Good gear: Camping and hiking
The Prestige Braai basket is perfect for cooking smaller items.
The Sea to Summit X-bowl is a wonder of lightness and portability.
Mark Johnston went browsing in the outdoor stores and found useful stuff for campers and hikers.
Prestige Braai Basket
For the adventurous braaier
If even the children start to lose enthusiasm for your chops-and-wors menu during the holidays, this basket should broaden your scope. It allows for endless possibilities, including braaied garlic cloves, baby potatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and prawns for a starter.
It’s a mesh basket about the size of a telephone book (from Gauteng, not the Northern Cape), and perfect for anything small enough that might slip through the grid into the coals.
Just brush the prawns with olive oil, put them in the basket and put the basket on the fire. Thanks to its detachable 30 cm grab handle you won’t get singed knuckles.
The metal mesh has a non-stick coating to make washing-up easier.
Price: R100 at supermarkets.
Contact: Prestige 011 417 6600; admin@micsa.co.za
Go! says: Works like a charm, but don’t overfill the basket or you’ll struggle to cook everything evenly. Rather do it in batches.
Penguin Sport-Wash
Proper care for your outdoor clothes
Outdoor clothing often comes with special treatments and coatings that give it properties such as water repellency and breathability. This means it’s not a good idea to wash your special bush shirt in the bath with a scrubbing brush and a dose of Punch washing powder (“the two-fist” variety).
Rather use “Sport-Wash”. It is made by Penguin, which specialises in care products for outdoor clothes. The manufacturer claims it cleans without damaging any pre-treatment for outdoor clothes, and that it can even restore the performance of the garment, which means a warmer, drier, happier you.
Price: R100 for a 590 ml bottle (enough for about 20 washes). It also comes in handy one-wash sachets for travellers (expect to pay about R10 per sachet).
Contact: Eiger Equipment 021 555 0363; www.eigerequipment.co.za
Go! says: Outdoor types claim that this product is like golden syrup and white bread. Type in the name Penguin Sport-Wash on Google and read all about it.
Sea To Summit X-Bowl
Pop-up convenience
A set of enamel plates is fine for when you go camping, but if you’re planning an overnight hike you’ll need something a whole lot lighter.
Sea to Summit has kit that is funky, clever and built to last, ranging from featherweight polycarbonate cutlery sets to collapsible kitchen sinks.
This new X-Bowl has a flexible silicone sidewall that is bonded to a nylon base. When not in use, the sidewalls compress flat, level with the base. But when it’s time for your Jungle Oats you simply pop the walls up and you’ve got a full-sized bowl. It’s light (just 80 g), and comes in a range of colours.
Price: R130.
Contact: Adventure Inc 021 532 0549; www.adventureinc.co.za
Go! says: Also look for the X-Plate and the X-Mug to go with your set. Now, how about a collapsible backpack?
Red Mountain Rockstar 30
Easy access to your kit
Do you find yourself unpacking your whole rucksack to find the binoculars? (Tip: Pack essentials such as your raincoat and the toilet paper last so that you can get to them first!)
But another hurdle is modern backpacks that are made thinner than traditional models, to keep the weight close to your body. This means a smaller top opening, which makes it harder to reach inside to find things.
This pack solves this problem with a zip running the full perimeter of the bag, allowing you to peel off the whole front so you can rummage through all your kit at once.
The Rockstar’s capacity is 30 ℓ, so it’s suitable for a day hike or an overnight trail at a push.
Price: R370.
Contact: Red Mountain 021 761 8070; www.redmountain.co.za
Go! says: For a multi-day hike, a traditional model with side pockets works best – that way you can get to your camera when you need it.
(Note: Prices accurate in November 2008)
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