View Full Version : camp Question???
i dont know why but for some reason it takes us FOREVER! to set up and break down camp. it could be that my wonderful dad has to have everything perfect and just right.
like i have said before we are new to hiking and only have been out on the trail for extened periods 2 time now.
so my question is ...... does anyone have some good tricks to make this easier!
and setting up camps is always the most stressful part of our day, its kinda funny how we start to fight over the smallest thing. just to agree over dinner how dumb it is and plan to work and communicate better next time. (which never happens!) lol.
is it just us or is this stressful for others? (please someone say it is so i feel better and not so inadequate)
thanks ladies!:D
I think it's often harder for two people to split chores than for one person to do it all. (I say this as someone who usually camps solo, but sometimes goes with my husband of more than 30 years, and sometimes with my adult offspring.)
One approach is to agree to split responsibilities beforehand. Person A will get water and set up the tent and sleeping pads and bags. Person B will do everything involving food. Each person will just go about their business, not expecting help with their chores and not getting helpful advice from the other person. This approach has worked really well as my husband has gotten into backpacking. I keep myself occupied elsewhere doing my chores while he figures out his own system for doing stuff without my constant criticism, I mean, advice.
The other option is for each person to do everything for themselves. Two tents, two stoves, carry your own food, etc. There just aren't a lot of decisions to be made jointly, and hence fewer things to argue about.
Yeah, it can be very stressful. The essence of decision-making is that it's always a power struggle. Parents and children have to come to terms with that. Couples have to come to terms with that. All hiking partners have to come to terms with that.
Blissful
07-31-2008, 21:00
Practice makes perfect! Once you do it day in and day out for a week or more, you get it down to a science. Then it doesn't take so long. But dividing responsibilities ahead of time helps. And it helps too if both get up at the same time. :)
Completely normal. Yes, it gets easier with practice. You will learn how to pack/unpack more efficiently. It's especially important to learn where to put things in your pack so that when you stop to set up camp, you have your tent, etc. accessible right away.
Same applies to breaking camp. You'll soon learn how to pack up quickly and what goes where in your pack.
Just hang in there and keep laughing at the "stress" of it all :)
Doughnut
08-01-2008, 07:49
Maybe let one person do it all solo the first day and let another do it all the second day and learn from each other??
DoughNut
Bearpaw88
08-01-2008, 08:36
Do you share gear?
It is much easier to set up camp if all you have to do is set up your own things. Maybe consider each having a completely independent camp. Then you can set up separately and away from each other without all the hassle. That way you can each do what you want.
trailmomma4
08-01-2008, 10:24
I am always stressed until the camp gets set up. :( My boys have just learned that everything goes a lot smoother when they pitch in and get it done faster. :)
Bear Cables
08-01-2008, 14:35
The easiest is to have separate gear etc and just be responsible for your self as we do when hiking with friends. When hiking with family it can be different as things are shared. This worked for us... I hike with my now adult sons who learned backpacking in Boy Scouts. They use the "crew mentality". I use my own gear and they share. One day Ross is clean up and bear bag and Randy is cook and water then they switch. They set up the shared tent together and are responsible for their personal gear. We get out of camp in 30 min. then eat breakfast later on the trail.
we do share a tent, i have my own but its so cold at night i end up in his (florida girl). i think we will try splitting things up, we do everything together and i can see how this takes more time. i'm very good at remembering where everything in my pack is and i have the added responsibility of keeping his pack neat, he loses everything. its funny really!
thanks for the info and help!
O and i'm happy to hear we are not the only ones who get stressed out about the camp!
I'm really glad for this discussion, because I've had the same problem when backpacking with my husband. Everything is routine when I go alone, but somehow when there's two of us, we always end up bickering about setting up and taking down camp. I think it's partly because at night, we're both hungry and tired, and in the morning, we're hungry, groggy, and cold. It's frustrating to me, because I go to the backcountry to relax and become more at peace, yet I still find myself being critical and snippy about stupid little things. We'll have to try the official split responsibilities approach. I still hold out hope that one day we'll work together like a well oiled machine.
paradoxb3
08-12-2008, 17:30
i'm a solo hiker, with only limited experience on long trips, but i'm wondering about what all it is you're having to set up and break down...
when i hit camp, for my normal routine, the first thing i do is select my sleeping area and setup my tent or hammock, pad, and sleeping bag (while theres usually enough light to see what you're doing). then i break out the food and stove, eat until i'm full & happy, and put things away. i may go get water if theres a source nearby or make a trip to the privy, but when i go to bed, my (hanging) food bag and tent/hammock + bedding are the only things to pack up in the morning.
hike your own hike, of course... but while i'm NOT a super-mega-ultra-light'er at all, i take a very minimalist approach to camp. if its not completely required, its staying in the pack. and once i'm done with it (for example -- stove, toiletries) it goes immediately back in the pack, food bag, or wherever else. i generally break camp in 20-30 minutes after rolling out of bed. if its cold i get moving and have breakfast later when i'm warmed up from hiking, or when the temp warms up. if its nice that morning i may eat before leaving.
i guess what i'm getting at is -- is your style more of a camping trip interrupted by occasional hiking, or a hiking trip interrupted only by occasional camping? additionally when hiking with partners i've always found it alot easier and quicker to be gear-independent so you can do your own thing.
Hammock Hanger
08-12-2008, 17:36
As many have said practice makes perfect.
It is stressful in the morning because you want to get going.
It is stressful in the evening because you are tired.
once you have the chores broken down to who does what, always do them in the same order. This makes it become a routine and easier to follow (almost mindlessly after a while) as you don't really have to think about it, you get robotic.
don't second guess how the other person did his/her job, ie: you would have set up the tent somewhere else, or in a different direction - would have hung the food in a different spot... etc. You do your job they do theirs.
Sit and catch your breath after erecting the tent and getting the water, even if it is just for 10 minutes or so. Then start the meal process. Together relaxed and happy (hopefully).
When packing up in the morning do so in a routine manner, everything done in the same way each morning. Pack everything in the same way. Again it helps to get a routine and robotic motion going. Also, if you do it the same way every time you are less likely to forget something as you will sense it almost immediately.
Everything is a learning curve. I can remember when my husband and I first started out it could be an hour to hour and a half long process. When I am alone now I can be packed up and ready to go in 15 minutes, usually closer to 30 minutes when I'm with my husband (he's slow--but I love him.)
Good luck with it.
Sue
River Runner
08-15-2008, 16:56
I agree that having a minimalist approach to what is needed in camp is helpful. Then ahead of time agree on who will do what - one sets up the tent while the other sets up a bear bag hang and kitchen area. One cooks while the other gets water. Each can add their own sleeping bag and pad to the tent, and that is pretty much camp isn't it? Unless you are doing a campfire, in which case either both of you or whoever finishes first can collect wood.
In the morning simply reverse the process - each should pack up their personal gear out of the tent first, then while one retrieves the bear hang and cooks the other takes down the tent. The one who is usually fastest at packing up could refill water containers for the day of hiking.
bigcranky
08-15-2008, 21:03
I think it's important to stop and take a break in the middle of the afternoon and eat something. Too many hikers -- and I'm a prime example -- have their heads in camp while their bodies still have four or five miles to hike. They (okay, I) get in that trudge mode -- head down, hiking along, thinking about what I'll do in camp, still with several miles to go. Then, when I get to camp, I'm totally fried. My wife and I do this all the time -- we arrive in camp starving and totally wiped out. Then we bicker over every small thing.
If we take a snack break around 3 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and eat something good -- like a King Size Snickers bar -- it changes everything. We arrive in camp in much better shape, and all the camp chores and general mucking about are a lot easier.
Not sure I can help you with morning stuff. We like to be up and out very early, so we usually grab a small cold breakfast and start hiking. Then we'll stop for a longer mid-morning break for second breakfast. If it's really cold, of course, things change, but for summer hiking, we can be up and on the trail in about 20 minutes.
Hammock Hanger
08-15-2008, 21:57
...If we take a snack break around 3 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and eat something good -- like a King Size Snickers bar -- it changes everything. We arrive in camp in much better shape, and all the camp chores and general mucking about are a lot easier.
I have found that the more I eat while I hike the better. I keep a small jar of MooGoo or PB & Honey in a side pocket. The days that I periodically take a large spoonful throughtout the day, I hike much better. Nothing worse then hitting a wall, pushing through it to get to camp and then just crash.
EAT :banana EAT :banana EAT :banana EAT...
River Runner
08-16-2008, 01:00
I think it's important to stop and take a break in the middle of the afternoon and eat something. Too many hikers -- and I'm a prime example -- have their heads in camp while their bodies still have four or five miles to hike. They (okay, I) get in that trudge mode -- head down, hiking along, thinking about what I'll do in camp, still with several miles to go. Then, when I get to camp, I'm totally fried. My wife and I do this all the time -- we arrive in camp starving and totally wiped out. Then we bicker over every small thing.
If we take a snack break around 3 or 4:00 in the afternoon, and eat something good -- like a King Size Snickers bar -- it changes everything. We arrive in camp in much better shape, and all the camp chores and general mucking about are a lot easier.
Good advise Big Cranky.
Everybody is different. Some people I know love setting up camp..they really get a kick out of it. When hiking with others I think it is very smart for everyone to have as much individual gear as possible..tent...stove..meals ect.Then everybody sets up shop and cooks their own meals the way they most enjoy without imposing their differences on others. On backpacking trips I keep it simple...I pitch my tent and just boil my one pot of water for dinner...I do not have much cleanup. I have hiked with people who cook gourmet meals...that is great for them. In the mornings I can break down camp in a hurry and I often will head on down the trail while the others are still packing up...the others are going to catch up with me anyway because I am a slow hiker. When I go car camping it is completly the opposite. I have to set up my camp a certain way and I really get in to it...I have to tell everybody else to leave me alone and let me have my fun.
Two Speed
08-25-2008, 08:40
Two suggestions for getting out of camp more efficiently:
First, if you touch something put it where it goes in the pack.
Couple of examples:
I like to drink two cups of coffee in the morning. Usually I'm still wrapped up in my sleeping bag while I drink the first one, then start moving around while I boil water for the second.
As I "unwrap" I stuff the sleeping bag in it's sack, and then put it in its spot in my pack.
Another example is my light. I use an extremely small LED, so it goes in my first aid kit. As soon as it's light enough to see without it I put that away, too.
As soon as I finish my second cup of coffee the mess kit, including the stove and fuel, gets put away.
The concept is to avoid moving the same item over and over again. Use it as long as you need it, then put it away.
Second suggestion is to do your very best to reduce the number of items you carry. Fewer items means less time required to organize them and put them away.
Then there are those occasions when I can't organize a decent train wreck. Happens to everyone now and again. :cool:
Mrs Baggins
08-25-2008, 08:55
My husband and I split the chores. When we get to the shelter he gets the water and sets up the cook area. We each set up our own tents, I decide on dinner, get out the food and get it all going. He washes up the cookpot/utensils. In the morning he gets the water going for coffee and I decide on breakfast and set it all out. We're responsible for our own packs at night and in the morning. We're both early risers so we're able to set off early, no problem. We can both unpack and repack pretty quickly.
Jason of the Woods
08-25-2008, 16:01
Practice.?