Campsite Selection - Guerilla Camping 101.2

Draft originally posted at The Guerrilla News Network. Included here with GNN commentary courtesy of the GNN Archive.

Campsite Selection - Guerilla Camping 101.2

Asset B09983 Posted By BlackPacker

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Campsite Selection – Guerilla Backpacking 101.2

For the normal camper, a paragraph suffices and thousands have written about it. Pick flat ground, free of rocks, no dead branches overhead, no gullies to route water underneath you, someplace to hang your food. For the guerilla camper though, there are many other things to consider. Such as, what if you’re in the city? What if you aren’t supposed to camp where you are? In major wilderness areas, you are usually free to camp where you like, but the same does not hold true in the urban, suburban and rural sprawl that you are most likely to encounter while traveling in developed nations.

City Camping:

Having encountered black bears, over-zealous raccoons, mosquitoes, mountain lions and a slew of other frightening of uncomfortable situations, nothing strikes a chord of fear in my soul more than the notion of bedding down outdoors in a city of a few hundred thousand. For one, humans are more dangerous than bears and sleeping on a sidewalk opens you up to more potential abuse than anywhere else. That said; I have had it happen where I passed through nothing but sprawl for three or four days, with the nearest hostile hundreds of miles away.

You best locations in the city are away from other homeless. I tend to hunker down after hours behind businesses, preferably in commercial districts, since they usually get ignored all night. The undersides of freeway overpasses, if secluded enough, are great locations and usually the uppermost corners of the embankments are leveled out and great for pitching tents. If you can be seen from a road though, don’t be surprised if the police light you up at 3am and tell you to move on.

One of the most important tools for sleeping in the city is a hostelry card. Usually for twenty or thirty bucks you can get a warm bed indoors, surrounded by people from all over the world. No cops, no hooligans trying to steal your gear and breakfast in most hostiles is an exciting process of meeting tons of new people. This card is also a good way to prove your story that you’re simply backpacking someplace and are not a vagrant.

Suburban Camping:

Camping the suburbs can be blissfully easy or intensely difficult, usually depending on the attitudes of local police, citizens and and nature of the area. Often in suburban areas, I will hang my hammock in parks or use a poncho to make a simple bivy sack under some playground equipment. At night when the local police roll through and shine their lights across the park, they are looking for shadows to give you away. Keep this in mind; hang your hammock higher than usual or pitch a lean-to in the middle of some shrubs. Also, be wary when setting up that nobody sees you. I’ve had park goers call the police on me in some of the more uppity locales.

Another option I’ve taken in suburban areas is a variation on the will work for food sign. “Walking to Ohio! Can I pitch my tent in your backyard?” works surprisingly well, especially if you look clean-cut and non-menacing. When I do this routine, I often setup outside of grocery stores, as they expose you to a wide array of people and offering to carry and load groceries for people is a great introduction. Before I got the blackpack, I used a standard OD green military sack. Often, some old vet would see me, ask if I served and I would wind up an hour later with hot food and cold beer with a sleeping spot on their couch swapping stories from our respective wars.

Rural Camping

Waking up to the blast of buckshot over your head is no good and it’s only happened to me on farmland. Generally, when passing through rural areas, I start talking to people on the roadside around five or six in the evening, explaining where I’m walking and asking them if I can set up in a corner of their field. I tell them I can work for the privilege and that I know how to mend fences, milk cows and do a variety of field work. Surprisingly, I seldom have to ask more than two or three people before finding a place and they usually let me string up in a barn or shed.

If worse comes to worse however, rural areas are wide open for stealth camping. I generally try to hang my hammock on the side of a hill a few dozen feet from the road. Do not set up in roadside ditches, as those often flood when the irrigation systems kick on in the morning. (Learned that lesson the hard way) If you must camp on somebody’s property with out permission, be respectful, quiet and hard to see. One night in Georgia, I was camped out on what I thought would be an unnoticed corner of a tobacco field, only to be woken up at four in the morning by a very pissy farmer with his very loud shotgun (The aforementioned buckshot) leveled at my head. After talking him down a bit, he still made me break down my stuff and walked me to the edge of his property. Rather than find a new place to sleep, I considered it morning, walked about a mile, made breakfast and set out for the day.

Aguirre R90686 4 years ago	I can’t get enough of these guerrilla camping stories. Soon as this semester is finished, I’m heading for the hills. Good work again blackpack.
ShiftShapers R90729 4 years ago	no gullies to route water underneath you think small, but also think big. washes and drainages are often large, especially in the canyons of the desert country, where flash floods are a common occurance. look for plant matter built up at the bottom of trees and bushes, and even rocks. this is a good sign of a flash flood zone:
ShiftShapers R90730 4 years ago	your advice is good for those who wish to avoid the drama of urban squats, ect. squatters can be awfully territorial. but they can also be awfully generous and sharing. it all depends, i suppose. on what, i am not sure.
HowardWCampbell R90742 4 years ago	Another great blog, thanks! While I avoid cities, I haven’t had much problem asking people if I can camp in their fields. You’re right, it usually takes a couple though.
BlackPacker R90838 4 years ago	Shift Shapers, Good call. I should have through to mention that. Alot of flood plains can look like simple meadows until a good rain comes alog (Thanks to murphy’s law, always at two in the morning on a moonless night). Another good way to spot flood plains is looing in the crocks of trees for collected rocks, branches and displaced plant matter. As for Squatters, I have ocassionaly stayed at squats and had a great time, but usually, finding squats is a haphazard premise, reliant on running into somebody who recognizes you as a traveler and invites you home. When I say avoid other homeless, I’m not refering to the homeless by choice, like myself and many on here, but the derelects found on skid row generally due to drug and/or alcohol problems. I don’t discourage staying in those locales due to the homless themselves, but because of the breed of people who prey on them, the dealers, pimps and hustlers, as well as the drunk frat boys who boot party on their way home from bars. A friend of mine was someplace in Arizona, camped out on skid row in a bivy sack. He got woken up at 2 in the morning when some frat boys returning from a local bar decided to take out their wrath on what they thought was another frail, starving, homeless guy. Imagine their shock when he jumped out of his sack and maced them. All 280lbs and 6’3 underneath some dreadlocks even I find a bit scary. When he told me this story I told him the next time it happens, he should pull out his camera first, because the looks on their faces were probably hilarious. I just jumped around on the net for a minute looking for info on squatting here in the US. Didn’t find much. Anybody on here have a link, or some knowedge to kick down?
ShiftShapers R90865 4 years ago	Squat!net Direct Action Camps, Squats, Tent Cities
ShiftShapers R90867 4 years ago	i live where the canyon lands of the deserts meet the san juan mountains, in el valle de las animas perdidas, the valley of lost souls. down in the canyons, a flash flood can happen when the sky above is clear. 800 ft down in a desert canyon like the one linked to the image above, there can be storms up on the mesa that you can’t even see, yet you are in the drainage of.
hagcel R91382 4 years ago	Hahaha. Even when city camping you must be wary to avoid floodplains. No, this is not a morbid Nola joke. Back in the mid-ninties, I often hitched into Nashville to spend the weekend hanging out with the hundreds of down and out street musicians who made the place so amazing. Often, I would sleep in parks and bushes along the banks of the Cumberland river on Saturday night. I think it was a saturday in Mid August. The city was packed, and the girls were wearing alot of skin in the southern summer humidity. That night, I slept with my backpack as a pilow with a wool blanket bed on a sandy bank of the river under a railroad bridge right by downtown. I was far enough to avoid high tide, but not high enough for high tide and the wake of a fast moving tour boat. I was woken the next morning as the river washed over my legs, soaking me from the chest down. At 7am it was already 75 out I think, so it was more humerous than uncomfortable. Shiftshapers, The thought of camping in a dry desert valley would NEVER cross my mind, although growing up in LA, I certainly know where to find dry spots in one. I’ve woken up on islands in the “desert” during run offs from storms. Some things also to take in mind when making “home”: Weather; Learn a bit about how mountains and valleys convey winds, fog and storms. Trees: Know that even in North America, heavy tree canopys in humid areas become rain forests as the moisture collects in trees. If you are going to sleep under the stars, sleep under the stars. Having to move your sleeping bag at midnight = no fun, having to close your rainfly at midnight = less fun. Avoid valleys and hilltops. Since cold air sinks, valleys can get quite a bit colder than the hill sides around them. Hilltops, although usually warmer since the sun has been baking on them all day, offer no protection from the wind, and anyone who has had a tent come down around them in the middle of the night knows how much fun that is This is fun.
fennec R91393 4 years ago	awesome blogs, great writing, thanks
silverback R91499 4 years ago	has anyone ever had three in the top ten at one time before? not that it matters, but i am really proud that these kinds of blogs are being recognized. fascinating writing BP. thanks for your time and wisdom.
ShiftShapers R91567 4 years ago	maybe your not a perfectionist, blackpack, but i noticed guerrilla in your blog title has only one r = guerilla
ShiftShapers R91568 4 years ago	silverbacki – there’s only one logical explaination. he cheated. (just joking)
fennec R91600 4 years ago	“Guerilla” is also a correct spelling.
BlackPacker R91633 4 years ago	I was originally going to call it gorilla camping. But notice. It is also the guerrilla news network. (Look at the page title). Thanks for the recognition, Silverback. I keep grinning when I see the top blogs. Can you believe I failed creative writing?
guerillaman R93734 4 years ago	One “r” is acceptable alternative spelling of guerilla according to my dictionary.

Guerrilla Camping 101.1 - The Blackpack

Draft originally posted at The Guerrilla News Network. Included here with GNN commentary courtesy of the GNN Archive.

The Blackpack - Guerrilla Camping 101.1

Asset B09918 Posted By BlackPacker

I promised Guerrilla Backpacking 101. Here is my first blog to that effect. Below is a semi-complete pack list I wrote up this weekend while I was out in the woods.
I have spoken to a number of long distance hikers who consider my pack immature, meaning I haven’t spent the time nor money paring my pack down a laughable 20lbs. If the ribbing gets too much, I simply challenge them to a race. “You carry that 20lbs maybe 4-8 weeks a year. I carry my 45lbs 52 weeks a year.” Yes, I can run five or six miles straight with this thing on. That always shuts them up.
As a caveat emptor, this pack is something I have been carrying and evolving for 9 years now. If you go out and buy or make all this stuff, throw it in a pack and expect to be happy as you bounce along the trail; think again. Start minimally during the late spring and summer, and gradually add gear and weight to your pack. During the summer, I have gone out with a blanket, a boat tarp, a bag of fruit and a pocket knife and had a great time.
May I present:
The Blackpack
Home:
(1)15 Degree Rated Synthetic Fill Sleeping Bag
(1)Thermarest Matress Pad (Sleeping on really cold ground CAN kill you and it makes the hammock sleep flatter)
(1)Silk Sleeping Bag Liner (This was expensive, but lets me sleep comfortably even in the snow, even with my 15 degree bag)
(1)Guatemalan Jungle Hammock. (Good enough for Che, good enough for me)
(2) US Army camouflage Ponchos (tents, hammock cocoons, snow cave roofs, bivy sacks, River Rafts (I’m not joking) these things do it all.)
(12) tent stakes (3 inch long aluminum gutter nails)
(12) 1 foot lengths of 550lb parachute cord.
(2 each) 12, 25, 50 foot lengths of parachute cord
Cooking:
(1)Homemade Can Stove
(1)Thrift Store Aluminum Pot
(1)Coat Hanger Pot Holder
(1)Aluminum Foil Windscreen
(1)Hatchet
(1)Butane lighter
(1)Flint and Steel Striker (You’ll run out of matches in a month)
(1)240z metal energy drink bottle filled with denatured alcohol
The Food Bag: (canvas laundry bag with steel sack trash bag liner and 50 feet of nylon cord for hanging away from the coons)
Usually, 1lb of rye, whole wheat, or a blend of flours
1-2lbs of corn pasta (Way more filling)
.5lb instant rice
2oz plastic bottles of Salt, Pepper, Garlic and Baking Soda
4oz plastic bottles of Chicken Bullion, Mustard and Oregano
8oz plastic bottle of olive oil
2 yards 300tc silk screen with plastic grommets to use for drying food or making bread
(In addition to this, I often carry things like bollion cubes, couscous, etc. The stuff listed above is just my core stuff I always keep packed.)
The Clothing
(1) used adidas (All Day I Distress About Socialists) polyester sport shirt. (You can wash it out in cold water and it dries in minutes, I love this shirt)
(1) pairs light brown khaki cargo pants (Denim is way to heavy to lug around)
(1) T-Shirt from a band I used to be in.
(1) pair of cutoff shorts.
(1) set polypro long johns.
(1) pair wool socks
(1) pair of women’s knee high nylons (If you need to cover 30 miles in a day, these can keep you from getting blisters doing it, wear them inside your wool socks and wrap the top around the outside of the sock and boot to hold it in place.)
(1) set army surplus gortex park and shell pants (Rain and show gear)
(1) pair of lightweight mountaineering boots (Fuck combat boots or jungle boots)
The Electronics
(4) 1”x4” solar panels attached to a 6”x6” piece of canvas, wired to a multi-adapter with a 4AA/AAA charger.
(6) NiMH rechargeable Batteries (4aaa, 2aa)
(1) Sony Sports MP3 Minidisc Recorder (sorry, I hate branding, but 7 hours of recording per disc, runs off 1aa battery and I dropped it off a cliff. And mini discs don’t scratch)
(1) really small watch battery condenser mic.
(1) aaa powered headlamp/flashlight.
(I want to get a digital camera, but can’t decide if I want the extra batteries, or if I want a real film camera.)
Ephemera:
1 oz backpackers first aid kit w/ added suture kit and space blanket.
(1)Firestarting kit: Flint and Steel, Matches, 4 Birthday Candles.
(1)Leatherman Multitool
(1)MSR Mini Works water filtration pump.
(1)Iodine Tablets
(100 ft) (Now about 30) of 550 cord braided with a grommeted dispenser
(1)3l hydration bladder
(2) lexan plastic water bottles
About 50 yards of duct tape, wrapped around every bottle I carry.
(1) small spool of fishing line and a few hooks and sinkers.
(1) Small Spool of Black Thread and 2 needles.
(1 each)Lexan Plastic Fork and Spoon (Hard as metal, lighter than paper)
Notebook, pen, pencil.
Local Map and Compass if possible.
(1) bar of soap and a small hand towel.
(1) A little travel thing of deodorant.
The Wallet and Passport:
Keep $40, an ATM card, a Drivers License, a library card and a passport. If you have the chance, get business cards made that allow you to show a means of support. I spent nearly a week in jail on vagrancy charges while walking through Texas, and since then, while I have been stopped many times, a reasonable cover story that I’m simply a businessman taking a vacation to walk someplace has kept me out of the poke. And no matter how bad the mosquitoes may be out there, the bailiff is probably a lot more annoying.
The Moving Box:
If I’m moving from one city to another or living without a door to lock my stuff for any period of time, I also have a plastic tool chest I strap to the bottom of my bag to carry my laptop and a few precious don’t-breakables. Generally, rather than taking all my stuff with me when I move I set aside 40 dollars to buy new city clothes, sheets and toiletries from thrift stores when I get there, but I do have a few favorite shirts that I keep. My Moving Pack is probably closer to 65 lbs but the extra stuff can be mailed if need be.

moondancer R90104 4 years ago	ur hard core brother
ShiftShapers R90107 4 years ago	a rhetorical question: what do we do when the stores all close their doors?
deadduck R90130 4 years ago	SS – Salvage if you’re white, loot if you’re black. ...I know you said rhetorical, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
deadduck R90132 4 years ago	Oh wait, I had a relevent comment, too. Blackpacker – When you say a Thermarest mattress pad, are you recommending the inflatable or one of the eggshell-solid foam ones? I’m partial to the foam, since the r-value is still pretty decent and if you puncture your inflatable, you’re in for a cold night. That said, the foam takes more space. Nice tip on the nylons. I’ve never heard/thought of that. I’m looking forward to the next installment of this.
sisyphus R90151 4 years ago	Excellent stuff – thanks. We recently went over some of the same ideas in a blog I wrote called Preparing for the worst – hagcel’s contributions came to mind when reading this.
hagcel R90193 4 years ago	Wow, went back and read those blogs again after reading this. Looks like there are alot of us living outdoors. Blackpacker, you and I have pretty similar gear lists. But those gortex parkas are great, eh? I gave up on thermarests all together. The way I sleep, (Arms crossed underneath me, lying on my stomach) I’m able to sleep on pretty uneven ground, so the thermarest seemed to be a waste. I’m probably going to get a foam pad and cut in half and double it for wintering this year. Doing a 4 day loop of 36 miles next week, I can’t wait. I posted my packlist in Sisyphus’ blog. You should check it out. If you’re blackpack, I guess I’m green sack, but don’t tell my stoner friends.
Snark R90438 4 years ago	Hot damn- I guess I’m not the only one to realize that the Mayans had it right- the hammock is the gift of the gods. Unless I’m contemplating a lot of time in snow, or am not camping in an area with lots of trees, the hammock is the way to go. Lighter than a tent (provided you’re packing the Yucatan-style net hammock), more comfortable, gets you off the cold ground, better ventilation, and no problem in weather as long as you can string up a tarp or cocoon around you. I’ve been known to combine a bivy sack with a hammock, too. Awesome packing list you have there, very well thought out.
Snark R90440 4 years ago	Another thing- can’t help but admire your pared-down existence. Belongings, as much as some of them mean to me, are a hindrance and a needless attachment.
neverknwo R90445 4 years ago	You forgot Moleskin.
confusion R90448 4 years ago	So what do you do for money packman? Im thinking of doing the exact same thing come next summer.. but I’m a bit scared of a. travelling through the states and 2. being alone… Ive been reading about dumpster diving and such, Im an old hand to shoplifting, thats no prob. South America… hmmm.. Im not too sure how they would recieve a homeless anarchist packer… but then. Fuck, Ive never been…
neverknwo R90449 4 years ago	Forget Dumpster diving you can take the Food right off the self by searching for the outdates. You can usally fill an entire cart a week. Managers are understaffed and they can use your help. They hate to record the loses but Capitolism is a failure and products just Rot. Most of it goes to the trash. But some goes to the Soup Kitchens. Just demand a Manager and teach them how embaressing it would be when the board of health was called to appear here and see this in a Shopping cart. Some stores have policies you get it for free. Post Modified: 10/18/05 09:09:13
EGisJUICE R90455 4 years ago	Just walk around the store eating what you want and dumping the wrappers. I do it at least twice a week at different stores for lunch.
confusion R90457 4 years ago	“dumping the wrappers”? what do you mean? Just hiding them after you are finished? Ive done that, but wandering a supermarket is no way to enjoy a meal…
BlackPacker R90491 4 years ago	For money, I work. I may be a homeless radical, but I stay neat and clean. After your seventh of eigth cafe job, you can usually get one just by explaining your situation, and inmpressing them with your prior knowledge of their POP (Point of Purchase system) I’ve also done Construction, Retail, Bar work, and even on three or four ocassions settled down with the migrant workers on popular street corners. The longest job I’ve held since the military was a tutoring job, which I held for a year after I finished college. I use one of the inflatable thermarests. They fold flatter and leave more room in the pack, and since an army ruck sack is about a foot shorter than most modern hiking packs, looking at that eggshell one, it seems as if it would poke out of the top of my pack. Also the lighest inflatable t-rest is about 5ounces lighter, but like I mentioned, I’m not a feather weight. The moleskin is in the first aid kit. I almost never use it anymore. (In fact, I just got up to check to see if it was still sticky, I think the three pads of it I have now are 3 years old.) I have leather feet by now. I DO NOT Shoplift, no matter what. It’s a quick way to wind up with those vagrancy charges and getting stuck in a town doing community service. I don’t look down on it, by a longshot, but for me it’s a matter of being practical. It’s easier for me to work and buy my food than it is for me to steal my food and risk working for “free”. Or is that working for freedom? Hammocks are incredibly light, true, but I never consider “off the cold ground” much of a benefit. If it’s cold enough to use that reason, I’ll probably prop the hammock low, and put the ponchos up as a tent around it. Having nothing but a matress pad and wind under your ass is not warmer than on the cold ground in a tent. Neverknwo, can you name a store chain with that policy? That I could definately get into. Belongings are usually needless. But I will admit to a tool habit. My grandmother’s garage has two high shelves I put up which store my “ridiculous” tools. Circular Saw, Hand Drill, Chainsaw, grinder, vices, etc. Eventually I will buy land and have those shipped to me. I pick them up used, usually for 10% or less of the price new. But until I have my own land they are boat anchors. Hagcel, Yes that parkas are great, butnot if you have to pay the 1-200 bucks they want for them new. I’ve bought two of the parkas now, because the first one I had had been used up, and all the loft was gone from the filling. Great raincoat, but didn’t do much to keep me warm. I would say the only two pieces of surplus I actually love are the Ponchos and the pack, but I had to get mine in black. ;)
neverknwo R90501 4 years ago	Kroger
Butt R90526 4 years ago	Forget Dumpster diving you can take the Food right off the self by searching for the outdates. You can usally fill an entire cart a week. that’s a new one on me – but I like where it’s going Post Modified: 10/18/05 14:05:04
brdow R90527 4 years ago	Guerrillero BlackPacker. Que chevere.
BlackPacker R90663 4 years ago	Knwo, How did I guess that it would be Krogers. I gotta get back down south again.
Captain_Zissou R90709 4 years ago	You dont even have to camp if you dont want to. I¨m in Boquete, Panama and its the rainy season. Funny thing is the “Ex-Pats” dont like the rain so they go back to the states. I´m housesitting. It doesnt pay anything, but they leave the power & water on and I have a bed to sleep in. (I actually sleep on my camp mat on the floor). But I understand this post. Next week or so its into the jungle with my hammock. In the national forest so no one around for kilometres. Ciao
silverback R91381 4 years ago	dude, this shit is fucking serious.
guerillaman R93665 4 years ago	As far as getting money goes, panhandling is a time honored tradition once known as begging alms. Here is the ultimate panhandling method for people traveling with a backpack: As you approach a young to middle-aged adult male (alone or with a female friend) ask, “Pardon me sir, may I speak to you for a minute?” People that say, “No.” at this point are a waste of time anyway. To those that hesitate or say “yes” you continue,” My friend and I are traveling from (Point A) to (Point B) and we are trying to get together something to eat. We were wondering if you could help us out with anything under a quarter.” If you are traveling alone pretend you have a friend and point off in the distance when you say friend. The importance of this cannot be over stressed. You must appear that you are NOT a loner. The rest is simple. The “traveling from NY to California” or whatever, makes it appear you are going somewhere in life and are, perhaps, just “hung up” a little not just “hanging out” a lot. The “trying to get together something to eat” shows a REAL need and the “help us out with something under a quarter.” Shows you are humble, a bit embarrassed and trying not to hassle people too much. Asking adult males keeps you from scaring women, however, times have changed. Asking men walking with women allows them to show their generous nature. This too is a dated, sexist construct. I learned this method in 1972 from two guys I picked up hitchhiking in Canada that could ask these questions in seven languages. They taught me the psychology of panhandling and would scoff at those that asked for “spare change”. They had traveled and were traveling the world. They suggested that you set an amount as a goal each time you went out only panhandle to that set amount. They called themselves the “righteous pandhandlers”. They felt they provided a social service in letting others feel good for having helped stranded travelers. In fact, they were just very good at faking sincerity. They would sometimes use nearly empty packs as props. They would often panhandle enough for an “all you can eat” type place and would go prepared with plenty of plastic sacks for “to go” orders. They would also get a bottle of Canada Dry Ginger Ale and Canadian Club Whiskey. We would pass them, each taking two swigs from each, first the C.C. then the C.D., repeat and pass. After the three of us finished a fifth we would go harass the “spare change” guys. Tell them they were giving us “righteous panhandlers” a bad name. What an idiot I could be when I was young. Hell, I haven’t lost it yet…I can still be an idiot with the best (and youngest) of them. BTW a similar pitch is useful for raising funds for NGO’s: Pardon me may I speak to you for a minute? My friends and I are on a little blue planet traveling around the sun. We are trying to get together something to eat for the children and we were wondering if you could help us out with anything under say… a billion dollars. I will leave you with a quote from Kahil Gibran who said: “Work is love made visible. If we may not work with love then it is better that we sit at the door of the temple and beg alms from those that may.” He also said, “Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man.”

Posted by Floyd Anderson at 12:47 PM