Ahhh... the great outdoors, the sparkling brooks and pine-fresh air! What
better way to charge up the soul than to commune with nature, to get tired
and ravenous from long walks, to wake up at dawn with a white dew all
around, and to rid your head of that nagging metaphysical ennui that
plagues the weary minions in their fast-paced concrete jungles. Switch off
your computers and pack your bags - we're going camping and we are preparing
for a feast...

Food

Don't waste your time buying 'camping' food in a 'camping' store. There
are
many kinds of foods that are perfect for hitchhikers.

Energy boosters

• Kendal Mint Cake is a great energy food - as is Jelly ¹ and Dextrose Tablets.
  

• 
  Small strongly-flavoured sweets are excellent for waking up your taste
  buds if you are going a long time between meals, and are particularly nice
  for morale on long walks in miserable weather.
  

Other Foods

• Dried Eggs
• Bacon Bits (to put in the Dried Eggs)
• English Muffins, Tortillas, Pita Bread
• Cheese
• Dried Soups
• Dried Fruit Margarine
• Dried Milk
• Instant Noodles with Sauce
• Instant Rice ²

Know Your Nuts (and Berries)

Nuts and berries seem to grow virtually everywhere in the countryside. If
you know what's what, they can make the basis of a meal, or a good snack.
Blackberries are possibly the most common berry in Britain and they go well
with apples. Elderberries are very refreshing; if you have the time, you
might like to squeeze the juice out of them to make a drink to quench your
thirst. Hazelnuts are also quite common in Britain. Dead Nettles look
exactly like ordinary stinging nettles, except for the long white flowers
(they won't sting you!). If you pick one of the flowers, and suck the
base, you will get a short, sweet taste of nectar; a great energy boost! If
you pick a stinging leaf by mistake and you end up getting stung, there
should be a Dock Plant nearby! Pick a leaf, and scrunch it up a bit to get
some of the juices flowing! Rub this on your sting - it should help to ease
the pain!

Equipment

The camping stove is a luxury item, but essential if you want a hot meal.
If you want margarine for your muffins and eggs, you'll need to buy some
food tubes - plastic tubes with a screw cap at one end and an opening at the
other. Fill these with your substance of choice, then use the clamp provided
to seal the opening. Very handy - just be sure to pack them in 'ziploc'
bags,
in case they leak. You'll also need lots of water bottles, and a canteen. If
you've got tins of food, take a proper tin opener - make sure it works! The
type you find on a penknife sound like a good idea, but in the experience of
many researchers, they are too much trouble, especially if you are hungry! A
sharp knife is incredibly useful and absolutely essential - conversely, a
blunt knife is very, very frustrating.

Lighting a Fire

Dead wood, still attached to, trees is often put forward as a good
substitute if all the fallen wood is soaking wet. After all, it should be
drier than that lying on the ground (Old Man's Beard Lichen makes a good
fire-starting material, apparently). However, the problem with any wood that
is still connected to the tree is that you can not be sure that it really is
dead. If you take wood that looks dead, but leave a wound, the tree
can get
infected and become dead. You should only take dead wood from a
tree if
it is vital that you do so. You do not know how long the wood
has been
dead on the tree. It may still have sap in, making it harder to
burn.

Another thing to consider while your gathering wood is to also gather
something to extinguish the fire. Loose dirt sand or available water are
great for putting out a small campfire safely and these methods beat
stomping on it with your shoe. Also remember to have a good clear area
around the fire so it can not jump the gap. If you're going to be building
a fire on grass, dig out a sod slightly larger than the size of the fire you
want to build, trying to keep it intact (easier said than done sometimes).
Keep the sod somewhere, and light your fire within the small pit. Then,
when you are finished and the fire is out, replace the sod and stamp it in
firmly. This means you are not burning grass or leaving your campsite in a
mess when you leave. You can improve the likelihood of keeping the sod
intact by making the mud you keep with it be 1.5 to 2 inches deep.