I was taught by a master bushcrafter many years ago that tenting on a slight incline is always preferable to flat ground in that you place your head and equipment on the uphill side and if any rainwater does get in it'll drain out towards the bottom. He also recommended we dig a little trench along the upper side allowing for any rain water to flow around the sides and away from our sleeping area. best advice I've ever gotten and I still do it this way 35 years later
@@Guggu3d I guess you could kinda call it a french drain? and yes, we all ways backfill the trench and police our campsite. Our motto is leave it better than the way you found it...
A) I've never slept on flat ground in a tent unless it was a designated "tent" spot. There was always an incline. B) You forgot to mention looking for "widow makers" which new backpackers need to know about. Rain may or may not happen. Wind is almost a guarantee. Both can make for a very very bad night if you set up in the wrong spot. Great job as always.
Personally I prefer a slight incline. If my feet are above my heart I sleep thru the night comfortably, type 1 diabetic and my feet get cold on the flat or if they are low but if they are high it's good news for me.
I like setting up on a slight incline with head higher than feet. Also if tent leaks due to bad storms the water goes towards the door with all clothing etc stored towards highest area inside tent to stay dry.
As every hammock hiker knows, sleeping with your feet higher than your heart means at least one visit to a tree during the night. Leg edema comes off gradually at night.
I went camping a few times with my father when I was little, and apparently my father was a great teacher because I knew all of this and more by heart. To the point where I once setup camp along 70 other people and during the night we had HEAVY waterfall, and when I woke up the water was to the line of the bottom of the tent and the inside was still completely dry. Everyone else had their tents flooded.
Another staking tip. When you take down your tent, release the tensioners on the guy-lines so they have slack in them again. Then when you set up the next time, you have room left to tension back up to remove the slack from your lines and tension the tent/flys properly. I have seen many rookies that do not know how to properly use a guy line and have them cinched up near the top so that there is no slack to properly make the tent materials taut and functional.
I like to lay out my footprint/ groundsheet, then lay down on it. That way I only have to adjust the footprint and not the entire tent. Also gives you an opportunity to check the things above your tent
@@georgepotcovaru913 are you talking about what I do? With my backpacking tents I always have a footprint to save wear and tear on the floor of the tent. That is the first thing that gets laid out. I scout out where it looks fairly flat and lay out the footprint only. Then I lie down on it to see how the incline is, (do I have to put my head on the other end, or adjust it somehow). As I am down, I am looking up at what will be above my tent, so I can see if there are deadfall’s, (large broken branches that are still snagged in the tree), bee/wasp hive, (I’ve had a couple spots like that!), etc. If something looks like it could fall and crush my tent, I’ll move the footprint, which is much easier than moving the whole tent after setting it up. If you don’t have a footprint, then just lay out the body of the tent and do the same before setting it up.
Adding. Look for ground wasp holes. Use a ground cover tarp. Use sealant and moisture repellent. Take extra tarps and duct tape for wet weather, spent many weeks camping in rain,stayed dry and it was great, no other campers during the floods, so we fished, played card and dice games, read books, and had the nearby caves to ourselves.
That is a great point that a lot of people overlook about taking a few extra tarps with you!! BUT I also throw in a roll of rope, along with my duct tape as well!! If you can find one, an old Boy Scout Handbook will show you how to make waterproof matches and fire starters, which can be a game changer, and I think Walmart even sells those items in the camping section if you don't have access to materials!! Another thing to think about is taking a spare tent, that is smaller to store your gear in as well!! Some tents are rather small and having a place to get your cooler out of the blazing sun all day WILL save you from having to replace ice in thirty minutes and can keep your other supplies dry as well too!!! It also is NOT a bad idea to make what I would call a "Camp Kit"!! Take a medium sized Rubbermaid tote with a lid and fill it with your duct tape, rope, extra tent stakes, a couple of candles (the candle stick kind), a block of Paraffin wax, a few extra trash bags and some spare camp lantern mantles and a BIC lighter or two!!! A few other things to throw in to that kit would include an SOS pad that has steel wool around it or a cheap bag of steel wool And a few unopened bottles of "travel size" soaps, shampoo and dish soap!! Making up this kit will save you in a lot of cases for some of the "strange things that can happen" while camping!! And the "kit" doesn't have to be that big either, about the size of a large shoe storage box that can store a pair of boots in!! AND the steel wool can be used to start a fire in case you are out of fire starters, but you have access to a battery, even a 9 volt battery will cause the steel wool to burn in case you need it!!
@@oakmaiden2133 the cave with the largest natural opening is there, a helicopter has flown into it. Most of the caves are large, but personally I don't camp in caves, as there are no hook ups for my projector, expresso maker and gaming PC.
I have been using a cheap Remington (I believe it was sold as a 4 man tent) tent for 24 years now. It sets up easily with 1 man, even on windy days. I have had it up for 4-7 days in rain and heavy snow. This year I had my first problem. I have an 8 month old puppy and by the third day of watching me, he figured out how to unzip the door. I now have a hole (Stake) in the floor so I can tie him in at night with me. He won't run away, but I don't want him getting into it with a skunk, or worse, a bear. I see you mostly use back pack style tents. Stay away from the ones that have elastic rope in the poles to "Quickly" pop them together if you winter camp. The elastic freezes and you can't get the poles together.
Adding. Your tent stake lines should be an extension of the seam line. You get a better taut pitch if you don't angle the tent stake line away from the seam line.
As an eagle scout myself, I'm not as picky with my tent location as I could be. I have my preferences, flat open land with tall grass that creates its own cushion is awesome, but a lot of times at scout camps I don't really have much choice, so we mostly just deal with it. The incline issue isn't so big, just put your head uphill. You're absolutely right about the water issue, but I've had a few bad storms where my tent has been in a few inches of standing water afterwards, and my MSR has been bone dry inside. Above all else, if I'm tire enough, I'll sleep just fine! Great video, lots of good info for beginners (Especially the stake bit)
helpful video! i have camped with folks who are completely unexperienced and 100% these are the most common mistakes. I would add this mistake: they also have no real idea how to set up their own tent. Once i ended up setting up 4 tents on a trip lol. bunch of newbies but thats just fine! i like setting up tents...main mistake there is just not knowing your tent well enough to get the best set up. sounds corny, but being famaliar with your gear and its optimal use makes a huge difference.
Thinking back over the past 35 or 40 years of regularly going camping - I've definitely made every single one of those mistakes at some point or another, and a few trips were multiple mistakes on this list all in the same trip.
My first night backpacking was horrible. The weather was crappy, and it took me way to long to get to camp, I ended up setting my tent up in the first clear spot I found, and did not realize it was on a huge root. I was just too tired and hungry to care. Thank you for this video. I'm going go use these tips on my next trip!
One thing I've noticed helps a lot, at least with tents that hook to the poles rather than sleeved poles, is if you stake the tent out flat before putting the poles in. It helps to get the bottom layed out flat and taught and just makes for a generally better pitch in my experience.
An easy mistake to make is leaving your ground tarp exposed passed the rain fly. Any rain will collect under your tent and soak through getting your gear wet.
Yeap... just learned that the hard way a couple nights ago 😂 luckily my house is two minutes from the state park so I just took my bedding and kids home for the night. We are learning... slowly. I call it training camping lol
First Dan Becker video I ever watched! Spent the last 45 minutes scrolling down my UA-cam history to figure out what got me started on this whole backpacking thing over a year ago. First two backpacking videos I ever watched was from Mylife Outdoors, and this was the third one. Saturday 16th of July 2022. Then, UA-cam's algorithm did its thing and since then I've watched hundreds if not a thousand backpacking videos. I've also logged more than 200km of trips on my All Trails with 55 more coming next week when I'm hitting the Laugavegur trail in Iceland. Thanks for everything Dan! Hope you are doing OK all things considered
Those are good tips that I figured out over the years. One that I learned the hard way on one of my 1st BP trips is not to brush away all of the ground cover, pine needles, etc that will be under your tent. I camped over a pre-swept spot from another BPer. That night it rained pretty good, & all the water pooled underneath me. It was like I was on a waterbed. So leave the ground cover, just remove sharp objects like pine cones, etc.
What your doing with the pegs corner to corner is exactly the same as in construction and engineering when you have what’s called ‘sequential tightening’ where you evenly tighten or load the bolts or anchor points to even out the stress load . Incredibly simple and obvious thing too do but like so many ‘lightbulb’ moments only once someone has actually told you about it ! 😉 keep up the good work bud 👍
There are times when the only available spots to pitch a tent are sloped. As you stated, if you need to do this, set it up so it aligns with the slope, one end up and the other down and make sure your head will be on the upper side of the slope. Water drainage is also very important as you stated. My only issue I ever had was when I was on the receiving end of a 75 mile + straight line wind and my tent became partially airborne. When I hiked out the next day, the wind event was in the news with flipped semi-tractor trailers and some buildings knocked down and others damaged.
You forgot some points to consider: 1) check and clear the camping ground of sharp sticks and stones that might puncture or wear down the bottom of your tent 2)watch out for red ants and other nuisances that might invade and bug you at night. 3) depending on the climate, try to catch the morning sun to warm up your tent for you.
Agreed. We always find out where is East and where is shadow before setting up tents. In summer shadow is better, in colder season/weather - sun can warm up your tent if you set it up at right place. Meeting sunrise as a bonus is very inspiring. Can’t wait for summer, lazy chilling in hammock is so cool :)
@@wickeddubz yeah, I always have some sort of pattern by which I assess camping locations. 1) comfort: level ground, quality of the soil and water drainage. 2) safety: dead trees and branches, stone overhangs and risk of falling rocks and avalanches, risks of sudden rising waters and a safe escape route to higher grounds. 3) comfort +: daytime shadow/morning sun location, annoying weeds or bugs, the view and sounds. And depending on elevation and the night temperatures maybe a location near open water.
@@wickeddubz exactly I run hot, sun turns your tent into an oven in the summer. Woken up at 6am boiling because the suns been on the tent for an hour already. Winter though its great.
After living in a tent for the past two months, I’ve learn a lot from my mistakes, I now have a 4 person tent with lots of tarps on top and two tarps under, with a Trench dug around my tent for any drain water to flow away from my tent instead of underneath. Also getting an air mattress helped exponentially especially with it getting cold now. Two 20 degree rated sleeping bags one on bottom and one on top help out significantly as well! Also dehumidifier bags are a must! Finally feels like I have my own home, just hope I don’t get ran off again on the new land I found, it sucks getting evicted
You should do a part 2 - Setting up on exposed or partially exposed rock. I've had to set up in spots that are just barren rock, or partially covered with a couple inches of moss. It's pretty common in some areas depending on the geology, etc. It's not as easy to get a nice taut tent when there isn't enough soil to peg properly.
I'd add ventilation to the list of things that should check. One of the most common reasons people have wet tents in the morning is simply from condensation from breathing all night. Good tent ventilation can really help with that.
Camping on the plains where everything looked the same, I pitched with one of my main poles aligned with North/South. Just helped myself orient easier. (at my age)
Another point I would add is to ensure your fly/vestibule is COMPLETELY covering the entire tent/footprint. Having a corner of the tent or footprint sticking out past the fly by not tightening the fly all the way can act as a wick and start to fill your tent with water when it rains.
If your ground cloth is larger then your tent footprint ALWAYS fold the excess ground cloth UNDER ITSELF!! AND never fold the ground cloth OVER itself!! The ground cloth will create an "envelope" and hold water in the pocket that is created causing your tent floor to puddle where ever that pocket is!!
Although we didn’t have free standing tents when I was a Boy Scout, (we had Army surplus pup tents with no floors), I learned these same general skills. Thanks for covering each step of the process.
Thanks. I'm starting with a tent. I don't need to push my self to tarp etc. Now I know basics, even though I spent 7 weeks in tent 20 years ago during summer when I was a teen. Thanks again.
Great video 👍 I organise hiking and camping trips so I’ll be passing this on to newbies. Only criticism is your points on setup in windy conditions. I know the right way, but I had to replay it several times and it’s not that clear.
I was camping with my son. We set up in a great little spot. We got back just ahead of the thunderstorm and took a nap. I woke up with the floor undulating and my son looked out. "Dad just go back to sleep and don't look out. I did. We waited, felt like Noah waiting for the waters to drain away. When we went out there was a water line, mostly yellow pollen which came to within an inch of the top of the bathtub floor, almost overtopping through the mesh. That was about 10 inches. We moved. And good job Sierra Designs.
For those without a freestanding tent, get a small (4-6”) plastic level. Tape or tie it to a tent pole or straight walking stick and lay that pole where you are looking at setting up. Turn the tent pole 2-3 times to see what it looks like from more than one direction. It will give you the quickest and most accurate view of the terrain with the least work.
The most common mistake I see new campers make when setting up a tent with a footprint is they let the footprint extend past the edges of the tent so if any water runs off the tent it will catch that water and direct it under their tent. I teach them to make sure their footprint is smaller than the floor and if it’s not, To fold the edges to the ground, not up forming a bathtub, and make sure it remains completely under the tent without peeking past any edges.
I’ve never heard it called a footprint before, I’ve heard more of a Ground Cloth (though it’s plastic) or Tarp. Though I definitely agree, that’s a very common mistake.
@@collinschofield808 The gear tech scene has driven a lot of changes to the vernacular - the REI crew was quick to correct me when I went to buy a 'ground cloth' . The big difference is, a ground cloth used to cost $15 - a footprint will set ya back 100$ ;) (in all honesty, the big difference is that a footprint is usually cut bespoke for the tent, and includes reinforced grommets and /or locating clips to integrate with the tent it is designed for)
@@ewingfox6459Also thank you for explaining! So it's a technical term. It's sometimes hard to understand the technical description (English is not my mother's tongue)
We set up tent along some small branches of a lake, up in Norway... During the night, a rotten tree fell in the stream and made a branch overflow and change direction... right through our tent... Always camp uphill from lakes/streams ect.
#4 is not just good advice for a comfortable camp, it can save your life. Lot of people around here like to put their tents on the river bank and the river can come up even if it isnt raining. (it can be raining up river) and literally wash your tent down river with you in it. There isn't any escaping that. Many people in my area drown every year in a tent that got setup on a gravel bank
Also most parks have regulations for how close to a water source you can camp for cleanliness not just safety. We don't want a night rain to flood the river and our camp, nor do we want our fire ash and trash to end up in the stream.
Been there. About 30 years ago without many rules, we had to scramble in the middle of the night to higher ground. Not a cloud In the sky, just something occurring high above us made the river swell to about 3x size. We were camping with toddlers too. Yes, they grew up and survived us.
I learned from an Indigenous man never to camp closer than 50m- preferably 100m from water: 1. the obvious, avoid the flash flood (look for old debris); 2. hygiene, you don't contaminate it with fire remnants, soaps/chemicals/ human waste, food debris ( and eat 20+m from your sleeping spot, ants etc) ; 3. get (further) away from mosquitos 4. don't spook the wildlife that are looking for a drink; 5. if you are looking to hunt wildlife try and get them 100m+/- as they are leaving the waterhole; and 6. if you are in the Northern Territory or far north Queensland you are that much further away from the crocs...
This helped me aloooot going camping for the first time and want to avoid any bad trips so i keep going plusThis guy also gave me jim from the office vibes 😂 !
Thanks for the video! Just a minor note: you might know your soil, but you shouldn’t push the ground peg down with your foot, in case you hit a rock. As your body weight will bend the peg against the rock before you notice the resistance, as it’s relative to the bending/material of your peg.
Good stuff! Thanks. I'm an old man now, but this eagle scout once slept on an incline, with my head on the downhill side. I woke up with a big headache. Lesson learned.
If you want to sleep in the morning, look for a shade spot during the sunrise. I do beach camping and when that sun comes up at 6:30 the tent is like a sauna(especially if the boys were drinking the night before)
Glad you touched on cold pools. I can't stress this enough with newbies. I have seen 20 degree differences within a quarter mile because of cold air poring off of high elevation mountains.
Free/semifree standing tent might not be the lightest. But man oh man do i love the ability to just set up the tent, and then being able to move it around, if im not happy with something.
Setup my Snugpak Ionosphere in a peat bog, seemed fine when it was dry. Very glad of the deep bathtub and high hydrostatic rating after it poured with rain over night. Joy of the Scottish Highlands....
I set up my Zpacks Duplex recently on a tent platform. Didn't realize the platform was rotted in one spot and the end of my tent pole sank into the wood a little so it was too low. The bathtub floor, as a result, was not high enough on one end, and it poured that night. All my stuff on that end of the tent got damp (not sopping wet fortunately.) So with a trekking pole tent, be careful of height! And yes, I learned about being sure the doors were zipped closed before staking things. Not doing that can really mess up your pitch.
Another reason to zip doors shut when taking down the tent -- it keeps at least some water out of the tent if you have to set up later in the rain. It does take some practice and care but it can be done well, particularly if the tent material is very water resistant / water proof.
@@panhandlejake6200 Great advice. Thanks. I have always been sure to detach the vestibule doors from each other before stuffing my tent in the sack. Not sure it made a difference but my thinking was that it would put less stress on the little plastic thingies. (You'd have to be familiar with the Zpacks 'plex design to know what I'm talking about). Now you have me rethinking that. If I set up in the rain with them "closed", that would also help keep water out of the tent.
For those who are out many nights every year in mountain country, sloping ground is inevitable sometimes. This is why I now often take a hammock which is NOT my preferred way to sleep, but it opens up many options for a quick overnight so an adventure can really be an adventure and not limited to a tourist schedule.
@@bovinicusdivinicus there's a thought. I'm trying to think of a scenario. Basically, a hammock sucks imo after giving one a long trial. It just utterly fails to provide back support. This is not so much an issue with young hikers I realize. But sometimes ground conditions suck much more...like the northern Cascades when rains begin (about this time of year). Rainy, muddy, sloping ground, etc., but no shortage of trees. Maybe the Sierra (idk) above the treeline or when ground is snow covered, but one would have to plan ahead (cut poles). I pack heavy by current opinions, but my only pole is a short slide arrester (my own hack), essentially a lightwight, lightduty (hiker style) ice ax, but my pack (framed) could actually be anchored to support one hammock end. Never know when a tip could lead to a useful bushcraft fix. Thanks for gettin me thinkin on that one.
OK I have something else I need to add here LOL!!! When i was a boy scout we used to do a "winter camping" exercise twice a year, and in Upstate New York it meant camping in weather that was literally 18 degrees outside in often two to three feet of snow!! One thing I learned from THIS experience is, to lay out your ground cloth, in the area where you want to set up your tent then dig the snow out of the footprint by as much as 6 inches or so, and where ever your tent door is add at least three more feet of distance to that area!! By digging into the snow to set up your tent, any wind will hit your tent at a higher angle and become a "wind break" as it does!! This means when you are sleeping you are actually BELOW where the wind if hitting the tent and the sleeping bag will stay warmer as you sleep!! If you can, dig all the way to the ground in the area you want to set up your tent will make it even more stable, BUT sometimes ice can prevent that!! You can also increase any "wind break" by making a wall of snow to which ever side of your tent the wind is coming from, just make it thick enough that it acts as a wall and is NOT close enough to your tent to damage it!!! A small scrap of material on a few tree branches WILL tell you which way the wind is blowing too!!
Helped one of my soldiers set up his tent on his first field exercise with us. It was on an incline but because of the location of our designated sleeping area it was about the best we could do while staying with the group. He was on an incline and I recommended we either scout out a better spot or we rotate his tent. He said he'll be fine so I shrugged it off and said ok. After the field exercise a different NCO who technically out ranks me was asking everybody what they learned. This same soldier that I helped with his tent responded, "If I have to sleep on an incline again, sleep feet down and not sideways." Everybody started laughing cause they all heard me tell him this.
Nice. The way I describe staking a tent is it's like tuning a drum (exactly how you did it), it maintains an even amount of tension and doesn't move the tent, potentially distorting the shape and creating hotspots where damage can build up.
Good points. May I add a few more? 1. Practice setting up your tent at home--even indoors if you have to. Watch some videos about your tent to learn the tricks. 2. Use big nails rather than stakes (if weight isn't much of a concern, say, if you are canoeing). They are indestructible and can be pounded into very hard earth. 3. Always use the fly during daytime. The tent does not have any UV protection and leaving it exposed to sun will quickly weaken it.
I add a second stake next to the vestibule stake you showed. The loose side of the vestibule zipper can be hooked over the second stake in order to make it easier to zip and unzip it without pressure on the zipper. Also allows me to partially close the rain fly instead of zipping it shut, for quick trips out of the tent.
Great video. I'd love to see one for setting up trekking pole tents. Despite using trekking pole tents for the past 3 years, and watching a couple of different videos, including Darwin's, I can never get the ridge of my Two as nice & tight as I'd like. Thanks for the tip about sticks at the head and foot of the tent. I'll definitely start using that one.
All great tips Dan. Only thing I didn’t hear you talk about in this video is looking up for “WIDOW MAKERS!” This is something that cold weather campers in particular should always be on the lookout for. Seeing that the branches often weaken by the end of the summer season from all the foliage, make sure you look up!!
Nothing like a big storm to “test” your site selection and tent prep and setup skills! Storms always come....usually in the dead of night. Due to practice, I sleep like a baby. Be well.
Had a tornado pass by my camp this October... 1 tent destroyed, 1 gone, 2 still there. If the 2 remaining 1 was like nothing happened, the other everything was wet. Don't leave things against tent walls, it wicks water in. Tornado just missed our camp for sure because 300 get away the farmers shed collapsed.
I figured out why he didn't mention widow makers. The title is "6 mistakes..." He probly wanted to talk about widow makers - but that wouldda made 7! 😉
Bring about 10 extra para cord sections about 3 feet long each. I backpack in the Sierra mountains in the summer where the soil or ground can and is very rocky and hard. Those very light aluminum tent stakes don't have a chance going into the ground. This is the time I use maybe 6 to 10 heavy rocks around my tent. Each of these encircled with a 3 foot para cord will hold my tent in the highest Sierra nighttime winds. I look for rocks maybe over 10 to 20 pounds that will withstand storm winds. We had one night above Lake Ediza near Mammoth Lakes about 3 miles off the john muir trail at about 10,500 feet elevation. There was a wind storm predicted for the higher Sierras near the minneretts for that night reaching 70 mph near the peaks. We were in a depression surrounded by trees behind maybe a 80 foot huge rock mound to provide wind protection. The wind blew all night with strong gusts that violently shook the tent with the fly all night. Every 10 to 5 minutes the tent shook from the winds. It was not a good nights sleep but a fitfull night. The tent did not move with the heavy rocks holding it stationary in these high winds. I always carry these 10 extra 3 foot sections of para cord for my tent . The extra weight is very small in a few grams taking nearly no extra space.
I read an experiment showing that 90 degree angle (perpendicular to ground) is actually the strongest angle when staking a tent. That's how I've been doing after reading it, and I've never had an issue even in sandy ground.
Allow me to pedantic. The angle he put the stakes in is shallower than 45. I’d say closer to 30 degrees. I find a slight angle helps keep the tent line on the end of the stake and it’s also easier to press into the ground with your foot (if you use your foot sink the stake into the ground)
From an engineering point of view it should be 90 degrees to the force that it is combating, so for a groundsheet or footprint vertical is good. For a guy-line you should have an angle and, depending on the tent design, flysheet may or may not require an angle. It's fundamental triangle of forces stuff. If you are not sure put your tent up in very soft sand and study which way the various pegs pull out.
Setting up tents was always fun. digging the drainage ditches. setting up the frames, then the outer body, and stitching the inner liner to it after. laying out the flooring, moving in the cots, lockers, tables, and equipment. bringing in the stove. sometimes even having to lay the power lines.
@@matthours1783 plumbing, the big 55 gal water drums, with the electric water pump and hot water on demand propane heater... canvas bathrub and shower, portable toilet and sink combo. Never used ac when camping but i prefer winter camping...
Great video and advice. There was one point where I don't agree, if I HAVE to sleep on an incline I would gladly sleep with my head on the low side of the incline. Especially if I had a long hiking day. It is very nice and soothing for the legs, sleeping with the legs low might make them swollen and badly rested the next morning. Of course, I'm talking about small differences here, I certainly wouldnt want my feet sticking up a foot or two above my head, but an inch or a few, that's ok.
Yes, I was going to make the same point. It's always better to sleep on a slight incline. It also helps with indigestion and headaches when you are eating unusual campfire food, at high altitude, and potentially drinking all night.
I think this would be based on age and fitness level also. A younger person with excellent circulation could focus on comfort and not be concerned about fluid build up in the legs. 40+ and maybe a little less athleticism… I agree it’s something to consider.
@@modestdaddy2000 I absolutely think you are right, age bring slower reconstitution with regard to almost everything in the body. Which, at least in part, can be compensated by being fit and excersise often.
Sleeping with the head lower than the heart is like the worst things one could do. Elevating the legs is great but not at the expense of the brain. Even lying flat isn't that great. The reason the legs need to be elevated after a day of being on them is the same reason the head needs to be elevated. Do a little research before putting horrible ideas in people's heads.
@@chrisfoxwell4128 You know, there is a thing called pillow? To elevate the head!? I'm not suggesting hanging upside down like a bat. We are talking like 2-4 inches here, maybe 6, top! (From head to feet, from head to heart is probably not even an inch lower, without a pillow.) More than that and you wont have a good night sleep no matter which way the tent slope.
Wind often changes direction at nightfall. One thing to keep in mind. Storm winds directions are not predictable and change by the minute during the storm.
On other thing worth mentioning is that it's more ideal to set a tent up on grass than dirt/earth for two reasons: 1. Grass will be slightly softer and more comfortable 2. If it rains, the dirt will splatter all over the sides and potentially get through mesh and into the inside in some areas of the tent Another thing about not setting up in low spots is that water tends to collect there and a flooded tent is not a great way to spend the night. Look for small dips in the ground where puddles may form as well.
Hi Dan loooove your vids. I was born in 1966, aaaand still love to camp in a tent. I live in Alberta, Canada so there is aaaall kinds of places to go. I have had a few different types of tents over the years, by far my fave is the memory wire style. Looooove. Easy set up, less pieces to lose. Stay safe and dry. 🔴⚪️🔴⚪️🔴⚪️
Thanks bro I live in my car & it's the 3rd time I've done so in total I've spent 4 + years living in cars also some time in the odd caravan for several months now I'm living in my car again & it's rather sporty seats are so uncomfortable so I tried a pop up tent... bloody soaked first 🌧️ fall. My support worker has given me a 4 person kelty tent & so I thank you for this video as I'm learning about tenting so I don't get the aches & pains from sleeping in a car seat. Thanks for the good advice. Love bro from 🇬🇧
I'll never forget my most miserable night ever camping when i was a boy scout. We set up our camp in a low spot. I woke up to a couple inches of water flowing through our tent😂 I'll never forget that lesson. Was in the north Georgia mountains near Dockery lake.
I did the same thing as a kid. Thought I'd picked a great spot in the shade in a low spot between two pines. It was shady and cool but I woke up to a tent full of water when it rained that night.
I remember using tents ⛺️ all those years ago, I'm so glad I made the switch to hammocks and tarps. But it is nice to still watch your steam/video on UA-cam thanks very helpful, so that I could help others
I know this was a quick and simply video. Clearing the ground is a must, WIDOW MAKERS a must and for me in Australia check for ANT NESTS and any other creepy crawly house….Love your stuff Dan. Keeping me sane ( as sane as can be expected) during our lockdown 6.0….thanks
In the western US there is such a variety of ants that it's not so easy to have fixed rules aside from awareness about food. I have also noticed activity usually increases with temperature. Warm nights = busy ants 24hrs, but in one semi-desert like low area of a long trail I got schooled on red ants which were nowhere to be seen until the second the sun popped over the far ridge, then those ants just came pouring out like a flood. I never got up so fast in my life. Only one bit me, but dozens more came close. Other places common black ants are usually much more live and let live.
@@richardpearce9208 Those who restrict your freedom are often reluctant to restore it again, They must be reminded as necessary that they are meant to be stewards and representatives of a region and of the will of a population of people, but they are not the parents or the boss of you. Be blessed.✨🕊✨
If you're in a windy region, the difference in a few yards can make all the difference in how well you sleep at night. In Sep, 3 of us were on an archery elk hunt in Wyoming, camping at 9,000 ft. (just below a summit). One night a front pushed through, and we had constant 25mph-40mph winds. The one who had put his tent 5 yds deeper in the tree line (hint, not me!) slept well. The other 2 spent the night thinking our tents were gonna smother us! Reminded me of my wife using a pillow when I snore, except it lasted for over 6 hours 😆
1st time I went backpacking, I completely set up my tent in spot where water settles and woke up feeling like I was on a water bed! Luckily the ground sheet and bathtub floor kept me dry inside (shout out to the Naturehike cloud up 2) kept me dry thru atleast 10 to 20 nasty nasty storms! Plus I didn't look for widow makers and a decent size limb did fall about 20 feet from me. wouldn't have killed me, but definitely mess up my tent!
Hey Dan! Your mention of people setting up a tent in low spots reminded me of our first family camping trip about 54 years ago! My wife repeatedly insisted on putting the tent in a hollow, padded by a thick blanket of pine needles. After about 4 times telling her "You don't want to put the tent there!" I finally gave up and battened down the hatches. It was going to be a very wet night! I made sure our baby who was about 9 or 10 months old was on an air bed and well secured in his sleeping bag because I knew it was going to rain overnight. He's 55 years of age now and I'm not sure if we ever told him about it! I also made sure our full-sized van was close with the built-in bed already deployed. We went to bed shortly after dark. I woke up at about 3 AM with my wife shaking me and complaining about the 3 inches of water that had accumulated in the bottom of the tent. The baby was high and dry on his floating bed! My wife was sopping wet, crying and lamenting that it was raining!!! She demanded the keys to the van, took the baby with her and slept the rest of the night out in the van. I rolled over and went back to sleep! On her next camping trip, and her last, we were 60 miles back in the bush. As we began paddling the canoe, it started to rain! We crossed several beaver dams and still it rained. The river was lined with aquatic plants so there was nowhere to get out and stretch. It rained all day! When we were in sight of our car the rain finally stopped! She's never gone camping again! LOL! 😂🛶
I have an acid reflux condition. Sleeping on a slight incline would actually benefit me. I actually have the head of my bed raised to keep the acid down, so I already sleep on an incline. Thank you for making this video. I've never camped before, but I hope to this fall and videos like this are helping me avoid major beginner mistakes.
I've done many of these mistakes, but you have to make some of them in order to learn. You'll only make the mistake once :) I want to commend you on the amount of work this video looks like it took. SO many different clips to keep folks engaged. Awesome job Dan!!!
Depending on how steep the incline, is you can, sleep with your head upslope and adjust your bedding to raise your feet too. Also sleeping away from people if you snore I've had my buddy's made at me before Great video.
Mt Hood at 1:23? Solid tips, I'll be sending a few noobie campers to watch this video. An additional tip: Watch out for setting up in a bowl, rain will collect underneath and often permeate the tent floor.
I always remember the advice to pitch on a slight incline, if you can cope with it, because some kinds of ground won't soak away rain, so you can end up flooded on the flat ground, but a slight incline will help it run off. An alternative is flat ground but with an incline very near, so standing water can't build up much height without running down the slope.
Honestly I spend about 3-4 months of the year sleeping in a tent and I like a slight incline, I also often dig a mini moat. The incline helps with my acid reflux to keep stomach acid where it should be.
Im going camping with guides on friday to sunday so im going to follow all of the tips that you said in this video. Edit: I'm back from camp and I had to put the tent on a little hill.
I'm not sure I caught mistake 3 about how to orient to the wind. You had the narrow end facing the camera but you were facing the side. All sides from my inexperienced viewpoint seemed to be supported by poles. I would think that having a small area facing the wind makes sense. I missed practically what to do.
I was thinking to myself, who doesn't know this. Then I realised my parents took me tent camping since I was 3 years old and setting up a tent is like walking to me. Thinking back to tent camping with people who didn't do it before, great advice!
Thank you for this!! I’m going on my first overnighter in a few weeks. Going to practice setting up my tent a few times before I get out there! Wish me luck! 🙂
Thanks, Dan. I’m leaving on moto camping trip in a couple of days. Since I haven’t camped in about two decades your video was quite the refresher. Again, many thanks!
A few other mistakes, with the campspot used in the video 1. open area (clearing) which is very condensation prone (dew) and 2, choise of ground cover - grass - often wet, and contains a lot of water/moist, makes for a colder, wetter, more condensation prone campspot - much better to camp among the trees with drier ground cover :)
I love the idea that you get a choice of camp site. Most places I go backpacking you spend an hour or two looking for a place, any place at all, that you can put a tent up. Thick brush, solid rock, deep bogs, etc etc. At least widow makers are rarely an issue, finding any tree is a rarity.
As an Eagle Scout, I definitely agree with all of this, but there are a few other things to watch out for as well: 1) Widow Makers (plenty of other people have mentioned this one). This can also include large trees that can be at a bit of a tilt. We were out one weekend for Wilderness Survival (where you make your own structure with basically just a tarp and the natural materials you get from the area), and we ended up getting lots of rain. There was one Tree that was became quite tilted while we were out there (at lest 30-50° from vertical if I remember correctly), so we had a few scouts that were in the path it would fall to move for the next night. 2) Unless you have those 90° angle spike stakes like you showed in the video, or some other heavy duty steel stake or something, you should generally Avoid stepping on your stakes to put them into the ground, otherwise you will have a good time bending them back later. 3) Keep the ground cloth UNDER THE TENT (there is a good comment about this from Joel Hansen). 4) This one isn’t as much about sleep, but waking up and how fast the tent will dry: it can be good to keep in mind where the sun will rise in the morning. It can be good to place your tent somewhere that will get sun in the morning to help dry out the dew, but may be shaded later in the day to keep it from getting too hot. This will vary based on the time of year you are camping, and is not as critical as some of the other points, but can be good to keep in mind. 5) Another reason to keep your doors closed when setting up the tent is that it help keeps dirt and leaves from getting in the tent! Along this line of thinking, you should also avoid tracking your dirty boots/shoes through the tent, keep them in that vetibule if your tent has one, or if not, it may be good to bring a small rug to put by the door. This will both keep your experience in the tent cleaner, and save you lots of cleanup work later on.
I always bring a "rug" when camping. The rug I bring depends on the camping I am doing. If my family and I are sleeping in our Pop-up, we bring a full size outdoor rug. If I/we are tent camping, I use a light, cheap doormat. If I am backpacking, I have a half of an old thermarest pad that I cut and shared with a friend. Like you mentioned, a rug is invaluable for keeping outside your tent to keep debris out and to have a place to put on/take off your shoes.
Very useful video, especially tip #3 for me. Also made me realize I do stake out my Big Agnes incorrectly as I definitely had folding in my tent floor the first two times I’ve used it 😅 Excited to try it out for a third time now 😁
The first thing I always do with a new tent is replace all static guylines with elasticized shock cord to give the tent fabric and attachment points some flex in high winds and help prevent tent blowdown or tears. It has been a game-changer in 40 to 70 mph gusts and 30+ mph sustained winds.
@@georgcantor7172 Shock cord is thinner, like the stuff round waists or hoods of some jackets - at least round here, and a bungee cord is thick for fastening stuff to roof racks, motorcycle carriers, etc., with hooks on the ends - or of course a very long hi-tech version (hopefully) for jumping off bridges.
@@georgcantor7172 Sometimes called shock cord, elastic cord, or bungee, it is a thinner, lighter version of bungee cord. I have used 1/8" (3mm) and 3/32 (2mm) thickness shock cord, depending. The cord may be tied into loops at the ends for attachment purposes, or mini carabiners may be used. NiteIze makes (or used to make) Mini CamJam attachment devices, which are similar to carabiners but allow for sliding adjustment of cord length, which accept 1.8 mm to 3mm shock cord. NiteIze even made sets with about 6 to 8 inches of pre-attached cord with end stops, which are perfect for attaching tent bottom perimeters to tent stakes. NiteIze also makes a host of other lightweight, low-profile tie-downs and small attachment mechanisms suitable for such cords. Places such as Paracord Planet have an array of thicknesses and colors of cord, including glow-in-the-dark or camouflage depending upon how visible or stealthy you want to be, and such cord may be ordered in hanks or spools of varying foot lengths. You then simply cut to desired length, burn the frayed ends to cauterize them, and then fix to your various tent attachment points using whatever means work best for you.
Nice video! I'm a 30 year old woman and have been camping all my life... I do all these things on a normal camping vacation too. With a large cotton tent you kind of want to do it right from the start because it's not easy to move the whole tent after you've placed it. We also always look where the sun will come up and go down so we can put the sleeping area in the shade on the hottest part of the day... This doesn't matter much though when you only stay for one night. Another big rule is not putting anything against the tent cloth so the inside tent doesn't get pushed against the outside tent and heavy rain won't come through both tent layers. I really want to try hiking sometime but don't look forward sleeping in a small polyester tent... Those things don't breath and get so hot😅
You should work with Big Agnes in designing the Rhombus line. You didn't mention it in this video, but I did learn from you about putting a stick under the line on my head and foot to make more room.. That was definitely a pro tip. You can add that to the Rhombus line.
I use a cheap plastic FOIL car sunscreen ($5) under my S-bag and ontop of my air mat. Wear several thin layers of clothing whilst sleeping and most importantly a woolen knitted hat. Good ventilation (better to have ice than water in the morning) and do not put you face/mouth into the S-bag to avoid condensation and ice build up inside the bag. Air-out the bedding every day in the sun when not raining. One-penny candles can keep the warmth in the tent to within acceptable range whilst you are awake. At minus 6C or colder try to place your tent on a thick layer of pine or heather fronds. Keep the fire going all night with thick logs and a wooden heat-shield about two meters away. Keep your water bottles inside your S-bag. I prefer wide bags with arm holes. Eat Oatmeal for dinner and breakfast. Have some hot tea or coffee always available in your bag with a good pee container. Keep food in a sack on a rope up a thin tall tree about 500 meters away. Carry a machete or carry a Colt .45 whee allowed. I always carry a hunting knife and have never had to use it. Spread pee around the far circle of your camping territory to let the predators know you are in residence. Bigfoot often try to help or warn you off before harm is experienced. Never had a disaster or been lost or lost equipment except when a townie in a redneck truck decided he wanted to steal all my stuff and leave me homeless. He went to jail after. (He accidentally stabbed himself with my knife). Respect nature and keep a low profile. Foolish or egotistical man is often food for predators or worms.
My camping now comes with heated pool, mini bar and room service! My family camped so much that at 56 now, I just can’t. Fractured my spine after 27 years as a Paramedic/Firefighter. Did enjoy it as a kid though. 🙂
I'm not a tenter, although I do have a tent, I much prefer a hammock and tarp set up. I'm glad I clicked on this as it was a good refresher for those rare times I may have set up my tent. Coincidentally, alot of your tips do apply to hammock camping as well so good job on that! Worthy of a like and subscribe. One thing that got me was your tips about the terrain. Good tips to be sure, but suspended between two trees you generally don't have to worry about that.
I tented for 20 years. Never knew why I was taking time evaluating everything before setting up. I do all the steps you mention when I setup, plus a few other tips. Like having bush or trees as a wind break or setting up additional tarps with adjustable biscuit pucks and telescopic poles in a classic A-frame above my tent. I also use heavy spiral 9" wood nails which are 1/4" diameter and place an extra tarp under my tent if I am on moist or rocky ground. Those nails easily crush stones or push stones aside with a heavy hammer and the tarp helps from tears and moisture wicking onto your bedding or luggage. Those other spikes are light, fancy and pricey, and can't handle the stresses of a rocky and solid surface. My second camping trip had my tent blow away at night because I bent all my fancy steaks in half, so using supplied steaks is a definite NO while setting up a tent. Also, having a place to dry off your tent is not always possible, and if your tent is moist while stored, you may end up with a fungal mess of a tent next camping season. My wife always argues with me and calls me a dick tator for not explaining things, and when I cave in and set it up the way she wants, it always ends up in complications. Like that low area that made my tent nearly float away during a heavy rain at night. Lucky I had a fat air mattress, but everything on the ground was totally saturated. Not to brag, but I did have my tent and tarps destroyed by high winds once while being setup on a flat area beside a lake. The wind tore everything up over 3 days of high winds. No matter how you set up a tent, mother nature can and will eventually tell you when it is time to high tail it back home. And if you decide to stay when all the motorhomes and trailers high tailed it out, just remember what it is like waking up with ice inside your sleeping bag and having no dry place to warm up. At least now I can explain things but after 27 years of marriage, I summarize it: "You knew me long enough to have faith in my judgement. This is my job, let me do it and unless it leads to a bad camping experience, just watch and learn". Have fun with your tents. I retired mine and now use a 27' fifth wheel trailer and I won't ever look back, unless someone asks for my help setting one up for themselves. But I keep one on hand in case the world gets any more stupid than it has over the last 22 years. I could explain why, but my name explains everything for those who pay attention to detail. And if you decide to reply, please share with us your bad experiences camping.
I like you and your series of videos. I believe you could have demonstrated exactly how to orient the tent into a strong wind. For example, if there are strong winds from the west I would put the foot side (the opposite end from the single front door) of my "Sierra Designs clip flashlight ®" facing due west to offer the smallest profile to the wind. You said something about "not making the tent aerodynamic" and using the strongest pole section. I wish you would clarify this point in a future video with a couple tents and indicating exactly how to orient it to the wind (even a hypothetical wind that you indicate with a red banner. I just didn't think that the point you were trying to make was clear regarding the orientation of a tent in strong winds.
Agree. I was wondering how to setup a geodesic or regular square tent. Do you set up with the door perpendicular to the wind direction, or diagonally so the pole edges are the ones facing the wind?
I was taught by a master bushcrafter many years ago that tenting on a slight incline is always preferable to flat ground in that you place your head and equipment on the uphill side and if any rainwater does get in it'll drain out towards the bottom. He also recommended we dig a little trench along the upper side allowing for any rain water to flow around the sides and away from our sleeping area. best advice I've ever gotten and I still do it this way 35 years later
The trench idea is actually really cool! Just make sure to fill the trench again when done! Will definitely remember this one!
@@Guggu3d I guess you could kinda call it a french drain? and yes, we all ways backfill the trench and police our campsite. Our motto is leave it better than the way you found it...
@@piddy3825 Exactly! That's awesome! Happy camping!
Awesome tips!
Army is wheee I learned the same thing
A) I've never slept on flat ground in a tent unless it was a designated "tent" spot. There was always an incline.
B) You forgot to mention looking for "widow makers" which new backpackers need to know about. Rain may or may not happen. Wind is almost a guarantee. Both can make for a very very bad night if you set up in the wrong spot.
Great job as always.
Came to mention widow makers too.
what's widow maker?
@@MultiCatwolf a tree (dead or dying) that could fall and crush you.
@@MultiCatwolf A tree, as @Lost_Again_with_Jim says, but also large dead branches can snap and fall and they are not as obvious as the dead trees.
Personally I prefer a slight incline. If my feet are above my heart I sleep thru the night comfortably, type 1 diabetic and my feet get cold on the flat or if they are low but if they are high it's good news for me.
I like setting up on a slight incline with head higher than feet. Also if tent leaks due to bad storms the water goes towards the door with all clothing etc stored towards highest area inside tent to stay dry.
I do this too.
Yep, I do this whenever I can
I do it the opposite way to keep my feet dry and enjoy the nice feeling of blood rushing to my head. I love the way that feels.
As every hammock hiker knows, sleeping with your feet higher than your heart means at least one visit to a tree during the night. Leg edema comes off gradually at night.
Yup. My broken bed at home is at an incline. I can't sleep level anymore.
I went camping a few times with my father when I was little, and apparently my father was a great teacher because I knew all of this and more by heart. To the point where I once setup camp along 70 other people and during the night we had HEAVY waterfall, and when I woke up the water was to the line of the bottom of the tent and the inside was still completely dry. Everyone else had their tents flooded.
Another staking tip. When you take down your tent, release the tensioners on the guy-lines so they have slack in them again. Then when you set up the next time, you have room left to tension back up to remove the slack from your lines and tension the tent/flys properly. I have seen many rookies that do not know how to properly use a guy line and have them cinched up near the top so that there is no slack to properly make the tent materials taut and functional.
I like to lay out my footprint/ groundsheet, then lay down on it. That way I only have to adjust the footprint and not the entire tent. Also gives you an opportunity to check the things above your tent
This is brilliant!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
The amount of times we set up only to realize it was terrible the incline. Gonna remember this!
So simple and also fantastic
Hi !
Could you describe this process little more detailed ?
I have a MSR Elixir2
Thanks !!
@@georgepotcovaru913 are you talking about what I do? With my backpacking tents I always have a footprint to save wear and tear on the floor of the tent. That is the first thing that gets laid out. I scout out where it looks fairly flat and lay out the footprint only. Then I lie down on it to see how the incline is, (do I have to put my head on the other end, or adjust it somehow). As I am down, I am looking up at what will be above my tent, so I can see if there are deadfall’s, (large broken branches that are still snagged in the tree), bee/wasp hive, (I’ve had a couple spots like that!), etc. If something looks like it could fall and crush my tent, I’ll move the footprint, which is much easier than moving the whole tent after setting it up.
If you don’t have a footprint, then just lay out the body of the tent and do the same before setting it up.
Adding. Look for ground wasp holes. Use a ground cover tarp. Use sealant and moisture repellent. Take extra tarps and duct tape for wet weather, spent many weeks camping in rain,stayed dry and it was great, no other campers during the floods, so we fished, played card and dice games, read books, and had the nearby caves to ourselves.
That is a great point that a lot of people overlook about taking a few extra tarps with you!! BUT I also throw in a roll of rope, along with my duct tape as well!! If you can find one, an old Boy Scout Handbook will show you how to make waterproof matches and fire starters, which can be a game changer, and I think Walmart even sells those items in the camping section if you don't have access to materials!! Another thing to think about is taking a spare tent, that is smaller to store your gear in as well!! Some tents are rather small and having a place to get your cooler out of the blazing sun all day WILL save you from having to replace ice in thirty minutes and can keep your other supplies dry as well too!!! It also is NOT a bad idea to make what I would call a "Camp Kit"!! Take a medium sized Rubbermaid tote with a lid and fill it with your duct tape, rope, extra tent stakes, a couple of candles (the candle stick kind), a block of Paraffin wax, a few extra trash bags and some spare camp lantern mantles and a BIC lighter or two!!! A few other things to throw in to that kit would include an SOS pad that has steel wool around it or a cheap bag of steel wool And a few unopened bottles of "travel size" soaps, shampoo and dish soap!!
Making up this kit will save you in a lot of cases for some of the "strange things that can happen" while camping!! And the "kit" doesn't have to be that big either, about the size of a large shoe storage box that can store a pair of boots in!! AND the steel wool can be used to start a fire in case you are out of fire starters, but you have access to a battery, even a 9 volt battery will cause the steel wool to burn in case you need it!!
And ants...
Nearby caves too small?😅
@@oakmaiden2133 the cave with the largest natural opening is there, a helicopter has flown into it. Most of the caves are large, but personally I don't camp in caves, as there are no hook ups for my projector, expresso maker and gaming PC.
I have been using a cheap Remington (I believe it was sold as a 4 man tent) tent for 24 years now. It sets up easily with 1 man, even on windy days. I have had it up for 4-7 days in rain and heavy snow. This year I had my first problem. I have an 8 month old puppy and by the third day of watching me, he figured out how to unzip the door. I now have a hole (Stake) in the floor so I can tie him in at night with me. He won't run away, but I don't want him getting into it with a skunk, or worse, a bear.
I see you mostly use back pack style tents. Stay away from the ones that have elastic rope in the poles to "Quickly" pop them together if you winter camp. The elastic freezes and you can't get the poles together.
Adding. Your tent stake lines should be an extension of the seam line. You get a better taut pitch if you don't angle the tent stake line away from the seam line.
As an eagle scout myself, I'm not as picky with my tent location as I could be. I have my preferences, flat open land with tall grass that creates its own cushion is awesome, but a lot of times at scout camps I don't really have much choice, so we mostly just deal with it. The incline issue isn't so big, just put your head uphill. You're absolutely right about the water issue, but I've had a few bad storms where my tent has been in a few inches of standing water afterwards, and my MSR has been bone dry inside. Above all else, if I'm tire enough, I'll sleep just fine! Great video, lots of good info for beginners (Especially the stake bit)
helpful video! i have camped with folks who are completely unexperienced and 100% these are the most common mistakes. I would add this mistake: they also have no real idea how to set up their own tent. Once i ended up setting up 4 tents on a trip lol. bunch of newbies but thats just fine! i like setting up tents...main mistake there is just not knowing your tent well enough to get the best set up. sounds corny, but being famaliar with your gear and its optimal use makes a huge difference.
You 4 I 10. But that's just scouts for you and kids do have to learn how to put up tents properly somehow so watching is a start!
Thinking back over the past 35 or 40 years of regularly going camping - I've definitely made every single one of those mistakes at some point or another, and a few trips were multiple mistakes on this list all in the same trip.
My first night backpacking was horrible. The weather was crappy, and it took me way to long to get to camp, I ended up setting my tent up in the first clear spot I found, and did not realize it was on a huge root. I was just too tired and hungry to care. Thank you for this video. I'm going go use these tips on my next trip!
One thing I've noticed helps a lot, at least with tents that hook to the poles rather than sleeved poles, is if you stake the tent out flat before putting the poles in. It helps to get the bottom layed out flat and taught and just makes for a generally better pitch in my experience.
An easy mistake to make is leaving your ground tarp exposed passed the rain fly. Any rain will collect under your tent and soak through getting your gear wet.
Yeap... just learned that the hard way a couple nights ago 😂 luckily my house is two minutes from the state park so I just took my bedding and kids home for the night. We are learning... slowly. I call it training camping lol
"past" the rain fly
@@Losangelesharvey Thank you so much. I had NO WAY of understanding the sentence without the correct spelling. *sarcastic relief*
@@Lauren_K Happy to help!
@@Losangelesharvey keep up the useless work! Or do something better with your life
First Dan Becker video I ever watched! Spent the last 45 minutes scrolling down my UA-cam history to figure out what got me started on this whole backpacking thing over a year ago. First two backpacking videos I ever watched was from Mylife Outdoors, and this was the third one. Saturday 16th of July 2022. Then, UA-cam's algorithm did its thing and since then I've watched hundreds if not a thousand backpacking videos. I've also logged more than 200km of trips on my All Trails with 55 more coming next week when I'm hitting the Laugavegur trail in Iceland. Thanks for everything Dan! Hope you are doing OK all things considered
Those are good tips that I figured out over the years. One that I learned the hard way on one of my 1st BP trips is not to brush away all of the ground cover, pine needles, etc that will be under your tent. I camped over a pre-swept spot from another BPer. That night it rained pretty good, & all the water pooled underneath me. It was like I was on a waterbed. So leave the ground cover, just remove sharp objects like pine cones, etc.
What your doing with the pegs corner to corner is exactly the same as in construction and engineering when you have what’s called ‘sequential tightening’ where you evenly tighten or load the bolts or anchor points to even out the stress load . Incredibly simple and obvious thing too do but like so many ‘lightbulb’ moments only once someone has actually told you about it ! 😉 keep up the good work bud 👍
There are times when the only available spots to pitch a tent are sloped. As you stated, if you need to do this, set it up so it aligns with the slope, one end up and the other down and make sure your head will be on the upper side of the slope. Water drainage is also very important as you stated. My only issue I ever had was when I was on the receiving end of a 75 mile + straight line wind and my tent became partially airborne. When I hiked out the next day, the wind event was in the news with flipped semi-tractor trailers and some buildings knocked down and others damaged.
You forgot some points to consider:
1) check and clear the camping ground of sharp sticks and stones that might puncture or wear down the bottom of your tent
2)watch out for red ants and other nuisances that might invade and bug you at night.
3) depending on the climate, try to catch the morning sun to warm up your tent for you.
Agreed. We always find out where is East and where is shadow before setting up tents. In summer shadow is better, in colder season/weather - sun can warm up your tent if you set it up at right place. Meeting sunrise as a bonus is very inspiring. Can’t wait for summer, lazy chilling in hammock is so cool :)
@@wickeddubz yeah, I always have some sort of pattern by which I assess camping locations.
1) comfort: level ground, quality of the soil and water drainage.
2) safety: dead trees and branches, stone overhangs and risk of falling rocks and avalanches, risks of sudden rising waters and a safe escape route to higher grounds.
3) comfort +: daytime shadow/morning sun location, annoying weeds or bugs, the view and sounds. And depending on elevation and the night temperatures maybe a location near open water.
And make sure you're not set up in a game trail. We got "moosed" on a junior high trip once.
Don't set up under/near dead trees or half broken branches.
@@wickeddubz exactly I run hot, sun turns your tent into an oven in the summer. Woken up at 6am boiling because the suns been on the tent for an hour already. Winter though its great.
After living in a tent for the past two months, I’ve learn a lot from my mistakes, I now have a 4 person tent with lots of tarps on top and two tarps under, with a Trench dug around my tent for any drain water to flow away from my tent instead of underneath. Also getting an air mattress helped exponentially especially with it getting cold now. Two 20 degree rated sleeping bags one on bottom and one on top help out significantly as well! Also dehumidifier bags are a must! Finally feels like I have my own home, just hope I don’t get ran off again on the new land I found, it sucks getting evicted
it sucks getting evicted? Well duh
@@rickstout01who’s fault?
You should do a part 2 - Setting up on exposed or partially exposed rock. I've had to set up in spots that are just barren rock, or partially covered with a couple inches of moss. It's pretty common in some areas depending on the geology, etc. It's not as easy to get a nice taut tent when there isn't enough soil to peg properly.
I'd add ventilation to the list of things that should check. One of the most common reasons people have wet tents in the morning is simply from condensation from breathing all night. Good tent ventilation can really help with that.
Camping on the plains where everything looked the same, I pitched with one of my main poles aligned with North/South. Just helped myself orient easier. (at my age)
Love the idea of staking opposite corners rather than clockwise
Another point I would add is to ensure your fly/vestibule is COMPLETELY covering the entire tent/footprint. Having a corner of the tent or footprint sticking out past the fly by not tightening the fly all the way can act as a wick and start to fill your tent with water when it rains.
Very true. So his guy lines should have been that taunt?
If your ground cloth is larger then your tent footprint ALWAYS fold the excess ground cloth UNDER ITSELF!! AND never fold the ground cloth OVER itself!! The ground cloth will create an "envelope" and hold water in the pocket that is created causing your tent floor to puddle where ever that pocket is!!
Although we didn’t have free standing tents when I was a Boy Scout, (we had Army surplus pup tents with no floors), I learned these same general skills. Thanks for covering each step of the process.
Thanks. I'm starting with a tent. I don't need to push my self to tarp etc. Now I know basics, even though I spent 7 weeks in tent 20 years ago during summer when I was a teen. Thanks again.
Great video 👍 I organise hiking and camping trips so I’ll be passing this on to newbies.
Only criticism is your points on setup in windy conditions. I know the right way, but I had to replay it several times and it’s not that clear.
I was camping with my son. We set up in a great little spot. We got back just ahead of the thunderstorm and took a nap. I woke up with the floor undulating and my son looked out. "Dad just go back to sleep and don't look out. I did. We waited, felt like Noah waiting for the waters to drain away. When we went out there was a water line, mostly yellow pollen which came to within an inch of the top of the bathtub floor, almost overtopping through the mesh. That was about 10 inches.
We moved.
And good job Sierra Designs.
For those without a freestanding tent, get a small (4-6”) plastic level. Tape or tie it to a tent pole or straight walking stick and lay that pole where you are looking at setting up. Turn the tent pole 2-3 times to see what it looks like from more than one direction. It will give you the quickest and most accurate view of the terrain with the least work.
Water in a Nalgene is a great level too
@@moose9689 water bottles work too but only if you have clear bottles. Always good to have a backup.
Good vid, thanks. And even better with the useful comments. Some really good extra advice here!
The most common mistake I see new campers make when setting up a tent with a footprint is they let the footprint extend past the edges of the tent so if any water runs off the tent it will catch that water and direct it under their tent. I teach them to make sure their footprint is smaller than the floor and if it’s not, To fold the edges to the ground, not up forming a bathtub, and make sure it remains completely under the tent without peeking past any edges.
Very helpful. Thank you
I’ve never heard it called a footprint before, I’ve heard more of a Ground Cloth (though it’s plastic) or Tarp. Though I definitely agree, that’s a very common mistake.
@@collinschofield808 The gear tech scene has driven a lot of changes to the vernacular - the REI crew was quick to correct me when I went to buy a 'ground cloth' . The big difference is, a ground cloth used to cost $15 - a footprint will set ya back 100$ ;) (in all honesty, the big difference is that a footprint is usually cut bespoke for the tent, and includes reinforced grommets and /or locating clips to integrate with the tent it is designed for)
@@collinschofield808thank you, I was wondering what "footprint" meant and you explained very nicely.
@@ewingfox6459Also thank you for explaining! So it's a technical term. It's sometimes hard to understand the technical description (English is not my mother's tongue)
We set up tent along some small branches of a lake, up in Norway... During the night, a rotten tree fell in the stream and made a branch overflow and change direction... right through our tent...
Always camp uphill from lakes/streams ect.
#4 is not just good advice for a comfortable camp, it can save your life. Lot of people around here like to put their tents on the river bank and the river can come up even if it isnt raining. (it can be raining up river) and literally wash your tent down river with you in it. There isn't any escaping that. Many people in my area drown every year in a tent that got setup on a gravel bank
Also most parks have regulations for how close to a water source you can camp for cleanliness not just safety. We don't want a night rain to flood the river and our camp, nor do we want our fire ash and trash to end up in the stream.
Been there. About 30 years ago without many rules, we had to scramble in the middle of the night to higher ground. Not a cloud In the sky, just something occurring high above us made the river swell to about 3x size. We were camping with toddlers too. Yes, they grew up and survived us.
I learned from an Indigenous man never to camp closer than 50m- preferably 100m from water: 1. the obvious, avoid the flash flood (look for old debris); 2. hygiene, you don't contaminate it with fire remnants, soaps/chemicals/ human waste, food debris ( and eat 20+m from your sleeping spot, ants etc) ; 3. get (further) away from mosquitos 4. don't spook the wildlife that are looking for a drink; 5. if you are looking to hunt wildlife try and get them 100m+/- as they are leaving the waterhole; and 6. if you are in the Northern Territory or far north Queensland you are that much further away from the crocs...
This helped me aloooot going camping for the first time and want to avoid any bad trips so i keep going plusThis guy also gave me jim from the office vibes 😂 !
Thanks for the video! Just a minor note: you might know your soil, but you shouldn’t push the ground peg down with your foot, in case you hit a rock. As your body weight will bend the peg against the rock before you notice the resistance, as it’s relative to the bending/material of your peg.
Good stuff! Thanks. I'm an old man now, but this eagle scout once slept on an incline, with my head on the downhill side. I woke up with a big headache. Lesson learned.
If you want to sleep in the morning, look for a shade spot during the sunrise. I do beach camping and when that sun comes up at 6:30 the tent is like a sauna(especially if the boys were drinking the night before)
I’ve been motorcycle camping for years, after watching this video you highlighted a few mistakes I make when setting up my tent. Great video! Thanks 🙏
Glad you touched on cold pools. I can't stress this enough with newbies. I have seen 20 degree differences within a quarter mile because of cold air poring off of high elevation mountains.
Free/semifree standing tent might not be the lightest. But man oh man do i love the ability to just set up the tent, and then being able to move it around, if im not happy with something.
Setup my Snugpak Ionosphere in a peat bog, seemed fine when it was dry. Very glad of the deep bathtub and high hydrostatic rating after it poured with rain over night. Joy of the Scottish Highlands....
Hell yeah. Just solo camped with my own on pine mountain. Gotta love ionosphere👍
Thank you for that 45-degree stake tip
I set up my Zpacks Duplex recently on a tent platform. Didn't realize the platform was rotted in one spot and the end of my tent pole sank into the wood a little so it was too low. The bathtub floor, as a result, was not high enough on one end, and it poured that night. All my stuff on that end of the tent got damp (not sopping wet fortunately.) So with a trekking pole tent, be careful of height!
And yes, I learned about being sure the doors were zipped closed before staking things. Not doing that can really mess up your pitch.
Another reason to zip doors shut when taking down the tent -- it keeps at least some water out of the tent if you have to set up later in the rain. It does take some practice and care but it can be done well, particularly if the tent material is very water resistant / water proof.
@@panhandlejake6200 Great advice. Thanks. I have always been sure to detach the vestibule doors from each other before stuffing my tent in the sack. Not sure it made a difference but my thinking was that it would put less stress on the little plastic thingies. (You'd have to be familiar with the Zpacks 'plex design to know what I'm talking about). Now you have me rethinking that. If I set up in the rain with them "closed", that would also help keep water out of the tent.
I learned a lot. Including that “flown” applies to both “fly” and “flow”. 😆👍
For those who are out many nights every year in mountain country, sloping ground is inevitable sometimes. This is why I now often take a hammock which is NOT my preferred way to sleep, but it opens up many options for a quick overnight so an adventure can really be an adventure and not limited to a tourist schedule.
Tripods work well if there are no real trees
@@bovinicusdivinicus there's a thought. I'm trying to think of a scenario. Basically, a hammock sucks imo after giving one a long trial. It just utterly fails to provide back support. This is not so much an issue with young hikers I realize. But sometimes ground conditions suck much more...like the northern Cascades when rains begin (about this time of year). Rainy, muddy, sloping ground, etc., but no shortage of trees.
Maybe the Sierra (idk) above the treeline or when ground is snow covered, but one would have to plan ahead (cut poles). I pack heavy by current opinions, but my only pole is a short slide arrester (my own hack), essentially a lightwight, lightduty (hiker style) ice ax, but my pack (framed) could actually be anchored to support one hammock end.
Never know when a tip could lead to a useful bushcraft fix. Thanks for gettin me thinkin on that one.
OK I have something else I need to add here LOL!!! When i was a boy scout we used to do a "winter camping" exercise twice a year, and in Upstate New York it meant camping in weather that was literally 18 degrees outside in often two to three feet of snow!! One thing I learned from THIS experience is, to lay out your ground cloth, in the area where you want to set up your tent then dig the snow out of the footprint by as much as 6 inches or so, and where ever your tent door is add at least three more feet of distance to that area!! By digging into the snow to set up your tent, any wind will hit your tent at a higher angle and become a "wind break" as it does!! This means when you are sleeping you are actually BELOW where the wind if hitting the tent and the sleeping bag will stay warmer as you sleep!! If you can, dig all the way to the ground in the area you want to set up your tent will make it even more stable, BUT sometimes ice can prevent that!! You can also increase any "wind break" by making a wall of snow to which ever side of your tent the wind is coming from, just make it thick enough that it acts as a wall and is NOT close enough to your tent to damage it!!! A small scrap of material on a few tree branches WILL tell you which way the wind is blowing too!!
Helped one of my soldiers set up his tent on his first field exercise with us. It was on an incline but because of the location of our designated sleeping area it was about the best we could do while staying with the group. He was on an incline and I recommended we either scout out a better spot or we rotate his tent. He said he'll be fine so I shrugged it off and said ok. After the field exercise a different NCO who technically out ranks me was asking everybody what they learned. This same soldier that I helped with his tent responded, "If I have to sleep on an incline again, sleep feet down and not sideways." Everybody started laughing cause they all heard me tell him this.
he has a future as a politician
Nice.
The way I describe staking a tent is it's like tuning a drum (exactly how you did it), it maintains an even amount of tension and doesn't move the tent, potentially distorting the shape and creating hotspots where damage can build up.
Good points. May I add a few more?
1. Practice setting up your tent at home--even indoors if you have to. Watch some videos about your tent to learn the tricks.
2. Use big nails rather than stakes (if weight isn't much of a concern, say, if you are canoeing). They are indestructible and can be pounded into very hard earth.
3. Always use the fly during daytime. The tent does not have any UV protection and leaving it exposed to sun will quickly weaken it.
When car camping I use the giant nails. They hold well and like you said, they go in hard ground.
I add a second stake next to the vestibule stake you showed. The loose side of the vestibule zipper can be hooked over the second stake in order to make it easier to zip and unzip it without pressure on the zipper. Also allows me to partially close the rain fly instead of zipping it shut, for quick trips out of the tent.
Great video. I'd love to see one for setting up trekking pole tents. Despite using trekking pole tents for the past 3 years, and watching a couple of different videos, including Darwin's, I can never get the ridge of my Two as nice & tight as I'd like.
Thanks for the tip about sticks at the head and foot of the tent. I'll definitely start using that one.
All great tips Dan. Only thing I didn’t hear you talk about in this video is looking up for “WIDOW MAKERS!” This is something that cold weather campers in particular should always be on the lookout for. Seeing that the branches often weaken by the end of the summer season from all the foliage, make sure you look up!!
Nothing like a big storm to “test” your site selection and tent prep and setup skills!
Storms always come....usually in the dead of night.
Due to practice, I sleep like a baby.
Be well.
moments like that i go to the car and sleep there
Had a tornado pass by my camp this October... 1 tent destroyed, 1 gone, 2 still there. If the 2 remaining 1 was like nothing happened, the other everything was wet.
Don't leave things against tent walls, it wicks water in.
Tornado just missed our camp for sure because 300 get away the farmers shed collapsed.
I figured out why he didn't mention widow makers. The title is "6 mistakes..." He probly wanted to talk about widow makers - but that wouldda made 7! 😉
Had a pretty nice overnight storm in Oregon, first time camping there and camping in a few years. Absolutely watertight💪
@@madisntit6547 yeah he should have said sleeps like the dad of a new baby! Through the night without interruption 😂
Bring about 10 extra para cord sections about 3 feet long each. I backpack in the Sierra mountains in the summer where the soil or ground can and is very rocky and hard. Those very light aluminum tent stakes don't have a chance going into the ground.
This is the time I use maybe 6 to 10 heavy rocks around my tent. Each of these encircled with a 3 foot para cord will hold my tent in the
highest Sierra nighttime winds. I look for rocks maybe over 10 to 20 pounds that will withstand storm winds.
We had one night above Lake Ediza near Mammoth Lakes about 3 miles off the john muir trail at about 10,500 feet elevation. There was a wind storm predicted for the higher Sierras near the minneretts for that night reaching 70 mph near the peaks.
We were in a depression surrounded by trees behind maybe a 80 foot huge rock mound to provide wind protection. The wind blew all night with
strong gusts that violently shook the tent with the fly all night. Every 10 to 5 minutes the tent shook from the winds. It was not a good nights sleep but a fitfull night.
The tent did not move with the heavy rocks holding it stationary in these high winds.
I always carry these 10 extra 3 foot sections of para cord for my tent . The extra weight is very small in a few grams taking nearly no extra space.
I read an experiment showing that 90 degree angle (perpendicular to ground) is actually the strongest angle when staking a tent. That's how I've been doing after reading it, and I've never had an issue even in sandy ground.
Allow me to pedantic. The angle he put the stakes in is shallower than 45. I’d say closer to 30 degrees. I find a slight angle helps keep the tent line on the end of the stake and it’s also easier to press into the ground with your foot (if you use your foot sink the stake into the ground)
From an engineering point of view it should be 90 degrees to the force that it is combating, so for a groundsheet or footprint vertical is good. For a guy-line you should have an angle and, depending on the tent design, flysheet may or may not require an angle. It's fundamental triangle of forces stuff. If you are not sure put your tent up in very soft sand and study which way the various pegs pull out.
@@alangauld6079 It is physics too simplified. In real world the stake rely more on the friction, less on the weight of the soil, to provide the hold.
@@marcofeature engineering is physics
Setting up tents was always fun. digging the drainage ditches. setting up the frames, then the outer body, and stitching the inner liner to it after. laying out the flooring, moving in the cots, lockers, tables, and equipment. bringing in the stove. sometimes even having to lay the power lines.
Can’t forget the plumbing and AC!
@@matthours1783 plumbing, the big 55 gal water drums, with the electric water pump and hot water on demand propane heater... canvas bathrub and shower, portable toilet and sink combo.
Never used ac when camping but i prefer winter camping...
Great video and advice.
There was one point where I don't agree, if I HAVE to sleep on an incline I would gladly sleep with my head on the low side of the incline.
Especially if I had a long hiking day.
It is very nice and soothing for the legs, sleeping with the legs low might make them swollen and badly rested the next morning.
Of course, I'm talking about small differences here, I certainly wouldnt want my feet sticking up a foot or two above my head, but an inch or a few, that's ok.
Yes, I was going to make the same point. It's always better to sleep on a slight incline. It also helps with indigestion and headaches when you are eating unusual campfire food, at high altitude, and potentially drinking all night.
I think this would be based on age and fitness level also. A younger person with excellent circulation could focus on comfort and not be concerned about fluid build up in the legs. 40+ and maybe a little less athleticism… I agree it’s something to consider.
@@modestdaddy2000 I absolutely think you are right, age bring slower reconstitution with regard to almost everything in the body.
Which, at least in part, can be compensated by being fit and excersise often.
Sleeping with the head lower than the heart is like the worst things one could do. Elevating the legs is great but not at the expense of the brain. Even lying flat isn't that great. The reason the legs need to be elevated after a day of being on them is the same reason the head needs to be elevated. Do a little research before putting horrible ideas in people's heads.
@@chrisfoxwell4128 You know, there is a thing called pillow?
To elevate the head!?
I'm not suggesting hanging upside down like a bat. We are talking like 2-4 inches here, maybe 6, top! (From head to feet, from head to heart is probably not even an inch lower, without a pillow.)
More than that and you wont have a good night sleep no matter which way the tent slope.
Wind often changes direction at nightfall. One thing to keep in mind. Storm winds directions are not predictable and change by the minute during the storm.
On other thing worth mentioning is that it's more ideal to set a tent up on grass than dirt/earth for two reasons:
1. Grass will be slightly softer and more comfortable
2. If it rains, the dirt will splatter all over the sides and potentially get through mesh and into the inside in some areas of the tent
Another thing about not setting up in low spots is that water tends to collect there and a flooded tent is not a great way to spend the night. Look for small dips in the ground where puddles may form as well.
Thanks Dan for the wonderful tips !!
All squares are rhombuses but not all rhombuses are squares. Seriously, these are some quality instructional quick tips and a fun video! Thanks Dan!
Hi Dan
loooove your vids.
I was born in 1966, aaaand still love to camp in a tent. I live in Alberta, Canada so there is aaaall kinds of places to go. I have had a few different types of tents over the years, by far my fave is the memory wire style. Looooove. Easy set up, less pieces to lose.
Stay safe and dry.
🔴⚪️🔴⚪️🔴⚪️
I've got a tip for you...bend your knees when you're tending to your tent. You don't want a sore back when you're trying to sleep in your tent 😜
Thanks bro I live in my car & it's the 3rd time I've done so in total I've spent 4 + years living in cars also some time in the odd caravan for several months now I'm living in my car again & it's rather sporty seats are so uncomfortable so I tried a pop up tent... bloody soaked first 🌧️ fall. My support worker has given me a 4 person kelty tent & so I thank you for this video as I'm learning about tenting so I don't get the aches & pains from sleeping in a car seat. Thanks for the good advice. Love bro from 🇬🇧
I'll never forget my most miserable night ever camping when i was a boy scout. We set up our camp in a low spot. I woke up to a couple inches of water flowing through our tent😂 I'll never forget that lesson. Was in the north Georgia mountains near Dockery lake.
I did the same thing as a kid. Thought I'd picked a great spot in the shade in a low spot between two pines. It was shady and cool but I woke up to a tent full of water when it rained that night.
I remember using tents ⛺️ all those years ago, I'm so glad I made the switch to hammocks and tarps. But it is nice to still watch your steam/video on UA-cam thanks very helpful, so that I could help others
I know this was a quick and simply video. Clearing the ground is a must, WIDOW MAKERS a must and for me in Australia check for ANT NESTS and any other creepy crawly house….Love your stuff Dan. Keeping me sane ( as sane as can be expected) during our lockdown 6.0….thanks
In the western US there is such a variety of ants that it's not so easy to have fixed rules aside from awareness about food. I have also noticed activity usually increases with temperature. Warm nights = busy ants 24hrs, but in one semi-desert like low area of a long trail I got schooled on red ants which were nowhere to be seen until the second the sun popped over the far ridge, then those ants just came pouring out like a flood. I never got up so fast in my life. Only one bit me, but dozens more came close.
Other places common black ants are usually much more live and let live.
Yeah, I'm really surprised the "clearing the ground" was missed.
Cry Freedom Aussie.✨🙏🏽✨
@@1strights no freedom just tears....longest city in lockdown yay
@@richardpearce9208 Those who restrict your freedom are often reluctant to restore it again,
They must be reminded as necessary that they are meant to be stewards and representatives of a region and of the will of a population of people, but they are not the parents or the boss of you.
Be blessed.✨🕊✨
If you're in a windy region, the difference in a few yards can make all the difference in how well you sleep at night. In Sep, 3 of us were on an archery elk hunt in Wyoming, camping at 9,000 ft. (just below a summit). One night a front pushed through, and we had constant 25mph-40mph winds. The one who had put his tent 5 yds deeper in the tree line (hint, not me!) slept well. The other 2 spent the night thinking our tents were gonna smother us! Reminded me of my wife using a pillow when I snore, except it lasted for over 6 hours 😆
1st time I went backpacking, I completely set up my tent in spot where water settles and woke up feeling like I was on a water bed! Luckily the ground sheet and bathtub floor kept me dry inside (shout out to the Naturehike cloud up 2) kept me dry thru atleast 10 to 20 nasty nasty storms! Plus I didn't look for widow makers and a decent size limb did fall about 20 feet from me. wouldn't have killed me, but definitely mess up my tent!
I don't go camping , I don't do outdoor stuffs like that at all. I have no idea why I subscribed but i just want to watch more of this
Hey Dan! Your mention of people setting up a tent in low spots reminded me of our first family camping trip about 54 years ago! My wife repeatedly insisted on putting the tent in a hollow, padded by a thick blanket of pine needles. After about 4 times telling her "You don't want to put the tent there!" I finally gave up and battened down the hatches. It was going to be a very wet night!
I made sure our baby who was about 9 or 10 months old was on an air bed and well secured in his sleeping bag because I knew it was going to rain overnight. He's 55 years of age now and I'm not sure if we ever told him about it! I also made sure our full-sized van was close with the built-in bed already deployed. We went to bed shortly after dark. I woke up at about 3 AM with my wife shaking me and complaining about the 3 inches of water that had accumulated in the bottom of the tent. The baby was high and dry on his floating bed! My wife was sopping wet, crying and lamenting that it was raining!!! She demanded the keys to the van, took the baby with her and slept the rest of the night out in the van. I rolled over and went back to sleep! On her next camping trip, and her last, we were 60 miles back in the bush. As we began paddling the canoe, it started to rain! We crossed several beaver dams and still it rained. The river was lined with aquatic plants so there was nowhere to get out and stretch. It rained all day! When we were in sight of our car the rain finally stopped! She's never gone camping again! LOL! 😂🛶
I have an acid reflux condition. Sleeping on a slight incline would actually benefit me. I actually have the head of my bed raised to keep the acid down, so I already sleep on an incline. Thank you for making this video. I've never camped before, but I hope to this fall and videos like this are helping me avoid major beginner mistakes.
I've done many of these mistakes, but you have to make some of them in order to learn. You'll only make the mistake once :) I want to commend you on the amount of work this video looks like it took. SO many different clips to keep folks engaged. Awesome job Dan!!!
Depending on how steep the incline, is you can, sleep with your head upslope and adjust your bedding to raise your feet too. Also sleeping away from people if you snore I've had my buddy's made at me before Great video.
Mt Hood at 1:23? Solid tips, I'll be sending a few noobie campers to watch this video. An additional tip: Watch out for setting up in a bowl, rain will collect underneath and often permeate the tent floor.
I always liked a slight incline. Head uphill and feet downhill. Rain will flow downhill. Camped in a tent for 53 years.
I always remember the advice to pitch on a slight incline, if you can cope with it, because some kinds of ground won't soak away rain, so you can end up flooded on the flat ground, but a slight incline will help it run off. An alternative is flat ground but with an incline very near, so standing water can't build up much height without running down the slope.
Honestly I spend about 3-4 months of the year sleeping in a tent and I like a slight incline, I also often dig a mini moat. The incline helps with my acid reflux to keep stomach acid where it should be.
@@xursed7990 why do you spend so much time sleeping in nature?
Im going camping with guides on friday to sunday so im going to follow all of the tips that you said in this video.
Edit: I'm back from camp and I had to put the tent on a little hill.
I'm not sure I caught mistake 3 about how to orient to the wind. You had the narrow end facing the camera but you were facing the side. All sides from my inexperienced viewpoint seemed to be supported by poles. I would think that having a small area facing the wind makes sense. I missed practically what to do.
I was thinking to myself, who doesn't know this. Then I realised my parents took me tent camping since I was 3 years old and setting up a tent is like walking to me. Thinking back to tent camping with people who didn't do it before, great advice!
Agreed Alex! Some good info none the less!
Wow I never knew that putting stakes in the ground could be such an art. You really know how to put stakes in the ground thank you so much.
Thank you for this!! I’m going on my first overnighter in a few weeks. Going to practice setting up my tent a few times before I get out there! Wish me luck! 🙂
Awesome! You’re welcome and good luck!
Thanks, Dan. I’m leaving on moto camping trip in a couple of days. Since I haven’t camped in about two decades your video was quite the refresher. Again, many thanks!
A few other mistakes, with the campspot used in the video 1. open area (clearing) which is very condensation prone (dew) and 2, choise of ground cover - grass - often wet, and contains a lot of water/moist, makes for a colder, wetter, more condensation prone campspot - much better to camp among the trees with drier ground cover :)
But don't forget to check the trees so nothing falls on your tent!
@@judylloyd7901 of course :)
Moist
@@dubthedirector yes? not sure i understand your comment ? :)
@@outsiderswalks5460 got to look out for "widow makers" though if camping in the trees
Another great video, like a Rhombus!
I love the idea that you get a choice of camp site. Most places I go backpacking you spend an hour or two looking for a place, any place at all, that you can put a tent up. Thick brush, solid rock, deep bogs, etc etc. At least widow makers are rarely an issue, finding any tree is a rarity.
As an Eagle Scout, I definitely agree with all of this, but there are a few other things to watch out for as well:
1) Widow Makers (plenty of other people have mentioned this one). This can also include large trees that can be at a bit of a tilt. We were out one weekend for Wilderness Survival (where you make your own structure with basically just a tarp and the natural materials you get from the area), and we ended up getting lots of rain. There was one Tree that was became quite tilted while we were out there (at lest 30-50° from vertical if I remember correctly), so we had a few scouts that were in the path it would fall to move for the next night.
2) Unless you have those 90° angle spike stakes like you showed in the video, or some other heavy duty steel stake or something, you should generally Avoid stepping on your stakes to put them into the ground, otherwise you will have a good time bending them back later.
3) Keep the ground cloth UNDER THE TENT (there is a good comment about this from Joel Hansen).
4) This one isn’t as much about sleep, but waking up and how fast the tent will dry: it can be good to keep in mind where the sun will rise in the morning. It can be good to place your tent somewhere that will get sun in the morning to help dry out the dew, but may be shaded later in the day to keep it from getting too hot. This will vary based on the time of year you are camping, and is not as critical as some of the other points, but can be good to keep in mind.
5) Another reason to keep your doors closed when setting up the tent is that it help keeps dirt and leaves from getting in the tent! Along this line of thinking, you should also avoid tracking your dirty boots/shoes through the tent, keep them in that vetibule if your tent has one, or if not, it may be good to bring a small rug to put by the door. This will both keep your experience in the tent cleaner, and save you lots of cleanup work later on.
I always bring a "rug" when camping. The rug I bring depends on the camping I am doing. If my family and I are sleeping in our Pop-up, we bring a full size outdoor rug. If I/we are tent camping, I use a light, cheap doormat. If I am backpacking, I have a half of an old thermarest pad that I cut and shared with a friend. Like you mentioned, a rug is invaluable for keeping outside your tent to keep debris out and to have a place to put on/take off your shoes.
Very useful video, especially tip #3 for me. Also made me realize I do stake out my Big Agnes incorrectly as I definitely had folding in my tent floor the first two times I’ve used it 😅 Excited to try it out for a third time now 😁
👍👍
Thanks! Gonna share this with my 18 year old grandson who will be doing his first backpacking trip next week on the AT.
The first thing I always do with a new tent is replace all static guylines with elasticized shock cord to give the tent fabric and attachment points some flex in high winds and help prevent tent blowdown or tears. It has been a game-changer in 40 to 70 mph gusts and 30+ mph sustained winds.
Great tip!
Is that the same thing as a bungee cord?
@@georgcantor7172 Shock cord is thinner, like the stuff round waists or hoods of some jackets - at least round here, and a bungee cord is thick for fastening stuff to roof racks, motorcycle carriers, etc., with hooks on the ends - or of course a very long hi-tech version (hopefully) for jumping off bridges.
@@georgcantor7172 Sometimes called shock cord, elastic cord, or bungee, it is a thinner, lighter version of bungee cord. I have used 1/8" (3mm) and 3/32 (2mm) thickness shock cord, depending. The cord may be tied into loops at the ends for attachment purposes, or mini carabiners may be used. NiteIze makes (or used to make) Mini CamJam attachment devices, which are similar to carabiners but allow for sliding adjustment of cord length, which accept 1.8 mm to 3mm shock cord. NiteIze even made sets with about 6 to 8 inches of pre-attached cord with end stops, which are perfect for attaching tent bottom perimeters to tent stakes. NiteIze also makes a host of other lightweight, low-profile tie-downs and small attachment mechanisms suitable for such cords. Places such as Paracord Planet have an array of thicknesses and colors of cord, including glow-in-the-dark or camouflage depending upon how visible or stealthy you want to be, and such cord may be ordered in hanks or spools of varying foot lengths. You then simply cut to desired length, burn the frayed ends to cauterize them, and then fix to your various tent attachment points using whatever means work best for you.
That's what I thought...i would love to see a vid on this. Can't you buy some ready to use, at Home Depot?
Nice video! I'm a 30 year old woman and have been camping all my life... I do all these things on a normal camping vacation too. With a large cotton tent you kind of want to do it right from the start because it's not easy to move the whole tent after you've placed it. We also always look where the sun will come up and go down so we can put the sleeping area in the shade on the hottest part of the day... This doesn't matter much though when you only stay for one night. Another big rule is not putting anything against the tent cloth so the inside tent doesn't get pushed against the outside tent and heavy rain won't come through both tent layers. I really want to try hiking sometime but don't look forward sleeping in a small polyester tent... Those things don't breath and get so hot😅
You should work with Big Agnes in designing the Rhombus line. You didn't mention it in this video, but I did learn from you about putting a stick under the line on my head and foot to make more room.. That was definitely a pro tip. You can add that to the Rhombus line.
Can you please provide a link to the video with this stick tip? Not sure I'm understanding the reference.
I use a cheap plastic FOIL car sunscreen ($5) under my S-bag and ontop of my air mat. Wear several thin layers of clothing whilst sleeping and most importantly a woolen knitted hat. Good ventilation (better to have ice than water in the morning) and do not put you face/mouth into the S-bag to avoid condensation and ice build up inside the bag. Air-out the bedding every day in the sun when not raining. One-penny candles can keep the warmth in the tent to within acceptable range whilst you are awake. At minus 6C or colder try to place your tent on a thick layer of pine or heather fronds. Keep the fire going all night with thick logs and a wooden heat-shield about two meters away. Keep your water bottles inside your S-bag. I prefer wide bags with arm holes. Eat Oatmeal for dinner and breakfast. Have some hot tea or coffee always available in your bag with a good pee container. Keep food in a sack on a rope up a thin tall tree about 500 meters away. Carry a machete or carry a Colt .45 whee allowed. I always carry a hunting knife and have never had to use it. Spread pee around the far circle of your camping territory to let the predators know you are in residence. Bigfoot often try to help or warn you off before harm is experienced. Never had a disaster or been lost or lost equipment except when a townie in a redneck truck decided he wanted to steal all my stuff and leave me homeless. He went to jail after. (He accidentally stabbed himself with my knife). Respect nature and keep a low profile. Foolish or egotistical man is often food for predators or worms.
My camping now comes with heated pool, mini bar and room service! My family camped so much that at 56 now, I just can’t. Fractured my spine after 27 years as a Paramedic/Firefighter. Did enjoy it as a kid though. 🙂
We obviously camp at the same spots 😂😂
@@arthurbrumagem3844 😂😂😂😂
I'm not a tenter, although I do have a tent, I much prefer a hammock and tarp set up. I'm glad I clicked on this as it was a good refresher for those rare times I may have set up my tent. Coincidentally, alot of your tips do apply to hammock camping as well so good job on that! Worthy of a like and subscribe. One thing that got me was your tips about the terrain. Good tips to be sure, but suspended between two trees you generally don't have to worry about that.
Don’t forget to look up! Are there any dead tree branches that can fall on you? If so, move your tent! “Widow makers” are no joke.
I tented for 20 years. Never knew why I was taking time evaluating everything before setting up. I do all the steps you mention when I setup, plus a few other tips. Like having bush or trees as a wind break or setting up additional tarps with adjustable biscuit pucks and telescopic poles in a classic A-frame above my tent. I also use heavy spiral 9" wood nails which are 1/4" diameter and place an extra tarp under my tent if I am on moist or rocky ground. Those nails easily crush stones or push stones aside with a heavy hammer and the tarp helps from tears and moisture wicking onto your bedding or luggage. Those other spikes are light, fancy and pricey, and can't handle the stresses of a rocky and solid surface. My second camping trip had my tent blow away at night because I bent all my fancy steaks in half, so using supplied steaks is a definite NO while setting up a tent.
Also, having a place to dry off your tent is not always possible, and if your tent is moist while stored, you may end up with a fungal mess of a tent next camping season.
My wife always argues with me and calls me a dick tator for not explaining things, and when I cave in and set it up the way she wants, it always ends up in complications. Like that low area that made my tent nearly float away during a heavy rain at night. Lucky I had a fat air mattress, but everything on the ground was totally saturated. Not to brag, but I did have my tent and tarps destroyed by high winds once while being setup on a flat area beside a lake. The wind tore everything up over 3 days of high winds. No matter how you set up a tent, mother nature can and will eventually tell you when it is time to high tail it back home. And if you decide to stay when all the motorhomes and trailers high tailed it out, just remember what it is like waking up with ice inside your sleeping bag and having no dry place to warm up. At least now I can explain things but after 27 years of marriage, I summarize it: "You knew me long enough to have faith in my judgement. This is my job, let me do it and unless it leads to a bad camping experience, just watch and learn".
Have fun with your tents. I retired mine and now use a 27' fifth wheel trailer and I won't ever look back, unless someone asks for my help setting one up for themselves. But I keep one on hand in case the world gets any more stupid than it has over the last 22 years. I could explain why, but my name explains everything for those who pay attention to detail.
And if you decide to reply, please share with us your bad experiences camping.
I like you and your series of videos. I believe you could have demonstrated exactly how to orient the tent into a strong wind. For example, if there are strong winds from the west I would put the foot side (the opposite end from the single front door) of my "Sierra Designs clip flashlight ®" facing due west to offer the smallest profile to the wind. You said something about "not making the tent aerodynamic" and using the strongest pole section. I wish you would clarify this point in a future video with a couple tents and indicating exactly how to orient it to the wind (even a hypothetical wind that you indicate with a red banner. I just didn't think that the point you were trying to make was clear regarding the orientation of a tent in strong winds.
Agree. I was wondering how to setup a geodesic or regular square tent. Do you set up with the door perpendicular to the wind direction, or diagonally so the pole edges are the ones facing the wind?
It depends on your tent and you figure ut out via trial and error. There’s no one size fits all solution.