Tag Archives: dd tarps

Woodland Wild Camp

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I’ve been hankering for a wild camp for a while and at the weekend I came up with a good plan. I’d identified a potential good camping spot in one of my local forests a while ago. I initially had it earmarked for a potential hammock camp at the end of the Summer but never seemed to get around to it. I was hoping it would be good for a ground camp too and I was hoping to set up a tarp tent to take advantage of the mild weather and get a more open woodland sleeping experience.

The plan involved heading up to the forest in the afternoon to identify the best location and set up camp. Then head home again to do a few jobs around the house, have dinner and return to camp in the evening hoping to get a nice dawn chorus and cook breakfast outside.

It didn’t work out as well as I hoped 🤣 Have a watch of the video below to see how I got on.

backyard camping

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Last night I finally got around to taking my first step towards a proper wild camp before the end of the summer. I bought a DD 3x3m tarp a few weeks ago and have been watching many videos about how to set it up as a summer tarp tent. Yesterday evening I finally got around to setting it up in the back garden as a trial run, to iron out any problems and test out some of my, now very old, gear.

this sleeping bag must be 20+ years old but very warm!

first time actually using this bivvy bag

Finding it more cramped than expected I’ve watched a few more videos this evening and realised that I should have set it up slightly differently and I would have had both more headroom and space to lie out.

Other things I learned last night:

  • I can still get excited about very simple things – took me ages to relax enough to actually get to sleep
  • Needing a pee at 3am is more complicated in a sleeping bag and tent!
  • Listening to heavy rain from the inside of a tent is strangely soothing when you are inside dry and warm
  • The flat bit of our garden isn’t – there’s a very slight slope that’s only noticeable when lying down
  • For a place in the middle of the country there’s a lot of noise at night.
  • I was very surprised by the amount of condensation inside the tarp this morning but the grass was soaked when I pitched which could have been the cause
  • The night air smells and feels different when sleeping outside

I’ve also learned from YouTube that a hot chocolate before bed is pretty much compulsory for expert level wild campers.

I have plans for further “proper” wild camps over the next few weeks but I definitely need to invest in a proper sleeping mat very soon, these old bones need a soft surface to lie on…..