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Whats the longest amount you guys have stayed out camping (tent) at one time?

From the title I thought it was about staying out overnight without coming back to camp.

I've stayed a little over two weeks a number of times backpacking. Used to run 14 day wilderness camps. Never in a tent, just tarps. Can't think of a longer time though might come up with one. Have done some of those 14 day trips almost back to back but not quite. Also gone almost that long on some elk hunts and combo hunts for sheep, caribou etc. up north. So not all that long at any one time for me, but a lot of those kind of trips.

My wife used to live all summer in a tent, either in Idaho or in Alaska, during her Dad's summer stints with the Forest Service. He was a school teacher the rest of the year. She's lived in tents much more than I have.

I think several folks here have some long time living in tents.

42 days

does the desert count?

Right at 80 days.

Around 60....

Yep -i'm a wimp

I'm a wimp too. 14 days is plenty.

ime, the longer you stay out the better it gets as far as some things go, being wet doesn't seem as inconvenient, you shrug off little nicks and dings that normally make you say ouch, your own smell even quits being quite so offensive unless you stick your head in the tent on a warm day or get the stove going and smell your socks (ugggghhhh!)

your eyes and your feet get tuned to the country, noticing the little odd things that might mean an animal start to jump out at ya, walking on uneven surfaces and walking so if you feel an obstruction you lift before you stumble just becomes the way you walk.

I highly reco it if you can afford the time to do it, you'll be surprised how in tune you get to the country and it really makes that first pizza and beer seem like heaven when you finally do go to a town.

17 days.

37 days.

I imagine some wildland fire fighters could really rack up some numbers on this topic if they chimed in, if some haven't already.

I think the most time I've spent on any one stint was at or around 35 as part of a break between jobs, broken up by a couple trips to restock food and to see what was going on in the rest of the world. I'm looking forward to one day taking a loooong Alaskan float trip.

Hey guys ,

Are these long stays pertaining to your work ?

I remember Brad telling me he did the appalachian trail as a young buck -but how about you other guys ?

I would love to do some 14 day'ers but between work and life in general -can't find the time.

Like BUSHCRAFT i'd love to do something like an alaska float trip ,although this spring i'm going to buy one of the little yamaha tw200's.

I'll do some riding as far as the land/law will allow then pack in and spend a few days ,not exactly deep wilderness backpacking but an adventure nonetheless.

My longest solo stay in the bush was 5.5 months, but, it was easy as I had my Toy 4x4 and could take a break every 2-3 weeks.

I have tented in wall tents, hate �m, for about three months and in cabins about as long. some of this was in extreme wilderness, alone with no breaks starting 40 years ago when BC was a lot wilder then it is now.

I guess about six weeks in mountain tents, solo, in the snow usually and I enjoy this, just did a 9 day stint deep into the South Chilcotin by horses, with my buddy in bivy sacks under a tarp/frame setup, snowed, rained, blew and I was very comfy in my ID combo bag plus BA IAC over my Thermarest ProIV.

Straight backpacking in wilderness, usually 5-7 days alone and over two weeks with a couple friends. Overall, my longest solo deep wilderness stints without relief have been three months and that is a long time to be alone in the BC mountains, getting too old for this now and two weeks is about my max. as I get lonely for home and tired of my own company.

ol mike,


can't speak for the others, but yes I was getting paid to be there and there were other folks around. but it was 42 days without ever seeing anything remotely compared to a town and living in a tent and sleeping bag.

completely solo 10 days is the longest I've spent

Kutenay touched on the hardest part about being out alone for longer durations...the loneliness.

While not insurmountable, the onset of loneliness that occurs after about seven or eight days is the hardest part for me to deal with while out there alone. I begin to miss the sweet mercies and companionship of my lady, concerns of the business reemerge and so on. Funny how this onset invariably coincides with the finishing of the book I usually bring for the evenings.

Spent the summer of '81 in a tent while building a house, but had *access* to a shower and a hose bib to haul water in juggies.

10 days

22 days, If I remember correctly. It was a blast, but that first hot shower I had when I got back to town I'll never forget. I think about that moment everytime I get back to "civilization." It's a good 'un.

Solo 11 days.

31 days is my longest stint with a tent, though I actually slept under the stars most nights.

Now I dream about having that much time off...