nomade said:I was eager to find out what everyone was saying about their winter camping.
You guys seem to have no problems lighting fires but I wonder how you do it because in many places it's not allowed and your fire will be seen even more than in Summer, the trees having lost their leaves.
I am a woman. I wouldn't mind going solo, but the fire really gives your presence away and that would scare me that people might come to my camp to see what's going on and well then I would feel pretty defenseless.
But having said that, the fire is certainly a must in winter camping. I did camp in winter on a camping site (no fire of course) and slept quite long hours. My experience of the morning was that once I had got up, quickly got dressed, it was just too cold to stick around and "do" anything round the camp, not even getting the stove out and wait for water to boil for a warm cuppa. All I could do is get walking, get moving and come back for an early (and rather long!) night, going to bed around 4pm, having eaten somewhere indoors before.
Well not quite my idea of a great camping experience. This is why it was quite informative reading your posts to see how you got on.
Please bear in mind in the UK it does really depend on where you start a fire, if you start a fire in the New Forest, the chances are, you will attract a lot of attention from the wardens (and a rather large fine with it), some forests, especially if mature tend to have a good layer of humus (peat bogs during dryish weather etc as well) which can be flammable, this can smolder for weeks before bursting into flame. Therefore if you are going to start a fire, clear the humus away, make sure there are no roots protruding through the dip where you are going to light it, and when finished, flood the area with water. I usually build the fire on dirt that Ive collected into a raised area (about 3-5'' high) which forms an insulating blanket between the forest floor and the fire. I also then know there is no dry roots directly under the fire!
The other people on this forum seem to have had better luck than I with farmers: I have never had a farmer say yes to camping on his land yet let alone lighting a fire, (at least not in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight). I used to know a farmer who allowed a friend and I to shoot on his land but when he died, his kids decided they didn't want us there anymore and I have never found another place to go. That is why I don't bother asking anymore, and simply try to keep away from houses.
I think on camping alone, you are more likely to be attacked on any high street on a Saturday night than if you were alone in the dark in the middle of a wood, also I tend to think (maybe naively), that people involved in bushcraft tend to be nicer, however, if you do not feel like taking the risk, get someone who you trust to come with you. If you can't find anyone, maybe a girl on this forum might be interested, it cant just be us blokes here for goodness sake!
Greg
