Jim Lockey

I made my own sit pad for hiking the Great Glen Way in 2024: A couple of layers of thin EVA foam hand-sewn into a nylon pouch. I made the sit pad on a whim and had hoped that some local businesses would sponsor me by adding their stickers to it, though no one took me up on that idea. The sit pad is designed to snuggly fit in the elastic strips on the front of my pack- adding to multicolour appearance of my bag. On trips I’ve ended up using the sit pad a lot to protect my backside from the cold ground when cooking, or even as a cushion when I sat on a bench. I love the sit pad and would recommend that people consider what they are sitting on when they rest on a hike. When you’re walking all day, those moments of sitting become important.

         I add patches to my sit pad representing significant walks I’ve done

Made from recycled coffee grounds these are interesting to make use of for car camping, especially if you’re someone who has a lot of grounds in need of recycling. I tried to make mini ones as camping fuel and though they worked they were not any more effective than collecting up a few sticks from around the woods. So, their utility is limited.

I work at a disability support charity called Touchbase Care, we used making coffee logs as an activity for our outdoors learning sessions. Pictured below is the recipe for how you can make your own.