Choosing a site to make camp

[Tony]

I know that some things depend on where you are and what season it is, but, what do you guys and girls think are the main considerations when choosing a site to make camp?

Is the first thing you think about…..Falling branch, or where the winds coming from……etc

 

[tomtom]

nearest water source
depending on what i am camping in.. how flat it is.
if i am likely to be 'found' there
if anything is going to fall on me

 

[TheViking]

Like tomtom, nearest water source. After that firewood.

 

[jamesdevine]

I look for a few thinks.

Water
Natural shelter from wind etc.
Saftety (from falling limbs, flooding, landslides and insects)
View enough if its just a few bluebells.
And last but not least Trees with out them I am in a campsite or hostel.(no right to roam in Ireland)

James

 

[tomtom]

on the topic of water source.. its always a good idea to make sure you not sleeping in it.. you dont want it too near! also mozzies might be a consideration on how close you put your camp to a water source!

 

[bambodoggy]

In no particular order:

Ground Water (or potential of)
Wind shelter
Dead Fall (branches etc)
Firewood and permission to have a fire
Water availability
Discrete location
Places to trap
Pretty location
Permission to camp

They are my main considerations, usually confirmed at a glance and not always in the same order....

 

[Squidders]

Proximity to a pub.

Other than that... I value the following:

ground type and level (avoiding mud, rocks or inclines)
Cover (plenty of healthy trees and bushes near by for protection from wind and eyes)
Water (about 200 yards from a water source)

 

[maddave]

For me it's level, well drained ground if bivvying or decent hammock trees with no dead wood overhead if I'm in the hennessy.
Shelter from the worst of the weather
decent water supply although as Tomtom says, not too close as to attract the unwanted attention of hungry mozzies, because if I was in a group of 100 naked people and had a jacket, trousers and hat on allmade from Mosiguard, I'd be the one to get bitten :?:

 

[hootchi]

I choose an area with a close water source, but perhaps before that I would like to be discrete. The physical properties of the site then come, rocky ground, good trees, fire wood or shelter from wind.

 

[RovingArcher]

I agree that available drinking water is a prime consideration when picking an area to start looking for a good camp site.

What I look for in the site itself is:

That I be on high ground compared to any water or natural drainage in the area. That usually means that I'll be on or near the ridgeline. It's usually warmer there anyways and it makes sure that falling rocks and limbs, as well as slides won't be a concern.

No fire ant nests or bee hives nearby. I camped near a river a couple summers ago and a swarm of bees moved in and rested in a tree on the edge of my camp. It was great being able to watch them swarm in and out, but there was some concern.

I look for wind breaks too, unless it's the time of year that biting insects are out and about, then if there is a breeze blowing and it meets most of the other criteria, I want my camp there, because the breeze will help to keep the flying insects at bay.

Even though firewood is a consideration, it can be gathered from other areas and brought back to camp if needed. Same with water. Camping away from the water source helps to keep insect numbers down. Not skeeters though. Dang those Mtn. Skeeters get big and they are always thirsty. :shock:

Privacy is very important to me and I will walk a considerable distance into the hills or mtns. to find a secluded spot that isn't traveled much by the masses. When I run out of foreign footprints, I know I'm getting close. :wave:

 

[Viking]

Halfway up a hill is always good, too close to water can give you a cold night.

 

[Scally]

i never camp under beech trees healthy looking limbs fall off i have seen this happen a few times can someone explain but i never camp underneath a canopy of beech?

maybe me being weird

 

[alick]

If you camp up near the Quirang in Skye, then there's a regular issue with boulders breaking loose and hacking down the various runnels and screes, you give careful attention to the likely track of falling rocks which are more than big enough to flatten a tent.

In the lakes, a lot of ground in the river valleys is damp or waterlogged. I've found that camping right next to running water is useful as the water table gets pulled down to the surface of the running water making the river bank drier than the ground even 5 yards further away. Provided there hasn't been recent rainfall which could make the river rise, little tent sized islands surrounded by water can be a good place to kip for the same reason - they're often drier than the surroundings.

I've camped up in blizzard conditions in Whinlatter / Grizedale in winter and found good shelter where small streams cut a mini valley maybe only 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep leaving just enough space to camp by the side of the stream, sheltered from the wind. Only downside is that snow settles in these calm places and you may need to clear as much as a foot of snow off the top of the tent every hour. In these conditions, the heat of even a single candle makes the night far more comfortable.

):

 

[Pict]

This thread should have a sub-plot of "The worst mistakes I made whan selecting a campsite", though few of us would like to admit them!

Acorns and plastic tarps don't mix. Ta-WHAP all night long.

Deep valley bottoms in high mountains create rivers of cold air. Even here in the tropics. I spent a very, very cold night in one here in Brazil. I got up early because I was hypothermic in my hammock.

Deer trails or night time feeding areas get invaded by snorting beasts through the night. They just don't give up trying to scare you off.

I once woke up to the sound of heavy rain. In my sleepy-headed foggy brain I somehow figured out it was too bright to be overcast and opened the tent flap. The half moon was shining brightly in a cloudless sky. Flicking on a light I noticed that the field surrounding us was covered with millions of termites chomping away at the grass! !!PANIC!!! I did a soiled underware PANIC search of the inside of the tent and saw we were termite free. Nothing was coming in so I went back to sleep. In the morning we woke up to what looked like a freshly moved hayfield. Those giant termite mounds are there for a reason. Mac

 

[simonsays]

This thread should have a sub-plot of "The worst mistakes I made whan selecting a campsite", though few of us would like to admit them!

Okay, I'll share.......

A group of us from work went to Wasdale in the Lakes for a weekend of camping, walking and general merriment. This was no woodland bushcraft or high wild camp but a sheltered campsite with good amenities. We all pitched in a distant corner of the campsite as far away from everyone else as possible so as to minimise disturbance to other folk as we rolled back from the Wasdale Head Inn after closing time :roll:

My worst mistake was to pitch my tent rather too close to the tent next to me.

I was woken next morning by the sound of screams and the glare of the tent next door burning brightly (My friends had bungled a gas cylinder change and there had been an explosion) I would not care to have to go through what happened in the next couple of hours ever again. Fire fighting, frantic first aid, helicopters. You can probably get the idea :shock:
What made the whole experience more chilling was the realisation (as I explored the contents of my hip flask later on that day) that -my- tent had almost caught fire. It still bears a small melted patch to this day. Because I had stupidly pitched too damm close to the tent next door I had almost joined my friends in the helicopter on their way to hospital.

My friends? They're fine now, they were lucky their camping buddies consisted of two ITU nurses, eight theatre nurses and an anaesthetist :wave: One of them wound up spending a fortnight in the burns unit and was pretty poorly for a while with scorched lungs. The other fared better, minor burns and a different hairstyle for a while. They still go camping but are not allowed anything more complex than a trangia :roll:

 

[arctic hobo]

I'll share mine too:
Basically it was the end of a long hard day, much harder than we'd expected. This meant we didn't reach the valley we wanted to, and had to camp at 2000m on a very cold and very uncomfortable mountainside, in summer sleeping bags and light clothes. It was slap bang in the middle of a glacier that we couldn't have got off without either climbing higher or retracing our steps for about 3 miles.
Here's us walking up the glacier, with our "campsite" ahead. No ropes, as we knew this section to be safe.
http://img177.exs.cx:81/img177/8071/campsite0va.jpg
Here's a closer look at where we had to sleep:
http://img177.exs.cx:81/img177/7082/camp21ls.jpg
Here's a map of where we were:
http://img177.exs.cx:81/img177/2149/map0ui.jpg