This is my attempt to pull the thread together - I will aim to keep it updated
General attitude/approach
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self-discipline, developing a routine and sticking to it. Make sure you put things down in sensible places, don't just leave things loafing
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repack everything un needed in the pack, at bed time everything i have in pockets gets put in one boot and my pecs and phone go in the other so i know where they are in the morning when i wake bleary eyed and confused
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pack your kit the same way each time and have definative places you put things and you get out enough then things become second nature.
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When you set up camp, although you have permission to be there, always think to yourself that you may have to leave at..say 3 minutes notice. Any gear left lying around you will have to leave behind, no time to find lost or misplaced kit..you have to go. In other words you're always ready to pull out within 3 minutes of the order. With that mind set you will get used to stowing things away when not in use and as previously mentioned kit goes back in the same bergen pocket that it came out of. With practice over a few camp outs you'll be ready to scoot in no time flat and not leave any kit personal behind..it becomes an easy drill once you get used to it
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using a spiralling technique with sporadic sideways movement to fully ensure the items are located.
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Overall camp layout
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One of Pablo's older Youtube videos has some good suggestions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPzb...PafoLyA-lTr4TU
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Tent up, sleeping mat and bag on far side of tent (side entrance), cooking gear outside between inner and outer, food inside next to water bladder on right of entrance, rucksack to left at foot of sleeping bag. Incidentals (head torch, batteries, wallet, keys, fire kit and a whole load of useful gubbins) in the form of a response pack comes with me everywhere I go and up behind my head when I'm asleep.
Zippo in left zipped front pocket, SAK in the right.
At night glasses in left most netted pocket (little hammock above my head - fellow Banshee 200 owners know!), phone/alarm in right most. Head torch hung from same... although when I've used this repeated placement for everything the last 12-18 months, you get to know where stuff is in the dark
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The hammock goes up with mat and sleeping bag inside,
the cloak is hung with the poncho on the hammock lines at one (when not worn),
food and cooking gear is in the wannigan next to my chair, s
pare clothing and P bottle in the hammock above the head end (to be joined by the head torch when retired for the night - the torch is either in the wannigan or my pocket until then)
goup 1st Aid kit is on a tripod under the tarp and
is joined by my clothing when I go to bed.
My wash kit is in a stuff sack or blackberry basket or leather case on a pole between 2 tripods along with other baskets of small items on long camps - the pole is positioned down the side of the tarp parrallel to the hammock.
Bergans hold tools and sharps out of view and hang from a tripod.
Craft tools live in baskets that hang on the tripod pole or in the bergan.
Water is in jugs/bottles in a canvas bag by the cook area or my chair or under the tarp.
Spare torch in pocket, knife around neck or on belt next to my sporran pouch that holds a small FAK, flint and steel, whistle etc
Pockets take the rest of my kit.
On long camps most of my spare kit will live in drybags in the bergan.
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Physical things that might help
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99p sleeping bag liner with two sticks inside to make it rigid just for keeping food off the ground and tidy
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Tripod for rucksack (already have this and it is so simple to make) EDIT - the version I use I got from Mesquite who got it from Wayland - you 'drill' holes in the top of the tripod sticks and thread the cord through - makes it easier to get a secure fix. Plus it has a horizontal support bar
A cloth shelving system - something like
This particular one (Skubb) is from IKEA (no connection etc) and is £3.99
•A ground sheet with corners turned up and held in place with ?clothes pegs. EDIT Got this idea from PeterH who had something like this at a meet. The turned up edges make it less likely to get wet in the rain (from run off) and overall purpose is if you drop something it is easier to find. Eg see 'Generic tub floor' on
http://www.ddhammocks.com/tips/tarp-tutorial which says:
"Generic Tub Floor.
Turn a groundsheet into a Tub Floor, by folding the corners in a certain way.
The reinforced grommets in the corners will interfere with the folding plan, but there should be enough flex in the tarp to make the folds 'near enough'.
About 6 inches (15 cm) in from all 4 sides of the tarp, make a crease line. This will become the line at which the groundsheet ceases to be the 'floor', and becomes the 'wall' of the tub floor.
In the 4 corners of the tarp, the crease lines will overlap, making corner squares.
Make diagonal folds in the corner squares, with the fold line coming in from the outermost corner.
Fold up the 'walls' of the Tub floor. The diagonal creases in the corner squares will allow spare material to fold 'bellows' style, into flaps that can point inside or outside of the walls of the Tub floor.
Secure folded material to one side of the Tub floor 'wall'. This will help to 'square up' wall corners.
Note Grommets will stop the fold being perfect."
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For the little bits and bobs that you need around camp I use a maxpedition pocket organiser but I used to use one of those snugpak waist pack things (can't remember what they're called) and that worked well too. I find this a better way of organising small items than putting them in pockets. Using pockets I invariably end up putting things away in a different pocket than the one it came from. This results in constant self frisking!
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take a little little day sack or a shoulder bag so that as i'm pottering about during the day i can just drop things into the bag so as not to lose them. when i get up in a morning i have a little bit of a sort out and put things back where they belong
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organized pack and a pack with a few external pockets so you can separate your gear, i realy like my pack as it has two large side pockets for food and water etc but also has a large front pocket for all the thongs i have out regurly without rumaging through, god i love my pack!
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swedish gas mask bag for my day to day bits and pieces, binos, camera, fags etc, this hangs on the rucksack tripod too.
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Even if you bed down on a warm summer night, having had blue skies and no wind all day, always expect that at three in the morning the heavens will open and pour an ocean on your head, a gale will start up and anything not secured to something heavy will end up several hundred meters away.
Keep stuff in your pack, or at the very least in waterproof bags or stuffsacks.
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I have an IPK sheet which I use as a ground sheet under my tarp.
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a mesh hammock slung under my main one for stashing kit in the dry - good for putting your boots in when you go to bed
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take a clear bin liner with you, put all your 'loose' stuff in there. As the bag is clear you can see whats inside and it won't be mistaken for rubbish (and its waterproof).
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would something like this be usefull to keep you organised
http://soldiersystems.net/2012/01/09/gear-pockets/
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I usually use a tripod to keep my pack and jacket on. But I am thinking for the next long trip to make 2 tripods (or 1 tripod and a forked stick) with a cross bar going between them and then I can hang my dry bags from their with one for wash kit, one for clothes, the cook kit can hang with the handy hook (Swedish army cookset).
On shorter trips or if I can't find suitable sticks I just use a single stick driven into the ground and lean my bag against in the hope that it will hold and then organise all mys stuff in the bag.
Inside my DD Hammock I have an internal ridgeline which I use to hang my torch and a small fleece drawstring pouch which I can put the small bits and bobs into from my pockets so they don't fall out.
I havent used the pocket in the DD hammock in a while since I lost my head torch in there for a few months.
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