What do people do on the winter nights when camping. I love being out on my own aswell as with company. But when I'm on my own camping I find the evening incredibly boring and find myself in bed very early. What do people do to keep the boredom at bay. I usually like to pitch up in the light so there's a lot of hours to kill

I generally keep riding until nearer bed time.

Same here, I usually ride on a bit. Or time it so it's late.

If not then I usually admire the view or appreciate the view. Failing that then kindle

Two of my favourite things to do are cycling and sleeping so when I stop doing one I start the other on a more serious note I generally don't set up until it's later so there's not time to kill. I'm usually also trying to be discreet so set up after dark and away again by first light, so I prefer the longer nights as there's time for a proper sleep.

Ride later seems the answer. I'm not a stealth camper I tend to find somewhere I can have a little fire if poss

Move into the dark, stare wormholes into the universe, listen, smell. Admire the moonlit view if it's there.

Dive into deep space.

Get hugged by nature.

Sleep a bit.
Make mug of tea.
Read.
Cook dinner.
Light a fire.
Read.
Tea and biscuits/chocolate.
Go to bed.

Sorry but what's with the lighting fires?

all ways have a fire at the end of the day,keep warm, dry your clothes out,cook your pork chops on it

Blag wrote:What do people do on the winter nights when camping. I love being out on my own aswell as with company. But when I'm on my own camping I find the evening incredibly boring and find myself in bed very early. What do people do to keep the boredom at bay. I usually like to pitch up in the light so there's a lot of hours to kill

go on tinder,take photos of the night sky

windjammer wrote:all ways have a fire at the end of the day,keep warm, dry your clothes out,cook your pork chops on it

piss the farmer off , kill the trees , lave a nasty mark .... nah i have once had a fire bike packing but that was on a beach on locj lomond verry small just big enough to smoke out the midges then pushed the burned stuff in to the lake in the morning no trace ... but ye stu hates fire so dont tell him ...

Have to agree about the no fires!
As a man not too far away from here once said " if you need to light a fire to keep warm, you aint took the correct kit"
Say no more!!

Bearbonesnorm wrote:Sorry but what's with the lighting fires?

I was meaning a small contained fire in something like a Honey Stove burning driftwood or dead wood, with a 'leave no trace' ethos, not some big bonfire involving chopping trees down.

Good to see this.

Last time I was loud against fires on here my words got censored...

Alpinum wrote:Good to see this.

Last time I was loud against fires on here my words got censored...

you sure think bb has allways been pretty cold on fires you sure you dont mean bike and bivy that lot will burn down whole forests to have a real outdoors experience

Go to the pub.
Then ride not very far.
Then sleep.

I find it difficult to get comfortable reading, whilst in a sleeping bag. So I listen to the radio (radio 4), if no or bad reception I listen to podcasts that I've stored on my phone or the latest thing, Audio books that I've downloaded from the internet to my phone. If it's raining though, I remove my earbuds & listen to the rain falling on my tent / tarp, this has a very soothing effect on me & I'm soon off to sleep!

I was meaning a small contained fire in something like a Honey Stove burning driftwood or dead wood, with a 'leave no trace' ethos, not some big bonfire involving chopping trees down.

Why didn't you say ... a wood burning stove's a different thing entirely.

Single Speed George wrote: you sure you dont mean bike and bivy that lot will burn down whole forests to have a real outdoors experience

I’ll see your Bike & Bivi and raise you Wild Camping UK.

Burn stuff, “best place to wild camp with a motorhome” etc etc.

by ScotRoutes » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:40 am

Go to the pub.
Then ride not very far.
Then sleep.

Colin speaks sense, like always...............

Whisky






Then more whisky

Getting bored and turning in earlier than normal is one of the benefits of kipping in a ditch. Between that & the exercise I reckon stoating around in the arse end of nowhere does wonders for my sleep patterns.

Pub is also a shout, but tends to have the opposite effect

This kind of thing I use. But really don't see a problem with a fire if you have a little common sense.

As above a wood burning stove is quite different to an open fire

That said, I have quite a few wood burning stoves (including fold flat ones like the Emberlit ul) but I tend not to bother as I'm often staying in areas that don't have good dry stuff to burn

Yep - honey stove here too. It's just a lovely thing to sit round at night and only needs twigs or pine cones to keep going. Doesn't scorch the earth and burns clean down to just a small handful of ash that is actually good for the soil if you spread it about a bit. Edit: If there is no dry stuff to burn then you can use some of those natural firelighters (the rough looking brown cubes) to cook on.

These things:
But there is almost always a few bits of twig somewhere to burn, or failing that some receipts or packaging from food. We have used our honey stove as our only cook stove this year, during which time we must have spent around 3.5 months away cooking on it. In all that time there has only been one occasion when I had to cook on the cubes only. You can also use tealights in a pinch if you carry those (or maybe some of raykicksbutts babybell candles...).

Surprised nobody has suggested an evening in the pub....