When you have selected the spot to make camp at it is time to start building. What you need to build depends on what you intend to do at the campsite.
- Spend the night – Make a sleeping place
- Make food – A campfire
- Relive yourself – Make a latrine
- Store your water and food – Make a water and food storage
Sleeping place
What you need to start with depends on how much time you got. A sleeping place and some shelter is usually top priority unless it is already getting dark, then highest priority should be to gather firewood and get a fire started. This ensures you will have light and heat to get your sleeping place in order and manage through the evening and night.
Check our page on how to prepare a sleeping place for more details on this.
Campfire
Once you got your sleeping place and its shelter in order it is if not already done the campfire that is priority. If you got a camping stove a campfire should still be good to make to provide light in your campsite so you can find your things and move around.
Check our page on how to build your campfire for more details on this.
Latrine
When we got these two things fixed the third thing to prepare is the latrine. This should be a designated and separate place from the campsite. It should be sheltered, insight protected and downwind from the campsite. Also make sure it do not risk contaminating the water sources you intend to use for washing, drinking or cooking your food in.
A really basic latrine is a dug out hole in the ground with the dugout earth piled up on the side. Put either the shovel or a wide piece of wood in the pile so you can cover the results of your visits with a thin layer of dirt. If you intend to stay for more than a night at the campsite, make sure you gather the ashes from your campfire and pile it up next to the dirt in the latrine and mix the two when doing the covering
Water and food storage
There is always animals around us in nature. Most would probably think about protecting their food and gear if there is large animals around. But what you first need to prioritize is securing that your water is stored safely and clean. Make sure any clean water storage container is put in a safe, dark and cold place to avoid contaminating your water. Sterilizing a contaminated water container is very difficult and contaminated water is a quick recipe for disaster.
When it comes to food what is actually more dangerous than large animals is the small animals such as mice, rats and birds. Of course bugs are also an issue but they are usually to small to actually make harm to your food if stored properly.
To protect your food the simplest thing is to get it off the ground or into a sealed space. If you got a Drybag it is easy to simply sling a rope on a tall branch on a nearby tree and lift the bag high enough in the air that animals can’t reach it but not high enough that they can reach it if they climb the branch.
How high though? If an adult human can’t reach it by standing underneath and stretching their arms it is certainly good enough for most animals. Wild dogs and wolves can leap quite high but that height should keep it safe. If there is a risk for bears around, raise it even further to about double the height and it will be good.
Another option is to store the food in the tent with you as you sleep. It is not as well protected but it will be enough to keep most small animals away without a problem, but a desperate (read starved) enough rat or mouse will still try if it can smell the food.