Inside or outside?

[ScotRoutes]

Recent BAM posts and Rays news about the re-opening of the MBA bothies got me to thinking; it appears many of us prefer sleeping indoors on our wee adventures. I've always been of the outdoors persuasion. Off the top of my head, I can only think of 4 nights spent indoors in my current run of 50+ months of bivvying; twice at Utsis Hut, once at Drakes Bothy and once on a BB Winter Bivvy weekend near Newtonmore.

There are a number of reasons for my preference;

1/ I prefer to experience the darkening/lightening of the sky and to see what wildlife etc is in my surroundings. I can spend an inordinate amount of time deciding on location, pitch, direction etc in order to maximise the experience.

2/ I mostly have the option of choosing my bivvy dates to avoid the worst of the weather.

3/ I find many old buildings smelly and, actually, quite depressing.

4/ I'm an anti-social auld bugger who would rather be alone or at least to be able to pick and choose my company.

It still doesn't stop me investigating potential candidates when I'm out and about. For instance, I've found a number of suitable lunch huts hereabouts. I've just never been all that tempted to use them when given a choice of bivvy bag, tarp or (at a push) tent.

[summittoppler]

I've done my far share of bothies but your number 4 is me all over!

[Bearbonesnorm]

I generally tend to be of a similar mind to you Colin. Obviously I've slept in plenty of bothies over the years but these days I tend to avoid MBA bothies like the plague and only really sleep indoors in the very wettest / blowy weather.

[RIP]

Yes that's an interesting question.

It may come as little surprise that I personally like exploring and testing possibilities - absolutely anything and everything is fair game after some assessment and consideration. For me the actual in-ness or out-ness isn't really a big part of it or a preference or even a pre-set decision on the day. It's all shelter - tarp, barn, greenhouse, porch, tent, henhouse, bivvy bag, disused factory, old house, anything.

[Dave Barter]

4/ But I do like a solo bothy

[Ray Young]

I'm sort of 50/50. When I plan a ride I prefer to have a destination in mind for the end of the day and bothies are a good point to head for. Using bothies also allows me to indulge in my pyromania too as I do like a real fire. I am pretty anti social as well and tend to use bothies mid week when they're less likely to have others visiting but having said that I have met some interesting people in them.

[RIP]

I'll expand a little further on my post if I may. I find that structures in and of themselves are endlessly fascinating - who built or fabricated them, why, and what for; the materials, design, engineering, and social history. I hope to absorb a small fraction of all that simply by spending one night in that structure. Who came before? Who next?

Randomly coming across something I've never seen before and then having the privilege of spending 12 hours of my life there is a massive and delicious pleasure.

Overly romantic and lyrical? New Age mumbo-jumbo? No. Curiosity will never kill this cat.

[Jurassic]

It must be an age thing as I used to enjoy the random nature of the people who I'd meet at a bothy but now seem to prefer my own company.
I also think the clientele (?) of bothys has changed, it used to be pretty much exclusively outdoorsy folks that you'd meet in a bothy but now there seem to be a lot of bothy party goers whose motivation is to find an out of the way location to get stoned/pished.
These days I tend to take my own accomodation and will only use a bothy as a somewhere to cook and eat while escaping the rain or midgies before retiring to my tent or bivvy. The exception is I have the place to myself but I still have to carry my own shelter just in case.

[RIP]

Most posts so far seem to be concentrating on bothies. Which are an infinitesimally small fraction of the available roofs in this country .

[Bearbonesnorm]

Most posts so far seem to be concentrating on bothies. Which are an infinitesimally small fraction of the available roofs in this country .

I was just giving this some thought I too like old buildings and structures and have no problems with spending the night beneath their slates / sheets etc. I think 'bothy' in the true sense perhaps encapsulates these less official structures (which may include old farms etc)

My reasons for avoiding MBA managed bothies are pretty much summed up by Chris (no, other Chris) with -

I also think the clientele (?) of bothys has changed, it used to be pretty much exclusively outdoorsy folks that you'd meet in a bothy but now there seem to be a lot of bothy party goers who's motivation is to find an out of the way location to get stoned/pished.

I wonder whether things are perhaps different in Wales as opposed to Scotland as we don't have many MBA bothies. Nearly all can be accessed quite easily (even by car) and massive centres of population aren't too far away.

When all said and done (could be a while), I think on a decent evening, then nothing beats sleeping outside

[ScotRoutes]

I find that structures in and of themselves are endlessly fascinating - who built or fabricated them, why, and what for; the materials, design, and social history.

I definitely chime with that. See also; roads, tracks, bridges, walls, cairns etc.

[Charliecres]

Local to me (Surrey Hills) there doesn’t seem to be a lot of choice. Very few, if any, places I’ve found to shelter indoors without a high chance of being turfed out or visited by the police. (Obviously I don’t have Reg’s Ruin Radar.)

TBH I prefer to be outside anyway, unless it’s properly flinging it down.

[fatbikephil]

Outside unless its horrible weather but I'd only use a bothy if it was empty or had maybe a couple of other folks in. My tactic in these circumstances is to go in 'just to cook my tea before heading out again' and if they seem to be OK I'll suddenly decide I can't be bothered going out so will stay. I like having a nosy at bothies during the day (when they are empty) and will often sit inside for a cuppa so I can 'claim' it on my ever growing bothy bagging list.

I love ID'ing potential bivvy shelters of varying standards of cheekiness but I'd be very circumspect as to which ones I use.

[pistonbroke]

A high proportion of my overnight trips involve sleeping in structures that are an elegant solution to the indoors/outdoors dilemma. From May to October, the outdoors here is tinder dry and starting fires and barbecues is banned and heavily sanctioned (a local chap let burning olive brashings get out of hand and was fined€100,000) To allow outdoor cooking, most village councils build recreation areas in the woods which feature proper fire areas and a picnic area with tables and a proper roof. They are generally in beauty spots on the outskirts of villages, sufficiently remote to not be disturbed but close enough to get food and drink. I slept here on my last trip, it was 1,300m up in the hills. I made the mistake of taking an uninsulated mat and the cold concrete floor was a problem, even in June.

There were indoor rooms but they were locked, in the winter, hiking groups can get a key from the ajuntament, thus preventing casual visits and misuse.

[jameso]

I'm not a fan of bothies either. A bit depressing or 'murdery', not all, but generally I'd not aim for one for the night. But I'll happily take an urban bivi spot, especially in France - an open sports ground shelter or there's often a covered open area by the Mairie, or a church doorway etc. Or a barn that's not looking too actively used by a nearby farm. Found shelter is good when lightweight touring with no tent or tarp and the weather's not great, keeps me on my toes either riding late or the unknown of whether I'll find anything useful. Overall I'd rather be out under the stars. And a light tarp / tarp tent seems more sensible these days unless the lightweight/distance thing really appeals.
Edit - actually thinking back to a few I have been to, that ^ is a bit negative. Some of them are in lovely places. Maybe goes back to 'dares' in abandoned houses as kids and seeing bothies as potentially similarly eerie Plus the fact they're open to all and have a draw for others who are as likely to be pissheads or plain weird as interesting outdoor types.

[Alan63]

Both. Have been making bikepacking trips with my 13 year old son for a couple of years now. We have done a mixture of bothies and camping. We've always had a good experience at the bothies meeting some great folk. Have to confess, I pick the bothies quite carefully to avoid the ones that may attract folk you wouldn't want to spend time with.

Due to COVID, we've found new locations for bivvying which doesn't involve travel or bothies. We had a great time in the garden, under hobbit huts at the local MTB trail and the a nearby field.

I think we'll stick with camping for a couple of months until the clamour for bothies dies down.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Have been making bikepacking trips with my 13 year old son for a couple of years now

Have you discovered the secret of eternal youth Alan?