# Free/wild camping tips



## Blue Hills (1 Jul 2018)

Can any of you nice folk offer good tips for finding free camping spots when touring?

Or tales of places you have freecamped/bivvied?

Particularly unlikely ones?

No precise locations of course. Can't be having those on the web.

I do have an arrangement with an individual to share spots.

On the understanding that any wider publicity for spots will result in, some fine or windswept day, a cross and mysterious mound of earth being discovered by a stray dog/walker.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Jul 2018)

Beer gardens. Pitch tent after pub closes and with permission.


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## Blue Hills (1 Jul 2018)

That's interesting.

In this country?

Have you done it? More than once?


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## Milkfloat (1 Jul 2018)

Woodlands, pitching after the dog walkers have gone home.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> That's interesting.
> 
> In this country?
> 
> Have you done it? More than once?



Yes and yes and few have kept the toilet access unlocked.


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## Blue Hills (1 Jul 2018)

YukonBoy said:


> Yes and yes and few have kept the toilet access unlocked.


Do you offer any deal to them, to drink/plaster yourself the evening before/to buy breakfast from them?


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## Blue Hills (1 Jul 2018)

Milkfloat said:


> Woodlands, pitching after the dog walkers have gone home.


What time do you reckon the dogwalkers disappear? I always had the idea that it was possibly rather late, possibly walking off a row with spouse/bending the dog's ear about the madness of it all.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> Do you offer any deal to them, to drink/plaster yourself the evening before/to buy breakfast from them?



Usually eat there and have a drink. But do not get plastered or anything.


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## raleighnut (1 Jul 2018)

User said:


> And just before the doggers arrive?


At least there is 'entertainment' on tap. 

My 'freecamping' is pitch at dusk and away near dawn, or at least get the tent down then cook brekky.


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## Gravity Aided (1 Jul 2018)

In the States,(OT) I used to ask the small town volunteer fire department, or village hall if I could set up there, or in a park.


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## Gravity Aided (1 Jul 2018)

Carry one of these, for exterior building hydrants.


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## raleighnut (1 Jul 2018)

Good advice here for camping in America, might work in the UK

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...howtocam.htm&usg=AOvVaw0AvJsxv5-VpsMyR2y8Zy2T


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## Dayvo (1 Jul 2018)

Me and a mate slept in a football stadium in Denmark. I rolled out my exped in the stand (lie-downs) and snuggled down into my sleeping bag. Slept excellently.

Put our tent up on the grassy part of a quiet-ish petrol station in Sweden. 

Slept at the back of a supermarket (on the unloading bay) in Germany.

Slept in the open in the middle bushy/treed bit of a large roundabout in France.

My cousin was getting married near Oxford and the do was at a fancy hotel. My girlfriend and I camped in the spacious grounds of the hotel. Next morning we showered and breakfasted as normal guests. 

As long as you're out of sight, you should be safe. Toilet facilities are handy to have near by, otherwise take it with you (at least to the nearest rubbish bin, otherwise dig and bury it). 

Make sure you've got water to last the night: food can be bought in the morning.

Just go and do it.


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## MontyVeda (1 Jul 2018)

Back in the day, when 'wild' camping was just called camping... I / we would find a secluded spot and pitch after sundown. I've camped on the top of Swinside near Keswick (not very flat), on the banks of Windermere and Coniston (both a bit rocky), amongst the trees on Windmill Hill near Avebury (perfect), and just outside the circle itself on a subsequent trip. We pitched up on the edge of a field once, only to wake up to find we were camped on a track used by a sizeable herd dairy cattle; with said cattle all trundling along it in our direction... never packed up a tent quite so quickly before or since! We were once woken by a grumpy farmer in Cumbria who demanded £1 each before telling us to clear off. Just gotta play it by ear, and be prepared for that grumpy farmer... although that's only happened once.


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## Gravity Aided (1 Jul 2018)

raleighnut said:


> Good advice here for camping in America, might work in the UK
> 
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwidvdbZsf7bAhVlIsAKHWd8CO8QFggnMAA&url=http://www.phred.org/~alex/kenkifer/www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/humor/howtocam.htm&usg=AOvVaw0AvJsxv5-VpsMyR2y8Zy2T


That won't work in Louisiana, and some parts of Missouri and Illinois. Louisiana is also still under Napoleonic Code, you're guilty until proven innocent.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Jul 2018)

Obvious tips are pitch late, leave early, leave no trace. Remember farmers may be up early to tend to the work of the day.


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## Ming the Merciless (1 Jul 2018)

Don't light open fires unless below the high tide mark of a beach etc. The wild fires should reinforce this.


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## ColinJ (1 Jul 2018)

Avoid areas likely to be problems for midges/mosquitos ...

A friend wild-camped in Spain on a foggy night during the Franco era and was woken up at sunrise by 2 angry gun-toting soldiers - he hadn't noticed that he had strayed onto a military base!


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## Heltor Chasca (1 Jul 2018)

Never had any issues. Well once in France but it was minor. The Gendarmes on duty were ok in the end. Churches are a destination I haven't tried. My dark heart starts to hurt within 2 metres of the door.


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## Blue Hills (1 Jul 2018)

User46386 said:


> Graveyards, if anyone says anything say the tent is there for an exhumation.


I wouldn't put a tent up in a churchyard. Well not unless it was very big with "spare" space. Wouldn't seem right. I have identified a few for bivvying though.


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## Randomnerd (1 Jul 2018)

Jungle hammock for me. Great sleep if you insulate beneath you well, and easy to leave very little trace. I travel very light so I can get the bike well off the trodden paths, and pick woodland well away from doggers or doggies.
Going tonight for four days. First thing to pack is very good Insect repellant. Ground coffee, Aeropress, ready cooked, flavoured rice sachets, chorizo, tinned tuna, Leatherman, water. That’s about it.
Lightest Optima gas canister stove will make all the coffee and porridge I need. Eat a big pub dinner before your pitch.
Don’t share your best pitch spots with anyone! They’re yours.


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## Milkfloat (1 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> What time do you reckon the dogwalkers disappear? I always had the idea that it was possibly rather late, possibly walking off a row with spouse/bending the dog's ear about the madness of it all.


Usually just as it is getting dark, but be aware it gets dark earlier in the woods, so setting up can be a pain.


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## Heltor Chasca (1 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> What time do you reckon the dogwalkers disappear?



When the werewolves come out.


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## Gravity Aided (2 Jul 2018)

Heltor Chasca said:


> Never had any issues. Well once in France but it was minor. The Gendarmes on duty were ok in the end. Churches are a destination I haven't tried. My dark heart starts to hurt within 2 metres of the door.


Having been a warden and a vestryman in the past, I'd say a church would be an ideal destination, maybe not fundamentalist evangelical as the dress codes for cyclists might clash, but, at least in the States,Catholic, Episcopal/Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian would probably welcome a visitor from other lands.


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## Blue Hills (2 Jul 2018)

woodenspoons said:


> Jungle hammock for me. Great sleep if you insulate beneath you well, and easy to leave very little trace. I travel very light so I can get the bike well off the trodden paths, and pick woodland well away from doggers or doggies.
> Going tonight for four days.


Interesting. Have always been iffy about them. Worried about a collapse I suppose and injuries. Back injuries. A real concern? What do you do if there are no suitable trees? Which one do you use?
Rain?


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## ColinJ (2 Jul 2018)

ColinJ said:


> Avoid areas likely to be problems for midges/mosquitos ...


Actually, those would be _GOOD _places to camp - I meant '_avoid areas where there are likely to be problems *with *midges/mosquitos_'!


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## Crankarm (2 Jul 2018)

Grave yards are very peaceful. No problems with noise.


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## steveindenmark (2 Jul 2018)

It may help to know in which part of the world you intend to camp. Up to now we have pub gardens in England and places in the USA.


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## Blue Hills (2 Jul 2018)

steveindenmark said:


> It may help to know in which part of the world you intend to camp. Up to now we have pub gardens in England and places in the USA.


If that's a question for me steve, anywhere. I was mainly looking for general principles, though specific types of places also welcome, as long as the country is made clear, if relevant.


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## steveindenmark (2 Jul 2018)

Denmark. An excellent site Shelter.dk Dozens of free wooden shelters. Often with toilets and hot water. You find them all over the country. I wouldnt bother bringing a tent.


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## Hill Wimp (2 Jul 2018)

FB is full of sites/locations you can wild camp here and abroad.


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## Blue Hills (2 Jul 2018)

Hill Wimp said:


> FB is full of sites/locations you can wild camp here and abroad.


Is FB the dreaded FaceB? Apart from avoiding that as much as I can for all sorts of reasons, anything found in there doesn't exactly sound private/hidden/secret. I would have thought you might well wake up to find yourself amongst a rave/drunken/drugged party.


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## Cycleops (2 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> Is FB the dreaded FaceB? Apart from avoiding that as much as I can for all sorts of reasons, anything found in there doesn't exactly sound private/hidden/secret. I would have thought you might well wake up to find yourself amongst a rave/drunken/drugged party.


Just going to sign up! And to think I've been avoiding their invitations to join for years.


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## snorri (2 Jul 2018)

raleighnut said:


> My 'freecamping' is pitch at dusk and away near dawn,


This wouldn't give me sufficient time for sleeping.


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## jongooligan (2 Jul 2018)

For some practical advise on finding spots to pitch have a look at Alastair Humphrey's site

His ultralight cycle touring page is quite useful too.


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## Blue Hills (2 Jul 2018)

My own fairly limited take on it.

Quite often the best or at least perfectly decent places can be overlooked because they seem to be "too close" to stuff.

In fact this can be handy.

I have bivvied on a verge with light tree cover no distance at all from a dual carriageway.

And put the tent up in another verge not far at all from a road where I could see the cars but they couldn't see me.

Both were roads where cars where unlikely to stop.

IF they did see me/something, they would wonder for a while about what had flashed before their conscious/subconscious mind, but by then be several hundred metres down a road where they weren't going to turn back.


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## Brains (2 Jul 2018)

Over the years i've done a lot of Stealth and Wild camping

Wild Camping - in most of the French Alpine National Parks, as long as you do "7a7" (Don't pitch before 7pm, tent down before 7am) you can 'usually' get away with it, although been woken up at 05.00 by Italian Rangers more than once (perhaps they start earlier than French ones)

Stealth Camping - Football fields are alwyas good; Pub gardens, many a time; The garden of a doctors surgery (with 5 tents and river view) was special, it was a wekend so no one to ask!; A disued stables; WWII fortifications; The 10th tee of Rock golf course, excelent camping grass, perfectly level. Groundsman was unimpressed!; Beaches, many beaches; Several city parks; Communal City gardens; Fields next to campsites (a bit naughty, that one); Many a farmers field, witrh permission where possible; 100m down a random track off a minor road; Woodland, all over the place; The grounds of a statley home (done this several times, allways a good stealth camp); Car Parks, and they often have loos; ...... and many more ....

I think I've been asked to remove a tent perhaps 5 times in the last 30 years.


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## Blue Hills (2 Jul 2018)

Brains said:


> Pub gardens, many a time;



nice post brains, thanks. 

About the pubs, did you ask?

I did come across a pub last year somewhere Suffolk Norfolk way that was marked on my OSM as a campsite. I asked in the pub and the folk behind the bar seemed a bit bemused by my enquiry. After a brief conference they decided on a fiver. The only facilities were that the pubs external toilet and basin were left open overnight. No shower or anything else. Since it was so basic I couldn't help but wonder if an offer to buy a couple of pints and some food would have secured it, such as it was (some grass and a toilet) for free. I didn't stop as I was hurrying on.

I have in the past put a tent up on a cinder Italian football pitch.

Dome/geodesic/freestanding tents are great things.


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## Ming the Merciless (2 Jul 2018)

snorri said:


> This wouldn't give me sufficient time for sleeping.



Plenty of time if you do it in winter


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## FishFright (2 Jul 2018)

Cycleops said:


> Just going to sign up! And to think I've been avoiding their invitations to join for years.



Its handy to remember you don't have to be you on there if you don't want to keep up with friends and family etc


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## Milkfloat (2 Jul 2018)

I once got woken up by armed police in Kent. I setup on the beach and they confused me for a smuggler, the buggers actually moved me on at 3am, I just wanted to go back to sleep.


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## Drago (2 Jul 2018)

You going to bivvy bag, or rig up a basha?

The film Deliverance is chock full of tips for wild camping.


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## Brains (2 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> nice post brains, thanks.
> 
> About the pubs, did you ask?
> 
> ...



Pub Garden Camping:
Usually in Winter:
Before you arrive, scope out camping options, the Village Green, the Local sports field, the extra land behind the allotments, the school fields, local playing grounds, and the local pub garden
Turn up at the pub
Eat a meal, drink a few pints
Get talking to the landlord and regulars
20 mins before closing asking about local fields for camping in, suggest the garden, usually yes, sometimes no, often the old outside loo left open, and a couple of times breakfast has been thrown in.
Usually free, othertimes a few quid.


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## jongooligan (4 Jul 2018)

Most comfortable - a leaf filled moat around an Iron Age Fort
Smelliest - inside an old crane in an abandoned quarry
Weirdest - woken at 3am by loud voices. Peeped out of bivi to see two cross-dressing persons marching past in high heels. This was on Esk Hause in the Lake District, miles from the nearest road. Still wonder whether I was hallucinating.
Scariest - woken by an earthquake. Jumped out of my bag with the intention of running to safety before it dawned on me that you can't outrun an earthquake
Second scariest - wrong side of a dry but very wide storm drain with a thunderstorm rumbling in the distance. If the drain had flooded we could have been stranded for days without food or water.

Best ones have been on the shores of various Scottish lochs but they have been on canoeing trips where it's easy to carry lots of luxuries. We once had a game of table tennis on Loch Awe.


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## HobbesOnTour (7 Jul 2018)

Definitely my most interesting experience was on the rod to Verona, in Italy. I was racing against an incoming storm when my saddle pin snapped about 30 km from Verona. Walked along the road until I came to an unmanned, 24 hour petrol station just as the storm broke. Broke out my stove and made some coffee and food (amazing how hot food can lift your spirits) and tried to figure out the best option.

The station was a little strange. While I was there, 2 SUVs arrived and guys in semi-military clothing had a long talk and started transferring big boxes from one van to another. I was studiously looking elsewhere. Eventually as the clock was ticking close to 11 pm, I decided that the back of the station would be the home for my tent for the night. There had been a shop/cafe as part of the station, so I went behind, ducked under the red/white plastic tape that was keeping people away from the fire-damaged rear of the station and set up the tent on a rough bit of grass.

Just as I was about to get into the tent, a car pulls up and the driver is straight over to me telling me to move! I figured out too late that there was an alarm and going behind the "lines" I had set it off. In some despair I started taking down the tent and preparing my self mentally to walk along the road. (An earlier scouting mission had shown no likely camping spots, only very well fenced farmland or vineyards). But as it turned out, my tormentor became my hero. He just wanted me to move outside of the screened off area! He seemed to understand without the building I was more exposed, so walked over to me and pointed up at a light pole and showed me the (very small) CCTV camera, and then another and intimated that as long as I was between the 2, I would be safe! (Of course, he may also have been warning me that I wasn't to do anything silly, as Big Brother was watching!)
He wished me a good sleep and headed off.
I was terribly impressed with the calmness and friendliness of this stranger who I was responsible for dragging out into a nasty thunderstorm on a Saturday night!


On the same trip, I had my favourite wild camping experience in a mountain valley in Austria. I breezed past my likely campsite for the night because the evening was just so nice. I was on a perfect road that all the traffic disappeared from about 6 pm. The sun was going down and the colours and shading of the valley was a joy to cycle through. The stars were slowly coming out and with the clear air the sky was becoming the most beautiful ceiling. I didn't want to stop, just keep cycling along enjoying the colours, the views, the whole experience.

Eventually about 11 pm, I turned off into a vineyard, went aways from the road and turned down one of the rows.
Didn't even throw up a tent. Put down my sleeping pad and fell asleep looking at the Milky Way glowing what seemed to be just above my head.

My biggest issue wild camping appears to be my snoring! One morning at a wild camping spot, as I was making my morning coffee, a guy emerged from the woods beside me to tell me that he could hear me snoring all night long! So now I look for places that I'll not be seen..... and heard!


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## reppans (7 Jul 2018)

My wild/stealth camping routine

- Survey Google Maps satellite view for large block of densely wooded land
- I prefer public land/parks/preserves which you are allowed to be in during daylight hours.
- Load up on water late in the day before hitting camp. For me, 4L provides a shower, dinner, adult cocktail, B'fast, dental hygiene, and 1L to ride next morning.
- Use a stealthy tent (eg, forest green), silent alcohol stove, and low lumen (ideally sub-lumen moonlight mode) flashlight.
- Pack light and small, I can backpack my pannier and shoulder carry my Brompton for ~half km, and the bike fits inside my vestibule at night. 
- Hike a foot trail a few hundred meters off a roadway, and then bushwhack off the foot trail until you are out of its sight. High ground will get you out of sight faster. The deeper you go, the more you can relax and take your time, and the better the wild camping experience will be. 
- In public land/park where you are allowed daylight hrs., then you can enter early/leave late, do everything you need to (shower, cook, relax). However, the tent and bedding is what technically crosses the line so don't unpack that until it's rather dark, and they are also first to pack up when you wake.
- Use a trowel to bury poop, pack your toilet paper out, Leave No Trace Rules, obviously no fires.


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## Gravity Aided (7 Jul 2018)

I always try to be on the highest point of ground in dense vegetation, because people just don't look up.


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## DanZac (8 Jul 2018)

As above the most important thing is being prepared, scope out likely sites before dark then head back at dusk.
Know what your going to need kit wise and have it at the top of your bag, the last thing you need in your hidden spot is loads of messing about with lights looking for tent pegs or such like. Then kit out and into bed quick time, the highest chance of getting caught is when your up and about and making a noise, once it's dark and your still it's pretty hard to spot someone, it's the movements and noise that catch your eye.
Be flexible, I always carry a hammock, tarp and bivvy bag, which still weighs less than a tent (I tend to wild camp more when walking than on the bike so it's not quite so easy to move on) but that way there is always an option. This weekend I've been in the bag Friday night in the long grass at the edge of a field and in a lovely wooded spot in the hammock last night.
I try and avoid anywhere with "keep out" signs and fencing too, if someone's gone to the trouble of putting up signs and fences on their land it's a pretty good indicator that your not going to get woken up with a cup of tea if they find you!


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## Ticktockmy (8 Jul 2018)

Having wild camped for some 50 years, both backpacking or cycletouring, the rules are simple, Pitch late, leave the site early, use a dark coloured tent green or grey to to blend into the background or a similiar coloured tarp, find a site that shielded by hedges, undergrowth or find woodland that is dense enough to provide cover. I tend too spot a suitable site then go pass and find a pub or cafe or even shelter to cook my evening meal, then come back later set up your tent or tarp, into bed. In the morning take down the tent or tarp, move out early and find a suitable place to cook ones breakfast. However, you have work out if its safe to to treat it like a normal stye camp site or a stealth site.


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## Blue Hills (8 Jul 2018)

Drago said:


> The film Deliverance is chock full of tips for wild camping.



Packing extra lube?


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## Carsong57 (8 Jul 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Most comfortable - a leaf filled moat around an Iron Age Fort
> Smelliest - inside an old crane in an abandoned quarry
> Weirdest - woken at 3am by loud voices. Peeped out of bivi to see two cross-dressing persons marching past in high heels. This was on Esk Hause in the Lake District, miles from the nearest road. Still wonder whether I was hallucinating.
> Scariest - woken by an earthquake. Jumped out of my bag with the intention of running to safety before it dawned on me that you can't outrun an earthquake
> ...


With reference to the Scottish lochs, be mindful of the dreaded Scottish midges................


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## jongooligan (8 Jul 2018)

Carsong57 said:


> With reference to the Scottish lochs, be mindful of the dreaded Scottish midges................



Always take someone tastier than you, bivi where it's breezy, light a smoky fire, drink lots of beer & whisky to disguise the CO2 on your breath.


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## ColinJ (8 Jul 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Always take someone tastier than you, bivi where it's breezy, light a smoky fire, drink lots of beer & whisky to disguise the CO2 on your breath.


Hmm - *I* am the tastier one. I once shared a room with 2 others in Corfu and they didn't get a single mosquito bite during the entire holiday. I was getting 20+ a night! I don't like breathing in smoke, and I have given up booze. That's '_Wild camping in Scotland_' crossed off _my _to-do list!


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## Crankarm (9 Jul 2018)

Drago said:


> You going to bivvy bag, or rig up a basha?
> 
> The film Deliverance is chock full of tips for wild camping.



And friendly yocals.


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## Crankarm (9 Jul 2018)

Carsong57 said:


> With reference to the Scottish lochs, be mindful of the dreaded Scottish midges................



Apparently it is only the female midge that actually does the biting, up to 4,000 times a minute. And there are trillions of them. Some say they are the SNP's deterrent of choice to keep the English out.


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## Blue Hills (9 Jul 2018)

Crankarm said:


> Apparently it is only the female midge that actually does the biting,


True? What's all that about? What are the males doing while all this is going on?


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## saoirse50 (9 Jul 2018)

The male dies after mating. The female carries on laying the eggs so needs food to sustain her.


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## saoirse50 (9 Jul 2018)

Wild camp spot choice is fairly common sense driven, I suppose, but there’s nearly always a compromise to be made. I like to wake up with a nice view, to be as close as possible to a water source, but not so close as to run the risk of flooding, to be sheltered, especially from early morning hot sun in summer, but not so sheltered as to be a haven for buggy biting things, to be as level as possible, but pitch head highest if this is difficult. Some of those can’t be compromised, the flooding one for example. I once camped up by a lochan, I think near Creag Meagaidh, a fair and, I thought, safe distance from the shoreline. Torrential rain for a whole day and night and woke up with the waves lapping at the foot of the tent. 

I’m heading up to Dartmoor for a couple of days soon. Never been there before so that should be fun.


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## Tin Pot (9 Jul 2018)

reppans said:


> My wild/stealth camping routine
> 
> - Survey Google Maps satellite view for large block of densely wooded land
> - I prefer public land/parks/preserves which you are allowed to be in during daylight hours.
> ...



What’s an adult cocktail?


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## Randomnerd (9 Jul 2018)

jongooligan said:


> light a smoky fire,


Or not. 
Please don’t encourage new wild campers to light fires. That’s where we struggle to get a decent reputation. No fires ever needed.
Jungle Formula works for me.


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## raleighnut (9 Jul 2018)

woodenspoons said:


> Or not.
> Please don’t encourage new wild campers to light fires. That’s where we struggle to get a decent reputation. No fires ever needed.
> Jungle Formula works for me.


Or a Citronella candle.


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## Ticktockmy (9 Jul 2018)

I am one of the lucky peeps who are stinky enough for midges to keep them from biting, however, I still suffer from having a midge halo around me, just no bites.


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## Heltor Chasca (9 Jul 2018)

This weekend a pub was going to let me kip in their garden, but drew the line at letting me have access to facilities. I get that. Leaving the pub open for a stranger was too risky. And as I needed to be awake at 03:15 for an Audax, they weren’t going to get up for me. Don’t blame them.


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## Randomnerd (9 Jul 2018)

raleighnut said:


> Or a Citronella candle.


Hmm....nit-picking I know, but it's still a fire.
And I wouldn't want to rub one all over.
@Ticktockmy may have the answer, with their refusal ever to wash an armpit.


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## Randomnerd (9 Jul 2018)

Heltor Chasca said:


> This weekend a pub was going to let me kip in their garden, but drew the line at letting me have access to facilities. I get that. Leaving the pub open for a stranger was too risky. And as I needed to be awake at 03:15 for an Audax, they weren’t going to get up for me. Don’t blame them.


What do you carry for your audax sleep? A bivvy bag and mat? I'm interested in doing a few DIY longer rides, but wonder at the right set-up to get comfort and the necessary speed. I go everywhere at touring speed if I'm wild camping. Maybe audax would mean I'd just have to get fitter and go faster? Does this mean I get to need a new bike?


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## Blue Hills (9 Jul 2018)

Ticktockmy said:


> I am one of the lucky peeps who are stinky enough for midges to keep them from biting, however, I still suffer from having a midge halo around me, just no bites.


Maybe you should bottle and market your essence.


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## raleighnut (9 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> Maybe you should bottle and market your essence.


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## Heltor Chasca (9 Jul 2018)

woodenspoons said:


> What do you carry for your audax sleep? A bivvy bag and mat? I'm interested in doing a few DIY longer rides, but wonder at the right set-up to get comfort and the necessary speed. I go everywhere at touring speed if I'm wild camping. Maybe audax would mean I'd just have to get fitter and go faster? Does this mean I get to need a new bike?



I use the following lightweight setup when bikepacking over a night or two which is exactly what I’ll use for longer DIYs:

Space blanket (to protect my mat and packs to a pocket tissue size)
Thermarest Trek mat (rolls down to a beer can size but is nearly 3” thick
Mamut Blow up pillow (rolls down to a match box size)
Alpkit Hunka bivi (small as I am short and packs to a large soap bar size)
Rab down jacket (beer can size)

No sleeping bag. That’s what the jacket is for.

A few of these ideas have been nicked from Andy Curran’s YouTube videos. I get cold from the ground temperature and if you are only going to sleep for a few hours, it’s worth getting a good rest on a mat. 

I think touring speed is ok for most Audax rides. I am somewhere in the middle of the crowd at 20-23kph and I always have plenty of time so mechanicals don’t scare me too much. Taxi fares do if it is a bad one. 

I don’t faff at controls on calendar events and on DIYs you can fly along so I normally complete these quicker. I like a mix of social calendar and DIYs.

New bike? That depends on how infected you are by the N+1 bug.


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## ColinJ (9 Jul 2018)

saoirse50 said:


> The male dies after mating.


_ALL _males of every species die after mating - it's more a question of how long it takes! 

At my age, I don't think I'd take a 20 minute offer, but I would probably agree to 20 years. Dying in 2038 with a smile on my face sounds pretty good!


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## Blue Hills (9 Jul 2018)

I have bivvied in a Sussex wood I later discovered was used for shooting parties. Someone who knows more about such things than me reassured me that it would have been outside the hunting season. Tips for avoiding such places in season (still have to figure out when) much appreciated.


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## ColinJ (9 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> I have bivvied in a Sussex wood I later discovered was used for shooting parties. Someone who knows more about such things than me reassured me that it would have been outside the hunting season. Tips for avoiding such places in season (still have to figure out when) much appreciated.


Considering what happened to Greg Lemond (), that would be very useful information!


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## reppans (9 Jul 2018)

Tin Pot said:


> What’s an adult cocktail?



Dehydrated Vodka drink - I multitask 190 grain alcohol (aka Everclear) as stove fuel, and also general purpose cleaner, solvent, sterilizer, antiseptic.


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## HobbesOnTour (9 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> I have bivvied in a Sussex wood I later discovered was used for shooting parties. Someone who knows more about such things than me reassured me that it would have been outside the hunting season. Tips for avoiding such places in season (still have to figure out when) much appreciated.



No tips, other than to be aware of the official hunting season (and unofficial if one exists!) wherever you are.

Reminds me of a couple of winters ago, on the spur of the moment I headed off for a weekend on the bike. Checked out a campsite that would be open and headed off. Google Maps (like I said, it was spur of the moment!) was fine for most of the 50 odd km but near the end brought me into a forest and got me totally lost going down ever smaller paths. Pitch dark, snow on the ground I had no idea how to get to where I wanted to go. I followed my tracks back to the road and tried to ride around the forest, rather than through it. Thought I was getting closer, but still had to go back into the forest. Same story. Deep in the forest and lost again! Well, not lost - just there was no way to get where I wanted to go!
Looked around and thought that actually, it wasn't such a bad place for a camp!
Was just getting ready to unpack when I realised I didn't have enough water with me to cook, so I took off out of the forest again, got on the road and took a long & winding road to the campsite.

I was kicking myself for my 2 errors - using Google Maps and not bringing enough water, until the next morning when I cycled back through the forest..... a rather large part of it was used for training by the Dutch army - and some of the places I had cycled through were off limits - but in the dark I had missed the signs!

I live close to the Belgian border and there are some great spots for wild camping which would make great overnight trips, but apart from hunting, the issue is criminal activity - mainly the dumping of chemicals used to make synthetic drugs. Some nasty people wandering around these places at night.
Maybe it's the local knowledge bias that scares me off using those areas, but if I was a stranger cycling through these areas, I'd be spoilt for choice to camp.


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## Randomnerd (9 Jul 2018)

Blue Hills said:


> I have bivvied in a Sussex wood I later discovered was used for shooting parties. Someone who knows more about such things than me reassured me that it would have been outside the hunting season. Tips for avoiding such places in season (still have to figure out when) much appreciated.


You’ll find all the season dates here https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/shooti...ng-season-pheasant-pigeon-deer-stalking-32229 and they don’t vary much from year to year.


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## jongooligan (10 Jul 2018)

woodenspoons said:


> Or not.
> Please don’t encourage new wild campers to light fires. That’s where we struggle to get a decent reputation. No fires ever needed.
> Jungle Formula works for me.



Think you took my reference to a smoky fire out of context. It was specifically about keeping midges at bay on the shores of Scottish lochs. I've been doing that type of wild camping for over thirty years with lots of different people and organisations. I don't remember any of them camping on Scottish lochs without lighting a fire. It's an essential part of the experience for me and many others.


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## Crankarm (10 Jul 2018)

jongooligan said:


> Think you took my reference to a smoky fire out of context. It was specifically about keeping midges at bay on the shores of Scottish lochs. I've been doing that type of wild camping for over thirty years with lots of different people and organisations. I don't remember any of them camping on Scottish lochs without lighting a fire. It's an essential part of the experience for me and many others.



You'd have to be extremely careful at the moment as everything is so dry. In fact there might currently be local prohibitions in place on lighting fires. A single small spark could start a huge wild fire.


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## jongooligan (10 Jul 2018)

Crankarm said:


> You'd have to be extremely careful at the moment as everything is so dry. In fact there might currently be local prohibitions in place on lighting fires. A single small spark could start a huge wild fire.



Currently canoeing on the River Wye and staying in a mediaeval priory. No need for any fires here. Could do with some more water though.


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