Had an old pickup camper on the ground at our place in the WV hills.
Crashed one night in my US Mountain bag, comfy/cozy.
-22 that night, zipper side of the bag got froze to the window from condensation, me breathing plus remnants of an LP heater exhaust than ran for a few minutes.
I was toasty, but wasn't about to tear my bag and there was a solid inch of ice that had my zipper trapped.
Took a while of "transferrrin'" to get enough melt to get myself released.
Will never forget that, woulda been better off sleeping outside ...... no falling weather.

The 'comfort crisis' is real in the usa. Soft country.

I set up a backpacking 2 man tent outside and have slept in in every night since 6/1, about 100 days straight. Sleep on the ground on top of a sleeping pad, no issues at all...sleep like a baby. Use a milwaukee 18 volt portable fan and a Mr. Heater hanging fan powered by 4 D batteries for the heat.

With the cooler weather coming the dog and I will pack in a few nights a week and camp out....Probably do a few overnights out of the canoe also. Don't want to get soft as I age.

Try spending a few days & nights in the Nevada Desert. :-(

Ok now you all went and did it. I'm off work a bunch in oct and Nov. Now I guess I'm going to see what gear I still have get what is lacking pack backpack, guns bows and fishing poles and take the boys out to one of the state for national forest and hunt camp fish combo.

I campes once a month in scouts our leader was an old marine. Last winter was the first time I sleep in a tent in years the boys wanted to try out their new tent. It had warmed up to 18 or so at night so we went and sleep in the tent on the farm. Time to take them real camping.

Canvas tarp over a Chevy luv bed.

I don’t mind a tent, but had a bad experience the last time I was fishing in Canada, a storm came up luckily I woke up and went into the camper with the rest of the guys as a tree fell and the top of the tree crushed the tent, I don’t know if I’d stay in a tent again.

I did my annual 2 nights in a tent this weekend at the ITA convention. Between working and socializing I'm only in it about 5-6 hours each night. That's the only camping I do.

I spent enough nights sleeping in a game trail under a tarp. I did that for 32 years fighting fire and I am too old for that anymore. Now I enjoy a soft bed, flush toilet and coffee that isn't cold water and instant Sanka.

Sleeping in a Bob House had to be the best.....listening to the lake making ice all night.

Nessy…that is a total unique experience in life. I lived in a small cedar cabin a few feet away from a mountain lake for 15 years. The musical tones from that lake as it froze and thawed was amazing. I could even feel the vibrations from the shifts . There is nothing like it. You have to experience that to appreciate that special life lived.

We lost a spike camp tent to the tide on Kodiak. Had the tide lapping at the tent door on the same trip. Camping sucks.

I hear ya, 160. As I said , for me, I paid my dues.

We know we are tough when we need to be. No need to think we need to prove it all the time

Sharon, your story made me think of a LONG night on the Lochsa. We had a moose that was determined to walk down the trail that 5 of the 10 of us were sleeping in. Flat ground is a premium in that country. The other 5 worked the fire and banged steel coffee cups on rocks to try to keep them away. A "Deep slumber" eluded me that night.

anybody that has never hiked solo into some wild place and stayed there has a hole in their life.

Yep.

160, When I first read that you slept on trails, I thought of the same thing !

On one backpack trip with a group of friends, we miscalculated the miles we anticipated to cover for a day’s trek . Dark was descending fast on us , in a deep dark old growth stretch of timber. The mountains were crazy steep and we already covered two passes earlier. That kicked our butts. Tired, hungry, and a bit crabby, a couple of them said that’s it, we set camp right on the trail. A big game trail. I eyed that highway with a dim eye. Every cell in me screamed no…but we did anyway.

I don’t know what all had to stop and stare at our tents that night, but I heard a variety of hoof stomping, snorts, and an ominous soft padding right by the tents, accompanied by heavy inhalation of breathing. My gun was in my hand all night. I hardly slept. In the morning, fresh big grizzly tracks, dripping wet were right by us on the trail , on the rocks . My hair on my neck was up all night.

I am still miffed at the man whose bright idea that was !
I don’t care how crabby someone is, I will never do that again .

Some of our camping was under the stars or under a tarp elk hunting Fan Mt. behind Big Sky Resort 20 some years ago.I've done some wall tent elk camps also,fishing trips we always had tents.

This thread made me think of the infamous Pat McManus' "A fine and Pleasant Misery". LOL

Now those boys knew how to camp!

I told this before but my Grampa, uncle , dad and me were deer hunting. camped in a big canvas wall tent. I was 6 and elated I got to go. Got up early and left to hunt. No deer that day. Tent was wrecked. Bear had busted up the plywood cabinets my uncle had built. Like I said I was 6. Terrified me. Slept in my uncles scout that night. sort of. I didnt sleep much. Started salvaging the next day. The most damage was those cabinets.