gsi java drip - first peek

Magazines are great sources of information, whether I’m trying to find new music or new pieces of kit, I eagerly scour the review sections for stuff that might be of use on a trip outdoors, or to listen to indoors if I cant get out.

TGO has had a couple of items over the last couple of issues that caught my eye. One was the GSI Java Drip reviewed by self confessed caffeine addict John Manning. Unfortunately, as with seemingly most pieces of kit, the review came before any chance of finding a UK supplier. A typical example of a pull strategy; get reviews, potential customers ring up, demand is assessed and suppliers, convinced of this demand, are sold the items for retail. I write potential customers as you have to be pretty damn persistent to bag some of these items. Or pretty lucky with finding a supplier who’s buyer is going to step outside the usual comfort zone of ‘We’ll stock Berghaus because everyone else does, and it sells.’ In the niche market of outdoor trade this avoidance of competition crushes differentiation.

So what has this to do with the GSI Java Drip? And what’s special about it? It’s USP (might as well stick with the marketing jargon) is that it’s a third of the weight of a MugMate and more packable. For someone who is forever on the search for that great cup of coffee in the outdoors this makes it an item to covert. Especially as this means I get to choose what bean I make my coffee out of, and not between what Lyons put in their coffee bags or what Starbucks pack in their Via sachets.

It’s simple to use; clip the legs on to your mug add the desired amount of coffee, pour on the hot water and wait for the dripping to stop. The capacity of the filter is about 200ml, so to get the volume of coffee that I prefer I topped it up. To clean, the filter ‘sock’ is simply inverted and the used grounds knocked out. A quick rinse will remove any stubborn remaining particles. It packs flat and will fit inside a Snow Peak 900 or fry pan lid of a Primus 1l pan set. And my postal scales agree with the 11g stated weight.

dd travel hammock

I’ll start by stating that I don’t think that a hammock has much use in backpacking in this country. So why purchase a hammock?

It’s a fun piece of kit that may have it’s uses. The DD Travel Hammock, bought from backpackinglight.co.uk, is unique in that the base material is waterproof so if you find yourself without the necessary trees to hang between then it can be pitched like a tent. This is what caught my eye, I have a tarp and a couple of other single skin shelters that might require something more than a groundsheet. The base is double layered which allows you to slot in a Therm-a-rest or a CCF mat.

The stated weight was 900g but on the scales it clocked 1184g making way too heavy as bug proof inner for the Golite Hut2. The hammock came with a stuff sack and some black bungee to tie up the netting. I also bought a skin as this makes it easy to set up and pack up. And it will keep the hammock dry and clean too.

There are a couple of useful videos on YouTube, and the manufacturers website has all the information needed on how to hang the hammock. Basically find a couple of sturdy trees about 12 feet apart. The trees need to be living and be free of any dead branches that may drop off and cause injury. This is not as easy as it may first seem. My first trip out had me scouring Ham Common Woods. Most trees were too close together and those that I found that were far enough apart were snared with brambles, or the trunks were too fat for me to pass my arms around.

A pair of trees found and I tied the tapes around the trunks at chest height and carefully sat on the hammock to test the security of my knot tying. Success! I then guyed out the netting. Luckily the trees I picked had handy branches in the right spot to enable me to do this with relative ease. I found and threaded a stick through to open out the canopy above my head, slotted a mat in and clambered in. Hammocks are comfortable to lay on, so I don’t think a Therm-a-rest is necessary. What you will need is some insulation however so a CCF mat like the Multimat Adventure Long would be an ideal choice. I guess a three quarter length mat would do for the summer saving weight and bulk but I wonder whether the mat being shorter would migrate out of place.

If you don’t need to use the canopy you can hang the hammock upside down. Incidentally the canopy has two full length double zips either side, allowing ease of access and venting options if needed. Internally there are two pockets, on opposite sides and at shoulder level. And these are big enough to hold a head torch, wallet, cereal bar that sort of thing. There are tabs on the under side of the canopy so a drying line or other bits of kit can be hung up.

To make the set up weatherproof a tarp needs to be pitched as a roof over the hammock, like an A frame but higher up the tree.

The combined weight of hammock, tarp, skin, tapes, guys and pegs puts the set up close to 2kg, which makes it too heavy in my opinion for a backpacking shelter. The hammock with the tapes is a bulky package too. That said I might take it out on an overnighter where a pitch amongst the trees could be found, and where the weight isn’t too much of an issue.

It will get used, we’ve already sketched plans of how the rear garden is going to look, and in those plans is something to hang the hammock between. Hopefully in time for some summer time slumming.

polenta

Given that I have to follow a gluten free diet you would have thought that I’d be cooking up polenta dishes on backpacking trips. I’ve side stepped using the stuff because my experience of cooking polenta indoors. I thought the need to pour a stream of the grain whilst stirring frantically to prevent lumps, then the volcanic activity of the polenta, and more frantic stirring would be too much of a faff on a campsite. Especially after a tiring day.

At the weekend I found some instant, one minute cook to be precise, polenta that just needs stirring into boiling water and paddled about for 60 seconds. In fact on my first try this lunchtime once I’d stirred the grain in the pot went straight into a pot cosy avoiding any volcanic eruptions. Lump prevention happened as I mixed the recipe in a poly bag, and cutting the corner off the bag I was able to trickle it without much fuss.

Recipe

75g instant polenta
3 sun dried tomatoes, cut into slithers
11/2 tsp of Italian herb mix
pepper
20g grated parmesan cheese

The first four ingredients were blended in a bag, and the cheese was added after the polenta was cooked. The packet suggested I use 100ml of water per 25g polenta and that gave the right kind of consistency. And 75g is enough for lunch with about the same amount of carbohydrate as four slices of bread. For an evening meal I’d up the quantity to 100g or even 125g.

As polenta is fairly bland it’s worth experimenting; cubed smoked cheese, chicken, bacon or salami could all be added to bump up the flavour, calories and protein.

time flies like knives; fruit flies like bananas

I remember this from an eighties paper back by a bloke called Nigel about graffiti. I don’t see much graffiti these days; I guess the virtual bog wall of twitter, facebook, and blogging has replaced it. However in the words of Ronnie Corbett, I digress.

Ben, my son, will be six years old tomorrow, that’s over the hump of his first decade. It doesn’t seem that long ago when I cupped him in my hands as a little bundle in the garden of the Tide Tables cafe next to Richmond Bridge, barely days old. These days he’s barely short enough to fit over my head if he wants to ride on my shoulders, which is most of the time.

Happy birthday Ben, I know you’re not old enough to take the day off to do what you want but that day will come :)