The Woodsman's Journal Online: March 2025

Sunday, March 30, 2025

How to Choose a Campsite, Part Two©

Author’s note -- I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

I ran out of space (and time) to complete last weeks article, so here is the rest, and remember there is no such thing as a “perfect” campsite, but knowing the Five S’s will help you find a “good” campsite. The next most important things to consider after safety and shelter are supply, space and slope.

Supply

You need a good supply of both water and wood, unless you are planning to use camp stoves, in which case you can skip the wood.

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends a daily fluid intake of about 15.5 cups (3.7 liters or one gallon) of fluids per day for men, and about 11.5 cups (2.7 liters or ¾ of a gallon) of fluids a day for women. This is just water for drinking, for cooking and washing you will need at least one gallon each.

Your campsite should always be located near a water source. always collect your drinking and cooking water upstream” from your campsite. Be careful where you collect water, remember to search upstream for at least 75 steps, 200 feet or 60 meters, above where you intend to collect water to make sure there is no garbage, dead animals, or anything else polluting the water.

Bear in mind the place for washing clothes and other water-related activities, such as watering animals, is always downstream of where your drinking water is gathered.

The average campfire burns approximately one cubic foot of wrist thick hardwood an hour, the same amount of soft wood, pine or fir, will burn twice as fast¹. This is a stack about half as high as your knee, since the average adult knee is about 20 inches, 51 cm, high, this is a pile 10 inches high, 16 inches long, and 10 inches wide To keep a large crackling fire burning from evening to morning takes between ten and twenty cubic feet of wood, although a small campfire can be kept burning with just five to eight cubic feet of wood. To maintain a single campfire for several hours or two shorter fires, you will need between four to five cubic feet of wood per day, and usually you will need one to two cubic feet of wood to cook a meal.

Space

Remember, you just need to find a flat space large enough to hold your sleeping pad, or two, or four pads if you’re camping with a partner or partners. If there enough level space for every tent or shelter, then it is a “good” campsite.

Slope

The ground where you decide to camp should be “level”, with a very gentle or gentle slope, otherwise you will be sliding downhill all night long in your sleep.

To find out if the ground is mostly level, you can eye-ball it or, as Philip Werner from SectionHiker suggests HERE, you can use “The Bottle Level Method”. Place a clear plastic water bottle, tipped on its side, on the ground you want to measure; the water bubble will tell you whether the surface is level or not.

Flat ground can be tough to find, so if there is a slope, you can pitch or build your shelter either parallel with the slope or perpendicular to the slope, and which you choose may come down to a combination of personal preference, the steepness of the slope and what gear you have available.

The most common recommendation is to pitch your tent parallel to the slope, with your head and the entrance uphill. This way:

· You won’t wake up in the middle of the night with a headache.

· Your entrance to the tent isn’t downhill so you and your gear won’t shoot out in the morning when you open the door.

Pitching your tent parallel to the slope is fine when it’s a gentle slope, however on steeper slopes, place your backpack and clothes under their feet down at the bottom of the tent to keep from sliding.

The other option is to set up your tent so that the opening of the tent is perpendicular to the slope, and your head and feet are level, with one side lower than the other when you’re sleeping. Unless it is only a gentle slope, you’ll need to pad the downhill side of your sleeping pad or camp mattress with your backpack or clothing to create a level surface. This way:

· You won’t keep rolling onto your downhill side.

Now you know the Five S’s, it’s time to find a “good” campsite.

POP QUIZ!

So let’s put it all together...POP QUIZ TIME!

So what is the answer, A, B, C, or D, or some combination of them?

Did you get the correct answer? I hope so.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Ten Essentials of Winter Camping ©”, where we will talk about how to camp in the winter wilderness and stay warm and safe.

I hope that you enjoy learning from this resource! To help me to continue to provide valuable free content, please consider showing your appreciation by leaving a donation HERE. Thank you and Happy Trails!

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE. Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube. If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site. I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Anders, Mark; “12 Tips to Help You Sleep Well on the Trail”, ScoutLife, [© 2025, Boy Scouts of America], https://scoutlife.org/outdoors/outdoorarticles/12741/how-to-sleep-well-on-the-trail/, accessed March 29, 2025

Buck, Jordan; “How Much Firewood to Bring for Camping (With a cheat sheet!)”, [© 2025 Backfire LLC], https://backfire.tv/how-much-firewood-for-camping/#:~:text=The%20average%20campfire%20burns%20approximately,5%2D8%20bundles%20per%20day, accessed March 29, 2025

Clarke, Julia; “Stop the slide: 8 tips for camping on a slope”, Advnture, June 27, 2022, https://www.advnture.com/features/camping-slope, accessed March 29, 2025

Department of the Air Force; Air Force AFM 64-3 Survival Training Edition, pages 3-6 to 3-8, https://books.google.com/books?id=Ywad0WT1rO4C&pg=SA3-PA6&dq=picking+choosing+shelter+camp&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiF0byKjJSMAxULFlkFHSjvGCYQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false, accessed March 22, 2025

Green Bar Bill; Boys’ Life, November 1948, [The Boy Scouts Of America, New York, NY, 1948], page 18, https://books.google.com/books?id=np-xlH1i_zcC&pg=PA18&dq=The+old+formula+for+a+good+camp&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2k7CAv5yMAxXdD1kFHW2OBfQQ6AF6BAgEEAM#v=onepage&q=The%20old%20formula%20for%20a%20good%20camp&f=false, accessed March 21, 2025

Seaton, Scott; “From Our Duffel Bag”, Boys’ Life, March 1952, page 42, https://books.google.com/books?id=STKNgoQa1hgC&pg=PA42&dq=%22four+s%27s+of+camp%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj76OD01JyMAxVnFVkFHY4lFG0Q6AF6BAgGEAM#v=onepage&q=%22four%20s's%20of%20camp%22&f=false, accessed March 21, 2025

Shane, Herbert E.; “Beds and Bedding”, Hunter-Trader-Trapper, Vol. XLIX, No. 1, April 1923, page 72, https://books.google.com/books?id=vQ_OAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA72&dq=Tarp+as+a+shelter&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-rb2CvZyMAxVSFmIAHbHBJw04ChDoAXoECAYQAw#v=onepage&q=Tarp%20as%20a%20shelter&f=false, accessed March 21, 2025

Unknown Author; “Housing in extreme survival conditions”, https://pochta-polevaya.ru/blogs/1288/312235.html, accessed March 22, 2025

Werner, Philip; “How to Find a Level Campsite: A Neat Little Trick”, May 9, 2023, SectionHiker, https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-find-a-level-campsite-a-neat-little-trick/, accessed March 29, 2025

World Health Organization; “Technical Notes on Drinking-Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Emergencies”, https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wash-documents/who-tn-09-how-much-water-is-needed.pdf, accessed March 29, 2025

Sunday, March 23, 2025

How to Choose a Campsite, Part One©

There is no such thing as a “perfect” campsite, but all “good” onea will share few simple qualities. You can call it the “Shelter-Water-Wood Formula” or the “Five W’s”, but I prefer the “Five S’s”.

But First...

Setting up a camp, whether it is pitching a tent or building a survival shelter takes time; start at least two hours before dark, eight fingers, since daylight will help you look for the “Five S’s”.

Five S’s

Before you decide on a campsite, think about the things that make a campsite a “good” campsite: Safety, being the most important, followed by Shelter, Supply, Space, and Slope, in that order.

Safety

First and foremost a camp site must be safe! That means there are no “widow makers”, leaning trees, dead standing trees or live trees with dead limbs, just waiting to fall on your camping spot. In mountain country, stay away from avalanche zones, either of snow or stone. And don’t pick a spot by that babbling brook or sweetly flowing river, because if rains upstream, it will flood downstream, and your campsite and you might get washed away! If you do camp near a brook, camp on the outside bend where the bank is higher, rather than on the inside bend where the bank is low. Also, check to make sure that your campsite isn’t already occupied by ants, bees, stinging insects, snakes, etc. Don’t camp on trails, whether game trails or people trails, it is no fun to have bears, moose, or people traipsing through your camp at night. Pick a spot where you can safety hang a bear bag in a tree at least 10 feet, 3 meters, high and 3 feet or 1 meter away from the trunk – NEVER keep any “smellables” or food in your shelter at night.

· Camp about 75 steps, 200 feet or 60 meters, away from the water’s edge

· Camp about 75 steps, 200 feet or 60 meters, from trails

· Hang your bear bag about 75 steps, 200 feet or 60 meters, away from your camp site – DOWNWIND from your camp site.

Shelter

The winds you must worry about are the prevailing winds, and mountain and valley breezes.

Prevailing winds which in the mid-latitudes, between 35° and 65°, blow from the southwest to the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest to the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere. In the north tropics (north of the equator) the winds blow northeast to southwest and in the southern tropics (south of the equator) they blow southeast to northwest.

Mountain and valley breezes are winds caused by the daily heating and cooling of the ground. At night, the higher elevations cool first and the colder dense air flows downhill and downstream into valleys and collects there, filling the valley bottom with cold air. This is known as “cold air drainage” or “temperature inversions” and can create a fog. Fog such as this is most commonly seen in the autumn and spring months and is thickest around sunrise when surface temperatures are at their lowest. Where temperature inversions occur most often, you will find cold-adapted species like spruce (Picea spp.) and balsam fir (Abies balsamea) at lower elevations, and warm-adapted broadleaf species, such as sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red maple (Acer rubrum), and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) at the higher elevations.

If you can, pitch your tent with the rear or if the wind is strong one of the rear corners perpendicular to the wind. This means the door of the tent will be in leeward (downwind).

· Don’t camp in a valley bottom, because cold night air settles there, or on a hilltop because of storms, lightning and wind, but on a flat bench halfway up the valley wall.

· Do set the front of your shelter to the lee (downwind) of the prevailing or nighttime winds. This prevents mosquitoes from being blown into your shelter.

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “How to Choose a Campsite, Part Two©”, where we will talk about the last three S’s -- Space, Supply, and Slope.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Author Unknown; “Housing in extreme survival conditions”, https://pochta-polevaya.ru/blogs/1288/312235.html, accessed March 22, 2025

Sunday, March 16, 2025

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day and may the Sun shine warm upon your face … so that you know what direction you’re facing!

Directions from the Sun

Everywhere in the world the Sun rises in the east and in the evening, it sets in the west. On the winter solstice (December 21^st), it rises at 23° 27′ south of east and on the summer solstice it rises at 23° 27′ north of east (June 21^st); only rising due east and setting due west on the spring (March 21^st) and autumn equinoxes (September 23^rd).

You can find your direction from the Sun’s position at any time of the day, besides just in the early morning and early evening.

The position of the Sun in the sky can be used for orientation if you know the general time of day. In the morning, the Sun rises roughly in the east (due east only on the equinoxes) and tracks southward in the northern hemisphere, or northward in the southern hemisphere, before setting in the west (again due west only on the equinoxes). At noon, when you face the Sun, you are looking either south or north depending on whether you are above or below the Equator.

When the Sun has reached its highest point in the sky, at solar noon, and it is directly overhead, it is at its zenith. In the North Temperate Zones, anywhere between the Arctic Circle at 66° 33′ N and the Tropic of Cancer at 23° 27′ N, the path of the Sun is south of the zenith in the winter and almost overhead during the summer. At solar noon, during the winter if you face the Sun, you face south.

In the South Temperate Zone, between the Tropic of Capricorn at 23° 27′ S and the Antarctic Circle at 66° 33′ S, the situation is reversed, with the path of the Sun is north of the zenith in the winter and almost overhead during the summer. At solar noon, during the winter if you are facing the Sun, you are facing north.

And in the tropics, the Torrid Zone, the noon Sun will either east or west of you, or directly overhead, depending on the season and the date.

And now for the rest of the prayer.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Ten Essentials of Winter Camping ©”, where we will talk about how to camp in the winter wilderness and stay warm and safe.

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

Sources

Buzzacott, Francis Henry; The Complete American and Canadian Sportsman's Encyclopedia of Valuable Instruction, [The American and Canadian Sportsman’s Assn., Chicago IL, 1905], https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Complete+American+and+Canadian&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEp-_Vt4OMAxX6MlkFHdGlDswQ6AF6BAgJEAM#v=onepage&q=The%20Complete%20American%20and%20Canadian&f=false, accessed March 11, 2025

Gibson, J.; Soldiers’ Own Note Book and Diary For 1918, [Charles Letts & Co., London, 1918], page 30, http://heritage.christchurchcitylibraries.com/Archives/OSullivan/Clutterbuck/Diary/PDF/0050.pdf, accessed March 13, 2025

Oelslager, Dr. R. W., Bushcraft, Scoutcraft & Woodlore, Vol. II, Figure 186, [privately published] page 210 to 211, this volume can be found HERE.

Tarr, Ralph Stockman; New Geographies: First book, Book 1, Part 2, [The Macmillan Company, New York 1913], page 91 to 92, https://books.google.com/books?id=5VMAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA92&dq=winter,+the+sun+will+be+south+of+you&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi7vPqxoYyMAxWgrokEHfbgN0IQ6AF6BAgIEAM#v=onepage&q=winter%2C%20the%20sun%20will%20be%20south%20of%20you&f=false, accessed March 15, 2025

United States, Department of the Air Force; Survival AFM 64-65, August 15, 1969, [U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC], page 2-87, https://books.google.com/books?id=RX24AAAAIAAJ&pg=SA2-PA87&dq=%22Figure+2-56%22+equinoxes&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC08jb0ImMAxXypokEHauYKp4Q6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q=%22Figure%202-56%22%20equinoxes&f=false, accessed March 14, 2025

About Me

I live near Buffalo, New York and have more than 25 years of experience in the outdoors. I enjoy being in the wilderness, paddling a canoe or exploring the woods, when I am not researching survival, woodcraft, camping skills or life on the Old Northwest Frontier of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. I am a published author and I have been a guide for Birchbark Expeditions and an Outdoor Skills trainer for the Boy Scouts since 2014. I am also a martial artist, having studied several different combat arts over the past 30 years. Currently, I am the author of The Woodsman’s Journal Online and BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.

The Woodsman's Journal Online

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Sunday, March 30, 2025

How to Choose a Campsite, Part Two©

Sunday, March 23, 2025

How to Choose a Campsite, Part One©

Sunday, March 16, 2025

May the Sun Shine Warm on Your Face©

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