How fast can you break camp?

[Dogwood]

I'm posting this in the speed hiking forum so let's keep it on topic. What are some of your habits, techniques, types of set-ups, etc that get you started quickly in the morning? I'm seeking info like Matt Kirk provided in BP Mag(March 2014, pg 84) on how he gets hiking within 25 mins in the morn.

[rafe]

25 minutes is no sweat -- if you don't cook breakfast or have to light your stove to make coffee. Also, time spent at privy or dealing with... nature's call can't be completely controlled. (Am I the weird skipping breakfast? It's just too time consuming.)

Stuff bag into its sack. Stuff the pack. Take down the tent. Fetch food bag, stuff in pack, attach tent to pack.

If you're really out for an early start, have your water supply set to go the night before.

[Rocket Jones]

For me, the magic is whether or not I sleep in. If I sleep late-ish, then I want to eat before heading up the trail. If I'm up early, then I'll put a couple few miles in before stopping to eat.

[Kerosene]

I'm slower than average, but I'm really, really slow the first few mornings of my annual section hike, despite organizing things ahead of time. After a few days I finally remember where to put everything and how to pack. I'm not big on exactly repeating a routine, but that is a prime way to accelerate breaking camp: e.g., awake, dress, roll-up bag & mat, toilet regimen, strike shelter, pack and go. Eating breakfast an hour down the trail at a nice viewpoint is a great way to get going with a forced break.

[Dogwood]

During summer in fair weather I break camp and am hiking in 15 mins. I cowboy camp as often as possible so I don't always have a shelter to break down which saves time. Basically, it's about stuffing my quilt/sleeping bag, rolling up my ground cloth, noshing some b'fast, while consuming my supplements, doing som,e quick easy stretches, and I'm on the go. I organize my supplements, b-fast(which is usually a trail bar in summer), snacks for the day, and have the route ahead much figured out including water logistics the night before. Even in winter when I may cook a hot b-fast of say oatmeal I'm eating b-fast as I'm packing/cleaning up and consuming my supplements and perhaps taking a glance ahead at the trail maps, databook, etc. I'm very aware EXACTLY what I'm carrying on every hike or every section and I pack UL in an organized fashion so it makes things simpler. I organize my pack pretty much the same way on each trip so it makes it simpler to keep track of what gear I need to account for. I've practiced taking down my tarp, hammock, tent, etc so many times it's an extension of me.

[rafe]

Warren Doyle (bless his heart -- where the heck has he run off to?) used to advise wannabe thru-hikers, if you had to light your stove once a day, you weren't going to make it to Katahdin.

When I first heard that, I thought it was kinda arrogant. But over the years it occurred to me that cooking on the trail ate up a lot of useful time. So I took that bit of advice to heart. I use the stove at camp, in the evening only. Exceptions made for a torrential downpour that keeps you stuck in a shelter for hours, mid-day.

[Slo-go'en]

I can usually be out of camp in about a half hour. Like Rafe says, the trick is to break down everything first thing. As soon as I wake up I deflate my pad, put on my clothes, stuff my sleeping bag, (then take a pee), take down the tent and pack the pack. Brush teeth, visit the privy, eat a non-cook breakfast (honey bun), refill the water bottle and leave.

What you don't want to do is get up before dawn and then spend the next 2 hours at the picnic table in front of the shelter rustling plastic bags in the dark while shining a headlamp all around. Had some idiot do this to me recently. I don't understand why some people take so long to get going in the morning.

[Malto]

I can be gone in 15 minutes if using my shelter and less if shelterless. I wake, unscrew valve on neoair, climb out, get out days food and load pack. For multiday hikes I will also brush teeth and hopefully take a dump to lighten the load. Then I'm off, eating breakfast a few minutes down the trail on the move.

[bigcranky]

When I'm solo in the summer, 25 minutes is plenty of time. Get out of the hammock, water a nearby tree, stuff my bag, take down the hammock and pack it, change into shorts and t-shirt, load my pack, mix up an iced coffee drink, grab some pop tarts, and start walking. I got water the night before, and I don't have much stuff anyway.

Hiking with my wife, it seems to consistently take 90 minutes

[Coffee]

20-30 minutes would be more than enough time if, like many others, I did not bother with breakfast or ate something cold. However, I cannot get going without a hot breakfast and coffee in the morning so I'm usually packed up and hitting the trail about an hour after I wake up, sometimes a bit longer if I have to visit the privy or dig a cat hole. I'm willing to get up half an hour earlier to have a hot breakfast.

[rafe]

Part of the trick is just not having too much stuff. When it's lights-out, I know everything I "own" is inside the tent, with a few exceptions (mainly, the food bag, hanging somewhere nearby.) So in the AM it's simply a matter of pushing all that stuff back into the pack; once the tent is cleared out, it comes down, gets rolled up, bagged and fastened to the pack.

The food bag is a probably the biggest hassle: most of it wants to be buried deep in the pack, but the daily nosh wants to be near the top of the pack or in the outer pockets. So that's a bit of re-organizing that happens late in the game.

Basic packing principle is simple: stuff needed only in camp gets buried deep; stuff I might need to access during the day (eg. rain gear, pack cover) goes near the top. Contents of pack are divided into about 3 or 4 stuff sacks. Since I don't cook breakfast, the kitchen stuff always goes in first.

[garlic08]

It's 10 to 15 for me. 25 would be slacking. I don't eat in camp. I often camp away from water (usually warmer, drier, and fewer bugs). Throw on the clothes and tie the shoes, stuff the sleeping bag, pull four stakes and stuff the tent, pick up the water bottle, and go. The big decision is what layers to wear that day. I eat breakfast in an hour or two when things warm up. I might have a couple of fig newtons while dressing and packing.

Then I try to catch my wife who's already been hiking for five minutes.

[imscotty]

15 - 20 minutes. Once the birds wake me usually I am ready to roll. The hammock makes packing super easy. Hammock & bottom quilt go in a double bishop bag. Top quilt has its own CF bag. If rain was not a threat then the tarp is probably still in its snake ready to go in the backpack outside mesh.. Then it is just teeth, bathroom, organize the pack for the morning and go. I like to walk a mile or two and have breakfast someplace scenic.

[bobp]

I'm crying now. When our Scout troop went to Philmont, the leaders asked the boys how early they thought they would have to wake up to be on the trail at first light at 5:30. The answer... 3:30. And they were absolutely right. They get points for knowing themselves and for being disciplined enough to wake up each morning at 3:30, but... It would have been nicer if they could have managed to get their stuff together in less than 2 hours...

[Patrickjd9]

Unless it's hot enough to make hiking in the middle of the day really uncomfortable. 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

[Patrickjd9]

When our Scout troop went to Philmont, the leaders asked the boys how early they thought they would have to wake up to be on the trail at first light at 5:30. The answer... 3:30.

I've gotten dressed and through breakfast before dawn, but never gotten out that early. It can't be any more efficient than setting up camp at night, which is a pain even in a campground where you can sometimes use the car headlights.

[SunnyWalker]

I stop for breakfast or eat on the way so in the morning it's tear down, pack, morning constitutional and walk. No problem-MO!

[Wise Old Owl]

Added Woopie Slings to the Hennesy this year, wow just get out rollit up close the snake skin and unhook the woopies about thee minutes.

[Firefighter503]

I am usually out in 15-20 min (not rushing). Pad gets deflated while I am still laying on it, and then rolled before I even get out of the tent. Sleeping bag, clothes bag (pillow), and tent get stuffed into my pack, followed by my food bag. Cold breakfast and I am headed up the trail. I get enough water the night before to make dinner, drink a liter around the fire, and have some to drink in the morning/get to the next water source.

[Lyle]

How fast CAN I break camp, about 15 minutes if I plan it ahead of time and eat breakfast down the trail.

That said, I rarely choose to do this. Very early morning is one of my favorite times of day to sit quietly, sipping some coffee and watching the day emerge. I find this time "theraputic" to my soul.

That said, hiking during this time is also very enjoyable, but different.

I rarely find myself in such a hurry that I want to forgoe this major enjoyment. Typically, I like to be hitting the trail within an hour of crawling out of the bag, any longer and I'm definitely lolly-gagging, which is fine too occasionally.

Keep in mind, if you like to get up and going early, and sleep in the shelters, you will gain the gratitude of your fellow selter dwellers by doing noisy packing outside, away from directly in front of the shelter. Those boxes are echo chambers and amplify any movement on the foor. Likewise, any talking should be limited and at a whisper level.