I still vividly remember my first Dartmoor wildcamp. Here's what I posted on another thread:
A night in the Plym valley. A flat, slightly sloping pitch the perfect size for an Akto with no sheep or pony crap. A dry, windless, clear night with the sky a mass of stars.
Dinner wasn't particularly good - lamb casserole from a ration pack but the half bottle of red wine in a Platy helped. I also couldn't get a mobile signal so could not listen to the radio. Instead, I switched off my headtorch, opened the flysheet and just gazed at the stars, listening to the quiet sound of the river Plym, flowing by as it had done for thousands of years. Apart from the occasional sound and lights of aircraft to remind me of civilisation, I could have been the last person on Earth.
I had a great night's sleep. There was a heavy dewfall the following morning so the inevitable condensation and a slightly damp sleeping bag foot. I packed up and had an excellent day's walk; the weather was clear and bright and the moor was looking its best.
What I've always found odd about the OM forum is how few posts actually talk about being in the outdoors. People will argue for pages about meths vs. gas or how "good" Paramo is and then, of course, you have the interminable windy thread. Don't get me wrong - there might be some conversation about the outdoors on it but has anyone not in the clique ever trawled through the in-jokes and one-smiley posts to find it?
I would love to see a forum section devoted to wildcamping experiences. There is a Walking and Climbing section but it seems to be the dumping ground for threads that don't fit neatly into the other categories.
What I've always found odd about the OM forum is how few posts actually talk about being in the outdoors. People will argue for pages about meths vs. gas or how "good" Paramo is and then, of course, you have the interminable windy thread. Don't get me wrong - there might be some conversation about the outdoors on it but has anyone not in the clique ever trawled through the in-jokes and one-smiley posts to find it?
jake, i don't think that's what the windy thread is 'there for', if any thread can be said to have a purpose. but if this is another crack about armchair campers v. outdoors people, then:
a) what are you doing posting so much if you're out there all the time; and
b) do remember that a number of people are prevented from getting out as much as they'd like by cost / distance / health / domestic responsibilities etc, and the next best thing is talking interminable detail with like-minded people.
why should that bother you?
and btw, windy people regularly arrange AND GO OUT ON meets, as do bennachie, much more so than any other thread i've seen here.
if you don't want people 'to get you wrong', don't make general dismissive statements about people of whom you know nothing.
Well, I got all my gear sorted to do a wild camp or three this year BUT a mate suggested doing the welsh 3000s and the training for that sort of took over and wild camping has been forgotton. Hopefully on the Glencoe Meet in Sept I will get the chance. Who knows? It will happen when it happens and I'm sure it will be a cracking experience no matter the weather or location. Warm bag, full belly and tired bod always make for a decent sleep.
There have been at least a dozen or more Windy/Bennachie inspired meets in the past 18months with about another half dozen planned for the rest of this year. I would say the split is about 50% site and 50% wildcamp and 100% blox at the mo.
In February this year I did my first solo wildcamp. I'd been on 2 other wildcamps previously, the first with 2 couples whom I'd met on meets, the second with Beth whom I'd met on the Kinlochleven meet last August. Without having gone out on wildcamps with friends first, I wouldn't have had the confidence to do my first solo in the middle of winter, at 800m, with the temperature dipping to well under zero at night and a descent in the morning that required crampons.
So, by going on campsite-based OM meets, I gradually built up the camping experience and discipline that could later be applied to wildcamping, and I met the friends who introduced me to the wonderful experience of wildcamping.
I'm more than happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, but apart from Dave Mycroft (an occasional poster on 'Windy'), virtually every OM meet in the last couple of years has been organised by a regular poster on either the 'Windy' thread or the 'Bennachie' thread.
So, if people want to get out there but don't want to go alone, organise meets! You don't have to be an experienced camper / outdoorsy person to do that - think of a place you'd like to go, find a weekend, ask for advice about a campsite, and advertise it!
What I've always found odd about the OM forum is how few posts actually talk about being in the outdoors. People will argue for pages about meths vs. gas or how "good" Paramo is and then, of course, you have the interminable windy thread. Don't get me wrong - there might be some conversation about the outdoors on it but has anyone not in the clique ever trawled through the in-jokes and one-smiley posts to find it?
jake, i don't think that's what the windy thread is 'there for', if any thread can be said to have a purpose. but if this is another crack about armchair campers v. outdoors people, then:
a) what are you doing posting so much if you're out there all the time; and
b) do remember that a number of people are prevented from getting out as much as they'd like by cost / distance / health / domestic responsibilities etc, and the next best thing is talking interminable detail with like-minded people.
why should that bother you?
and btw, windy people regularly arrange AND GO OUT ON meets, as do bennachie, much more so than any other thread i've seen here.
if you don't want people 'to get you wrong', don't make general dismissive statements about people of whom you know nothing.
temper tantrum now over
Easy, PT! I was not making an attack on the windy thread, just saying that there is not much discussion about the outdoors experience on OM. I am suggesting that the Windy thread might be the obvious venue for such conversation but that it seems to be something else.
I certainly am not having a crack at "armchair campers" and, to my knowledge, have never used such a phrase.
I know that posters on the Windy thread do organise meets and I applaud it. Have I ever posted anything derogatory on these separate meeting threads? I did attend the meet on Dartmoor in May (albeit a couple of hours behind the other participants).
I can't get out there as much as I would like. I have a family and the commitments that go with it. I daresay my posting frequency has gone up in recent months but I lost my job a couple of months ago (that's why I couldn't attend the North Wales meet, Tim)and consequently have more time on my hands than I would like.
Again, I'm not attacking anyone. A forum is whatever the posters make it. Anyone who has followed my posting history (BTW it's not worth following) knows that I champion free speech, even when I get flamed for it.
... and then, of course, you have the interminable windy thread. Don't get me wrong - there might be some conversation about the outdoors on it but has anyone not in the clique ever trawled through the in-jokes and one-smiley posts to find it?
Easy, PT! I was not making an attack on the windy thread,
course not
with a twisted mind like that, you're in the wrong place. come and talk rubbish on windy instead. frum needs you. we applaud that sort of behaviour
I can't get out there as much as I would like. I have a family and the commitments that go with it. I daresay my posting frequency has gone up in recent months but I lost my job a couple of months ago (that's why I couldn't attend the North Wales meet, Tim)and consequently have more time on my hands than I would like.
So you are the same Jake, good
I knew something had kicked off that meant you couldn't make it in the end, which was a shame. Although still employed, my job is a long way from being secure at the moment and what with having a young family to support i understand that other things take priority.
Anyway, Dartmoor in Sept involving a pub a walk and a wild camp...... be good to see you there matey
And to the original OP, we will be WILD CAMPING! come with us and see how it really shouldn't be done, although Dddy is not going, so we should be safe
Billy, I loved your honesty at the start of the thread. Base camping is great, I do it 2 or 3 times a year in the peak district for a couple of days each time. If you drive, it gives you lots of time to have great walks in different places and have somewhere good to go back to at the end of the day (hot showers, have a beer, no weight issue for gear, better nights kip) at 47 its ideal for me as my wife is registerd disabled and can't do the same thing.
Also, being an old footie & rugger player (an ale drinker, an short) I'm not as slim as I should be either but I do ok.
In the end, its all about getting out there and doing it!!
I've just got back from a weekend's car camping and fishing.
2 nights at the Langford Bridge campsite just outside Crediton for the princely sum of £15! The ground was level and reasonably dry, hot showers, lavatories and washing-up sinks provided. A room at a pub would have cost about 4 times' the price.
It was more peaceful than a pub room, although a nearby bird-scarer swithched on at 7:30am each morning to provide an early morning alarm call.
Of course it was nothing like a wildcamp but I was there for the fishing. Car camping instead of B&B accommodation means I have more money for a good dinner (I can recommend the Crown & Sceptre in Newton Saint Cyre).
) knows that I champion free speech, even when I get flamed for it. 
