Alum Ladd's Garden Shed

[LRod]

I’ve been carrying the same Spyderco Native 5 Spearpoint for years now. I have some smaller SS Spydercos I used to keep in my suit pants pocket back when suits were my uniform……..And I have a few larger Spyderco lock blades, but they don’t see much use. I do take the Manix 2 , if we are flying in a checked bag.

It’s a habit. I’ve carried a knife with me since my grandfather gave me one of his old Case pocket knives for my 6th birthday.

Habit of mine as well and I don't leave the house without one!
Always good to have one on you, even if it's to open an envelope. And of course to open new razor packages!
A Case knife was my first as well! It's one of the Case Bicentennial knives that my Dad bought me when I was young.
I've collected other nice knives throughout the years i.e., Spyderco, Benchmade, Hogue etc..
But the few Case knives I have, are and will always remain as my favorites!

 

[Quaznoid]

Pretty close! We are getting very familiar with East Sussex, where we were. We got very lucky with choosing a pretty elite woodland campsite quite by accident back in 2018 and just keep going back. We have got to know the owner and staff very well. They have been amazingly kind to us. We got the site record for doing 32 nights there this season. We pretty much do that every year now. They must be sick of the sight of us

Mrs Ladd was born in W Sussex so she knows the area well. There are quite a few areas there which have great sites. I believe there are some near to Beacon Hill.

Just for info for our US and other Shedders, in England ALL land is private and camping anywhere apart from designated sites is basically illegal. We have the concept of Common Land which is marked on OS maps, and 'wild camping' is possible there but it is a stressful escape and evasion exercise and you are very likely to be tossed out of the area at 3am by Mr Plod. A fire is out of the question.

That tent is awesome. It's very low slung despite being about 13 foot long and is designed to cope with good gusts if you pitch it arse to the wind. The F10 Erebus 3+. Amazingly only weighs 2.8 kilo trail weight so I can pack it in a compression bag and stuff it in my bergen. Discontinued absurdly but I picked it up NOS for around £600.

It all keeps us roughly fit and gives us the impression of not yet heading for the scrap yard.

My usual happy look.
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The tent is a palace for 2.
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Excuse the clutter.
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Mrs Ladd made 2 very excellent toad in the hole (sausage in batter) Very acceptable with some salad stuff.

The British mess tin sets can be used as Dutch ovens with great success.

Tent looks a lot like the 3 room LL Bean we took on the 9600 mile lap of America in 1993.

At Yellowstone, 20 degrees and snowing, we fired up the Coleman stove and lantern for some heat. An hour later, feeling light-headed and nauseous, we bailed out with CO poisoning. Cleared our heads, turned off the Colemans and went to bed. Oy!

On Mt Tamalpais in Marin County, CA, a 75 mph wind would blow in from the Pacific every evening at sundown, like clockwork. For a half an hour it would blow and anything not tied down was gone. But the tent held up well (although we thought it would fly away at times). Scary but fun in the odd ways of camping.

Did a winter camp-out in York County. Camped on deep snow. Had a great fire that slowly sank 2 feet into the snow. Good times.

 

[Alum Ladd]

Good times.

Sounds like they were and therein lies the wonder. The joy of these experiences - to my mind - are that you hand over control to the elements, fortune or whatever deities comfort you in a tent at 4am.

I have supreme faith in our gear, which I have attempted to choose wisely.

I always find these trips somewhat humbling yet greatly liberating. We check in our illusion of control at the desk.

Good to see you in the shed Q.

 

[Quaznoid]

Had a group of guys who went on a winter backpacking trip every year. We’d pick the coldest, snowiest weekend of the year. It was about a 10 mile hike in to a shelter on the Appalachian Trail. We knew no one would be there in the dead of winter (or so we thought).

Typically we’d hike in, set up our stuff in the open lean-to then gather up firewood. We’d make a big fire, cook dinner, then pass the bottle around. Though it might have been 15 degrees F or so, with the hike and the fire and the booze and the sleeping bags we were rarely cold.

So one night, about 10 o’clock, we’re sitting there, mostly drunk, on a cold night with a strong wind blowing away the fire’s heat. It was miserable. Out of the darkness walks a lightly dressed man with no pack but with a giant bear-like dog. He sat down around the fire and told us he was Andre, from Russia. He told us he was a veteran of the Spetsnaz and his dog was a Siberian breed I had never heard of. He was out for a walk. Here we are in the pitch black frozen woods 10 miles from the closest road at 10 at night and this guy, with no pack and lightly dressed strolls in? He hung around for an hour then walked off into the woods without a flashlight.

Somewhat apprehensive that this Russian special forces guy might cut our throats, we turned in. Next morning, hung over, my friend asked us “did you guys see a Russian guy here last night?” We all denied it and convinced him he was nuts. But he was there.

 

[Alum Ladd]

Had a group of guys who went on a winter backpacking trip every year. We’d pick the coldest, snowiest weekend of the year. It was about a 10 mile hike in to a shelter on the Appalachian Trail. We knew no one would be there in the dead of winter (or so we thought).

Typically we’d hike in, set up our stuff in the open lean-to then gather up firewood. We’d make a big fire, cook dinner, then pass the bottle around. Though it might have been 15 degrees F or so, with the hike and the fire and the booze and the sleeping bags we were rarely cold.

So one night, about 10 o’clock, we’re sitting there, mostly drunk, on a cold night with a strong wind blowing away the fire’s heat. It was miserable. Out of the darkness walks a lightly dressed man with no pack but with a giant bear-like dog. He sat down around the fire and told us he was Andre, from Russia. He told us he was a veteran of the Spetsnaz and his dog was a Siberian breed I had never heard of. He was out for a walk. Here we are in the pitch black frozen woods 10 miles from the closest road at 10 at night and this guy, with no pack and lightly dressed strolls in? He hung around for an hour then walked off into the woods without a flashlight.

Somewhat apprehensive that this Russian special forces guy might cut our throats, we turned in. Next morning, hung over, my friend asked us “did you guys see a Russian guy here last night?” We all denied it and convinced him he was nuts. But he was there.

Brilliant campfire anecdote.

Nice one!

 

[Quaznoid]

Brilliant campfire anecdote.

Nice one!

Weirdest thing ever

 

[Alum Ladd]

Weirdest thing ever

Had a similar incident with a guy who called himself Bob. There were 4 of us.

Cold night in some woods in East Kent. We had a small fire. Just turned up out of the dark. He said he was in the UK 20 years and he was a US vet who had operated in Laos. I had no idea what a Laos was then. This was mid 80's. Interesting talk but it was too long ago and I was too wrecked to recall much.

He wandered off after a time too. No light or apparent gear. I recall he had what you call a musette bag or satchel slung though. He had some grass. We were young.

Very dreamlike.

 

[Quaznoid]

Maybe it was the same guy

 

[Alum Ladd]

I fondly remember the Unigate milk company and their successful efforts to dismantle the government controlled UK milk industry monopoly in the early 70's.

Unigate launched a brilliant advertising campaign to bring brand awareness to Unigate.

Thus was born the mythical Humphry. An elusive milk stealing creature.

Even Muhammad Ali was recruited.