Choose a safe site and set up a comfortable, low-impact camp.
A good camp keeps you warm, dry, fed and healthy, and leaves no sign you were there. These guides cover choosing and setting up a safe site, staying warm through a cold night, planning food, and keeping clean and dealing with human waste. They also cover the Leave No Trace principles, camping on snow in winter, and keeping kids happily busy without screens.
Hammock camping against a tent, sleeping pad and sleeping bag: where each one works, comfort, staying warm underneath, rain, wind and insects, weight and cost, how to hang a hammock safely, and how to choose by trip.
How to camp in winter: choosing between car camping, cold camping and hot tenting, building a campsite on snow, anchoring a tent, quinzhees, a sleep system for snow, the long-night routine, stoves and fuel in the cold, melting snow for water, and what to do when gear fails.
What to pack to eat on any trip: day hikes, car camping, and multi-day backpacking, plus the emergency rations to keep in your pack for the day that goes sideways.
How to deal with solid human waste responsibly in the wild: choosing a method, digging a clean cathole, building a group latrine, packing it out where required, and handling toilet paper and urine.
The seven principles of Leave No Trace, explained and made practical — how to plan, travel, camp, handle waste, build fires, and respect wildlife so the wild places stay wild. Our complete guide to the outdoor ethic.
Take the screens away and kids get inventive. Dozens of screen-free ways to keep children of every age happily busy at camp — scavenger hunts, campfire games, forts, whittling, wildlife watching, stargazing, rainy-day fallbacks, and a simple activity kit.
The thing most likely to cut a trip short isn’t a bear; it’s dirty hands or bad water. How to stay healthy in the field: hands, water, food, waste, feet, and rest.
A cold night can be dangerous, not just miserable. Insulate from the ground, dial in your sleep system, and use the field tricks that keep you warm well below freezing.
Where you pitch decides how warm you sleep and whether you wake up in a puddle. Hazard scanning, cold-air pooling, pitching for wind and rain, and camp layout.
