Bon-fire Cooking System - The Mobile Bonfire!

My New Toy!!

In June I finally got around to spending some money I had been given for my birthday the previous November by my very generous in-laws and my sister-in-law who lives in Jakarta and has no time for shopping but always sends much more money than she should to make up for it!

I nearly spent the money in February on a wood fired camping stove but, for a variety of reasons, decided against it at the last minute. Since then I have pondered other options.

I should say, at this point, that my desire to acquire camping stoves, BBQ's and other food-related paraphernalia is something of a standing joke in our house. My husband doesn't appreciate why we need so many cooking options but then I don't fully understand why he needs so many golf clubs!

We have been finding an increasing number of campsites that allow either campfires or firepits in recent years and, whenever we could, we have taken advantage of this and very much enjoyed the social experience of sitting around a fire and also the 'back to basics' element of cooking over one.

So, I decided it would be nice to have a firepit of our own to play with. A quick Google search reveals that there are very many different types of firepit available to purchase online. Many are intended to be used at home but a few are portable enough to be considered by campers.

I knew I wanted a portable firepit that I could use with a grill on top as a BBQ and I also wanted to be able to use it with a tripod from which I could hang a cooking pot and a kettle. I wanted something well made so that it would last many years but it was very important that the whole lot was easy to transport.

After doing my research, reading lots of reviews and talking to one or two owners, I settled on the Danish made Bon-fire Cooking Set. There are various UK suppliers who offer different combinations of parts at various prices so, if you are interested, it is important to think carefully about what accessories you might want and then shop around for the best deal available.

I bought a raised firepit, a 175cm tripod with hanging chains and grill, a solid hanging 'frying pan' for cooking smaller items that might slip through a grill or for frying something like an egg, a 6 litre cooking pot that hangs from the tripod and, finally, a kettle that can either be hung from the tripod or placed directly onto the grill.

So, what are the advantages of the Bon-fire cooking system:-

• It is really solid and well made
• The tripod breaks down into shorter lengths to make storage easier
• The various parts mean you can build a set, over time if you prefer, that will meet your specific needs. You don't have to buy something you don't want simply because it forms part of a set.
• It is really fun and sociable to use - far more so than a gas stove! You never see campers sitting around their Campingaz stove, strumming a guitar and singing songs!
• The different accessories make it a very versatile cooking set - you can fry, grill, make curries and casseroles and even boil water. You can even buy a popcorn accessory!
• The height of the grill, cooking pot and kettle above the flames can be adjusted by lengthening or shortening the chains, giving greater control over cooking temperatures.
• The tripod can be used independently (i.e without the firepit) over a campfire if preferred.
• Most campsites (even those that do not allow campfires) are happy for you to use a raised firepit because they do not cause any damage to the grass and the fire is contained.
• Protective covers/carry bags can be bought separately for most of the pieces.

And the disadvantages:-

• It isn't cheap but it will last.
• The raised firepit is a perfect height for cooking but the legs are fiddly to fit. Some sort of integrated, folding leg would be an improvement.
• It is fairly large - definitely not for backpackers!
• The manufacturers do not make a carry bag for the 175cm tripod, only for the 140cm tripod. Had I realised this I may well have gone for the smaller one because a carry bag would be very useful. I have emailed the Danish owners to ask about this and they replied very promptly, in perfect English, that they would look into it - so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

I am delighted with my set and I am looking forward to using it more and getting better at controlling the fire and the temperature. There is no doubt that, just like cooking on a charcoal BBQ, it is a skill that takes practice to learn. That having been said I managed to cook a whole piece of sirloin of beef on my first attempt and it was delicious! The important thing is to be aware of the heat and move things around if they are cooking too fast. It is also a good idea to have a hotter part and a cooler part of the fire. This is easily achieved by having more or less charcoal or wood in one area of the firepit. That way you can give a piece of meat an initial sear over high temperature before moving it to the side where it is cooler to finish cooking more slowly.

As with all open fires, it goes without saying that you should keep children and animals away from them and always keep a bucket of water close by just in case. The very first time we used ours we were all sitting around the roaring fire, the stars were twinkling above us and we were sipping hot chocolate and thinking that life doesn't get any better than this when we became aware of a truly unpleasant smell. In the darkness, the chubby brown spaniel had crept under the firepit which was just the right height above the ground for her! She was apparently oblivious to the smell of singed fur but the rest of us were not! You have been warned...!

Re-Wind Solar Radio

My husband is notoriously difficult to buy presents for and every time his birthday or Christmas comes around it is a hit and miss affair. He isn't very good at hiding his thoughts either, which can make for a very depressing present opening session. It is doubly frustrating because, every year, at least two months before the big day, I start asking for some ideas in order to avoid the disappointed puppy look on the day! To date, he hasn't given me a single, sensible idea.

Last year I bought him a solar-powered, wind-up radio as a little extra. It cost me just under £15.00 and, to be honest, I didn't have great expectations of it.

I'll explain why I bought it. In 1997 we were camping in the southern Dordogne in late August. Early one morning, I toddled off to the little shop on site to buy our morning baguette. As I was paying, the owner said, in very hesitant English, something about Princess Diana and hospitals. I wasn't sure what he was saying so I wandered back to our tent pondering on why he would mention Princess Diana at 7.30am. I mentioned it to 'he who is rarely obeyed' and we decided that something pretty big must have happened. Little did we know that we would spend most of that day sitting in the car trying to tune the radio into the BBC World Service to listen to one of the biggest news stories ever while worrying about flattening the car battery. We even had lunch in the car, listening as the full, sad story broke.

Move forward to 2014 and my present-buying dilemma. I remembered our frustration at having to sit in the car just to listen to the radio and decided that a nice little portable radio might be a nice thing to have next to us as we sit in our recliners watching the world go by. My husband never has a day without a newspaper if he can avoid it but it is not always easy hundreds of miles from home. Listening to the news on the radio is one solution.

I bought the Re-Wind radio after reading reviews on Amazon. There are several makes of solar-powered, wind-up radios on the market so, if you are tempted, have a look around. Some also have a built in torch and alarm clock settings but I wasn't too bothered by these features. The model I bought is a simple FM/AM radio that can be powered by solar energy, by cranking the wind-up handle or via a USB port before you leave home. We leave it on the dashboard of the campervan when we are not driving and have found that it charges continuously, even on a fairly grey day. The manufacturers claim that 1 minute of winding will give 20 minutes of listening, and with 5 hours of charging under sunlight you will get 30 minutes of radio time. Fully charged they claim 7 hours of radio use. We haven't tested these claims out but we can say that it hasn't died on us yet in the middle of listening! We bought ours for camping but I can see it would be just as useful in the garden, at the allotment, on the riverbank or at work.

What do we like about it then?:-

• it is really compact (130x73x41mm plus 33mm antenna)
• it's lightweight (203g)
• it is very portable
• it doesn't require batteries
• it charges up well in all levels of sunshine (or lack of..!)
• it has a soft, non-slip rubberised casing
• it feels well made
• it is good value for money at £14.95
• the sound quality is pretty good
• it is straightforward to use and to tune
• even someone with restricted mobility would probably be able to use this radio because there are no tiny, fiddly buttons or knobs to turn

Any negatives? We can't think of any really. It you are as blind as a bat you may need to put your glasses on when you are tuning it because it is a small radio. My husband wears glasses for up-close stuff and he manages it with no problems though.

The J-Pillow - a great little travel pillow

I first came across the J-Pillow when I was searching for travel pillows on Amazon. We had just recently completed a long drive in Denzel the campervan and both kids had fallen asleep in the back on the way home. They woke up with very stiff necks and I used that as an excuse for a spot of Internet shopping!

A quick search will bring up many different types of travel pillow. I looked at them all and read many reviews before settling on the J-Pillow. I paid £15 for mine but I did notice that they varied considerably in price depending on what colour you wanted and where you got it from. I was impressed by the number of very positive reviews so I took a chance and bought one pillow to try out. We were so impressed we have since bought two more (one for each passenger - not for the driver!)

The J-Pillow looks as if it shouldn't be comfortable. It even comes with a diagram showing you how to use it because it is not immediately intuitive. It does, however, cradle your head providing support where it is needed and stopping your head from falling forward. We have all used one now and we are all agreed that it is very comfortable. I suffer from an old whiplash injury that requires fairly regular treatment from a Chiropractor. I always sleep with an orthopaedic pillow because, if I don't, I will suffer for several days with neck pain and stiffness. Prior to discovering the J-Pillow I would do everything I could to stay awake on long journeys because I knew I would be in pain afterwards if I did - now I don't have to worry.

Here's what the inventor has to say about the product - 'How does the J-Pillow work?.......Unlike anything else on the market, the J-Pillow is specially designed to cradle your head from the side, keeping it elevated and supported. At the same time, the J-Pillow slots in under your chin to support your head from the front as well. This revolutionary design stops your head from falling forward, which often happens when you nod off. The result just could be the best sleep you'll ever have sitting up.'

Why do I like it?:-

• It is very comfortable with lovely soft fabric
• It squishes down quite small so it can be stuffed into a small space if required - great for travelling by aeroplane or backpacking
• It is an award-winning British invention

What don't I like?:-

• I can't think of anything

So, if you do a lot of travelling and you find it difficult getting comfortable this could be the pillow for you.

The Stol Chair - truly portable

We bought four of these Stol chairs from Swedish company Ergolife last year to replace some rather tired, old, folding beach chairs that we had.

I was drawn to them because this unique, ergonomic chair has been developed for situations where your back does not have appropriate support. It is easy to use and gives you a comfortable, portable seat wherever you go. I find it increasingly difficult to sit on the ground without some sort of back support so picnics, trips to the beach, festivals and outdoor concerts of other sporting events were becoming less and less appealing.

The chair has smooth slats, made from natural birch wood, that are positioned to ensure lower and upper back support. It can be used on hard or soft surfaces and is as comfortable on a bench or rock as it is on the ground.

 



What I like about the chair is:-

• it is easy to use and gives you a comfortable, portable seat
• it appears to be well designed and well made and should last for years
• it offers good support whatever size and shape you are
• they are small enough to keep in the boot of your car
• they roll up into a drawstring bag that is 40cm long by 10cm diameter. They weigh 985g.
• they look good!

The negatives:-

• if you sit on a wet surface you may get a wet bum because the slats have gaps between them
• they aren't cheap at between £25-£30 each
• they take a few goes to find the perfect sitting position. You have to shuffle back as far as possible. Not really a negative but worth a mention.

In summary, if you are looking for a lightweight, portable and versatile chair that folds down into a compact size, you might find these hard to beat.

If you want to see a selection of ridiculously slim and attractive Swedish people enjoying their Stol chairs, take a look at the YouTube link below. If you want to see some overweight, pale Brits using theirs you will have to wait until I've filmed us!!

My latest 'must-have' camping purchase........

It seems rather sad that my first ever post on my first ever blog should be about something as mundane as a piece of luggage! But I guess everyone has to start somewhere, and it is with a review of the Kampa Handy Harry Holdall Organiser that I have chosen to start. Before I get on to what I like (and the things I don't like) about my latest purchase I should just briefly explain what led me to the purchase in the first place.

As a family, we have camped for many years in tents, trailer tents, caravans, back to tents and now in a VW campervan called Denzel! No matter what we have been staying in we have experienced the same frustration with one thing - the inevitable mess that four people can make when living out of four holdalls crammed full of a selection of clothing for the variety of weather conditions we expect to encounter on our holiday. When you take into consideration that two of the four of us are teenagers, one an incredibly untidy boy of fifteen and the other a thirteen year old girl who can't leave home without a suitcase full of make-up and enough clothing to cover every possible social situation, you will understand the problem. Very quickly our living accommodation became filled with holdalls with the contents spilling out as we each had to rummage for some missing essential item that inevitably turned up at the very bottom of the bag.

We already own a folding camping wardrobe which is useful but, even when folded, it does take up a lot of room, won't cope with all of our clothes and obviously means that, once on site, we have to partially unpack our bags and hang our clothes up. As we still have to keep some clothes in holdalls it doesn't really solve anything and just takes up more room in our tent or awning.

So, it was this problem that led me to start doing some research online to try to find a solution. After much looking, I settled on the Kampa Handy Harry. Initially I bought one to try it out. We were very pleased with it and quickly bought three more. They were not cheap at £54.00 each  but they were a comparable price to other good quality holdalls that are available. Essentially the Handy Harry consists of four 'drawers' that sit in the holdall. Each drawer has a strong wire frame that folds into place, secured with Velcro, creating a drawer that is 33cm (W) x 37cm (D) x 18cm (H). The drawer has a little label pocket that allows you to write the contents of the drawer on a piece of card so you dont have to remember what you put where. The overall size is 40cm x 40cm x 70cm with a capacity of 112 litres ( that doesn't mean much to me but it might allow you to compare with other products). When the Handy Harry is not being used it can be folded down to a packed size of 40cm x 42cm x 17cm, making it really easy to store.





So, I like:-

•  the fact that it keeps our clothes organised and easy to find, meaning my awning is not strewn with clothes.
• the fact that two units can stack on top of each other, taking up less floor space.
•  the ease of carrying them using the shoulder strap or side handles.
•  if you pack it neatly at home, the clothes seem to stay in place and are less creased up.

The disadvantages:-

•  when you unzip the front section to access the drawers there is no way to secure it to keep it out of the way. I have solved the problem with two ball bungees that allow me to roll the cover up and secure them in the centre of the holdall but it is a shame that Kampa didn't solve this themselves.
•  because the drawers have a rigid wire frame the holdall can't be squashed up in the same way that you might cram a normal holdall into the car boot. For us this is not a problem because we load them into the cabin of the campervan but I can see it might be for some.

I hope that helps if you are looking for a storage solution or if you have been considering buying one of these.

ResQme Car Safety Tool - hope I never need it!

When we first bought Denzel the campervan I bought two of these from a well known online retailer and I hope I never need to use them! Until we got the van I hadn't given any thought to the fact that the kids are not sitting immediately behind us like they do in the family car. In the event of an emergency they are actually quite a long way behind us and this made me feel uncomfortable (I know they are big grown up teenagers but I still didn't like it!) Now we have one on the vehicle keyring and one in the cabin of the van close to where the kids sit and they both know how to use it.

The ResQme tool was invented by an American and was initially only sold to police, fire and paramedic personnel for use in the course of their jobs. Fortunately it is now available to purchase in the UK too. It is a small, lightweight emergency window breaker and seat belt cutter that will fit on your keyring.

The advantages of the ResQme over a more conventional emergency hammer are:-

• a spring-loaded head that requires minimum effort to break a window.
• a razor sharp blade to cut through a seatbelt, safely contained in a strong plastic casing.
• the whole thing quickly detaches from the keyring in an emergency so no need to fiddle with it to remove it.
• it is small and lightweight and you can carry it on your keys at all times meaning you may have it with you to help in someone else's emergency
• because it attaches to a keyring it isn't going to be stuffed into the bottom of the glove compartment where you can't find it if you ever need it.

I bought two of these for £17.00 which I thought was pretty reasonable. If you take a look at the ResQme website you will find a video of the device in action.

Cheese toastie when camping...?

We love a good cheese toastie out in the wild but producing one has always been something of a challenge with the limited facilities of a 'field kitchen'. In the past I have resorted to making up the sandwich and then flipping it over and over in the frying pan until it looked a healthy colour. This method sort of works but it is a bit of a fiddle and, on more than one occasion, I have flipped a little too enthusiastically and the partially toasted sandwich has ended up in the small brown spaniel!

I first saw the Diablo being demonstrated at the BBC Good  Food Show at the NEC in Birmingham. It is not specifically intended for campers but I couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't add it to my ever growing collection of camping equipment ('it is an essential item' I later explained to he who is rarely obeyed!)

The Diablo sandwich toaster makes lovely, deep filled, toasted snacks. It is coated with titanium making it strong and totally non-stick. It is also incredibly lightweight.

To use it you simply place a slice of bread in the base, pressing it down into the bowl shape of the Diablo. Next add your chosen fillings and then top with the second slice of bread. Bring the two halves of the Diablo together and clamp shut. Trim off any bread that is sticking out and then place the whole thing over a gas ring. The toastie will take a minute or two on each side. I keep turning mine and opening the Diablo up every so often to check progress. When it is toasted to your liking, simply tip it onto your plate and tuck in!

I have had my Diablo for years and I have never actually had to wash it. It is totally non-stick and I just wipe it over with a bit of kitchen roll. If the thought of that is too revolting for you, you can wash it in the normal way or put it in a dishwasher at home.

Our favourite fillings are:-

• Cheese and ham (any good melty cheese works - I often use a combination of ready-grated cheddar and mozzarella)
• Cheese and chorizo
• Bacon and egg (a small egg fits beautifully, cook a bit of extra bacon at breakfast time and use it later)
• Garlic bread (this is great to go with a BBQ in the evening - just put about 25g of ready made garlic butter in between the slices of bread and away you go)

I am always on the look out for new filling ideas so please let me know if you have a favourite recipe you are willing to share.

I find that medium sliced square shaped bread works the best. I cut off the corners before putting it into the Diablo and then trim it further once it is clamped shut. The 'waste' bread goes to the ducks when we are away in the van and gets turned into breadcrumbs at home.

There are one or two things to be aware of when you use a Diablo and I have found them out the hard way! The whole thing obviously gets very hot because you are sitting it on a gas flame. There is a perfectly adequate heat-proof handle to hold when you want to turn it over or take it off the flame so I am not really sure why I feel the need to touch the metal part of the handle on a regular basis before dancing round the campsite shouting expletives! You have been warned! Equally obviously, once you have made the first sandwich and you want to start the next one, it will be HOT! It is really quite easy to make the second, third and fourth snack without self harming - just remember it is hot and treat it with respect. I have suffered so that you do not have too!