Off road camping is a unique and adventurous way to experience nature. You will be able to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life on this adventure, but there are some considerations you need to make before heading out. These 10 tips should help prepare you for your off-road camping trip!
1. Know Your Spot Well
Fueling up your car and loading up your roof rack are the first two steps to your successful off-road camping, agreed. However, prior research in depth equally helps in avoiding unwanted surprises. In some countries, wild camping is legal while, in others, it isn’t. For a relaxed camping experience, you should always research your spot beforehand.
Nobody wants to end up giving a fine to the police or an apology to the localities on their first wild camping, right? You can Google everything about your desired destination and know the legal nitty-gritty. Perhaps, you can join a local Facebook group and get some practical tips from the local authorities about the camping spot.
2. Only Pack What You Need
Off-road camping in the wild can be fun, but not if you have tonnes of weight on your back. You read it right – the key to excellent off-road camping is to travel light. If you pack extra things worth a few grams, it would sum up to kilograms and make you regret it in the first hour of a hike itself. That’s why you have to put a lot in a while packing your gear. Whether food, clothing, boots, insect repellant, be sure everything is essential and leave the camping pizza oven at home!
3. Take Care While Choosing The Right Tent
Taking an eight-people tent to wild camping is a big no from our side. Ideally, a two-men tent is worth carrying into the wilds if you are hiking alone or with a friend. Most seasoned adventurers have their customized tents with two basic traits:
- Light-weight
- Tough
While picking a perfect tent for camping, ensure the tent is indestructible in wet and windy situations. Also, green and brown-colored tents obstruct the vision from outside the most. So, prefer one out of these two shades while buying a tent for yourself.
It’s also important to know how to store your tent when not in use, the last thing you want to do is unpack it to find mold and other gunk.
4. Learn How To Pitch a Tent Before Your Kickstart Your Wild Camping
I can tell you first hand, this is something that many campers and hikers didn’t do before their first off-road camping adventure and putting a tent up for the first time during a storm in the Shetland Islands results in a lot os swearing. If you think pitching a tent is as easy as opening it, whacking a few poles in and you;re done, you are wrong. Pitching a tent isn’t difficult, but be sure to practise at least once before you leave. You can read blogs or watch videos, and practice tent pitching in your backside garden. Also, you find experienced campers from your town, make friends out of them, and get tips for pitching a tent right, camping gears, and so much more.
5. Stay Around a Water Source – Not Too Far, Not Too Near
Staying away from home means staying away from the comfort zone. Well, in a wild camp, you don’t get all the facilities handy. For starters, there are no running taps in your camp. That’s why you should select a spot near a water source to ensure hassle-free routine tasks (bath, poop, etc.) Establish a tent at least 50 meters away and not beyond 500 meters of the water source. Doing this will effectively help you with your water needs while camping.
6. Bring Along Pre-cooked Foods And a Camp Stove
One way to ensure you always have the food while off-roading is to carry it along. Before going on a camp, you can pack pre-cooked or semi-cooked food in containers. This way, you avoid generating plastic waste (one that arises from packaged foods) and can cook anytime you want. For this, don’t forget to bring along a camp stove of your choice every time to a wild camp.
7. Carry All The Required Essentials
A night without a warm sleeping system could be the biggest nightmare of your first off-roading wild camp. Packing all the proper essentials is another most valuable tip for an off-road camper. You must pack weather-wise gears to protect yourself from harsh weather conditions. Plus, don’t cut on carrying a headlamp. There are thousands of benefits of taking a headlamp on a wild camp. You may also want to consider a portable solar generator if you need some added juice for your electronics.
8. Remember – A Map And a Compass Are Your Best Camping Friends
There is no surety – phone batteries may die, GPS might turn you down because of low internet speed. We said earlier, being in the wilds isn’t easy. For navigation and directions, phones help a lot. But when you are in dire need of them, they might ditch you. On a camp, you should never leave behind a physical map and compass. With these two gears, you can find direction and know the correct route to head forward anytime.
9. Try Not To Use Plastic During The Entire Camping
Probably, the least coined, but the most crucial tip for campers is to avoid using plastic while camping. Of course, plastic usage might come handily in some unavoidable circumstances like using zipper bags to store food. But you can cut plastic by not purchasing packaged water bottles. Instead, you should carry a refillable water bottle every time you go to a wild camp.
10. Welcome The Unexpected, Embrace The Unknown, And Enjoy Limitlessly
Above all, camping off-road in the wilderness is about experiencing the new, the unexpected. If something happens out of the box, you should accept it with a broad smile on your face. Embracing the unknown can help you overcome and find solutions to harsh situations in a camp easily. Don’t sit regretting for hours what has happened already. You can’t control everything that happens to you. Instead, progress towards exploring new dimensions of the wilderness and seek happiness. Wherever you go off-road camping, enjoy every moment of it to the fullest.
Conclusion
There is no rocket science to a pleasant off-road wild camping experience. You just need to know the simple hacks, understand their importance, and ensure following them at best. Along with these ten tips, you should make a camping gear checklist and learn how to pack maximum in a small space for a brilliant wild camp experience.