Have fun, Jon <3
Edit: I sometimes keep forgetting the meme communities on Lemmy are incapable of taking things as the joke they are. Y’all worry too much about taking shit seriously. Chill out lol
When I was like 7-9 I went on a “camping” trip with my football/soccer team.
Really, we were just putting up tents on the field we usually practiced at after some very tame river rafting.
It was the first time I was away from my parents. And I was inconsolable. I cried most of the night. To the point the supervisors offered to call my parents so I could talk to them. (And mobile phoning someone back then was not cheap),
In the end I just cried myself empty.
Because I was asleep so late, I slept into the morning and my “tent mates” pulled down the tent around me while I was sleeping.
So I woke up in drizzling rain, lying in my sleeping bag on a thin plastic sheet with no tent around me. While all my “friends” were in the club house having breakfast.
I did not stay in the soccer club long after that.
It’s a meme but you just tickled my autism.
It gets better with every single trip. I remember my first wilderness backpacking. Horrible. No sleep. Anxiety. Sun stroke.
Hundreds of trips later I sleep out of my backpack than I do in my apartment in the city. Every time you go out you dial in your gear and strategy a little more.
The thing I hate the most is not being clean which is why I don’t usually do more than 3 nights out there alone anymore. After several days of sweating I just stop having any sort of fun. And I’m a wimp for cold water and have no idea how these people are jumping into alpine lakes.
That said, though, I like your meme because it discourages other people to try it. It’s hard enough to get permits for certain trails!
I love camping, and have had some great trips in the rain. Can be very comfy even with a backpack setup if you know what you’re doing.
That being said, this is hilarious.
And at least you have enough unsolicited advice to make it more comfortable if you want to go again 😅
Most of these can honestly be solved by getting a hammock with an integrated bug net, an underquilt and a tarp if it’s raining. You can get like all of that for ~$200 brand new that’s half decent. Onewind makes some pretty alright stuff for the money.
I don’t think I’m ever sleeping on the ground if I ever get a chance.
For me, camping is fun the day after I get home and have already had a shower, a good sleep, and put everything away.
Putting stuff away is the worst part, especially if you have to air out wet tarps
Tarps, tent, flys, cleaning coolers and drying them too, re-packing everything in storage if camping isn’t a regular event…yeah. It’s fun, but there’s a reason it’s not super common for most people.
This entire post reads "I don’t know how to camp/go backpacking.
Get yourself a travel air mattress or sleeping pad, probably a better sleeping bag. Solves the lack of sleep and sore back.
Get a proper tent that’s water proof and learn how to set it up properly so water doesn’t pool under it. Make sure the vents have good mosquito netting to keep bugs our, and never have the entry unzipped a second longer than it takes to get in and out of.
For the mice, don’t have food in unsealed containers and if you’re in bear country you should be hanging a bear bag at least 100 feet (30m~ ) from you campsite, make sure cook wear and utensils are all properly cleaned too. Some newer tents even have a pouch built in near the door to seal a bag into, minimizing the chance of something deciding to make it a new home.
I hang my food and cooking kit even when I am not in bear country because I don’t want a raccoon to destroy hundreds of dollars in gear.
If you are bringing an air mattress, you’re probably car camping and may be able to leave the food / cooler in the trunk.
Once in Missouri I went camping with my parents and they love to cook at camp Tons of chopping boards, utensils, etc were left out overnight, which attracted dozens of raccoons. They had the coolers secure but it was still wild to see. Rookie mistake from people who actually have a lot of experience.
Also, hammock camping can be very comfortable if you have an under quilt and tarp
There are backpacking air mattresses.
Ah, true. I have several of the foam self inflating pads but I don’t really think of those as mattresses. They are very nice tho. I have seen the ones without foam that are even more portable too.
The inflatable ones are more portable in terms of size than the mats or the self-inflating ones but all 3 have their disadvantages.
Foam isn’t all the comfortable and they are bulky and hard to deal with in brush. Some are decent insulation, but most aren’t great. Most are the cheapest.
Self-inflating is more comfortable and insulating than foam, but they are often bulky and can be punctured. Some of them can still be used if they get a puncture and are just shitty foam, but that isn’t the norm. The more modern ones can pack down small, but still bigger than inflatables. You can adjust the pressure for comfort, but it isn’t super easy to adjust.
Inflatable packs down tiny and you can adjust pressure to adjust for comfort quickly, puncture is obviously a huge concern. They insulate really well and some are very insulating. These tend to be in the most expensive.
I definitely should pick up an inflatable one
All this.
I went camping in MN when it was 27 degrees F overnight a month ago. Slept like a baby. Nice and cozy. It was really nice. Camping is great if you do it right.
I hated camping as a child because I had no say in where, when, or for how long. As an adult I’m not camping alone as a woman. My husband would just die in the wilderness, it’s not kind to a guy with cerebral palsy.
I enjoy it even when it’s not wilderness camping-- drive up to a site with a level of facilities you’re comfortable with (toilet, sinks, etc), have a little bbq, do some stargazing, sleep with some nature sounds, drive home. I know those kinds of places aren’t near everyone but camping doesn’t have to be bushwhacking or backpacking.
It was lots of tents and pain until my mother said absolutely not and then it was a lot of KOA sites. That was fine! I wouldn’t mind like…being in a remote cabin.
I want indoor plumbing. We worked hard to invent that as humans, I respect it.
return to monk eustace
You wouldn’t have made it though the paleolithic era bro. You don’t have the survival instincts ᵃⁿᵈ ᵃˡˢᵒ ᶦᵗ ˡᵃˢᵗᵉᵈ ˡᶦᵏᵉ ³ ᵐᶦˡˡᶦᵒⁿ ʸᵉᵃʳˢ ᵒʳ ˢᵒᵐᵉᵗʰᶦⁿᵍ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁿᵒᵇᵒᵈʸ ʰᵃˢ ᵉᵛᵉʳ ˡᶦᵛᵉᵈ ᶠᵒʳ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ˡᵒⁿᵍ ˢᵒ ᶠᵃʳ
I dunno, I like my chances. Been living so far and the trend is continuing in the right direction to survive that long
There’s two types of camping: (1) outdoor camping, which is the shitty one ; and (2) indoor, which has pillow forts.
Go to bed earlier
Never leave your tent open longer than the time necessary to get in or out of it.
Store your equipment in sealed containers when not in use (make sure to wash and dry it first!)
Self-inflating sleeping pad + better tent location solves the painful and damp sleeping conditions.
You can have an equally bad time staying at a hotel, if you do it wrong too.
Someone wasn’t in the scouts.
Seriously. Mice? Are they homeless?
This is a very inefficient method of telling everyone that you don’t know how to camp for shit.
Yeah, you should definitely have a massive hangover in the morning, too
I don’t understand drunk hangovers.
Drink water. Then you don’t have hangovers. That’s it.
You will eventually. You start feeling hangovers more and more sometimes in your late 20s or early 30s.
At some point jUsT dRiNk WaTeR doesn’t work and it will happen to you too.
I’m 38, about a year or two ago was when “drink enough water” stopped working. It’ll make you more functional, but that hangover ain’t going away until it decides it’s time to go, not you.
When i was young the water method worked but that was a long ago, it all gets fucked up later in life. I was among the first in my friend group who had killer hangovers, and by the time we reached 40 almost everyone told me something along the lines of “now i know how you felt”.
Them everybody clapped
Acetaldehyde is also produced when alcohol is metabolized and it causes hangover symptoms, no amount of hydration will solve that. It’s also the reason hangovers can be influenced by genetics
Yeah, but alcohol and water are both heavy in volume. Gotta set priorities when hauling out to the wilderness!
Alcohol is less than 80% the weight of water, so just carry that instead. Plus you have an antiseptic.
People that don’t enjoy sounding might not want to do it for reasons other than lack of skill. Same with camping.
Yeah, but if someone says “I hate sounding, stabbing myself in the balls sucks!” you’d have a pretty good idea that they are doing it wrong. There’s a difference between “I hate activity, it’s not for me” and “I hate activity, I actively participate in it in a way that is easily avoidable and will make me miserable.” It’s just a meme, let people discuss it lmao
Skill issue
I say the same thing when people say they don’t enjoy taxidermy because of the dead animal aspect.
I wouldn’t want to camp either if I was the kind of person who doesn’t plan ahead and also crumbles at the slightest inconveinience, I don’t want people like that camping with me either so go ahead and stay home please and thank you.
Yeah, I have a wonderful time camping, but it’s because I’m experienced enough to know what to pack. If it’s cold, a small cot (to get you off of the cold hard ground) and foam sleeping pad (to insulate your underside) will do wonders. Or if it’s hot, just string a bug net over a hammock, and you’ll sleep cool and breezy.
Also, don’t underestimate the value of a good solid meal. Some of my best meals have been made in the middle of fucking nowhere, with nothing but a Dutch oven, my pocket knife, and a campfire. It’s hard to feel upset about camping when you’re noshing on the best bowl of soup you’ve ever had.
I’m making stew for the camp tomorrow. It’s always so good.
Something about campfire smoke just makes stew taste better. I swear I’ve made the same recipes at home, and it just never hits the same as when I’m camping.
You sound like enjoyable company.
I am if you’re not whining. I’m an absolute peach.
Which camper hurt you? You’re through the entire comments with a massive chip on your shoulder lol
You know who isn’t enjoyable company? The fucking idiot who made the original post.
Ok I will thanks
So many fragile campers in the comments. It’s ok if people don’t like your hobby. They might not find it worth the time, money, and effort to “get good”. You don’t have to defend the things you like from people who aren’t into it.
Your dozen comments suggest this is pretty important to you. I take it you’ve suffered in the wilderness at some point? If so, my sympathies! A rough night outdoors can be genuinely awful.
But the “fragile” campers aren’t crying because they feel insulted - they’re just trying to share information about their hobby and hopefully help people like you not hate their lives if/when they venture into the wilderness.
It’s not like fucking sounding or taxidermy, but those were hilariously silly analogies, so thanks for that.
It’s more like someone making a meme about a video game that basically boils down to “this game sucks because I skipped the tutorial” and you’re out here saying “yeah but the game is torture.”
You don’t have to camp! It’s genuinely not for everybody, and that’s okay! But many people love it, so try not to be so down on others for the things they love and for trying to share their hobbies with others.
It’s also entirely reasonable for people to roast you and tell you to git gud when you make a whole ass post about it though. Right?
It’s like those posts about turning 30 and your body falling apart immediately. No, you’re probably doing something very wrong, that’s not normal. We can point you in the right direction and you can choose to ignore it, that’s fine. Nobody’s really being fragile here.
Right, it’s just as silly when I do it as all the commenters come in to defend camping.
How dare anyone engage in conversation about the topic of the post! I might accidentally SEE an opinion I disagree with!
That is kinda what it feels like, yeah, that the pro-camp camp can’t accept that some people don’t like camping.
But… that’s not what the discussion or post are about lmao
Not when everything OP mentioned is lack of skills. One thing is to not like camping other is doing it completely wrong…
If you don’t like sounding, is it because of a lack of skill? Because it’s fun actually, you’re just doing it wrong. You should buy the right equipment and learn how to do it right. It’s one thing to not like it, but have you even done it correctly?
Comparing camping to stuffing rods into your cock is such forever indoor Redditor shit and it’s very funny that you don’t get it. Stay beautiful lol.
“Touch grass”
…
“Dear god what is he doing with the blades of grass?”
Git gud lol
I would normally agree with you on the “get good” sentiment being obnoxious to deal with but…. nature doesn’t fuck around. People who go into the wilderness unprepared can and do die.
It’s not just bears and starvation that can kill you. You can get sick, get infections, get poisoned, get frostbite, hypothermia, heat stroke, and many other afflictions that will either ruin your trip, ruin your life, or kill you if you’re unlucky enough. Even just something as simple as scraping your knee on a rock can give you a staph infection that costs you your leg, a risk that can be averted just by wearing a pair of jeans when walking in the woods.
But besides all that: camping is way more enjoyable when you do some basic research, make a plan, and do the basic preparations you need for the plan to be successful. If you’re not willing to do that then you probably shouldn’t go camping in the first place!
You sound like every other comment I’m talking about. You’re patting yourself on the back and saying um actually camping is fun. Again: you don’t have to defend your hobby from people that don’t like it.
Also, saying you gotta do everything right or die makes camping sound even worse.
The number of times I’ve been camping in 41 years of life can be counted on one hand, so I wouldn’t exactly call it my hobby. Would you care to try again?
Also what’s the big deal with reading about camping safety so that you know to bring a first aid kit, extra warm blankets, pitch your tent on high ground, and any other reasonable measures to keep yourself warm, dry, and reasonably safe from infections or illnesses?
As for “you sound like…” that’s called responding to tone or tone policing. There’s unfortunately far too much of it on Lemmy and it’s a pretty strong sign of its immaturity as a discussion community. Unfortunate!
Allow me to be serious for a moment: That is absolutely not what tone policing is. Please go read this or something a bit more in depth than the wiki article: https://blog.stetson.edu/faculty-engagement/tone-policing/
Tone policing is a much older and more common tactic than that. It’s fallacious because it’s responding to the implied tone of a person’s writing (or their emotions) rather than the specific claims of their argument.
Where are these comments?
Yeah, that’s a good faith question. Blocking you.
Speaking of fragility
At least your friends weren’t trampled by a moose.