Making Camp

[CrystalHunter1989]

Often we hear stories about small teams of men, even entire armies, "making camp" in a certain place. I was at an army surplus store looking for a sleeping bag that would be appropriate for field use (unlike my other which is brightly colored and uses a noisy air mattress). Then it dawned on me: I have no idea how to make a camp. I have no idea how to position other members of my yet-to-be-formed team. I have no idea how to build my individual sleep sight to keep it as bug and critter free as possible.

I haven't had the chance to do any hardcore outdoor stuff. I'm also very tired when writing this, or else I'd just consult Google. Someone care to enlighten me?

[backwoodsboy]

Not an expert but heres some easy ones.

1. Stay away from roads, fresh water where they could find your camp and of course have routes where you can escape and not get trapped by natural barriers.

2. Have natural cover of course, from weather and bad people.

3. And last but not least, DO NOT SET UP CAMP WHERE PEOPLE CAN LOOK DOWN ON YOU FROM ABOVE.

[JohnyMac]

I can't speak strategically here but in the old days when we did a lot of back packing we used these tactics for a camp.

1) Needed a good water supply close by.
2) Summer we would set up camp as high as we could to get a breeze. This helped us stay cool and keep
     flying insects at bay.
3) Winter we would seek out ravines and or valleys to protect us from wind and nasty weather. When we could
     we tried to set up camp on the south facing side of the valley.
4) In the winter fuel was a bit more important than the summer. At first we cooked almost exclusively with wood
     but as we matured we cooked with back packing gas stoves and heated with wood.
5) In bear country a tree close buy to hang food in was important. A tree also was important when we used our
    hand made shelters/ lean too's.

Strategically I think you would need to add concealment to the above list and stay away from wood for heat and cooking.

[CrystalHunter1989]

Thanks for the replies. I'm mainly interested in the physical "construction" of the camp. My biggest concern, like I said, is being swarmed with ants or bitten by a poisonous spider and rendered combat ineffective. Winter takes care of this problem in most parts of the world.

[Kentactic]

-Dont camp under dead trees, they fall over(sometimes even living ones cause problems when the spiders start dropping at night too but thats for you to test in your area)

-Dont camp in a area that might flood. Even if its not raining where you are it might be where that dry river bed comes from.

-Camp on flat ground. Even a minimal grade is a pain in the ass. If your in a tent youll constantly be army crawly to the high end of the tent throughout the night.

-Figure out where the prevailing wind is and get something between you and it. For example if you had a wind coming from the west you wouldnt want to have your camp/shelter facing west. Youd want to face east.

As far as avoiding insects. The only sure way is being in a sealed tent. If your in a military bag in the dirt you better make peace with bugs. Id deffinatly spray my exposed face with bug spray though. Fire might keep some bugs away but might attract things that like the light or need the heat. My worst case is waking up with a rattlesnake curled up next to me for warmth.

As far as tactics go id say just be hidden well and able to fight well if you are seen.

[crudos]

I just can't sleep on the ground anymore as I get older. Been looking at simple cots to keep me above the ground. Sure it's extra weight, and one more thing to carry. But I'd rather get good sleep and carry something extra, than no sleep at all. Plus I'm above any critters who might slither or crawl by. Just my couple of cents on the topic.

[APX808]

The key to protect yourself against insects, is to create distance to the floor, that will help you with heat lost too.
In order to do that you can use a hammock or create a raised platform using logs and branches.

After constructing the platform you can create a fire under it, and put a lot of green leaves on it to create smoke that will scare the insects, obviously that is dangerous in a tactical situation.

Anyway, insects are scared of humans and they usually will run away, but living in the woods is shitty, you'll need to hard the fuck up and get accustomed to insects, you'll get bitten eventually.

BTW: You'll find many different kind of refuges to build with branches and logs in any survival manual, I like SAS Survival Handbook.

[special-k]

I concur with APX (and most other experienced campers); a hammock is the way to go.  It does away with the problems of hard/cold/wet/buggy/snakey ground.  The main thing is to learn the proper knot(s) to use for fast set-up and take-down... there are an ass-load of videos on YT on the subject.

[thatGirl]

If you're planning to sleep in a tent, you should be okay.  As APX and SK said, a hammock and tarp are a good way to go (if you have trees).  They make special quilts for hammocks that will even keep you toasty in the winter.  Another option is a bivy bag which you can zip closed to keep the creepy crawlers out, but I'd suggest making or buying some kind of hoop to keep from face sucking the top of the bag all night and having nightmares about being buried alive...

If you chose to sleep on the ground (even if you're in a bivy bag or tent), sleep on a ground pad.  It will provide a barrier between you and the ground which means more comfort (I understand, Crudos!), you're insulated from the ground so you're not losing/gaining heat to it, you're eliminating some of the gaps where insects or snakes can curl up underneath you, and you're less likely to be moving/rolling all over the place in your sleep which may keep you from tossing and turning onto another critter.

Any of those shelter strategies should work, but always remember to check your boots and other gear in the morning for stowaways.  That's one of many good reasons to carry a good pair of work gloves-- put them on and check your boots for spiders before putting them on...

[CrystalHunter1989]

APX, I have no problem getting bitten as long as it's just that, a bite. I can pack itching cream in the rucksack, lol.

What about the use of ponchos and poncho liners? The way I understand it, you use the liner to stay warm when sleeping and a poncho to stay dry/concealed. Correct?

[APX808]

This is the quick refuge using the hammock and the poncho:



Be careful with creams/bug repellents as their scent can be felt from far away, so in tactical situations isn't recommended.

The ground pad as thatGirl suggest will help you keeping the temperature when sleeping on the floor, but is really bulky.

The use of the poncho and poncho liner are basically what you mention, although if is the only thing you have, you can roll yourself inside the poncho and that also will keep you warm, at least warmer than using nothing

The kind of refugee you use depends a lot of the climate, tactical considerations (such as visibility, noise, time to mount/dismount refugees, traces left etc) and what you're carrying in your BOB.

My suggestion is for you to go out and spend a few nights on the field in your OA, try to do it in different seasons also, the best way to learn about refugees is go out and try them, in my experience bugs were never an issue, but cold... That can fuck you up, specially if you can't have a fire.

[CrystalHunter1989]

Thanks for all of your help, guys. I have to rely on other people's experiences until I have time to go out and do it myself. My AO is certainly humid. Summer is quick in coming (except this year) and winter is very late. Almost no snow, very little rain. I'll take all of this into consideration.

[crudos]

Very light-weight camping cot....

http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2012/04/lightweight-camping-cot-that-folds-up-into-your-backpack.html

Most I've seen are around 10 lbs., give or take. This is probably pretty pricey, but with something like this, you gtg anywhere you want to drop camp for the night.

[APX808]

Very light-weight camping cot....

http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2012/04/lightweight-camping-cot-that-folds-up-into-your-backpack.html

Most I've seen are around 10 lbs., give or take. This is probably pretty pricey, but with something like this, you gtg anywhere you want to drop camp for the night.

250-300 bucks? Around 10 lbs? Are you out of your mind?  Carrying 10 lbs extra for a few hours will reduce considerably your mileage.

A key point here is, are you just going camping or are you really planning to bug out or run patrols?

Modern life standards are not compatible with life in the field, they are two absolutely different topics.
In the field your "bed" sucks, cold sucks, bug sucks, rain absolutely sucks, food sucks and life in general fucking sucks.

[crudos]

Very light-weight camping cot....

http://www.thegearcaster.com/the_gearcaster/2012/04/lightweight-camping-cot-that-folds-up-into-your-backpack.html

Most I've seen are around 10 lbs., give or take. This is probably pretty pricey, but with something like this, you gtg anywhere you want to drop camp for the night.

250-300 bucks? Around 10 lbs? Are you out of your mind?  Carrying 10 lbs extra for a few hours will reduce considerably your mileage.

A key point here is, are you just going camping or are you really planning to bug out or run patrols?

Modern life standards are not compatible with life in the field, they are two absolutely different topics.
In the field your "bed" sucks, cold sucks, bug sucks, rain absolutely sucks, food sucks and life in general fucking sucks.

The one is the link is 2.5 lbs. The usual cot is around 10 lbs or more, and is of course, way too much weight. For me, once you get around 2 lbs, then it seriously becomes an option. That is all I was saying.

[JohnyMac]

Talking about bug bites: A good friend dabs tooth paste on bug bites. She claims that the tooth paste alleviates the itch and helps to bring down the swelling. I haven't tried it yet as bugs tend to not "bug" me however she swears by it.

[CrystalHunter1989]

Talking about bug bites: A good friend dabs tooth paste on bug bites. She claims that the tooth paste alleviates the itch and helps to bring down the swelling. I haven't tried it yet as bugs tend to not "bug" me however she swears by it.

Hm. If it's non-scented I could definitely see a valid use for it. Have multi-purpose items is great.