How to tell which way the tent floor is sloped on a level site?

Maybe try to sleep on a very slight slope which is more easily discernible? That would be better drainage too if it rains. You'll have to test and find the limits of when your pad and bag slides though.

Otherwise, I think the only way you'll be able to reliably figure it out (without specialized surveyor tools) before pitching your shelter is to just lie down on the groundsheet for a few minutes.

Using a pillow and maybe some gear under your sleeping pad will help too.

I figure that if I can't tell by eyeballing, the slope isn't significant enough to make any difference. However, you can always lie down to make sure.

I'd rather have to fight a slope than be in a spot that will become a lake in a hard rain! (Been there, done that, never again!)

For a lightweight pillow, check http://kookabay.com/

For everyone- my body (head) has a very low tolerance for sleeping with my head on the down hill side.

@Chris W, I would have thought that also but level is always relative (you ought to see some of the houses I've had to fix that were built "level" originally.

@Chris B, most of the cascade mtn trails have very established campsites so for LNT you take what is already there.

@Eugene, I don't think that technique would be expectable to my wife or ok for my sleeping bag

@John, the whole reason for going out on a limb with my ego on this tread is to avoid what you are suggesting (thats what I've done for years)

@SteveO, Thicker mattress is in the works. I have a Neo and a BAIAC but they are too cold for where I hike most of the time (I was snowed on in August)

@Andy, a bigger pillow might just make a pain in my neck, solving one problem by creating another.

@ Mary, I agree with the water issue- if its raining I just move on and look for a sloped site. Its when it is nice out that I have to do all the gyrations to get comfortable.
I am talking with Bender about both a custom mattress and pillow

In my 43 years of backpacking experience, I have pondered this question. Much study went into a system which I have successfully used for decades. My system works in the lowest desert. It works in the highest mountains. It never fails whether it rains or shines. I give this to the BPL community free gratis. To wit:

If in doubt regarding the slope of a potential tent site: 1. Place your walking stick along your chosen axis and view it from different angles. Determine the slope and adjust your axis accordingly. 2. Erect tent and ready your sleeping system.

There, that's all there is to it. When you drag your exhausted body into you sleeping bag and lay your head down, you will find that the lowest end of your tent is between your ears, where your pulse pounds in your temples. And your head feels heavy as your blood seeks the lowest level.

Sleep tight! Don't let the bed-bugs bite.

For my telescope, and landscaping of paving stones, I purchased a small round "button-bubble level" at the hardware store.

Weights "nothing" and I can place it on my Thermarest to see a 360-degree level. When I place it at each four corners of the pad, I can see if I really am sloped correctly for a "heads-up" set up.

I think Denis has it about right, lol!

I understand that Bender of KookaBay has made a bigger inflatable pillow for JollyGreenGiant, who of course requires a higher pillow than many of us. Tad, this might be something you'd want! You can inflate it lower most of the time, but inflate it higher if your head turns out to be downhill!

Cocoon also has some light, very packable, firm (if you want) inflatable pillows. Around 3 ounces. Several inches thick, probably takes up ~200ml of volume packed…

If your torso sinking into a thick pad is enough to give you a headache, you should have the same problem on your mattress at home. So, its psychosomatic. Or perhaps the solution is a pill to fix your blood pressure issue, or would that be too much to carry?

Steve, no mattress problem at home, slim build, definately not psychosomatic (many others have this problem), "no pills gonna cure on head"
Good try though

Get a clear plastic tube as long as you can hold the two ends apart, Almost fill the tube with water . lay that down on the ground holding the ends up. Check the water level at both ends…
Something like this

To clarify (just in case…) having both ends up from the ground at the same height , the one with the water closer to the opening is at the sloping end.

Franco

Tad,

Find a site with a more obvious slope. Then you'll know for sure, no measuring needed :)

I agree….look for a site with a discernible, yet still quite minor slope. I find I sleep better on a slight slope than truly flat ground anyways.

Part of your problem may be that the ground has a slightly dome to it, so regardless of which end your head is at, it it will feel like it's the low end because it's lower than your torso. Choosing a slightly sloped site, or a slightly dished site alleviates this.

Alternatively, you could get Bender to make you a wedge shaped sleeping pad (ie. 3" thick at the head tapering to 1" thick at the feet) so you always have your head at the high end, regardless of the actual ground slope :)

Well, all levels are off to some degree. The easiest way to center it is to flip it around 180 degrees. If the bubble is off the same in both cases, it is level. This is an OLD carpenters trick. No level is ever bad, just the user doesn't know how to use it…ha ha.

The water level works, along with a trench filled with water.

A string, taught between two points will tell you if it is off, too. Simply put a couple drops of water on it at center(fold it in half to get center.) They will migrate toward the low end. I think the Egyptions used a plumb bob and a "T" as opposed to a bubble. 'Corse, this dates back a few thousand years, but still functions just as well. Lots of other ways, but, I really think this is trying too hard. (You do remember how to bisect a line with a compass??)

If it is that close to level, don't camp there. Chances are, in a rain you will get wet.

My thoughts only . . .
jdm

Ray Jardine says you should sleep with your head on the downhill end

> Ray Jardine says you should sleep with your head on the downhill end

Yuk.

Cheers

to eat corn pasta too. You ever eat corn pasta? If Ray Jardine said to go play in the street, would you go play in the street?

"Ray Jardine says you should sleep with your head on the downhill end"

Well, I guess that pretty much settles the issue.

I believe, I believe…
I too will sleep with my head up my ….

I guess I hit a nerve here : )

I thought there were a lot of good, innovative ideas in his book "Beyond Backpacking".

Maybe sleeping with head lower isn't one of those good ideas, even if it's "the Ray Way". Maybe I'll try it sometime.

The one thing I know is I don't want a sideways slope. I'll slide all over. If I can't tell whether the foot or head end is lower, it doesn't matter, but that's just me.

Yeah, sideways is bad. I am constanly rolling over on the wife.
jdm

I am not a medical person, but way back decades ago in college I worked part time in the college infirmary. The nurses there used to say that when they worked long shifts on their feet in nursing school, they would put books under their bedposts at the foot end to raise the foot a couple of inches, and that this would relieve their aching feet overnight.

I find that a very slight uphill position for the feet does help after a long day on them. But this can be done either by propping or slope. Too much head downhill is definitely uncomfortable to the head.

Ray J is certainly right about some things, like needing less stuff (!) and wrong about some things, like corn pasta (yuck!) so we all need to apply our own experience and judgement.

My husband snores, so on backpacking trips in tight quarters we sleep end-to-end to keep my ears a little farther from the snoring. Since he seems to need his head at the up-end of any slope, and I like my feet a bit elevated, this works out pretty well.

On a sideways slope (not too much…) I always get on the upper side so as not to get squashed in the night, and tuck my shoe toes under my lower side to keep myself from rolling down.