Suggestions on wild camping sleeping

[Chicken Drumstick]

Having done quite a lot of laning over the years. I’m keen to give some wild camping a go. The vehicle is too small to sleep in. So I’ve been looking at “swags”. As they seem common on many Oz Youtube videos. 
 

Something like the ARB Skydome swag and stretcher look good. But somewhat pricey. 

https://www.4x4works.co.uk/product/arb-skydome-single-swag-tent/
https://www.4x4works.co.uk/product/arb-stretcher-camp-bed-swag/

 

Anyone have any experience with these? Or perhaps a cheaper alternative?

I really like the idea of being elevated from the ground. And a roof tent is not what I want. 

[Waldorf]

I slept in a ARB swag four nights and found it very comfortable. It was on the ground, so without the stretcher. There is a matress integrated in the swag, you set it up in one minute, you roll it up in under a minute. Having the integrated matress makes it quite bulky. Caveat: I slept in it in Australia, where it was designed. On sand, in hot and dry conditions, and it was perfect for keeping the creepy crawlers out. I don't know if it's very practicle for European conditions. Getting in and out of it in the rain without getting your sleeping bag wet may be challenging. To give you an idea of the size: here are three swags on a roof rack.

 

 

[Nonimouse]

What Waldorf said. Swags are fine in the dry. When it's wet, then you need an awning to put the swag under

[Chicken Drumstick]

Thanks for the info. I hadn’t really considered geography. Although Australia is quite vast with diverse climates and weather. I’d hope the swag would cope with a little rain. But it does make sense about the issue of getting in and out without getting everything wet. Guess that would be true of any sort of tent though. 
 

If I go down this route. I’d probably look at an awning. But that also means a roof rack of some sort. And it all gets rather pricey. Initially I think it will only be 2-3 nights camping on a 4 night laning trip. Although it would open up the opportunity to reuse it more frequently. As camping is vastly cheaper than B&B prices. 
 

I did use to camp more in my youth. But regular tents always seem like a fair amount of work to put up and pack away for a single night stay at a time. I did have a quick put up tent, but it was still more work than what the swags look to be. I also have a back injury and would prefer the idea of being elevated somewhat. Which isn’t practical to achieve in most small tents. 

[Northwards]

A proper awning wouldn’t be essential, and perhaps not even the best option.

If you fitted a couple of roof bars, or even gutter clamps, you could just use a nylon tarp. The likes of DD Hammocks do a good range.

On ‘bad’ nights you could fit one side to the car, and the other down near the ground. On better nights, but where it might still rain (it’s the UK after all) you could add a couple of cheap ‘tarp poles’ and provide ‘awning-like’ shelter.

Another consideration to this option (which would apply to an awning too) would be finding a large enough space around the car. On the other hand, a tarp could be attached to trees, or a fence, or whatever to provide the shelter you’d need.

That’s if you’re still keen on swags, and trying to adjust for Uk conditions. A couple of tunnel tents would almost certainly be a cheaper and more versatile option overall.

(Edit - read all the posts before replying! I hadn’t picked up on the back injury comment. I specifically mentioned tunnel style tents because they are really quick to erect. Pop two pegs in at the back,grab the tent and walk backwards, it pops into place, and stick two more pegs in at the front. You do need to add a few more pegs and lines depending on conditions, but it is quick. Dome or star shaped tents can be more of a hassle - but none of this gets you off the ground.

Only half joking, have you considered camping hammocks? A bit to learn, but fabulously comfortable once you have them ‘dialled in’. Happy to provide more details on that if you want. Park the Defender 8’ from a tree, clip one end onto the car, the other onto a tree. Cover with a tarp, sling your under blanket underneath, snug as a bug!)

[Nonimouse]

9 hours ago, Chicken Drumstick said:

Thanks for the info. I hadn’t really considered geography. Although Australia is quite vast with diverse climates and weather. I’d hope the swag would cope with a little rain. But it does make sense about the issue of getting in and out without getting everything wet. Guess that would be true of any sort of tent though. 
 

If I go down this route. I’d probably look at an awning. But that also means a roof rack of some sort. And it all gets rather pricey. Initially I think it will only be 2-3 nights camping on a 4 night laning trip. Although it would open up the opportunity to reuse it more frequently. As camping is vastly cheaper than B&B prices. 
 

I did use to camp more in my youth. But regular tents always seem like a fair amount of work to put up and pack away for a single night stay at a time. I did have a quick put up tent, but it was still more work than what the swags look to be. I also have a back injury and would prefer the idea of being elevated somewhat. Which isn’t practical to achieve in most small tents. 

Look at quechua pop ups https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/3-person-pop-up-tent-2-seconds/_/R-p-3349?mc=8492687&utm_term=8492687-2558275&&iv_=__iv_p_1_g_65720157311_c_316396756461_w_pla-295628808180_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r_x_pla_y_15177021_f_online_o_8492687-2558275_z_GB_i_en_j_295628808180_s__e__h_1006524_ii__vi__&gclid=CjwKCAjwp9qZBhBkEiwAsYFsb1NPGaqeDDJ3LzB6E3UAnqX3E7B_W5h6fjElgoKJNnjMRhoaZ17GPRoC3CAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Simple, relatively cheap and ludicrously weather proof. I put mine through hell, for ten years. The guy I gave it to still does.

[Bowie69]

I love the idea of a swag, the problem I find with tents is even if the tent takes 2 seconds to erect, then you have to set up the mattress, sleeping and any other paraphernalia you might need in there. A swag solves most of this, I think, and only takes one minute to set up

As said above, and awning/tarp would still be needed when wet, or in autumn when there's a lot of dew. A tarp is easy enough to string up if you have a vehicle, or a tree though, and very, very cheap.

That said, swags really are rare over here, and hardly cheap, so that has always put me off.

[Ed Poore]

You'd be surprised what you can make work space wise. Which of your vehicles are you planning on using as the basis? For example a 110 will fit a king size mattress in the back behind the front seats, I know a fair few people who've set up a system in a 90 that allows them to sleep above the bulkhead. But if you're in a pick-up game over.

On our recent trip to the Highlands where we were wild-camping I had to change the usual setup of the mattress in the back because there were now three of us and there's a lot of paraphernalia associated with a 4 year old. The 110 has a Tuff Trek awning on the side which even single handed I can have set up in about a minute and compared to a lot of other awnings sits nice and tight against the roof bars. There's a pod setup for it which on my own takes another couple of minutes to setup - with a helper who knows what they're doing it can be done much quicker.

It has an integrated floor as well so that means that you usually can keep the inside dry, we did suffer a bit with condensation but the mesh on the windows isn't small enough to stop midgets (midges) through so we kept most of it sealed up during the night. Once set up there's a door in the "pod" to gain access to the vehicle from under-cover. We just had self-inflating camping roll mats to sleep on but they were comfortable enough for us. On the most recent trip we had 12 vehicles including two camping trailer setups - rather ironically we were the often the fastest to set up each night - including those with a camp trailer. Admittedly they had a nicer setup but for wild camping it wasn't really needed.

The biggest realisation was that nothing "off-the-shelf" is built for British weather. The Aussie setups are all nice and elegant with some really neat ideas but given their cost I'd want them to work better in the UK (which is a tad unfair as they don't tend to get our variety of weather).

 

I think you're better off getting something and getting out there and trying it out - as long as you go into it knowing it's not going to work first time and are prepared to tweak your setup you'll find something that works better. I have an old Eurohike I think it is tent which has the huge bonus I can pack it away sopping wet but the inner stays dry. It sleeps 3 very comfortably and 5 at a push but doesn't take up much more space than a 12l dive bottle. Doesn't take long to setup but because we had the awning and the pod we used that instead apart from the first night. If the weather had been terrible we'd have set up the tent to sleep in then we could have used the awning room for cooking and socialising.

[simonr]

I've slept in a Bivi, under my 110.  I didn't even wake up with the Bivi covered in dripping oil!

I used to just roll up the Bivi with a sleeping bag & Thermarest inside.  Then you can go from it being packed away to sleeping in it in about 10 sec!

[Chicken Drumstick]

Thanks for the info. Need to do some more research and think about it. 
 

Looking for swags didn’t seem to turn up much other than the arb ones. So maybe there isn’t a cheaper direct alternative. 
 

Vehicle wise is a bit open at the moment. There is a group of 5 of us that normally lane in a vehicle each. But we stay at pub B&B’s. Sadly one of the group has got to the age they won’t be coming next year. So the rest of us want to do several days wild camping. It’ll be mid/north Wales. Basically drive and lane and just park up somewhere for the night. Break out a BBQ & beer before sleep. Then up the next morning and move on. I think we’ll probably do approx 4 nights maybe with a pub B&B in the middle of the trip. The next trip will be June next year I think. Plenty of time, although when I count the pay packets between now and then that need to fund new equipment. It makes me keen to get ahead of the curve.

Ultimately we’d probably like to expand the trips to include the NC500 or maybe to Ireland or France. 
 

One of the group has an 80” Series one full tilt V8. But he has wild camped for years in it and has a good setup with a board over the dash and seats into the rear. So he’ll sleep in the vehicle with minimal setup or pack away. 
 

Another member has a 90 hardtop that has done overlanding in Tunisia and the like. Albeit with a roof tent. For laning he won’t use the roof tent as it could be too vulnerable on some Welsh lanes and he plans to sleep in the vehicle somehow. 
 

The last last member is my brother also in a hardtop 90. He plans to make a platform similar to the one in the Series 1. 
 

Which leaves me. While I have a 90 parked on the drive. It technically isn’t mine and the engine need replacing. So it is unlikely to be used for this. At least not for a couple of years. 
 

I do have a p38 Range Rover. Which would be easy to sleep in. Fold the rear seats down and put a mattress in the back. But in reality the p38 is a little large for many of the lanes we’ve done over the years. And while I’d drive a 90 down most lanes. There just seems something perverse scratching up the paintwork on the Range Rover. So, ultimately I don’t really want to use it for the trip next year. 

Which leaves me with a choice of my 88 coiler pickup or my Suzuki Jimny. Neither have enough room to sleep inside. So I suspect the chosen solution would work equally well for either. 
 

It is nice for us all to be in Land Rovers for these trips. And I used the 88 in past years. But it is hugely unrefined and noisy inside. Very hard to hear the CB radio at speed. And I’ve done all I can to quiet it down. 
 

The Jimny, apart from being new and shiny should be ideal in all other respects. Although somewhat limited load area. 
 

In either case. It looks like I’ll be sleeping outside. So I want something with minimal setup and pack away really. As someone mention above. A tent is ok to put up. But you then have to sort a bed and other things out. Not saying this is a no. Just looking for potential better solutions for someone with a dodgy back and doesn’t like sleeping on the floor. 
 

I’ve seen awnings like this. But most people seem to mount them on a HD roof rack. Which really ramps the price up. 

 

Although fitting of such an awning wouldn’t be practical on the 88 pickup. So maybe just a strung tarp would have to do.

[Bowie69]

At 6ft, I've slept in the back of an 88 pickup, with the tailgate folded down -an option?

I used a tailgate tent as well, I think,something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303994927380

If you had one of the deeper ones you, with the 88 bed so short, you could back it in furtherance attach it to the cab:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32536085455411parhaps a bit big, but you get the idea, i hope.

 

[Ed Poore]

I was thinking the same thing as @Bowie69. Could you mount an "awning" behind the cab rather than the side of it. Have a pull out extension to the tub and mount something there.

More expensive option (but perhaps a DIY option available) something like a roof top tent but in the back of the pickup rather than up at roof height. The last time I wild camped up in Scotland on my own I had a king size mattress with all the bedding setup on it. During the day I had the seats upright (the ones from an L322) so the dogs were on the back seat / front seat with all the mud and sand. When we got to camp I popped the catch and the seat backs folded down and the mattress sprung out ready for sleeping in. Perhaps a similar setup where a proper mattress can be doubled over in the bed of the pick up and when you get to camp pull out the extension and unfold the mattress.

7 hours ago, Chicken Drumstick said:

I’ve seen awnings like this. But most people seem to mount them on a HD roof rack. Which really ramps the price up. 

Although not a 270 awning mine is mounted on a set of flat dog roof bars so much lighter weight.

I picked it and the pod on the side up for £300 second hand I think from a lady down the road.

[Eightpot]

An oztent RV1 is pretty compact, especially if you don't bother rolling the awning out. They dont need pegging out either which can be handy & very weatherproof.  They just fit in the back of a 110 packed away.  They are discontinued now but pop up regularly on ebay. 

[Chicken Drumstick]

8 hours ago, Bowie69 said:

At 6ft, I've slept in the back of an 88 pickup, with the tailgate folded down -an option?

I used a tailgate tent as well, I think,something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303994927380

If you had one of the deeper ones you, with the 88 bed so short, you could back it in furtherance attach it to the cab:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32536085455411parhaps a bit big, but you get the idea, i hope.

 

Interesting idea. One I hadn’t thought of at all. Will have to try it for size. Although the bed is quite short in my 88 as I have an 80 litre fuel tank located in the bed up against the bulkhead. 

[Anderzander]

20 hours ago, Chicken Drumstick said:

One of the group has an 80” Series one full tilt V8. But he has wild camped for years in it and has a good setup with a board over the dash and seats into the rear. So he’ll sleep in the vehicle with minimal setup or pack away. 

If you have any pics I’d be super interested to see them ! 

[simonr]

When I had a S3 Lightweight, I made a 'bed' out of metal shelves (Dexion brand).  At the front, it hooked on to the rail on the dashboard.  Supported in the middle by the bulkhead and supported at the rear by the back bulkhead.  I must have made something for it to clip on to on the rear bulkhead.  4 shelves in total gave a bed over 6'6" long and about 2' wide.  They packed down fairly small, strapped to one of the wheel boxes in the back.  I used it on numerous climbing trips to North Wales where the weather was never very Tent-friendly!

[Mossberg]

Watching this with interest.  I would like a similar kind of thing for my 90, but being just under 6'4" I can see it being a challenge. I haven't looked too closely at it yet but assume if it is possible it would have to be diagonal from the rear right corner to front left and go very the reduced height bulkhead. The other option would be to leave the back door open and have a rear awning. 

As the OP has said, quick, easy and comfortable is the ideal. It would very good to be able to fit inside as I wouldn't need to do the setting up, but my height will make that challenging. 

[miketomcat]

https://www.thebushcraftstore.co.uk/outhaus-landie-tent-41911-p.asp

Or a army scorpion fox tent might be worth a look. I've used the latter several times both hung off my truck and free standing with the aid of some extra poles.

Mike

[Anderzander]

I like that - the only downside with that, for me, is that you need to park on ground you can get your tent pegs into. 

[Bowie69]

2 minutes ago, Anderzander said:

I like that - the only downside with that, for me, is that you need to park on ground you can get your tent pegs into. 

Big rocks placed in the corners would work.

 

[Nonimouse]

Firstly, don't BBQ on a wild camp. Remember in the UK and Wales, you are trespassing, unless you have the land owners permission. Nothing winds a land owner up more than flames.

 

There's a guy on You Tube, with a Jimney (new style) who camps in his vehicle - actually looks very comfortable

Wild camping on lanes is difficult. There's rarely any room. Ideally you want to camp in the vehicles footprint, so inside or underneath; or very close to, but out of the ruts/mud. Have you looked at Hammocks?

I have an awning. Just a cheap unbranded version of the generic chinese one that ARB use. It's 3m long by 2.5m pull out. I mount it to Roof bars. Works fine. Easy to remove. I use it for static wild camping - useually for long periods of foot travel. Awnings are never as easy to set up as they look, added to which they don't like bad weather. And , again, as mentioned before, there needs to be room for them at the side of a lane.

When I lane camp, I use a basha, or two, a bouncing bomb in a bivvy bag, with additional face net and a folding camp bed. I've done that in the snow, torrential rain and fine days. It's a fifteen minute set up and very comfy. I do have an air pocket matress for the bed, as my back is shot. Everything is done for the fast get away, as it's a criminal offence to obstruct the highway. Food is cooked, in a slow cooker, during the day (actually two slow cookers. both drawing 200w). No alchohol is consumed... Far better to find a site like Nash Oaklands, Cocco's or Gaerwen, then just use a tent

 

[Mo Murphy]

You could always get a Premier Inn, very warm, wind resistant and takes up no room in the back of your Land Rover 😁

Mo

[Peaklander]

We used to sleep in our 110 if for some reason we didn't want to pitch the tent (weather or security). We travelled like this anyway with most gear in boxes underneath the bed. Nothing was fastened down; it just lifted in and out and was self supporting.

This is it being reassembled (takes two minutes) mid-trip in Greece, after using the vehicle to carry a huge Grecian urn (honestly).

Edit: now we sleep in it all the time as we have a lifting roof 😜

Edited October 3, 2022 by Peaklander

[Anderzander]

1 hour ago, Mo Murphy said:

You could always get a Premier Inn, very warm, wind resistant and takes up no room in the back of your Land Rover 😁

Mo

He wants it to be wild ….   So perhaps travel lodge 

[FridgeFreezer]

Just need the right wheelbase and some throw cushions...