Overnight Bush craft – How to choose somewhere to sleep

It’s always fun to spend the night in a shelter you built yourself, but this normally isn’t practical and can often waste time if you’re on a long hike, not to mention the materials may not be available. It’s always a good idea to be well-prepared and taking the right kind of equipment to ensure you get a good night’s sleep is one of the most important decisions you can make, but which one to choose?

Hiking Hammocks

Advantages:

• Extremely light weight and the lack of any poles allows it to pack down into a tiny size
• Very fast and easy to set up
• Comfortable nights sleep regardless of how rough or steep the ground is

Disadvantages:

• Useless without trees to support the ropes
• A complete lack of inside working space other than what’s above your body
• shoes need to be removed before entering to stop rips
• no inside space to put backpacks or gear

Despite the disadvantages that come with hiking hammocks, I’m personally a big fan of them. There are very few areas out in the wild where you won’t be able to find any trees to attach them to, and your backpack and any other large gear can be attached to the same line as the upper covering when you sleep so at least it’s very close to you and won’t get wet. The lack of inside space can be an issue though and it does get annoying having to tie up all your gear and take your shoes off before you climb in. Because of its size and weight, this is an excellent choice for anyone looking to cover as much ground as possible and isn’t bothered as much about inside living space.

Conventional tents

Advantages:

• Plenty of inside working space and you can climb in without having to remove your shoes
• The greatest variation and range in price
  can easily house more than one person

Disadvantages:

• Can be heavy and take a long time to set up
• A nightmare to put up in the wind
• the groundsheet does nothing to cushion the ground and an additional layer may be required for comfort, increasing carry weight and space
• The poles make them larger than the alternatives and usually must be carried on the outside of a backpack

The average weight variation in a standard two-person tent ranges from 1 kg to 3 kg, making them heavier on average than the alternatives, but at the same time, they offer the most space. It is no fun having to sit under the canopy of a hiking hammock and waiting for the rain to pass without having the space to do anything, and having to get dressed outside in the open, but the standard tent solves this problem, just at the cost of weight and space.

Survival / Compact hiking tents

Advantages:

• very lightweight and packs down to a small size
• A small but usable amount of inside space
  Quick to set up and easy to hide

Disadvantages:

• Sleeping on the ground can be uncomfortable and may require additional gear
• Difficult to change in and can be awkward to utilize the internal space
• Normally more expensive than a standard tent or hiking hammock

These slim-line and low-standing tents are the ground equivalent of the hiking hammock, only you get a small amount of inside space and you don’t need to take your boots off before entering. They cost more on average than a standard tent or hiking hammock, but have the advantage of being lightweight and can be set up without trees. Before getting one of these you should ask yourself if inside space and cost is going to be worth it over something else.

Camping bags / Outdoor sleeping bags

Advantages:

• Lightweight and can be squashed into various shapes due to the lack of poles
• Very warm and can be set up as quickly as you can unravel it

Disadvantages:

• They offer nothing more than a sleeping space
• Can present problems getting inside when its raining or your clothes are wet
• Even though they are lightweight, the material can still be very bulky and can take up the same room on your backpack as a tent

These would be perfect in the right climate at the right time of year, but next to useless for long hiking trips. It’s just a waterproof sleeping bag and nothing more, which means that everything else you do will have to take place outside in the open. For a normal hiking or camping trip these should be avoided as they take up as much room as a small two-person tent, and offer no room to do anything other than sleep. In the right situation though they can be perfect, offering a comfortable, waterproof, and warm night’s sleep while weighing only a fraction of a tent, just make sure the weather is going to be nice before setting out with one of these.

Overnight Bush craft – How to choose somewhere to sleep on a budget

The Half Shelter

Advantages:

• Nothing more than a tarp and cord is needed, making them lighter and more space efficient than any other choice
• very fast to set up as a waterproof shelter
• Adaptable to any building materials you might find

Disadvantages:

• Can take a long time to set up the rest of the shelter
• Depends greatly on what’s available to work with
• Doesn’t provide a full windproof shelter unless a huge amount of work is put in

This is basically making your own shelter for the night but with the ability to skip making the roof or a couple of walls. If you have a good sleeping bag or the weather happens to be particularly nice at the time of year you’re hiking, then the tiny amount of space it takes in your backpack combined with its extremely lightweight makes it worth considering. This is a better choice when going somewhere safe for the night or you’re looking to cover a large amount of distance during one of the warmer times of the year, but definitely not one for the colder climates.