, I began to have a few doubts

When the check valve was eventually extricated from where it had dwelt for years, it proved to be in working order - so f**k knows what's wrong...

So the moral for me is - ignore the devil's work and stick to kerosene. #-o

Anyway, I blame Henry Pugh - he sold me the bloody stove in the first place

One good thing - notice how the newly fitted white guyline on my £14.99 Lidl tent stands out well in the pic 8) It had black ones originally - how stupid is that? Obviously it was designed for camping in the Land of the Midnight Sun - so I'll take it to the Norway meet in 2007 \

 

Norway 2007 ? Feckin' hell, where did 2006 go?
Did I just do Rip Van Winkle there and miss something, like a whole year?
Or are you really talking about a meet in 2 years time?
Actually, I'll probably need 2 years of 'best behaviour and bribery' to convince darling wifey to allow me attend a Stovies meeting.
By then I should at least have my Phoebus #1 fettled

Still awaiting delivery of a parcel from Albert in Oz.
The Italian postal service is CRAP !!!

Spudz

 

Hi Gents

Well I had a fine weekend ......

One the way up to the Lakes I picked up a very nice Svea 121 which was being cleared out at an antiques shop at 30% less than when I last passed, so it cleared out into my garage !

Arriving at campsite met up with Jim (biffa) and the other guys and spent a pleasant afternoon in the dark and the cold drinking beer and eating mince pies !

A retreat to the pub was required and the food was spot on - cobblers to cooking in the tent in the dark and with a howling gale when you don't have to; but plaudits to Paul and Ian who did. =D>

The morning dawned cold but bright, with only a hint of rain peeing down ! And then the education really began. It's not without reason that David Shouksmith collects lamps - his performance for lighting the Primus 1 was as interesting as it was dangerous - four grown men were huddled round the table to act as windbreaks amid cries of " it worked fine before I left, can't undertand this !" before we all jumped back as a unit as a paraffin fireball engulfed the stove, and nearly the table !

Unfortunately I had to go early on Saturday afternoon just before Ian's bread was finished, but David seemed to have displayed the same lighting technique on a 111B! Not many meets have such a cabaret ! =D>

I only met Ross briefly and didn't have time to get the angled burner off his Royal Daylight stove and onto mine, but at least I know what it looks like should I ever see one in future.

Good meet, thanks to Paul and Ian for the idea, all who attended, and Ian Trevor and David for the stove, repair kit and lamp respectively.

Great to meet all of you, and hope to be at Newark 2006.

Keith

 

http://www.lakris.no/primus/

Like the Italian postal service, these things take time...

 

Thanks David.
I wonder ...... hmmnnnn ...... maybe

Spudz

 

... and here it is:




Isn't the Norway 2007 gathering in October? By then the Land of the Midnight Sun will be well on the way to becoming Land of the Midday Night.


More pics later.

 

Hay Spudz Now as you know we can't rush the postal service. If you try to rush them it always takes longer.
It will turn up when you are not expecting it.
By the way Spudz I just got a burner for that bigest light you sent to me today .
I haven't tried it yet The part is missing that the ceremic mantle holder screws into. But no big deal with this I will make one.
I have been as flat out as a lizard drinking water the last 2 days. But now I can see the light starting to shide.

 

Just as well - I'll not need to refit the black guylines, then...

 

Dave, I'd keep off the panel wipe in a 111, these stoves are really designed to run on paraffin, I know they have different jets etc, but these were added later to the design, perhaps for the American market.

I managed to get a pint of panel wipe a few weeks ago, but was not happy with it in a 123, the stove flared up a couple of times when running it That said, I still use lighter fluid with no problems, but that's the same as naptha/Coleman fluid. I've managed to find some 125ml tins at 90p a go, around ?7.20 a litre.

 

More than just jets, apparently, Rik. No names; no pack drill, but I had 'probably the best advice in the world' that my 111B is fitted with a two-tube burner designed for Coleman fuel or gasoline - so in went the panel wipe (again, NNNPD) The problem was definitely fuel escaping from the pump rod hole. Mind you, kero would have just made a mess, the panel wipe even set the grass on fire...

 

Looks like you lads had a great time; I'd have loved to have been there. I took the family to Chicago for my daughters' birthdays. We had a great time and my girls thought they died and had gone to heaven.

 

I have found that until all trace of the previous fuel has gone from the wick a petrol burner may well flare up. This happened when I changed back to panel wipe from Coleman fuel in my small petrol burners. Starting a new fuel on a new wick seems to solve this and it's no big deal to renew a wick. I now use pw in all my petro burners with no problems and the last 5 litre can I bought (last month) set me back £13.

 

Ian, good point about change of fuel, I'll use the rest of the wipe in one 123, and see if it clears the problem.

I've found the Varifuel Primus to be a bit iffy when lighting, it takes a lot of meths, and when you open the valve there is usually a flare up or three for a few seconds. That said, when in full swing, it goes like a rocket.

 

Saturday Morning


David shows off his remarkable (and many remarks were made!) tent


Group photo Saturday pm. L-R: Me, David, Nick, Paul, Trevor, Kev, Ross.( In the foreground is Ross's little hairy friend)


Sunday morning whilst packing up. The lone Force 10 in the middle of the field must have been a sign.


My Little Green House


Yes, that blue thing is a 15kg butane bottle. It enabled this below to transform the Little Green House into a little greenhouse


Ancient and modern; David brews up on the No. 1 of fireball fame whilst Ross' XGK performs a similar function alongside


Unfortunately that's my lot. Must remember to carry my camera.