Fire or Shelter

[sapper1]

Nice easy question ,maybe.
When arriving at your chosen site what do you do first?
Do you set up your shelter first or get a fire going.
Does it make a difference if it's raining or getting dark or both?
Personally I always set my tarp up first no matter the weather or the amount of day light .My reasoning being as soon as the shelter is up all my kit and myself will be undercover and not getting any wetter if it's already raining.The fire comes second because If I haven't got any shelter then I don't want to sit in the rain to eat,and it's easier to light a fire knowing that I can get out of the rain once it's going and my firewood will be a little bit drier under the tarp than sat in the rain.
As for setting up shelter before dark I think this is a no-brainer.
Your thoughts and opinions please gents.

 

[Shewie]

Same as you sapper, shelter up first then if there`s enough light to do a bit of progging for the fire I will. If not I`ll just crank up the kelly or hobbo under the tarp and chill out `til the morning.

 

[Chainsaw]

Tarp up first then you get the kettle on. Lets you sort your kit and not bother what the rain's doing.

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Rothley Bill]

Shelter first, but if I am out with my daughter we do both at the same time.

 

[durulz]

I always get a fire going first. There are two reasons for this - firstly, to get a nice bed of ashes for cooking on later; and secondly, so I can see which way the smoke blows and set my tarp up accordingly.
If it's raining then tarp is the first thing up.

 

[Wilderbeast]

I think always tarp first for me, the weather changes too quickly in england to take a gamble on keeping dry or lighting a fire!!!

 

[sapper1]

The smoke will always blow in the same direction as the wind, LOL

 

[g4ghb]

I generally go Tarp first too - it is more dependent on the surroundings - I can place the fire more or less where I want but i'm kinda tied to trees (pun intended) for the position of the tarp.

 

[drewdunnrespect]

tarp first because of your dry and will stay dry and can get warm with extra clothes until fires going

 

[John Fenna]

Im with you on this Sapper - shelter first!
It gives you somewhere to store your firewood out of the rain (present or coming) so you have a better chance of getting the fire going!

 

[Nat]

Shelter first whether it's raining or not, day or night. That way you've got somewhere to put your gear and firewood etc.

 

[Broch]

I'll be honest - not too habitual about this.

With plenty of daylight and reasonable weather - I'll get a brew on while setting up my shelter.

Later in the day with little light left - quickly gather some dry fuel, then set up the shelter, then the fire.

Pouring with rain - get the shelter up and sit and eat a sweet biscuit with a cup of cold water

 

[SimonM]

Depends on a few things for me...

• What time of day is it. If I arrive early, I don't like setting up and then going off for a bimble leaving my gear unattended.
  
• What the weather is doing. Obviously if it is wet or threatening to rain, I set up the tarp first, but if it is nice and dry I sometimes don't bother rigging the tarp at all.
  
• Am I with other people? If yes it is more sociable, so set up the tarp first as it gives a focal point to the camp.

Simon

 

[Tourist]

Shelter first.

 

[Greg]

Definately shelter first, get yourself out of the elements and then you'll be able to sort out what you want to do next ie. build a fire.

 

[rapture]

I think one has to take certain things in to consideration like the weather condition, what time a day it is and what kind of equipment you have. Many here talks about setting upp a tarp (which doesen´t take that long). In a situation where you lack the tarp, kettle or the sleepingbag for that matter you might have to build a shelter and have a fire going all night for warmth. Shelter can take some time to built if you don´t find a natural one. If you want a fairly good night sleep you need quiet much fuel for you´re fire. I other words it takes time to arrange all this. I allways start gathering fuel for the fire and observ the sorrunding for material to the shelter (while it still daylight). The shelter can allways be built in the light of the fire if it gets dark before you are finished. But gathering fuel when it´s dark is not recommendable. And it might end upp being a very cold night.

 

[Bushwhacker]

The smoke will always blow in the same direction as the wind, LOL

^^^That^^^

 

[Twodogs]

Basha first , maybe its the same as a dog circling to flaten the grass ?
Once the bashas up its home .
Twodogs

 

[rik_uk3]

If its raining then shelter first, no rain then out comes a stove and on goes the kettle and while the water is heating up goes the shelter. I'll worry about a fire later if one is needed, remember, you don't HAVE to have a fire when camping and sometimes you can't anyway.

 

[forestwalker]

In northern winter a fire might be no 1, with the shelter later. I might want to melt a lot of snow so that I have something to drink after a lot of heavy digging

Often I do things in this order:

1. Firewood (while you have light)
2. Shelter materials (if you need to gather them)
3. Fire
4. Build shelter (in light if fire if it comes to that)

If it is warm or rainly I might do the shelter first. All depends.