Who doesn't wild camp, and why?

That bastard Skip wrote (see)

PS: It's probably also a good idea not to tell the missus that you and the lad will be going with people you met on the internet, drinking water from streams, burying your poo, sleeping on 6mm of cold foam, or necking half a bottle of malt whisky

Darra8 wrote (see)

This is beginning to feel like therapy session 

Is that not the main purpose of OM?

I used to freak out my mum by telling her I was going away camping for the weekend; "with whom?" she'd ask. "er.. people I met on the internet." After a while it just became a running joke. I didn't tell her about the marmite / anal sex analogies.

Metric Kate wrote (see)

I used to freak out my mum by telling her I was going away camping for the weekend; "with whom?" she'd ask. "er.. people I met on the internet." After a while it just became a running joke.

It's worse if you have teenage kids!  Err...do as I say, not as I do!  OMers are now just our "weird internet friends"!

Could we just clarify this marmite/anal question? Is the marmite intended as a lubricant or a 'butt-plug'? Who's best to answer this sort of thing?

My family also think I'm weird for visiting this forum. I explain that's the reason I visit OM as I'm not very good at talking to real people.

To add a bit of sanity, (?), to this. I've meet a few OMer's since I joined and all have been good peeps, I now class them as good mates.

 The subject of .......... umm, marmite has never been raised.

 As to worrying about things going 'tits up', if you pick a easy place to get to, with a good path/track to follow and not to far from start point, I'd say a max. of 2hr, if things did go wrong, you wouldn't have far to go to get back.

 If you then find you like "wild camping", go a bit further, or better still go on an OM meet.

Grumps wrote (see)

Could we just clarify this marmite/anal question?

Er, let's not eh?

huskyman wrote (see)

 I've meet a few OMer's since I joined and all have been good peeps, I now class them as good mates.

....better still go on an OM meet.

Wot Husky said.

huskyman wrote (see)

The subject of .......... umm, marmite has never been raised.

Did we neglect to smuggle marmite cheese through to Eire? Shame on us

Personally these days i'd rather wild camp, campsites do my nut in plus i don't like being told where i can put my tent up and where i can't, i'll camp where i like and if you don't like it f*ck off, within reason.

I get out there for a bit of peace and to contemplate, it's quite hard to do that with idiots drinking till 2am, kids screaming and just the general comings and goings of others, usually conveniently accompanied by midges.

Include a little history in your walks. Pecsaetan - Ancient Derbyshire, Staffordshire and South Yorkshire - http://pecsaetan.weebly.com/

I have to wildcamp as where I want to look at is remote

edit, I do sometimes have Marmite though

That's the real reason to do it isn't it? Getting to places that you couldn't/wouldn't otherwise. Some do seem to enjoy it in it's own right, but really if you haven't got that motivation then there's not so much reason to get into it.

For me, if it was just England/Wales I don't think I'd be bothering because you can pretty much see it all easily enough on B&B based trips. Scotland is very much another matter though.

Darra8 - I'm with Ron R D on this.  Camping away from roads is the 'proper' thing, camping in campsites is for when you have to and you're too poor to use a hut/bunkhouse/B & B etc (tho it can be nice to camp somewhere good next to the car, I agree). 

There really is nothing to it.  But I'd suggest, as you're feeling anxious about it, doing the first one on your own, then taking your son on the next one, once you've learnt the ropes.  Don't go far, check the forecast and bear in mind any likely wind and direction.  Read up on water supplies and toilet stuff - and don't forget the midge repellant if going before October. 

Go with the camping as the focus, not doing a monster walk.  Just enjoy being in camp early, sit outside with a book and a dram and think how good life is.  Stay up late and watch out for shooting stars, satellites etc. Then wander home next morning, elated, wondering what all the fuss was about! And do let us know how it goes?

I used to stay on campsites when they generally charged 20p per person per night. I bet there are some sites that would ask me for £20 now, but to be honest, I wouldn't even ask the price, and would just keep walking and find my own quiet spot for the night.

One of the things I detest about campsites is when vehicles are allowed to park next to the tents. I'm sure most folks, having been out for the night, could drive back onto the campsite and park next to their big tent... but would they see my little tent in the dark before they ran over it, with me inside?

A proper wild camp, with no prospect of vehicle access, suits me fine!

Yeah I must say that the reason Ilike 'wild camping' isn't that I'm a masochist - rather it's that I like to feel comfortable.

I used to stay in French campsites when i was a child with my parents and they were wonderful.

But if I'm walking on my own, which I do a lot, I like to feel comfortable and safe at night.

If I know that no-one is liable to stumble across me (even in a gap in brambles in an english field) between dusk and dawn I can fall asleep feeling secure. I can't do that in a camp-site. 

If you're curious about it, try it, somewhere near places that you know. Take a sleeping bag and (maybe in this weather) a bivi. I recommend sleeping out with the sleeping bag protected from dew but your face open, so that even while you're asleep you can hear everything, and if you wake up you can see eveything. I don't really like tents because I can't see what's happening around me - but I sometimes have to use them all the same.

 I suspect that, like marmite or an

ything else, you will soon find out whether or not you enjoy sleeping with the stars and (especially now) the shooting stars above you, cicadas humming you to sleep and the dawn chorus gently (or not!) waking you up as nature's teasmade.

I love it, I must say.

In my long life It's one of the most enjoyable things I've done.  

After my first wild camp, I realised that I never wanted to go on a normal campsite again. I love the way that you have so much freedom of where to go and can pick the best places. The solitude can be good - on my first camp, we had the whole of the southern shore of Haweswater to ourselves. Waking up in the morning on a hillside or by the shores of a lake is one of the best feelings ever.

rob dixon 3 wrote (see)

Camping away from roads is the 'proper' thing, camping in campsites is for when you have to and you're too poor to use a hut/bunkhouse/B & B etc (tho it can be nice to camp somewhere good next to the car, I agree).

I guess that's an opinion - I backpack/wild camp (can't beat it) but despise refuges, bothies, bunkhouses, youth hostels & would rather camp on a site - nowt to do with budget or having too.  Some sites are better than others I grant you.  We enjoy our family camping holidays at home & abroad & we do it because we enjoy it not because we can't afford alternatives.

Family camping, yes peeps with kids and "big" tents are better off using a camp site.

 Most kids I know wouldn't want to try hiking/wild camping untill their teens. If not introduced before then by parents.

 It's one of the things that you like or hate, a bit like m.......     Let's not go there.

 Milly, you did bring that cheese, don't like that flavour. The Washibie, now that was nice

The thing that puts me off wildcamping (which is Silly) is that I have a ridiculously overactive imagination, I'm 25 and shouldn't be worried about this and that but I can't help but think It would bother me, when light started to fade. I know exactly how happy I am when I'm in the middle of knowhere with just myself and my thoughts during the day, but can't help but think when night draws in, the nerves would too. Now where is that bottle of Malt Whiskey...?

Well the answer there is to walk yourself into exhaustion

Thanks for all the replies guy.

I must admit that you all put up a pretty good case for giving it a go. Will have to do a little more research for tips on where to go and what to take first.