Equipment Outfitters

Settling in

Organization, having a place for everything and everything in that place, is the secret of a comfortable night under canvas. To save endless rummaging in the rucksack I unpack it completely and the settling-in routine usually goes as follows:

1 Find a site and pitch the tent.

2 Unpack stove, fuel and water and put on a brew.

3 Lay out pad and, after a good shake, lay out the sleeping bag to `left’.

4 Unpack rucksack completely, except for small lose- able items, which stay in top flap pocket.

5 Make the brew and organize the tent, laying out the empty rucksack and any wet gear in the tent porch and other items inside, in predetermined positions.

6 Eat and wash up.

7 Fetch water for morning brew and refill stoves, and do any daily maintenance.

8 Move into porch, change into dry or night clothes, remove boots, wash and clean boots, socks and underwear.

9 Prepare candle inside cookset for reading, torch goes inside boots, money etc. goes inside sleeping bag. 10 Fresh brew, go to bed, read and sleep.

Now this is a general routine, without any minor diversions like a trip to the pub, but it follows the general pattern and gets me into the bag in dry clothes with everything necessary to hand and with no need to turn out again. As you can see, when nothing else is happening boil water — it’s always time for tea!

Whatever you do, have a routine for it and think the routine out. It is not a good idea to get the boots off and then have to head through mud to the stream for water.

Wet or muddy gear should, if possible, be left in the porch, but you need to beware of thieves, who are becoming all too common, even in the wild. In winter, items left outside, like boots or gas containers, can freeze and become ineffective. You really have to consider the effect of every action if you wish to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Shaving is quite possible, either with a battery shaver or by wet-shaving in your mug. Do not wash or shave directly into the water source. The evidence of your doing so will stay for days. Shaving water and soap should go into the grease trap.

After shaving, it is a good idea to rub a barrier cream on the face, especially in the first few days when your pale city face may be chapped by the winds. A little washing-up liquid carried in a plastic bottle can serve for hair washing and dish washing.

S’

Getting up

Some people could sleep in the glare of a searchlight, but I wake up at daylight, roused either by the sun or the din of the birds. However, even once awake, it is very nice to be in the bag, snug inside a polar suit and drink some eye-opening coffee before facing the day. Usually the need for a pee forces me to cut this short, and I’m incapable of getting back into the bag once I’ve plucked up the courage to get out of it. If you share this complaint, you can invest in a P-bottle, a boon to the winter camper. However, be sure to mark it Eau non-potable. The ideal P-bottle is plastic, screw topped, wide mouthed and of large capacity !

Open up the tent, unzip the bag and let them air. Put on yet another brew and go for a wash, hoping that the rising sun will dry the condensation.

Washing

Far too many people avoid washing when they are out of doors. This might be permissible on a freezing weekend in a snow-hole, but as a general rule, you will be happier out-of-doors if you are clean. If showers are available on a campsite, have one. If not, a good splash in a trough or stream, or a sponge down with hot water, will freshen you up considerably.

Washing clothes

Because of their bulk there is a limit to the amount of clothing you can carry, and on a week-long trip or longer, some washing may be necessary. Most serious outdoor people reckon on spending one day a week washing and cleaning the gear, and simply resting. Try and change your underwear daily and your socks twice daily, not necessarily for clean pairs, but to allow that sweat-soaked pair you are wearing to dry. Thick wool socks take a long time to dry, so it may be necessary just to rotate the pairs, without washing them, but underwear can be washed and allowed to drip dry overnight and finish off drying on the back of the pack during the following morning. Dirty clothes have little insulation, and clean clothes will freshen you up in more ways than one. If the weather is hot your clothes will need to be changed more often, but on the other hand, they dry more easily spread out on the back of your pack.

Wet clothes

If you get wet during the day, stay wet until the evening. If you put on your shell clothing in good time and ventilate well, you should not get too wet, even in heavy rain, but if you do, then except in cases of hypothermia, don’t change into dry clothes until the evening when you are safely inside the tent and out of the weather.

It may be possible to dry, or partially dry, your clothes inside the tent, but if not, then on the following day put the wet clothes back on again. Putting on wet socks in a snow-hole is a hideous experience, but it won’t kill you. Once you warm up, it will be bearable, and it avoids having a rucksack full of wet clothes, or, worse still, having no dry clothes to sleep in. If the time and weather permit, it may be possible to hang the clothes up to dry during the day. If you get soaked in near- or below-zero temperatures you should change, as the risk of exposure is too great.

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