Activities There is a particular quiet that only arrives after the stove is off and the dishes are hung in a tree. Your first backcountry night can feel enormous — every snap of a twig sounds personal. Campcraft is simply the set of small, repeatable habits that turn that vastness into comfort.
Start with the pitch. Look for ground that is flat, already bare, and at least sixty metres from water. Lie down on it before you unpack anything; your hips will tell you in seconds what your eyes miss. Point the tent door away from the prevailing wind and, if the forecast is uncertain, dig a shallow drainage channel on the uphill side.
Warmth is a system, not a sleeping bag
Beginners blame their bag for cold nights when the culprit is almost always underneath them. The ground steals heat far faster than air, so your sleeping pad matters as much as your insulation. Pair a closed-cell foam pad with an inflatable for shoulder seasons, wear dry base layers reserved only for sleep, and eat something fatty an hour before bed — your body is the furnace.
A tidy camp is a warm camp. Everything you own should be off the ground, under cover, and exactly where your headlamp expects it.
The evening routine that saves mornings
- Hang food and anything scented the moment dinner ends — never after dark.
- Fill bottles and filter water for breakfast before you change into sleep clothes.
- Loosen boots, shake out the tent, and stage tomorrow's layers in a stuff sack pillow.
- Check the sky once, note the wind once, then stop checking and sleep.
None of this requires expensive gear. A borrowed tent, a warm-enough bag and one careful evening will teach you more than any catalogue. The wilderness rewards the prepared, but it is remarkably kind to the attentive.
Leave the pitch better than you found it
Scatter the cold ashes of a dispersed fire ring only where fires are legal — elsewhere, carry a stove and leave no trace of flame at all. Pack out every scrap, including the orange peels and pistachio shells people swear are natural. Campcraft ends the way it begins: with attention.
WRITTEN BY
Trail & outdoors writer
Marcus has spent eleven seasons guiding backpacking trips across three continents. He writes about skills, routes and the quiet discipline of travelling light.
