Since I first embarked on my wild camping journey over two years ago, I have been fortunate enough to have camped in different environments and weather conditions (less fortunate for some of the weather conditions, I might add). These experiences have allowed me to learn from both my failures and my successes, and have aided me in selecting the most suitable gear to put in my rucksack depending on the season, weather, and style of trip planned, limited only by capacity and the number in my bank account. In this post I will list some pieces of gear which I have used for an extended period of time, and that I am particularly fond of. DD Superlight Jungle Hammock My first few wild camping trips took place in a two man compact backpacking tent (more on this below), until I received a spectacular present from my dad - a DD Superlight Jungle Hammock. As I'd taken to wild camping in the forest near home, this was absolutely ideal. The tent still comes out for any field/moorland camping tr...

The first wild camp of the year to me has become synonymous with winter camping. I've only been going for wild camping trips in the winter months for the last few years, but in that short space of time they have quickly become one of the trips that I most look forward to. When the temperatures are low, and the weather is dry it makes for great conditions in the forest. The warmth and light produced by a camp fire are appreciated far more greatly when the days are short and cold, which I think adds to the magic of back-to-basics wild camping. Late season camping requires both planning and the right gear, but when you employ both, it can be just as comfortable, and enjoyable as any summer camp in my opinion.  We had initially aimed to have a winter camp in December 2023, but along with reasonably mild temperatures, the final month of the year had also been plagued with wet weather - so we pushed our plans through to January and the trip subsequently became the first trip of 2024. The...

November - the days have started to get shorter and a little colder, the leaves of Britain's broad leaf trees turn from green to shades of orange, brown, and yellow. It can mean only one thing, Autumn is upon us. The year's penultimate season is one of my favourite times of year for outdoor activities, whether it's walking through the rustling leaf litter of the forest, or opening a tent to find crisp frozen ground. Colder temperatures warrant thick layers of clothing and the draw to a crackling camp fire is strong and primal.  It had been nearly a month since my last camp (see my Warbleton Farms post for more) and I was starting to get that itchy feeling that comes when you've had nothing but central heating and a comfortable bed for too long. I started to consider browsing Nearly Wild Camping for somewhere to spend a weekend away until my mind began to picture setting up and packing away our small three man tent in heavy rain and wind, and then spending an entire week...

The Lake District - home to some of the most rugged wilderness in the UK south of the Scottish border, and the largest national park in England. A very popular location for outdoor enthusiasts, and wild campers in particular, thanks to its epic views, beautiful scenery and enough space to remove yourself fully from civilization - even if it's just for a night or two. This is somewhere that I've wanted to visit for a wild camp for some time now, and 2023 was the year for it. Myself and my previously mentioned camping associate Jake had decided that our 2023 big 'away' trip was going to be in the Lakes, and so, we started to plan our trip, which ended up consisting of two nights away, the first in a conventional campsite, and the second, somewhere on the slopes of England's highest peak - Scafell Pike. After spending all of the Friday morning driving northwards we arrived at our campsite, The Barn Campsite, near Holmrook around 2pm. The afternoon was forecast with rai...

Earlier this month for my birthday I was lucky enough to receive a  membership with the  Nearly Wild Camping Club from   my partner Catherine. Nearly Wild Camping is   a growing network of locations willing to host campers who are looking for a 'wilder' camping experience, whilst still maintaining some of the benefits of a regular campsite experience - most importantly, permission to be on the land! I'd been looking at getting a membership for a while at this point, because since I'd found wild camping, it had made most regular sites seem too busy and commercialised, but I still wanted to be able to go camping with more than what can be carried on my back - so Nearly Wild Camping seemed like a perfect fit! The site has a great system where locations are rated 1-5 on how 'wild' they are, with 5 being just a location, and 1 being more or less a regular campsite with all the amenities that you'd expect.  I already had a trip planned for later in the month with ...

For my third wild camping trip of 2023 myself and my number one wild camping companion, with whom I started wild camping with in 2021 and have continued to do multiple trips with every year since, decided to try a new location, which we usually call an 'away trip'. We started using the terms 'home' or 'away' trip as we had gotten into the habit of rotating between wild camps in the Wyre Forest, right on our hometown doorstep (home trip), or going further afield such as the Peak District, Forest of Dean, or Lake District (away trip). Anyway... For this 'away' trip we had decided on the new location - the Long Mynd, in the Shropshire Hills. Despite living only an hour away from the Long Mynd it's actually somewhere that I've never been before, and now after going, I can't believe that it's taken me so long! The Shropshire Hills are described as an Area of Natural Beauty (AONB), and when you're stood on the top of the Mynd, it's not ...

Since I went on my first wild camp in June 2021, I have had fairly mixed reactions from people when it comes up in conversation. The most common queries/responses that I get are maybe what you might expect, and are along the lines of "is that legal?" or "where do you go to the toilet?" and in the later months of the year "you must be mad - it's freezing!". Of course, if you've never been wild camping before and maybe aren't what some would describe as an "outdoorsy" person, then these are all completely valid concerns. But every now and then, I'll get a different response entirely, leading more down the lines of "how could I do that?". This is always really refreshing, and of course like most people, I always find it fun to start a conversation about one of my number one passions. I recently had this conversation with someone at work, discussing the basics of what you need and how much some basic kit is etc. and that is ...