So what are some of the do's and don'ts about staying in a shelter.
changing clothes? peeing too close to the shelter? being loud? clothes lines?
cooking? making room for late show ups? sex, drugs & rock and roll?
etc. etc.
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So what are some of the do's and don'ts about staying in a shelter.
changing clothes? peeing too close to the shelter? being loud? clothes lines?
cooking? making room for late show ups? sex, drugs & rock and roll?
etc. etc.
Firstly a shelter is common space. If you're not comfortable with that don't stay in a shelter. Tent, tarp, hammock, whatever instead.
Secondly share in truly bad weather a shelter can maybe hold half again as much hikers.
Bathrooms, unless there's a privy, women one way down-trail. Men the other.
If you _must_ or eat in the shelter clean up! Crumbs attract mice and other critters.
If you have a campfire try to get enough wood to leave some behind. Don't burn it all somebody later may need it.
Lastly (I've always felt that) if one hiker is obnoxious the others can ask them to leave.
first come, first served whether it's 2 or 10
Privies are not trash pits. Don't throw anything non-compostable in them.
Shelters are not party spots by hikers or locals.
Never heard of this one, maybe it's regional. But just respect other people which includes bathroom needs according to gender.
This is IMHO a great part of trail life, giving back and making the place better for the next person, but it is against LNT principals which would have one re-scatter the wood not used (rescatter = put it back as you found it as you are able to do so, don't just hide it). This is a place that I oppose the LNT principal as it violated respect for each other and the earth, our common home.Quote:
If you have a campfire try to get enough wood to leave some behind. Don't burn it all somebody later may need it.
In a perfect world...Quote:
Lastly (I've always felt that) if one hiker is obnoxious the others can ask them to leave.
LNT is an ideal to be pursued but ideal are not reality. I won't pull down a growing tree to get firewood. I will cut up or break a dried downed tree. Someone that did made my hike much more pleasant at a shelter. I will pay that forward when I can.
Leave the shelter if you want to make a call on your cell phone.
I some times use shelters when the weather is bad. We have packed people in like sardines in a can in really bad weather. One of the tricky things is to insure you don't mix your gear up with others. It is best prepare your food when others aren't (i.e. work in shifts).
Depending on the shelter size and layout, hanging wet clothes/packs/food can be an issue. Confine your stuff to one small area. It drives me nuts when 1 or 2 hikers have stuff hanging all over the place.
If you arrive in foul weather and the shelter is getting packed, ask the group if you can squeeze in rather than just start forcing your way in. If your courteous, they usually find a way to make you fit. Sometimes you might have to lay at 90 degrees at the end and risk getting stepped on in the middle of the night. Changing wet clothes can be challenge. It's probably best to do this outside behind the shelter unless there are just a few folks in there, and just as a courtesy say you are going to make a quick change. Most people don't care and you can often swap your wet undies in the bag.
Other stuff will become obvious like not walking or crawling around inside with muddy boots or dropping food on the floor. Be careful with your stove (try to stay outside with a lit stove if possible). Be especially careful with alcohol stoves. They are tiny and not obvious to a tired hiker, but if kicked or tipped there can big trouble.
People will wake up a daybreak and generally pack up in shifts to allow enough space without mixing up stuff or crowding the sleeping hikers who want to wait.
If you are the last out in the morning, sweep the dirt out off the floor.
Just a couple of other things...
Smoking can be really irritating to others, especially those who fought for years to quit. Best not to smoke, or a least go out away from the shelter, go where the wind won't blow it back in. Pot is most effective in a tent and is still offensive to a few other folks out there.
Tapping on your PD keyboard after dark is pretty annoying but done a lot these days. Just be aware that some come out there to get away from electronic gadgets and don't want to hear it. Usually by dark, most people are resting or trying to go to sleep. The exception might be Winter or early Spring where a campfire is burning and folks are enjoying the philosophical conversations. :).
Because I dont want to hear somebody talkin homesick and babytalkin their kids, and everyone else in the shelter is burdoned by that one person having their oun conversation with someone not even there.
This coming from someone(LW) who says they dont know what an ithingy is and dislikes technology on the trail. :datz
I tend to approach the subject from the point if view of --
1) Shelters are public spaces
2) Behave like you are a guest in someone else's home
3) Don't be so quick to be offended or "suck it up cupcake." Just as you may not share someone's views, they may not share your "I'm offended trigger."
I think the thing about cell phones is that the end of the conversation that I hear (and I'm partially deef) is SHOUTED.
Makes me uncomfortable.
I think we can all agree that all that is said here overlaps hostel etiquette as well.
I will use a shelter in bad weather and I am not a newbie or lazy.
I don't think that problems with others are all that common in shelters. Most people are respectful of others. Last fall I arrived at a shelter just before a line of thunderstorms was moving through. A couple with a dog had a tent set up inside the shelter on the sleeping platform. As soon as they realized they were taking up too much space and the shelter was filling up they moved the tent down onto the floor of the shelter.
But I have ALWAYS had a goal of leaving a shelter cleaner than its condition when I arrived. That's why you'll see me sweeping out a shelter in the middle of the day, and picking up other people's trash.
Also, be aware that neither aluminum nor plastic wrappers burn in the fire pit. Which, BTW, is NOT a trash pit either.
One minor thing about shelter etiquette: believe it or not, unless we ask, we DON'T CARE about your gear. It may very well be the greatest piece of equipment ever made, be always presume we DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT.
Oh, and don't set off your air horn inside the shelter after taking a drag on your bong pipe, particularly when others are trying to sleep. Sad to say, I have to add that.
My main rule for shelters, as in life: Be kind.
Shelter Etiquette.
1 NO Dogs in shelter ( leave them out side even if it's raining ).
2 No fighting/ Arguing.
3 No cell phone use inside or near the shelter while people are sleeping.
4 Have respect for other peoples gear.
5 No Bitching about the Terrain/miles " if you can't do 20+ miles without complaining about it don't do the miles".
6 If you not carrying a stove DON'T beg someone else to use theirs.
7 Keep your gear in a nice neat organized manner NOT strewn all over the shelter floor.
8 Always make room for another person if it's raining even if the shelter is full.
9 No late night conversations inside shelter.
10 Do NOT set your tent up inside shelters no matter how cold it is.
11 DO NOT pee/crap directly behind shelter go a good distance away to do your business even if it's raining.
12 DO NOT hang your wet clothing directly over the sleeping area.
13 NO bragging/ smartass remarks about how many miles your doing.
14 No GUN play if your carrying a firearm leave it inside your pack or someplace out of sight, Not everybody likes guns.
15 DO Not use the MICE strings to hang your pack on, their for your food bag only.
16 NO complaining about the shelters.
17 DON'T try to be the shelter BOSS.
I only stay at shelters if the weather is really crappy
I do not understand why people would want to stay in shelters, barring horrible weather.
Out west we just don't have them, and I'm amazed at how many AT and LT hikers do the shelter-to-shelter thing. After a serene day in the woods who wants to sleep on a crowded hard wood floor while listening to others talk, fart, cook, eat, shuffle, complain....
OK! not having spent any time in a shelter, it seems to me that if you set up camp so your looking into a shelter its like looking into a big TV with a horrible soap opera on!
just saying.
I've had good experiences in shelters and a couple "not-so-good" experiences also. The more mileage I do on the AT (I'm over 500 miles now), the less interested I am in shelters. Enjoy the tent much better.
Obnoxious could mean a loud snorer. I remember a few nights where the rest of the group would have liked to eject that guy. LOL
Things have changed from even 10-15 years ago. I was out for a month one year in May (10 years ago) and 2/3rds of the time I had a shelter to myself and the rest of the time perhaps 1 to 3 additional people. You never know when or how many people will show up. Even on my most recent hike, I had IMP shelter completely to myself in July. But at Hall Mountain, it was packed with a guy sleeping on the 'step down' board and many setting up tents in the back in the pouring rain.
It rains a lot on the AT and in general, shelters do make life easier. There are also a host of reasons that shelters are desirable, but that's not the point of this thread.
People hanging wet clothes/gear in the shelter is one of my pet peeves. There is no way anything is going to dry, it just drips on floor and makes anything which isn't wet (like your sleeping bag) wet. It's better to wring as much water out as you can and then stuff it into a bag.
Speaking of getting stuff wet in a shelter, try not to stomp around inside the shelter with wet/muddy shoes. This mostly goes for when your just stopping for lunch or a break.
Amen! I've never understood the problem some people seem to have with other folks talking on a cell phone. In fact, unless the speaker is on you are hearing only one voice instead of two during a trail conversation. Some seem to get in a tither about the sound of a phone ringing. I find it less annoying then the various sounds of jetboils, pocket Rockets, belching, farting, crinkling neo AirXLites etc that I hear around shelters. I'm with you Lone Wolf.
My "rule" is that I have the right to reserve the space under my thermarest, anything else is a bonus. Once the floor area is covered with pads touching each other but not overlapping the shelter is full (barring life threatening conditions). I do not consider an individuals decision to carry inadequate levels of gear a life threatening condition, if they decided to hike without a shelter they deserve what they get when they get to shelter.
First, there are no rules at a shelter. So the best outcome is that everyone adheres to common decency. Unfortunately, what someone sees as common decency can be quite different that your view. If you can't accept that I strongly recommend over nighting elsewhere.
We see threads like this regularly, and no one will ever agree 100%.
Uhh, nobody said that thru hikers have precedence at shelters over day hikers or section hikers. They have a lot longer days than the above mentioned folks and deserve the space in my opinion.
The worse they smell the higher the priority they get in a shelter.
I wish they would get rid off all shelters!!! its supposed to be a wilderness experience....use a shelter u pack in/out....just my $.02.....nothin but rat traps...
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I for one, have never objected to a woman changing clothes in a shelter.
I disagree sarcasm. During nice weather, I would gladly give up my spot in a shelter to a thru hiker, especially if I have other options. It was a bit of tongue in cheek but if I have been out for a few days and a legit dude (or dudette) came along that was doing the whole AT in one go, I feel they can sleep in the shelter if they want and I will pitch a tent or hang my hammock nearby.
Never had to do it but I would.