Camping Bushcraft style
- Thread starter Kath
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I have. Everyone else was sleeping en tents, except my father and I. We found a little clear spot in the nearest bush, and slept there one night under a very small poncho. 
): Then we paddled on in our canoe the next day. I like privacy from others better. :biggthump
): Then we paddled on in our canoe the next day. I like privacy from others better. :biggthumpI haven't but have seen others do it. Then just went to the edge with the trees and put up a tarp.
Looking at the Camping & Caravaning Club's rulebook I think it would contravene their rules not to have a 'proper' tent. In fact they've looked at me pretty suspiciously when I've used a Mountain Hardware Solitude which is a single person ultralight hiking tent. Mind you according to their rule book they can turn caravans away if they haven't been washed! :?:
Yeah, I've put up temporary shelters and stayed a couple of days, but when camping, my wife and I really prefer a tent for the privacy it gives us.
Kath said:
the fun I'm going to have with a super soaker and the track leading up to their sites.
I wouldn't want to do it myself for the privacy reasons on any large site. When I saw people doing it it was on the spare field of a farm when there was us them and another DofE group
camping bushcraft style is something we all want to do and a campsite does seem to be an option and it can be.
a short true story of an old tent of mine:
a friend and i camped in a ex army bivy tent, at a huge camp site once, every tent on the campsite was of a standard type family type or hike sort.
during our stay many people seemed to pity us and asked us:
"were we ok?"
"is your tent too hot, cold or small?"
"are you in the army?" or "do you want to be in the army?"
one snotty kid told us his nylon tent was "stronger than our canvas one!"
at first we shrugged off the comments (10-15 times a day) but after a couple of days it really annoyed us!
smaller kids enjoyed looking inside our tent, and playing around it, again very annoying!
most stupid of all after cooking our lunch of a tinned meal, we sat down next to our still hot cooker, and quietly ate, a lady aproached us and asked us if the beans were cold!(thus assuming we were roughing it!)right infront of the cooker!!! :?:
note....all that was different was the tent!
no campfire, bashas, skinned rabbits, or axes!
just a tent that would have been common on a scout camp ten years ago!
but... the oposite can also be the case, i campped with my wife in the same tent a guy asked me about the tent told me he was in the army and invited us to his tent for drinks and doughnuts with his girlfriend.
so to answer your question...
i have tried many times to evaluate how i could "get away" with bushcraft style camping on a standard site, but each time, you have to be aware of these things....
1. tarps and bashas, offer little privicy, and you could find others watching you eat, read, cook, wash, sleep, which could be uncomfortable.
2. bushcraft style camping would mean very low security, for example if you want to go to the local or the shops, you have to either take everything with you or trust no one will pinch stuff, then theres dogs and small kids that don't understand it isn't a play area. my son aged 3 has little social awareness so far and has on occasion run off into another tent and bought back (stolen)something he thought was interesting including food :yikes: :roll: we then have to return the item blushing!
3. if using ex army ponchos or bashas or bivibags, they tend to be camouflaged you could find other campers walking in to/on your shelter or worse a car could accidentally reverse over the shelter especially bivibags! i have a feeling this may have already happend!
as a precaution stick a chemical light or reflector on a stick next to you which of course kids will love! :shock:
4. other campers might just not talk to you or ask silly questions.
i think the best option for bushcraft camping on standard campsites is to go as a group then at least you share the possible problems, and can take turns to shop etc.
hope this helps!
a short true story of an old tent of mine:
a friend and i camped in a ex army bivy tent, at a huge camp site once, every tent on the campsite was of a standard type family type or hike sort.
during our stay many people seemed to pity us and asked us:
"were we ok?"
"is your tent too hot, cold or small?"
"are you in the army?" or "do you want to be in the army?"
one snotty kid told us his nylon tent was "stronger than our canvas one!"
at first we shrugged off the comments (10-15 times a day) but after a couple of days it really annoyed us!
smaller kids enjoyed looking inside our tent, and playing around it, again very annoying!
most stupid of all after cooking our lunch of a tinned meal, we sat down next to our still hot cooker, and quietly ate, a lady aproached us and asked us if the beans were cold!(thus assuming we were roughing it!)right infront of the cooker!!! :?:
note....all that was different was the tent!
no campfire, bashas, skinned rabbits, or axes!
just a tent that would have been common on a scout camp ten years ago!
but... the oposite can also be the case, i campped with my wife in the same tent a guy asked me about the tent told me he was in the army and invited us to his tent for drinks and doughnuts with his girlfriend.
so to answer your question...
i have tried many times to evaluate how i could "get away" with bushcraft style camping on a standard site, but each time, you have to be aware of these things....
1. tarps and bashas, offer little privicy, and you could find others watching you eat, read, cook, wash, sleep, which could be uncomfortable.
2. bushcraft style camping would mean very low security, for example if you want to go to the local or the shops, you have to either take everything with you or trust no one will pinch stuff, then theres dogs and small kids that don't understand it isn't a play area. my son aged 3 has little social awareness so far and has on occasion run off into another tent and bought back (stolen)something he thought was interesting including food :yikes: :roll: we then have to return the item blushing!
3. if using ex army ponchos or bashas or bivibags, they tend to be camouflaged you could find other campers walking in to/on your shelter or worse a car could accidentally reverse over the shelter especially bivibags! i have a feeling this may have already happend!
as a precaution stick a chemical light or reflector on a stick next to you which of course kids will love! :shock:
4. other campers might just not talk to you or ask silly questions.
i think the best option for bushcraft camping on standard campsites is to go as a group then at least you share the possible problems, and can take turns to shop etc.
hope this helps!
Camping does seem to have changed in recent years. It seems to be a competition for the largest tent, the fanciest kit and the largest tv inside. TBH I really don't get why people bother even leaving home. :?:
How about hammocks? Someone must have put up a hammock on a campsite at least?
How about hammocks? Someone must have put up a hammock on a campsite at least?
only if it has a white metal frame and comes from argos (or similar)
Once I used a metal try to light a fire and cook over that as it was quicker then the stove we had and we wanted to toast things on it. Someone asked us if we had a lighter (going camping with no matches or lighter :roll: ). They said we could use there stove if we hadn't got enough fuel. Though it seemed silly to us that were only trying to be nice. Another time a guy asked us if we had any mugs with us, since we were going light and had camelbaks we didn't. He said "I can't offer you any tea then"
Once I used a metal try to light a fire and cook over that as it was quicker then the stove we had and we wanted to toast things on it. Someone asked us if we had a lighter (going camping with no matches or lighter :roll: ). They said we could use there stove if we hadn't got enough fuel. Though it seemed silly to us that were only trying to be nice. Another time a guy asked us if we had any mugs with us, since we were going light and had camelbaks we didn't. He said "I can't offer you any tea then"
Kath said:
Kath this is just the way people are now, they love their home comforts, hardship is not having a cooking range, a collapsible camp bed, four solid walls, and a proliferation of kit that the average battle group couldn't carry.
When I initially started to work where I am now I had been unemployed for quite a while (no money in the bank and debts), I would travel into work on Friday (one town to the next) having gone into a campsite and paid for my pitch, then when I finished work I would go back to the site and set up for the night, basha and hammock, in the morning having used the site facilities I would collapse it all down and head into work.
I did get some funny looks :?: Go figure.
The owners of the campsite were pretty much good as gold (they were religious) and had said that if I wanted they would look after my stuff during the day, but this was only after I became a regular and had stayed for a few weeks on and off.
You do get some questions / comments from some of the campers with their mobile houses and you can have your space invaded by children, but generally people leave you pretty much alone, once they have accepted they have a weirdo in their midst.
This was basically part of my routine for the better part of 3 months for four days covering weekends, you do get good and bad on sites, but my kit was never up for more time than it was needed and I never left anything loose. Thinking back on it now I really enjoyed it, not all the questions were stupid and not all the kids badly behaved, people just have different ideas on how to do things
Good thread Leon.
I find that if you're on a campsite with poor facilities ie no hot water, possibly only 1 loo or in some cases no loo. No camp shop or pub you'll be just fine. It's when you go to some of these twee 'family' sites with posh loo blocks, shops, childrens play areas and indoor heated swimming pools, that's when people just can't seem to get their heads round the fact that you don't WANT a 50 litre cool box or a swingball, or even a portable DVD player.
I for one am surrounded by technology 24/7 and it's nice to get back to basics and leave it all behind. :super:
I find that if you're on a campsite with poor facilities ie no hot water, possibly only 1 loo or in some cases no loo. No camp shop or pub you'll be just fine. It's when you go to some of these twee 'family' sites with posh loo blocks, shops, childrens play areas and indoor heated swimming pools, that's when people just can't seem to get their heads round the fact that you don't WANT a 50 litre cool box or a swingball, or even a portable DVD player.
I for one am surrounded by technology 24/7 and it's nice to get back to basics and leave it all behind. :super:
Thanks Dave, this case was "neccesity is the mother of invention". This camp site has a small bar, a little shop (very basic, but has farm produce) and basic shower and toilet facilities so what you were saying about the all singing all dancing sites could well be true, I try to stay away from most of the bigger places as I tend to find them packed and annoying.
I think it depends on the situation.
I really don't care for the big sites that target the caravan and "Eurocamp" type holidaymakers. But generally they don't exist in the places I'd want to camp.
A lot of my camping these days is car based rather than backpacking. Because of that I mainly use a mountain dome tent which fits in well around the sites in the lakes, wales and scotland. Tarp or hammock camping is limited to solo trips without my family where it's far more practical to bivvy down late in the day, as inconspicuously as possible, and be gone next day without drawing attention.
On an organised site, you may laugh but I think there would be a serious risk of being run over if you bivvied down in olive drab amongst a field full of rainbow monstrosities. Even with the dome tent, because of it's low key color I park the car up as a crash barrier.
Lastly it's a sad thought but if you consider the value of a quality tent, sleeping bags etc etc it is not hard for two or three people to walk onto a site with £1500 worth of kit on their backs. I've no qualms about leaving most of that behind during a day walk from wild camp, but after a friend had an £80 climbing rope stolen from his tent on a big site in Keswick, there's no way I'd leave anything unattended in those surroundings.
Cheers
I really don't care for the big sites that target the caravan and "Eurocamp" type holidaymakers. But generally they don't exist in the places I'd want to camp.
A lot of my camping these days is car based rather than backpacking. Because of that I mainly use a mountain dome tent which fits in well around the sites in the lakes, wales and scotland. Tarp or hammock camping is limited to solo trips without my family where it's far more practical to bivvy down late in the day, as inconspicuously as possible, and be gone next day without drawing attention.
On an organised site, you may laugh but I think there would be a serious risk of being run over if you bivvied down in olive drab amongst a field full of rainbow monstrosities. Even with the dome tent, because of it's low key color I park the car up as a crash barrier.
Lastly it's a sad thought but if you consider the value of a quality tent, sleeping bags etc etc it is not hard for two or three people to walk onto a site with £1500 worth of kit on their backs. I've no qualms about leaving most of that behind during a day walk from wild camp, but after a friend had an £80 climbing rope stolen from his tent on a big site in Keswick, there's no way I'd leave anything unattended in those surroundings.
Cheers
bambodoggy
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I'm pretty much in agreement, the larger more homely sites are best avoided as the other campers can be difficult but the smaller sites are ok. I've used basha's, one man hooped bivvi tents, bivvi bags and also hammocks with little trouble. The sites I've used don't allow car's, trucks etc onto the actual camp ground so no worries about being run over.
I far prefer to camp off site and alone without being seen or bothering anyone.
I did an Outdoor Ed diploma at college 12 years ago and we camped in the lakes and peak district a lot and the only people freaked by my low budget camping was our lecturers and the other students!!! They all called me GI Phil and took the micky something rotten....until we did a mountain marathon and they felt the weight of my pack compared to theirs...then they all wanted to buddy up with me!!!! Funny that!
By the time we spent the last three weeks of the course camping down in the Gower I had converted 4 of 30 to hooped bivvi's and even a couple to basha's....no takers on the bivvi bags or hammocks though although plenty of them were happy to sunbathe in the hammock which was strung up between two minibuses!
As regards security, it's never been an issue to me as I've either travelled so light I take it all with me or I'm with someone who does have a tent and I stash my gear in there. I believe you can get a racksac minder (think they're called that) which is a wire mesh bag that you padlock closed around your pack and you could then padlock that to a tree/fence and leave it fairly safely...never used one but they look a good idea.
When I travelled India I did a similar thing but changing the string drawcord for wire and then padlocking it round my wrist before dozing off to sleep on long bus journeys....right, enough from me as I'm drifting of Thread!
Cheers,
Phil.
I far prefer to camp off site and alone without being seen or bothering anyone.
I did an Outdoor Ed diploma at college 12 years ago and we camped in the lakes and peak district a lot and the only people freaked by my low budget camping was our lecturers and the other students!!! They all called me GI Phil and took the micky something rotten....until we did a mountain marathon and they felt the weight of my pack compared to theirs...then they all wanted to buddy up with me!!!! Funny that!
By the time we spent the last three weeks of the course camping down in the Gower I had converted 4 of 30 to hooped bivvi's and even a couple to basha's....no takers on the bivvi bags or hammocks though although plenty of them were happy to sunbathe in the hammock which was strung up between two minibuses!
As regards security, it's never been an issue to me as I've either travelled so light I take it all with me or I'm with someone who does have a tent and I stash my gear in there. I believe you can get a racksac minder (think they're called that) which is a wire mesh bag that you padlock closed around your pack and you could then padlock that to a tree/fence and leave it fairly safely...never used one but they look a good idea.
When I travelled India I did a similar thing but changing the string drawcord for wire and then padlocking it round my wrist before dozing off to sleep on long bus journeys....right, enough from me as I'm drifting of Thread!
Cheers,
Phil.
another saftey idea that has been going round, put your bag in an old fertiliser sack or bin bag, so it looks like your rubbish rather than anything of value, just make sure the kindly site manager dosen't throw it away! :shock:
the chain/wire mesh rucksack covers are called "Sackloc" and are only ever considered as a deterant, though are the best thing around at present.
the large one that would cover a 60+ litre rucksack is around £50!!
if you can reach gear inside it then it can be taken.
best advice padlock all the pockets shove it in a tote bag and then loc it in the chain bag!
there is always the option of leaving gear in the local train station lockers if there is one.
possibly with the local bobby's?
the chain/wire mesh rucksack covers are called "Sackloc" and are only ever considered as a deterant, though are the best thing around at present.
the large one that would cover a 60+ litre rucksack is around £50!!
if you can reach gear inside it then it can be taken.
best advice padlock all the pockets shove it in a tote bag and then loc it in the chain bag!
there is always the option of leaving gear in the local train station lockers if there is one.
possibly with the local bobby's?
I have seen a camper with a hootchi on the lsle of Arran. It was not that open because he had it pegged up with walking poles and it was low to the ground.
The average camper with the 2,000sq foot canvas palace walks around with their eyes shut and the average thief isn't verry imaginative. For the best security is to put things where people won't find them. For me this means above head height. Clip a rucksack onto a tree branch, especially if there's a bit of foliage and most people will walk past only feet away without knowing it's there.
I use this idea when I'm helping at music festivals where I sleep in a hammock & basha, and because I'm not trapping a layer of humid and sweaty air in a tent I'm usually the only one not covered in bites the next morning.
Generally I try to stay off formal sites, due to the attitude of the other people there, next year I might get my revenge with a T shirt saying ...'I'm doing it this way because I can'
I use this idea when I'm helping at music festivals where I sleep in a hammock & basha, and because I'm not trapping a layer of humid and sweaty air in a tent I'm usually the only one not covered in bites the next morning.
Generally I try to stay off formal sites, due to the attitude of the other people there, next year I might get my revenge with a T shirt saying ...'I'm doing it this way because I can'
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