Wild Camping Tips and Kit List

The first rule of Wild Camping club is... actually really simple! Leave No Trace: if you take it in, you carry it out.

What is wild camping?

Wild Camping pretty much refers to camping anywhere outside of a recognised campsite. In the UK this can be a legal grey area, as most land is privately owned (the exceptions being Scotland and Dartmoor). If you do have your eye on another spot, we recommend seeking permission from the landowner.

Basic rules for wild campers

Good wild camping practice makes it possible for us to keep getting out there! Wherever you choose to camp, make sure that you always do the following:

• Carry out ALL litter when you leave, whether it belongs to you or was left by someone else.
• Leave camp as you found it and remove all traces of your pitch.
• Camp as unobtrusively as you can. That means away from roads, houses and other habitation.
• Keep groups small and avoid staying in one location for extended periods – normal etiquette is to pitch at dusk and strike at dawn – or as close as possible to.
• Keep noise and disturbance to a minimum.
• Respect the environment and wildlife and don’t pollute

What to take wild camping?

As wild camping covers a variety of circumstances, it's hard to give a brief list of all the kit you might need for your trip. Instead, we gathered all the kit we think you might need on our Wild Camping Kit List, which should help you get what you need for wild camping year round!

The AK team making nature their home in Chamonix

Everyone has their own ideas about wild camping, about how to choose a location, what makes the perfect wild campsite... we decided to ask Alpkiteer Mark Hines a few questions about Wild Camping. As an ultra runner, hiker, stand up paddler, and cyclist, Mark has camped his way around the world in some of the toughest conditions imaginable: he's no stranger to a bivi or night ‘under canvas’. We caught him between trips to share a bit of his experience and knowledge.

Mark, where was your first Wild Camp?

I genuinely have no idea: I was practically an egg when I started camping with my parents. The first time I wild camped was more than ten years ago, and was somewhere in the UK but I cannot recall where!

What’s your preferred set up for wild camps? Does it change according to where you are and what you're doing?

It definitely depends on what I am doing.

I am less likely to bivi if I am on a fast-and-light, multi-night journey in the UK, or if there is a good chance of heavy rain. On those trips I need the space and protection of a tent to ensure I can tend to my feet and dry them out if I need to. 

In contrast, in the sub-Arctic and Arctic I prefer a bivi to a tent for two key reasons. Firstly, it is much quicker to camp with a bivi, which reduces the risk of frostbite, so there is a practical benefit. Secondly, if I am in a tent and there is a clear night, with or without the Northern Lights, at some point I have to zip myself away from it all. With a bivi I can watch the sky until I fall asleep, and that is a real luxury. The same can be said for being in a hammock, and where I know I can find good woodland I will always use a hammock: my favourite set-up for wild camping. The last time I used one was in jungle areas of Assam in northeast India, and it was an incredible experience (some concerns about tigers, rhinos and one elephant that came legging it in my direction were not necessarily highlights!). For me, the best thing about wild camping is being alone and isolated in nature, exposed to the elements and feeling a part of it.

Sam Needham wild camping and cycling the faroes | Image: Sam Needham

There is an attitude towards camping that it is ‘roughing it’, but I do not agree with this. I acknowledge that a room with a big, comfy bed, heating, and brick walls does offer luxury and security, but that does not mean that camping must be rough. I want my camps to be as comfortable and enjoyable as possible because if I sleep well I will feel better and be able to push myself the next day on the trail. For me, camps are about relaxing, unwinding, and recovering from the day on the trail, so that I am set up to put in a really good effort the next day. The better the camp, the better the journey. As an example, when using my bivi in a woodland area in the sub-Arctic, I could just lay it down on the sleeping mat and sleep, but if I spend a few minutes building-up a spruce mattress I will have about the most comfortable mattress I could wish for and fantastic insulation to keep me warm – even below minus 40 Celsius.

Where was your most memorable wild camp?

Where to begin?! Animal encounters rate very highly. One year in the Yukon I had a wolf come up and start sniffing and poking around the kit on my sled, before sniffing me and strolling off into the night. That was pretty special.

That said, I think the most memorable wild camp was just inside the Arctic Circle in northern Canada near the border between the Yukon and Northwest Territories. I was there as support crew for the 6633 ultra race, and had been booted out of a car on a mountain pass. The area was remote and sometimes subjected to brutally high winds, so the race organiser stationed me there in case a racer got in trouble or wanted to see a friendly face. I set up my single-skin tent as an emergency shelter and stored all my kit inside. I then used a shovel to build up a fairly vast, circular windshield - big enough for me to sleep inside - dug a cold well into the centre, and cut some steps down into it. A coyote came over to inspect my work, before heading off and melting away into the darkness. That night I enjoyed watching some of the best Northern Lights I have ever seen; I just lay in my sleeping bag watching this green curtain of light extending down dozens of kilometres from space, swaying above me and filling half the sky. It was absolutely incredible. I stayed there for half the next day, sitting down and listening to music under a brilliant blue sky, without a cloud to be seen, and the white snow with its crystals shining out like diamonds everywhere. I have had some fantastic wild camps, but that one trumps the lot.

Mark Hines' most memorable wild camp in the Arctic | Image: Mark Hines

How do you choose a spot to camp?

This is what I think about and the sorts of questions I ask myself when I’m getting tired and looking for a place to wild camp:

Check the ground

What is the ground like? Is it flat? Anything that might damage the tent or cause discomfort? Any sign the ground is waterlogged or might be? If in hilly terrain and there is a chance of rain, might water get funnelled towards the camp?

Any signs of large or potentially dangerous animals that suggest this is a spot best avoided (even in the UK I’ve had a stag get furious at me for camping in his woodland, and on another occasion a small herd of cows and horses appeared together because I had apparently chosen their favourite tree to bivi under).

Check the surrounding area

Any danger of falling rocks or trees? Is the area too exposed if there is a thunderstorm? Are you likely to be disturbed during the night or morning by walkers, vehicles or people in nearby towns / buildings? Sleeping close to a river can be lovely, but is the camp in danger if the water level rises?

Plan before you put the shelter up: do you have everything you need?

Do you have access to sufficient water?

What is the bug situation?

Being close to water or in damp areas of woodland will increase the chances of attracting mosquitoes and midges. An area exposed to higher winds will mean fewer bugs.

Do it properly

Time spent ensuring the location and camp set-up are both very good is time well-invested. The reward comes in the form of a better night’s sleep and being in better shape for the next day as a result.

You can read about more about Mark's exploits in our Daring Deeds or at markhines.org 

https://www.alpkit.com/spotlight/guide-to-wild-camping

The Bird Nest and Tinder Bundle

10 Fire Starters You Probably Have At Home

Turn these unexpected items into a cheerful campfire

BY TIM MACWELCH

1. Crumpled Paper Products: Newspaper, paper towels, toilet paper, and scrap paper are go-to items for starting wood stoves and fireplaces. A dry bit of paper can be a lifesaver in campfire building as well. Bonus survival use: Crumpled balls of paper make good insulation if stuffed into your clothing.

2. Cotton Gauze: Raiding the first aid kit for tinder is a sure sign that you’re in an ugly situation. Paper-wrapped cotton gauze is there as a wound dressing, but it’s also very flammable.

3. Tampons: Cotton fiber feminine products serve both hygiene and medical purposes, and when ripped apart they make a great tinder.

4. Plant-Based Cloth: Any dry cotton, linen, or other plant-fiber clothing or cloth can be burned in a pinch. You won’t want to waste cloth if you are in the outdoors and your supply is limited, though. Tear off strips to burn, rather than using the whole item at once.

5. Dryer Lint: This dusty fluff is explosively flammable when it consists entirely of cotton fibers. Just keep it dry and it will light with sparks or an open flame.

6. Wood Shavings: While saw dust is flammable, a small pile of wood shavings will have a looser structure and a better surface-to-air ratio for combustion. If you are a woodworker, save some shavings to build your next fire.

7. Greasy Chips and Snacks: Fritos are not only a delicious snack with lots of calories, but they are a surprisingly good fire starter, as well. Just apply an open flame to the edge of any fatty chip and watch it burn like a torch. Most any chips you have in the cupboard will work.

8. Cardboard: This one is simple enough, but it can also be improved. Soak a little melted wax or grease into the cardboard for a better burn time. The wax will also provide some waterproofing.

9. Plastic Fiber Cloth and Rope: Unless the item has been treated with some flame retardant, plastic ropes and cloth will burn when exposed to an open flame.

10. Cotton Balls: Either dry cotton balls or ones soaked in petroleum jelly will make a great fire starter. The dry ones will burn for 20 seconds or so. Greased-up cotton balls will burn up to 5 minutes.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2013/01/10-fire-starters-you-probably-have-home

Self Feeding Fire - 14+ Hour Fire

How to Keep a Campfire Going Under Heavy Rain

Even a novice outdoor enthusiast will remember to bring something to start a fire with on his first foray into the woods. It can be as basic as a box of matches, a disposable lighter or the more exotic magnesium fire starter. Anyone of those mentioned will enable him to start a campfire; but can he accomplish the feat under a downpour?

A fire starter is useless during a downpour unless one has been schooled on survival skills or tutored by a how-to article such as this. A skilled outdoorsman will always have dry tinder on hand to start a fire with. Tinder is any material that catches fire quickly and easily.

It can be wood shavings, lint or newspaper strips. The most practical and efficient fire starters, in my opinion, are cotton balls saturated with petroleum jelly (Vaseline). When saturated well, these cotton balls resists moisture absorption and burn much longer than ordinary tinder; the chance of getting a fire started during a rainfall are much greater.

Dukal 801 Cotton Balls, Non Sterile, Medium, White

The cotton balls are also very easy to pack and do not weigh very much. It is a necessary item on novice’s “must-have” list that needs to go into his backpack. He will also make sure that it is sealed in a waterproof container which, more often than not, is simply an ordinary ziplock bag.

The following scenario separates the novice from the seasoned outdoorsman. What do you do you are out of tinder but have an urgent need to get a fire started under the constant rain? Will frustration get the better of you and simply give up? Here’s what I would do.

Victorinox Swiss Army Pocket Knife

A Swiss knife is useful for uneventful camping trips. However, on extended hikes, where you will have to contend with the random whims of Mother Nature, I always advise people to pack a heavier knife. A Bowie knife or a similar one not only conjures images of the frontiersman of yore but is an essential piece of equipment for extended trips. Here’s why.

Winchester 22-41206 Large Bowie Knife

After a day’s trek, you finally reach your campsite only to find it waterlogged from the incessant rain. You’re chilled to the bone and need fire not only to warm your body but to also cook the evening’s meal with.

The wet conditions have exhausted your tinder and there isn’t a dry blade of grass or twig to start a fire with.

Your heavy knife now comes to your rescue. How? Here’s the first answer to that “how” - to keep a fire going it must be under some kind of shelter or roof. You need to have poles to erect a shelter with and a Swiss knife simply wouldn’t be up to the job of chopping heavy branches.

The second answer to the “how” is this – when everything around you is waterlogged, only the stoutest dead tree limbs will have a dry inner core. You need a heavy knife to chop into the dry core and shave tinder with.

This activity can only be done under the shelter of course so it is assumed that your tent has been pitched prior to this activity.

Another “must have” that needs to be in your backpack is a couple of large heavy-duty trash bags. They can be used as emergency raincoats or in this particular case, as a waterproof roof for your campfire enclosure.

Let me point out that in Tropical countries plants with very large leaves are abundant and make excellent waterproof roofing materials. The Ti plant has such leaves but nothing will better the huge taro leaves which are virtual umbrellas.

I digressed. To continue, a length of paracord is another vital “must have” that has to go into your backpack. You never know when you need to hang something to keep it away from wild animals or perhaps jury rig broken equipment with paracord. In this particular rainy scenario, the paracord will be used to tie the spreaders onto the posts of the temporary fire shelter.

Here are some tips when building a roof shelter for your campfire

• The 4 posts of the structure should be stout enough to carry considerable weight. Remember that everything will be waterlogged and much heavier. The attached drawing will provide you with a good idea why stout posts are needed. I usually use at least 1 ½” diameter posts to support the aggregate weight of drying firewood, a firestop fashioned out of forest debris found on the ground and odds and ends to weigh the trash bag cover in place.

How to Keep a Campfire Going Under Heavy Rain

• ​The distance between poles should at least be 20” to prevent them from being scorched by the fire and also to dry firewood of ideal length.
• The fire should be started on a bed of logs to elevate it from the saturated ground. This also negates the need to dig a runoff ditch around the shelter and as the fire burns into the logs you will have the long-lasting ember.
• Never use rock as a platform for your fire. This is quite dangerous unless you know how to identify rocks that can withstand extreme heat and not burst like a grenade. I know what kind of rocks to use because we actually used them for cooking our “kalua” pig in our “Imus” (underground oven) back in the days in Hawaii. But I am digressing once more, google this Hawaiian method of cooking if you want to find out more about it.
• The roof of your cooking shelter must at least be 30” from the ground to prevent the rising heat from scorching your plastic trash bag (or even a spare jacket or raincoat for that matter). Remember that the low part of the roof slope must be away from you for better access into the fire shelter.
• A drying rack must be incorporated into your shelter to enable you to stock up on firewood and kindling in anticipation of more rain.
• Source:https://gigacamping.com/keep-a-campfire-going-heavy-rain/

5 Tarp Shelter Setups for Bushcraft and Camping in the Woods

I hope you agree that this video is very useful :)

The Dakota Fire Hole

By Survivalman

Unless you are a survivalist, you are probably not aware of the Dakota Fire Hole, and even some of you who are adventurers may not know about this gem. Sometimes referred to as the Dakota Fire Pit, this way of building a fire is superior over all others. In fact, most people who try one for the first time, never go back to other fire building methods.

The Dakota Fire Hole uses less firewood and fuel to keep it going, even though it may take longer to build and require more effort. It is well worth it in the end when you realize how efficiently it works. The fire is hotter, it requires less maintenance, and is safer than other fires. It is also easier to cook with and has limited smoke. When you want to stay hidden this is a big plus, in addition to the pit concealing the fire flame.

Location

The location in which your build your fire is important. You want soil that is sturdy but soft enough to dig into.

• Do Not try to build in …

–Rocky dirt

-Wet dirt

-Water filling up hole

-Dirt with thick tree roots

-Dry and loose soil

Building Your Dakota Fire Hole

• The Materials:

–Shovel or stick to dig with

• The Hole:

–Dig a circular hole, in grassy dirt, that is about 10 to 12 inches around.

-Dig about on foot deep, and pull the grass plug out to save for later

-At a foot deep, dig a few inches wide going in all directions. This will make room for longer fire wood.

-Now you have 12 foot wide hole that goes down a foot and then gets wider to      about 15 inches around.

-The neck is the chimney, and the wider part is for the firewood.

• The Airway

 –This is one of the most important parts of the Dakota Fire Hole and what makes it so efficient.

-Determine wind direction by licking a finger and holding it up to the wind. The      side that dries fastest is the side the wind is coming from

-The airway will be built on the side from which the wind is blowing.

-At about a foot from your chimney hole, dig a 6 inch wide circular hole. Dig down             more than a foot, angling toward the base of your Dakota Hole, and intersect it by             digging into it. You should not be able to place your hand in the airway hold and   see it appear at the base of your Dakota Hole.

-Add kindling wood to the base of your Dakota Hole, filling it partially.

-Start the fire, preferably with a FireSteel. It will be harder with another kind of       lighter.

How It Works

• Hot air rises up the chimney creating a suction that pulls air into the airway tunnel, feeding the fire. Since it’s build on the windward side of the Dakota Hole, there will be sufficient wind.
• With oxygen continually feeding the fire, it burns at a hotter temperature and more effectively than fires that sit on top of the ground.
• You will use less wood to keep it going and the heat is funneled upward towards you.

Cooking

You can easily cook on the Dakota Fire Hole by placing a flat rock partially over the hole to use as a cooking surface. If you have camp gear for cooking, you can place a grill over the hole, or use pans on the hot rock.

Cleanup

This is where the dirt plug comes into play. Shovel dirt into the hold to cover the fire, which will smother it and put it out. Then place the dirt cap on top.

Summary:

A Dakota Fire Hole is great for camping or for survival in the wilderness. When using for camping, you can use your own cooking gear. If you are in a dire situation where you are hiding out and do not want other people to find you, this fire creates the least amount of smoke and the flame is hidden from view at night. When you clean up, there is no trace that you were ever there. The dirt cap hides everything, and you can re-use the hole at a later time.

A fire is essential to any camper or survivalist. It provides warmth and cooking ability. It is important to know how to build a safe fire, and also to learn how to keep it going. You don’t want to be expending all your energy feeding your fire which is why the Dakota Fire Hole is one of the best choices in fire making. Once it is built it is pretty self sufficient, with the airway feeding the flames which burn hotter and longer than a conventional fire. Always be safe and never build a fire near wild fire risk locations.

Source: http://survivalprofile.com/2017/07/15/dakota-fire-hole/