pre-trip worries?

[HaYWiRe]

Wildcamping is one worry for me too, and I'll be honest and admit most of my camping is at campsites. Nearly always the basic kind with no amenities but still paid for and and with running water.

My partner is always worried about people walking past but you're right in saying its unlikely. Setup late/leave early is a given, but my worry is dealing with the rare chance someone finds out as my social and communication skills are...well....sketchy.

I have yet to go on a trip where I don't know where I'm going to sleep, even wild camping was pre planned. I admit this isnt in the spirit of the forum but I partially put it down to confidence and a rather visible tent. I'm hoping a lighter and more adaptable shelter will solve this aswell as excepting the unknown

Convincing my other half of this however could prove tricky

[voodoo_simon]

I'm happy once I've found a spot to camp, used to get worried about it, now it's turned into more of a thought than a worry. Last months bivi, a couple told me about the locals finding a foot in the woods I was about to camp in the week before, they were both laughing that I has two myself Was talk of the village!

I find if you have a pre planned wild spot, then the worry rises. If you arrive early, then you have to sit around trying to avoid the farmer or the public

[barney]

I'd say almost 80% of my trips end up with me sleeping in a spot I'm familiar with.

Admittedly it does restrict my bivi routes but if it means I have an enjoyable and stress-less trip then I'm happy.

[Yorlin]

have people wander past or have a farmer get annoyed with me in the morning.

Very few people are up and about in the countryside after dark, the chances of any of them being in the vicinity of where you've setup a bivy is minimal.

Farmers are only going to be around early morning during or just after lambing time or occasionally during hay making. These days many farmers have lambing sheds to lessen their losses due to intemperate weather so perhaps even this is less likely. This has had a curious side effect in the Lake District where ravens have struggled to find carrion because there are fewer/almost no lamb carcases in the fields.

So long as you setup your bivy where you can't see habitation (ergo, they can't see you) or shine bright lights everywhere you aren't going to be pestered by anyone.

Yes but I've seen gritty channel 4 dramas (and Silent Witness) - murderers roams them thar hills at night! Listening for the rustle of cuben... or that noise a slug makes when it goes up your nose

[Bearbonesnorm]

In all honesty, I've never had any awkward confrontation while sleeping out. Sure, I've been woken up by the odd excited dog out on an early morning stroll but the owners have always been either (a) chatty and friendly (b) too nervous to approach a wriggling / giggling body bag in the woods.

Axe murderers generally don't roam the hills at night on the off chance of finding a victim, farmers don't wonder round with loaded shotguns shouting get off my land every twenty seconds and IMO, you're much more likely to receive unwanted attention on a campsite than in the open (quiet, unpopulated) hills.

Don't take this the wrong way warning: Many people live in built up areas where it's easy to build up a sense of threat and distrust. The folk you're likely to meet while 'out there' usually don't share these feelings ... so try leaving yours at home. You'll find your trips become much more rewarding if you do.

[ctznsmith]

Well said.

[HaYWiRe]

I live in probably the closest thing to British suburbia, no city dweller but probably couldn't consider myself a countryman either. I'm surrounded by beautiful countryside but I'm never more than 3 miles from a small village in these valleys. I really need to take to the mountains.

Something I've always found ironic us how safe some people feel in a tent but how exposed they feel under a tarp. Now while I still haven't gone to a tarp myself I certainly dont see how 20d nylon dome is going to protect me from an axe murderer!

One fear my other half has expressed, and while very very unlikely could actually more scary than any farmer or dog walker.....teenagers!
Young idiots up the woods burning and destroying anything, and they genuinely think they can take on the world! Now I have the scars to prove what some kids are capable of, and a big reason why I head to the hills on my days off.

[Bearbonesnorm]

One fear my other half has expressed, and while very very unlikely could actually more scary than any farmer or dog walker.....teenagers!
Young idiots up the woods burning and destroying anything, and they genuinely think they can take on the world! Now I have the scars to prove what some kids are capable of, and a big reason why I head to the hills on my days off.

Kids will rarely venture more than 200m from a road ... make sure, you're at least 500m

[HaYWiRe]

All the more reason to camp in places that are hard to get to!


I've got to be careful where I live, 800m from a road and I've gone up and down the next valley and landed back in their territory

[deft punk]

More when I'm asleep. I'm constantly on edge for noise. Have never got more than a few hours sleep outdoors.

I've always been lucky that I sleep like a log, unless it's rutting season or I'm close to a town since I never seem to fully settle then. Any pals I've taken out seem to lose that hypervigilance after a few trips so presumably experience brings comfort.

[Matt]

Sure, I've been woken up by the odd excited Dan

[Bearbonesnorm]

Here's a thought ... rather than see finding an overnight spot as a problem, why not consider it a challenge or a quest? After a while you develop a kind of sixth sense. Here's a cracker Mike sniffed out

[rowlandpg]

More when I'm asleep. I'm constantly on edge for noise. Have never got more than a few hours sleep outdoors.

I had this last summer in the america for the first week, couldn't sleep at all for fear of bears (only black bears around, no food in tent, 0 risk). The way I got over it was to sit there and rationalise it in my head every night, and after a while I got used to it.

Why would someone care about you setting up a tent in a field for one night (a few hours really) and leaving no trace? It's not logical. The probability is that no one will even see you if you leave early. It really is irrational to be worried! (but of course our minds are irrational, which is the problem)

[whitestone]

I grew up in the country on a fairly remote farm so the sounds, smells, general human/wild life don't really bother me. In addition to that I've done lots of alpine climbing and bivvying out on routes so even more "exposed" than under a tarp. So it would be very much a perception thing or lack of familiarity - I've a friend who's afraid of sheep for example.

Also, once it's dark it's surprisingly hard to find a tent/tarp unless it's been pitched right next to a road or path.

[Richard G]

Logic really doesn't come into it... and no, it's not a fear of axe murderers. I'm more worried about someone half inching some of my stuff as they pass by (or as previously stating, running into someone that's annoyed because I'm on their land or something).

Sure, that's city boy thinking, but that same attitude has done me right over the years.

Oh, and I've already run into a number of people pissed off that I'm crossing their precious land, so it's not without precedent.

...as for finding an overnight spot being a challenge. Ask Duncan L how that challenge felt at 4am after a ridiculously hard first half of the Braunton 150.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Oh, and I've already run into a number of people pissed off that I'm crossing their precious land, so it's not without precedent.

Were you on a legal RoW?

I'm more worried about someone half inching some of my stuff as they pass by

Who's passing by FFS?

as for finding an overnight spot being a challenge. Ask Duncan L how that challenge felt at 4am after a ridiculously hard first half of the Braunton 150.

It's a 'race'. If you're tired simply lie down and go to sleep ... it's not like you're actually camping, you're just having a rest. The Audax boys seem to manage very well with bus stops.

[Richard G]

Well, in the end on that one we ended up basically plonking ourselves on a footpath just off the fireroad because we simply couldn't find any flat ground... so walkers in that case.

...and I can barely sleep under a tarp, I'm not going to just be able to "lie down and sleep". To be fair, I struggle to sleep generally. Have never fallen asleep on a flight, a ferry, a coach, watching a film, on a sofa... anything like. I appreciate it's different for a lot of you, not expecting you to get it, it's just how it is for me.

On the pissed off farmer / landowner thing. Yes, it was a legit bridleway. Doesn't really stop people being pricks though, and I'm not generally fond of confrontation because I have a tendency to go from 0 to Spanish temperament in about 3 seconds flat.

[cyclingtiger]

True, there's nowt wrong with a good bus stop. I've spent plenty of napping in rural bus shelters. Although on one occasion I was hassled by some locals who thought I might want a proper bed for the night instead of dossing in a drafty hut at the side of an A road. When I explained that I was just getting a restorative 15 mins before riding another 150k there was a moment where they might call adult social services. Fortunately at that time a small group of other riders turned up and I think the locals just abandoned all hope of samaritanly duties in the face of unstoppable insanity.

My favourite audax hotel though it when I was hauling up through North Lincolnshire at silly o'clock and was starting to doze off in the saddle. I was thinking about whether I could find a bus shelter when it started raining. I spotted an open gate to some poly-tunnels in a field, the nearest of which had an open door. I nipped in just as it started lashing it down. Took advantage of the moment and lay down on a nice flat patch beneath the potting tables for a half hour nap. When I got up the rain had stopped and the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Perfect timing, although I did smell a bit rural for a few hours afterwards.

[whitestone]

Maybe Richard and Haywire need a trip to the Scottish islands - the locals get slightly offended if you lock up your bike. The attitude is "don't you trust us? Who's going to nick it?"

There's sites where you can view crime stats (of all sorts) and once you get out of towns and cities it drops to near zero. We live not far out of Skipton, nearest village is a mile away, wide social mix (let's be polite) in the area. Crime? Basically a few domestic shouting matches and some fly tipping.

[Bearbonesnorm]

This thread sent my mind back to a simpler time of youth, green hair and this album. Perhaps one for Dave and Scott?

[barney]

Don't take this the wrong way warning: Many people live in built up areas where it's easy to build up a sense of threat and distrust.

I agree Stu, where I live sadly far too many people are a potential bike thief/mugger/undesirable and I know that sounds a bit "Daily Mail reader" but it's probably the reason for my paranoia in the countryside.

I'm on a mission now to have a new outlook, think of it as a second new years resolution along with being able to touch my toes (which I'm also failing miserably with )

[Mariner]

Just looking for possible bivy spots for a ride next week on Dartmoor.
Zoomed in on one possible site only to find its called Evil Combe.
Think I will give that one a miss.

[slarge]

On the subject of not sleeping well outside, there are things called hip flasks - they can help you sleep like a snoring baby if emptied before you turn in.

The only time I ever got disturbed was when bivvying on the Great Orme in the corner of the cafe garden, a couple of scallies were snooping around the cafe at 2am and spotted me. Not sure who was more surprised though - they soon disappeared, and my only worry was of they came back to have a bit of fun at my expense (whatever that might have looked like). (I might have been that cafe's own security guard that night).

If you are worried about being found in the woods or fields, don't be, there is no one out there more nuts than you.....

[Richard G]

Ha, have tried that. Have also tried Nytol. Neither seemed to have much of an effect.

[slarge]

RG - you need a bigger hip flask