74
votes
Accepted
Is it warmer to sleep with an empty bladder?
Humans have a few intuitions about how temperature, heat, and liquids work. These intuitions lead us astray for the specific case of a bladder full of urine.
"Keeping Warm" / "Cooling down"
The ...
- 744
57
votes
Accepted
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
Common mistakes, some of which I've made:
Unfamiliarity with equipment - this isn't specific to winter camping of course, but if you've used all the gear before in milder conditions, then there's ...
- 4,801
44
votes
Accepted
Is sleeping on the ground in cold weather better than on an air mattress?
Effectively, it isn't much better to sleep on an air mattress that isn't specifically made to insulate from the ground than on the ground itself although it does make a slight difference.
The main ...
- 5,065
42
votes
Accepted
Hot coffee brewing solutions for deep woods camping
As long as you are okay with grinding your beans at home, why not just make cowboy coffee. Basically you
Put your tin cup on the fire/stove and bring the water to a boil
Remove the cup from the heat ...
- 10.7k
40
votes
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
Some common mistakes, definitely nothing close to exhaustive, so feel free to edit (I'll make it a community wiki if appropriate). If the point is about what you should do, the mistake is not doing it ...
- 21.8k
38
votes
How far from a road do I need to be to not hear the traffic?
This depends enormously on landscape, weather, and infrastructure.
I grew up in The Netherlands several hundred meter from a motorway, but with good noise barriers, we heard almost nothing. My ...
- 27.4k
35
votes
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
To add to the already-good other contributions:
Wearing cotton clothing is a common mistake. When cotton gets wet (from sweat or external sources), it doesn't quickly get dry, and that cold moisture ...
- 740
34
votes
How to make outhouses less icky?
Regarding the smell
Make sure there is ventilation for the "waste area" which does not lead into the outhouse, but directly outside {1}. At the same time make sure that you have some sort of ...
- 13.3k
33
votes
Accepted
Why do most tents have black floors?
One reason (and I don't know enough to suggest this is the main reason) is for identification.
When putting a tent up you may have a bundle of fabric that you need to set down on an uneven surface, ...
- 25.1k
31
votes
Accepted
How far from a road do I need to be to not hear the traffic?
The answer is it depends. Highway noise is typically 70-80 dB at 15 m. To a first order approximation, sound waves obey the inverse square law where there is a 6 dB drop every doubling of the distance....
- 10.7k
31
votes
Accepted
How to win against ants
The best way is to reduce (actually to remove) any kind of attractions they like: food and water. If they cannot find anything useful, than they will stop releasing scents that attracted other ants.
...
- 1,919
31
votes
How do I get a stuck gas canister (for hiking/camping) out of a stainless steel mug?
Soak the mug in a sink of hot water to warm it up quickly. Be prepared to pry the gas cartridge out quickly, perhaps using small screwdrivers or needle nose pliers. The thermal mass of the gas in the ...
- 2,318
30
votes
When back country camping, how do you avoid being attacked by a mountain lion in your sleep?
If one looks at the list on Wikipedia of fatal attacks, one will notice that fatal cougar attacks are pretty rare.
At least 20 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2011, ...
- 69.4k
30
votes
Hot coffee brewing solutions for deep woods camping
I've used one of these filter holders on top of a thermos, pouring hot water a little at a time. If you don't want to carry a thermos, use a mug.
A largish single-walled mug + one of these and a few ...
- 491
28
votes
Hot coffee brewing solutions for deep woods camping
The easiest and most reusable method in my opinion is the Moka Pot.
Simply add water and ground beans to the base and heat over a stove or open fire. You end up with espresso in the top compartment. ...
- 429
26
votes
Under what circumstances, if any, can thunder by itself cause damage?
Yes, and it apparently happened (article in German)
The paper reports from an incident in 2017 where a severe thunder blast destroyed windows. It has several images on what that looked like.
Bringing ...
- 1,476
24
votes
Why should a good tent be UV resistant?
It's because the sunlight will damage the tents fabric over time.
UV damage occurs when long term exposure to the sun damages the fabric and thread of your tent or rain fly. The fabric will become ...
- 69.4k
24
votes
Accepted
How can I protect myself in case of a human attack like the murders of the hikers Jespersen and Ueland in Morocco?
What mistakes did these girls make during their camping trip?
I don't know that they made any glaring mistakes. The only caution I would note (and you'll see that it's of limited value in this ...
- 482
23
votes
Accepted
Using roof rails to set up hammock
The load limit for directly mounted roof bars is around 60kg - 70kg for ordinary (European) cars. Usually the load limit for rail mounted bars is lower, but that's for vertical and dynamic load. This ...
- 8,097
22
votes
Why should a good tent be UV resistant?
A tent's UV resistance isn't for you, it's for the tent. High-energy UV rays will break down many synthetic and natural textiles over time. UV resistant fabrics are not as susceptible to this ...
- 508
22
votes
How to keep bees out of canned beverages?
You vill have to sacrifice some convenience. I suggest inverting a wide-mouthed plastic cup as a barrier over the can. Remove the cup when you want to drink, drink from the can, and then immediately ...
- 24k
22
votes
Is it safe to leave a campfire unattended overnight in a campsite?
The short answer is No, never leave a fire unattended.
The reasons are some of the ones you listed above, but you understated the major risk:
Unattended fires can easily spread - a log rolls out or ...
- 11.1k
22
votes
Advantage of truck tent?
I can think of a few advantages:
You're off the ground, which means you're not at risk of getting flooded out or allowing animals access (ants, snakes, rodents, etc).
You can set up wherever you can ...
- 1,543
21
votes
Accepted
How to keep bees out of canned beverages?
Don't open the can far enough for a bee to get in
I have a freind who drinks from soda cans by only opening them a little bit. I find it quite weird, but having tried it it doesn't really make a lot ...
- 342
19
votes
Can I safely camp in deer tick country, and if so, how?
I've done nearly all of my camping and hunting in deer tick country. You're on the right track with the basics: DEET, long sleeves, long pants, and high socks.
At night use mesh as suggested in ...
- 346
19
votes
How can I protect myself in case of a human attack like the murders of the hikers Jespersen and Ueland in Morocco?
The way to protect yourself against attacks like this is to greatly reduce the probability of being attacked. Granted, you can be attacked anywhere (Yosemite, the Appalachian Trail) for any reason or ...
- 24k
19
votes
Is it feasible to use a shovel to even out a camping spot?
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency constitution specifically forbids (translated from Swedish)
digging, excavating, filling in, drilling, chiseling, dredging, painting, blasting or otherwise ...
- 521
18
votes
Accepted
When making camp in the mountains, which direction should I face my tent?
Depends on where you set it, where I'm from the wind is almost always the determining factor, when you're in thick trees and wind isn't a factor, then you set your tent wherever it fits. Which ...
- 53.7k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible