Does anyone go camping on their own?

[ex-member Raikey]

Coniferous woods are far more silent than deciduous. Even walking through them you make much less noise.

i thought there was summat cheers Jon!,..

why tho?,,,is it the absorbtion of sound from different leaf forms?

a coniferous wood always seems more homely and drier under foot for some reason,...maybe the leaf litter of pines is a better floor than the rotting deciduous leaves,...

i like this thread, and have already decieded to go and pick out a spot in the pines this evening, it will be getting dark by the time i get there, so it'll sort of break me in gently,

i'll take some piccies and post them tonite so you lot can tell me how nice and non-scary the place looks

 

[Retired Member southey]

see now i always get a spooked feeling from conif woods, i think its either from the long rows and open lines or from watching dog soldiers to much(do not watch before going on exercise in Galloway!!), I like the crunchy leaf litter,

 

[JonathanD]

i thought there was summat cheers Jon!,..

why tho?,,,is it the absorbtion of sound from different leaf forms?

a coniferous wood always seems more homely and drier under foot for some reason,...maybe the leaf litter of pines is a better floor than the rotting deciduous leaves,...

i like this thread, and have already decieded to go and pick out a spot in the pines this evening, it will be getting dark by the time i get there, so it'll sort of break me in gently,

i'll take some piccies and post them tonite so you lot can tell me how nice and non-scary the place looks

The food chain can never fully develop as the year round shadow of the evergreen wood and dense carpet of pine needles prevents plant growth which provides the original source of food for most basic organisms such as insects and small mammals and birds, which in turn attract the predators. You obviously do get life in them, but they are mostly specialist animals and much scarcer than their deciduous dwelling cousins. The thick carpet of needles and uniform darkness and lack of dense undergrowt, provide an eerie comdination and noticeable silence.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

darkness and lack of dense undergrowt, provide an eerie comdination and noticeable silence.

Oh well thanks a lot!!

you spose to be painting a nice picture for me ,...hahaha

i'll be ok,..dont worry about me,..*sniff

 

[JonathanD]

Oh well thanks a lot!!

you spose to be painting a nice picture for me ,...hahaha

i'll be ok,..dont worry about me,..*sniff

I like lots of wildlife noise at night. The good thing about coniferous forests is the lack of noise at night, so less stuff to fuel your wild imagination. Pine needles make a nice soft and warm mattress too if you are ground dwelling, and the whole forest feels that much warmer because of that insulation and lack of wind blowing through. They do feel cosier and safer than deciduous woodlands.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

I like lots of wildlife noise at night. The good thing about coniferous forests is the lack of noise at night, so less stuff to fuel your wild imagination. Pine needles make a nice soft and warm mattress too if you are ground dwelling, and the whole forest feels that much warmer because of that insulation and lack of wind blowing through. They do feel cosier and safer than deciduous woodlands.

thanks! ha,..

ok i just told Mrs Raikey she's having the bed to herself later in the week,...

i may do friday night down the plantation,...

 

[Mojoracinguk]

hit my first solos camp two months ago....I'm 30 so next one is planned for 2040

It was 7 miles from my home (but only a few hundred yards from my folks place and a stones throw away from a wood).

It’s in a place that I’m lucky enough to own although I still go down there every once in a while and find people have dumped rubbish or set fires, some times I catch them rabbit hunting with ferrets/birds of prey….politely ask they don’t come back with out asking.

So when you hear the thud and rustle of something outside of your hammock sneaking closer then stopping…you get a buzz….for me it was exciting…for some it could lead to thoughts of….How to remove ones- self from a hammock in one swift move and be battle ready…of course it’s impossible (or is it?)

I really liked the feeling of doing some thing special, and it’s not often that in the darkest hours of the night you get to peek out of the confines of your sleeping bag and stare longingly at the silhouette of the nearby woodland.
Truly loved it and wish I’d started years ago. Not to say that camping in a group is better or worse. Although I know my mates are more likely to break out the permanent markers when a few bevies have been consumed and some one has the bad luck to fall asleep!

 

[stovie]

After two weekends with scouts everywhere you look, it will be a pleasure to turn around and be on my own...I love both secnarios equally... and for polar reasons...but I do have one problem...getting out the house without the kids wanting to join me...oh well, shouldn't moan, they'll be gone soon enough...

 

[Bushwhacker]

I think there's only time I've really been scared by a noise and that was out in the jungle on my own.
There was quite a wind whipping up, heralding another rainstorm, and I could hear the top of a tree breaking.
It was pitch black, there was an almighty creaking, then a snap and then lots of noise on the way down before it hit the deck. Upon inspection in the morning it landed about 25 yards from the shelter I'd built, certainly not as close as it sounded in the dark.
The noise was very threatening and it was torture for those few seconds just lying there in my shelter wondering if the tree was coming down on top of me or not. I reckon that if I got up and ran I could've easily ran underneath it.

 

[Man of Tanith]

i camp on my own when the chance presents itself.
next one is planned for a fortnights time my next weekend off.
i like to use solitary camps to try out new ideas/recipes etc so if they go horrifically wrong the only person who knows is me.
They also allow me a chance to relax and just do what I want without having to worry that i should be doing something.

the scariest event i ever had when camping was first time we tried out the new permission and two lads with shotguns turned up. that was eventful

 

[stovie]

Just a quick perusal on my PB site and thought I'd post these....Why would I want to go on my own...Life isn't half as much fun without them...

 

[lightfoot]

If anyone does, have you ever had one of those 'what the bloody hell was that noise' moments?

I'm a natural born scaredy cat but have been camping on my own for decades (not continuously). The first night I'm usually a bit nervous but you fall asleep, don't get killed, and wake up the next morning thinking what was I so worried about? After that it's fine. I have been freaked out by some animal sounds on occassion but that's just animals doing their nocturnal thing even though they may sound like demons from hell. On the other hand they were demons from hell but as they didn't bother me that's ok.

However, one dark and moonless night, as I was settling into my hammock in a wood near a remote village populated by inbred rednecks, I heard a sound like a mobile phone receiving a text message. Surely not! The problem was it was so brief that I didn't have time to properly identify it. Could it have just been the squeak of a tree in the wind? They do that trees, squeak. Then I heard it again, then a few minutes later, and then again. Definitely a phone. By this point I was getting a bit freaked out especially as it was coming from the same direction and not that far away. Was I being secretly observed by a popular axe murderer who was so blaze that he wouldn't switch his phone off? Was he taunting me before making the kill. What should I do? Get up, get armed and go find him or just wait where I was, clutching my knife, hoping that he hadn't realised I was there? Decisions, decisions. As it was I stayed in bed and went to sleep. A few weeks later a friend who I told the story to suggested that the phone kept receiving and didn't move because it probably belonged to someone who'd recently been buried there. LOL

 

[born2roam]

Love good company but also like to go out solo.

Just returned from a solo trip to Sweden and the most unexpected moments (except startling some moose in the forest [GREAT!]), was after three weeks I heard this strange noise.... and it repeated itself..... after three repetitions I realized it was my cell phone which I hadn't heard in three weeks

I never thought that The General Lee (Dukes of Hazard) would come racing by in Glaskogen LOL

Grtz Johan

 

[lucan]

I go out alone and love the solitude. "Me Time" is a very precious thing which I don't often get these days.

The only issue I have ever had was beeing buzzed by the Police helicopter once. They must have seen the smoke from my fire, homed in on it and stuck around for a few minutes. I must have passed whatever test they applied as they left me alone, no passing patrols (being at the top of a steep hill may have helped).

Get out on your own...it's a whole different experience.

Simon

PS - Don't watch "Dog Soldiers" before you go:yikes:

And there it is, I had just about forgot, and the Phrase Don't watch "Dog Soldiers" Before you go crops up again lol

 

[kasakaa]

I like camping alone, done it a few times. I tend to do it on 'expedition' type hikes though where I hike out, camp, then move on the next day... so am generally a good distance away from roads or houses etc. Everything does seem a lot louder and closer, but then maybe thats just because I don't tend to make as much noise when i'm on my own.

The worst camping experience i've ever had was camping with a group, on a national scout campsite / activity centre with several other groups camping. Was in my hammock, got disturbed by something during the night, and got out of my hammock to find that the strap supporting the end closest to my head had come undone and was just being help up by a combination of friction and my bodyweight! I had a look round but couldn't see anyone, checked the other hammocks which were all fine, so put it down to a dodgy knot. I was too freaked out to go back to sleep though, so got out my bivvy and went and built up the fire!

Following morning the campstaff came round to inform us that another scout group had had their store tent raided, with half eaten food strewn all over their site, with suspicion falling on local chavs who had been spotted at night before. This confirmed that my knots were fine, but had been undone during the night while I slept... not good!

Lesson from this... a shoelace-type knot works and will support you in a hammock fine, but dispite the extra hassle i'll never use a quick-release knot to support a hammock again. Shame really

 

[Bigfoot]

The only time I was really scared camping was when I was a young scout. It wasn't a solo camp, it was a 2 man trek and overnight camp for one of the badges and as it happened we met up purely by chance with another 2 scouts from our troop, who had also been sent on our route near the Falls of Clyde. They had the tiniest wee pup tent and I was carrying a tent that could easily have slept 4 of us so we used the pup tent as a kit and food storage area and the big tent for sleeping in.

It was the middle of the night and we all awoke with scuffling sounds coming from inside of the pup tent. Our first thought was that it was some other scouts who had found us and were raiding our gear, so we sneaked out with torches (as yet unlit) and then quickly opened the flap of the pup tent whilst putting on our torches and shining them inside. We were met with snarling, growling and a big set of bared fangs which scared us so much, all four of us legged it away from camp and caught our breath. It was only then that we realised we had disturbed a badger who was having a good rummage around our kit. We waited 10 mins then went back to a bit of a mess but no Mr Brock. It took a while to get back to sleep

So, all the comments about Dog Soldiers have brought that memory back to me after all these years - I can still see the fangs

 

[Mojoracinguk]

I don't wish to take away from this thread but feel this is in a similar theme.
What is the most eerie sound you've heard solo camping?

I'm guessing most will say man made sounds like the hand on the tent story,
But i think tree bark rubbing against itself in the wind is preety creepy....
I do like it when some friends from town come out at night and hear the owls squeeling like a stuck pig....they don't find it very comforting at all

 

[JonathanD]

Without doubt a fox or a barn owl. They make noises like the dead awakening.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

We camp near a yacht club on the coast sometimes and the steel lines on the aluminium masts "ching ching ching" all night is quite comforting in a strange way,

so not that wierd really, sorry,.....

 

[Radix lecti]

I can honestly say at the age of 31, i don't know if i could do it. Ridiculous i know, but the first snap of a twig i heard, i'd be off running like some clumsy Blair Witch homage.
I'd also feel bad in advance for the poor camper who stumbled across me in the failing light, clutching my Mora, talking to myself about snails crawling along the edge of a straight razor.....you get the slightly over exaggerated and plagiarised picture.
If anyone does, have you ever had one of those 'what the bloody hell was that noise' moments?

I camp out on my own a lot the of time in the Forest of Dean, i know most of the trails so i find a place deep in the woods.Some wild boar passed by me once when i was semi conscious under my Basha,that was nice.I do hear a lot of sounds there at night but i tend to ignore it. All i can say about solo camping is give it a go,but watch out for the black cats

Daz