Orienting your tent….or temple

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Man…. that is one messed up post… hard to read.

But I can tell you that my religion is to have my temple oriented such that my head is always up slope… that is the priority over sun, wind break/shelter, view, wind direction or anything else.

billy

Same as Billy. And not every campsite gives you multiple options. Sometimes you’ve got to take what you can get. I consider morning sunlight a plus but usually I’m on trail before the sun rises. If things are damp I dry them during a snack or lunch break and enjoy a nap in the sun.

My grapes are planted North South…

Not exactly sure but it came to mind sometime ago that I tend to set the tent up parallel to whatever main feature there is , so lake/river/mountain range , this is including front opening tents.

To add, I should have started with the usual :it depends…

If in the open and high up then trying to have the low part of the tent into the wind helps.

Often there are shrubs nearby that will give a good indication of the typical wind direction..

Feet into the wind, a flat spot, I’m good.

Sorry about the original post.  It is now fixed, I hope.

Different browser, different result!

Billy is onto something here…

I recall a 3 day/2 nights trip in my dumber and not so experienced days (I was 16 at the time and had just started doing mountain trips on my own – or with like-minded buddies back in Europe), when we had to set up our tent after sunset both night in a row, ending up with our heads 2″ lower than our feet. Both nights. It was quite obvious in the morning, but not so much while we were pitching the tent. This, combined with the altitude, resulted in very unpleasant headaches for a few hours each morning.

We learned from this experience though, and promptly joined Billy’s cult.

The conventional wisdom was orient a tent  in a clear path facing the sunrise for slow mornings, if at all possible (head, winds, terrain, etc..).  This was to get warm and try to dry tent fly, bags, etc… before packing.  Enjoy that 4th cup of coffee while at it.  With higher mileage and setting off before sunrise, it’s archaic (but kind of fun sometimes).

We like an uphill head position as well unless something else dictates differently. Year before last we enjoyed a nice evening lake side in the ADK’s and with no real consideration on placement I pitched our shelter. After turning in, listening to the Loons call just about put me to sleep when my wife bumped my arm and said look out the door. I looked up and rising centered in the door was the “Super Moon”. I had forgot all about its rising that night. It was bright, and it looked huge. Nice unexpected treat.

I like to orient my tent so that it won’t fall down in the wind and I like my feet a little higher than my head. I like my tent to be as much within the bushes as possible. I like to build a nest.

I usually leave my shelter in my pack unless the weather is going to be bad. This way, I get great views without worrying about which way my feet or head are oriented. This also allows me to find better and level spots.

Try it, you’ll like it :-)

Here in the Midwest the mosquitos usually drive me into a shelter with netting, unless it’s too cold for them, in which case I want shelter from the wind.

Wind and ground slope drive the orientation of the shelter for me.  Usually slope is the priority (I’m in Billy’s cult) unless the wind is severe.

Walt

When the conditions are just right I’ll cowboy camp, but most times around here in the summer the mosquitoes will eat me alive and the gnats can be really annoying, so I love sleeping inside the Duplex with the doors rolled up… cool breezes and no bugs.

I like a nice view close enough to carry my dinner over to, but I don’t worry about it from my actual camp. If I have a tent up and sun hits it in the morning that usually means I have over slept. What do I try for is to have the last of the day’s sun on my camp in the evening for airing out my quilt and clothes before bed.

I like your view Mr. Wagner you bring up some good points!

Head uphill for me is number 1, everything else is just a bonus.

What’s missing is constant smudge fires,  provided by a yet to be realized culture of whole  system literate,  fire aware nature lovers who set fires when it is safe to do so,  and collectively eliminate the constant danger of runaway, forest destroying canopy fires.

… and in the interims simply burn under growth to improve the aesthetics of their trips; eliminating brush,  ticks,  and playing hell with mosquitoes and flies… burning contained smudges when open fires are proscribed.

– And of  course using only heating sources with an instant off switch in any critically unhealthy environments where persistent fire suppression schemes have created  disastrous matchbox conditions.

I have a friend that lives in the woods and enjoys his hammock so much that he’s been sleeping outside for several years. He sleeps with his feet South (iirc) and when we have backpacked together he seeks trees that allow him to hang with his feet to the south so that the sun rises in the correct place the next morning.

It’s not how I do things but it’s an interesting way to go through life.

Much as I like to think I’m thoughtful in placing my tent, the reality is probably:  90% finding the flat spot the tent will fit on.  9% getting my head on the uphill end.  1% aligning with wind, views, sun{rise,set}, etc.

A tent is in a sense a temple, and camping can be a sacramental act. One of the key rationales for temple siting is to situate the archetypal man(/woman) in proper relationship to the cosmos, mediated by the Sun and Moon, planets, and stars.  Integral to this is the establishment of a sacred space, a center and associated vertical axis, through which connection is established with the higher realms of being. This is well explained in Mircea Eliade’s classic, the Sacred and the Profane.

For me, the ‘mid concretizes this psychocosmic symbolism well; the rectangular pyramid has vertical axis, 4-fold cardinal directions, and cosmic center. It has a front and a back, and two sides. (The 2-pole rectangular dome captures it well also). Where possible, I like to place myself into proper relationship with the cosmos when camping. For me that involves exploiting the openness–closure dialectic (courtesy John Dickson) in three-dimensions. Of course the earth below is closure, and the sky above openness; I like closure behind and openness in front; and prefer openness to the right and some closure to the left. Somewhat like choosing a site through Feng Shui. The relation of built form to the surrounding land-form, as illuminated by Prof. Richard Toy. To relate to the Sun and Moon, I want my body axis when recumbent to be N-S, with head at the north in the northern hemisphere, so that lying on my back, the Sun and Moon will rise on my left and set on my right; and dead ahead to the south is the meridian, where both culminate in their highest positions. But it works better in the southern hemisphere, with head to the south, so the sun rises at my right and sets at my left, though then the cosmic movements are counter-clockwise.

I feel most comfortable camping at ancient sites, neolithic and older, paleolithic, where the distant past can still be felt. I used to be able to dowse good sites, where the healing earth force was strong; now I sometimes stumble across them, or alternatively have to move from uncomfortable sites. It is difficult to get comfortable as you age. I vaguely recall Feng Shui recommends water as well, in front and to the right (?).

Pragmatically in Korea, I find there are very few good sites to wilderness camp, the land is always sloping, or the ridge-tops are animal trails, and of course the best sites have usually been taken for tumuli, though I do have a great site on a lake where it all comes together. (Photo is in Japan, the wonderful Saitobaru, Miyazaki, Kyushu, where I often visit).

Weather permitting, I’ll sleep with my feet to the east. I really enjoy the last of the night/first of the day. No finer time to see the morning star, zodiacal light, rosy- fingered Dawn (always been a big fan of Homer). Such a peaceful time to reflect, look up at the new day as I pack-up and move on.

One of the key rationales for temple siting is to situate the archetypal man(/woman) in proper relationship to the cosmos, mediated by the Sun and Moon, planets, and stars.

Is this going to be on the test?

Sure. Stella Kramrisch, the Hindu Temple. Lama Govinda, Psychcosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa. Titus Burkhardt, Sacred Art of East and West. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Sacred Art. Take your pick…

Or if you prefer, Bushcraft Bear,

https://youtu.be/LlUuvjGW_LY

Solo Winter Bushcraft Camp – 4 Days Off the Grid.