A brief guide to Wild Camping

Camping in the wild, away from the hussle of the overcrowded
campsites is something every outdoors person should try!

Wild camping tends to be an experience of two extremes Your night out will either be wonderfully relaxing, possibly beside an open fire, or a sleepless night as the wind howls and the tent buckles. Both are an experience to behold and I certainly wouldn't disuede anybody from trying the latter, but if a tormented night under canvass isn't your cup of tea then picking your weather and destination with a pinch of caution are all you need to do for a night you'll never forget. Right then, let me make a couple of things clear before I go on. I can't stand people who feel the need to back up what they're writing with a disclaimer or safety warning every other sentence, so this paragraph is all you'll get from me on the subject. The mountains/hills around britain are rather pathetic as far as altitude goes but we have VERY BIG WEATHER. I'm fairly reckless on occasion but I've been up Ben Nevis in February, wearing crampons, and met people wearing Reebok Classics - you may get away with it once, but carry on and you will die! Nuff said on that. Also, you will often read that wild camping is illegal in most places and you should obtain the land owners permission... bollocks! It IS illegal in most places but I know of nobody that ever bothers to notify the land owner, which is usually, but not always, the national trust. Follow this rule and the wild camping community can enjoy the country in peace: 'out of sight, out of mind'. Leave your pitch exactly as you found it and never EVER light an open fire on moorland. Above all, use your common sense, and if you have none, don't go wild camping - stick to park benches with your white lightening. Ah, I'm glad that's out of the way. This is about fun, not detering morons, so from here on in, note your own safety warnings :) What do I need That largely depends on where you're going. In the winter, on the mountains, you'll need some fairly expensive kit to keep warm, and indeed alive in some cases, but summer in woodland you need little more than a hammock. I'm going to concentrate on the milder side of things for the moment since if you're reading this, it's probably (hopefully) where you're going to start. The big difference between wild camping and a pitch on a campsite is if you get cold, bored or need something, then a shop or your car is only a minute or two away. That's not the case with a wild camp; you need to carry everything you'll need for the night. I'm not going to list everything in detail because I'm going to write a few guides on the various ways you can wild camp, from snow holing on mountains to guerrilla pitching in woodland, however for all kinds of wilderness camping you'll need some form of the following: Sleeping bag Shelter (likely a tent) Cooking kit - stove & fuel or way to make fire, a pan and eating utensil (you only need a fork) Food Suitable clothing for the expected conditions, plus something extra just incase. Entertainment(?) Assorted bits for the type of camp you're going on - I'll be specific later If there's one peice of advice I can give, it's this: forget any fears and do it! However, if there's two peices of advice I can give then the second is most certainly to buy decent kit. You may be tempted by a sale in Millets or Argos for a super warm sleeping bag or "waterproof" jacket but please trust me, you are wasting your money. When a wet or dangerously cold body born of buying failed kit teaches you that lesson, as it did me, you'll really, really wish you'd listened. Next page >