Breaking camp in the morning

[Leo L.]

This winter, I've done several trips ranging from 3-5 days, in rough weather, but not in snow, just down in the valleys.
Usually, in winter I'm sound asleep at 8:00pm the latest (more often even at 7:00pm), so I'm up at first dawn.

The very first action I'm performing in the morning is opening the valve of the pad, the sound of the air buzzing out is the signal to get moving seriously, and quick.
Next its changing clothes from sleepwear to full-blown daywear.
Then stuffing the bag and rolling up the pad.
Packing most of the pack, putting on the boots, getting out of the tent.
Usually drying up, putting down and rolling up the tent is about the most uncomfortable part of the whole thing.
Then I'd stuff the pack and shoulder it, set the GPS to tracking and take a look at the watch - ~40minutes since opening the valve.
I always take a late breakfast later at around 9:00 or 10:00am.
In summer, given dry conditions, I can cut down the time to 30 minutes.

Again and again I'm wondering, why it does take me so much time to get going in the morning?
Whats your timing in the morning?

[Phoenixfyrebird]

That's a great question!!!

I never really thought of it or about it before. I actually plan for an hour at minimum each morning and set an alarm for such. I do have a different situation though with ADHD - I will take my medication first thing when waking.

I often sleep with it in the pocket of my bag or very close by in a ziplock bag to prevent moisture issues. When I do take it, I end up chugging a ton of super cold water (also done on purpose) to help get my body awake and started for the day. Usually about 30 - 40 mins is how long I have to wait for everything to start working correctly for me. In that span of time between taking and kicking in though, I honestly couldn't even remotely tell you what I end up doing quite frankly. I do not have a routine, and even when I try to stick to it - no dice. I am just a chaotic mess of disorganization but it's only temporarily!

I have found it super helpful if before I head out, I will set aside an evening to designate all the things in my pack to a certain spot or 'home', as I call it. Everything goes back to its 'home' any time it is taken out of the pack, or I will think it is lost forever. (It typically is too...lol)

So, it sounds like to me you're pretty efficient!!! Nicely done!

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[LoneStranger]

I can either just cram and go or it takes me about 90 minutes. There is no in between. If I make coffee and eat a bag of breakfast while taking down camp, get dressed and pack up it is oddly consistent that it is 90 minutes from when I opened my eyes and looked at the time. I can hurry or take my time. It can be first night on trail or a month into a hike, but the morning ritual for me is a slow waking up process.

If I need to go I just cram and hit the trail. Caffeine and food are consumed while moving though I might sneak a bite of something while cramming. This is for days when it is going to get bad hot or I have a ride to meet and not enough time to get there. I prefer the days when I can enjoy my coffee while the birds wake up, but too much of that is why I have to rush to meet my ride heh.

[LittleRock]

40 minutes is really fast! I might be able get going that fast if I started packing up right away, but it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience for me.

I usually take 1 1/2 hours between when I get up and when I leave camp in the morning. I NEED my oatmeal and hot tea for breakfast before I can really get moving. That's the first 30 minutes. Then comes stuff like changing into hiking clothes, brushing teeth, taking meds, using the privy/digging a cathole, etc. That's usually another 30 minutes or so. Packing up takes the final 30 minutes.

[Leo L.]

Thanks everybody,
So it looks like my 30-40mins (without breakfast) is just about average.

I'm still trying to cut down my morning breakup time though.
One topic is, my winter tent (Exped Venus II Extreme) provides a very quick setup, but is more clumsy and takes a little extra time to break down & pack up, compared with my summer tent (MSR Hubba Hubba NX).

[LazyLightning]

Kind of similar to yours but I start super early. If I'm in bed before dark that's great because my goal is to start hiking at the very crack of dawn, when I could just get away without the head lamp. That means I'm up about an hour earlier getting ready in the dark and your right about wondering why it always takes so long. There is just something about starting the day early for me, I love to hike into the beginning of the day like that, plus I'm slow so the day goes way too fast otherwise. Sometimes I set an alarm to make sure I don't wake up late - if the birds are up before me that's a problem!

First thing is the nozzle on my air mattress. Next I change and pack everything I can inside my tent and when I get out I stay out but first it's time for a safety break, gotta start the day off right. Then I get my bear canister and have a quick breakfast as I continue packing the tent and everything else. No cooking in the morning, usually just some granola or bars or something to munch on as I pack. I try to remember to turn on my Garmin a little before I leave so I'm not waiting for a signal (for tracking purposes, I don't rely on it for direction). Then it's usually dark and I shine my light making sure I didn't forget anything and that's it. Usually more snacking through the morning, a decent lunch and snacking until dinner at camp. I don't skimp out or hold back on food, if my stomach growls I'm eating something - worth the 50lb pack all day!

[gpburdelljr]

I rarely looked at my watch when I hiked.

[Phoenixfyrebird]

I rarely looked at my watch when I hiked.

Hahaha, I thought I was the only one! I don't take a smart watch or anything either. Just a digital one with a beep at the top of the hour, and 7A alarm (those little watch beeps & alarms do wake me from sleep).

[TwoSpirits]

I never really thought of it or about it before. I actually plan for an hour at minimum each morning and set an alarm for such. I do have a different situation though with ADHD - I will take my medication first thing when waking.

I often sleep with it in the pocket of my bag or very close by in a ziplock bag to prevent moisture issues. When I do take it, I end up chugging a ton of super cold water (also done on purpose) to help get my body awake and started for the day. Usually about 30 - 40 mins is how long I have to wait for everything to start working correctly for me. In that span of time between taking and kicking in though, I honestly couldn't even remotely tell you what I end up doing quite frankly. I do not have a routine, and even when I try to stick to it - no dice. I am just a chaotic mess of disorganization...

LOLOL I had to double check to see if I wrote this post and forgot about it! This is me...alas, I'm not sure it's temporary

[Kittyslayer]

So it looks like my 30-40mins (without breakfast) is just about average..

30-40 was going to be my guess although I don't specifically time it. Longer if I have to wait for my wife to pack up so then I fix us coffee and maybe breakfast while I wait.

Always dig my cathole the night before. Works well in case there is an urgent morning need or the ground is frozen. Also my muscles are loose from hiking which facilitates squatting while digging. I do hang 2-3 orange hunters flags so I remember where I dug the hole next to the tree I will never forget (Ha Ha).
Practice helps. When I was doing triathlons one of the easiest places to pick up time was to minimize your transition time where you were not moving forward.

[Slugg]

I’m around 30-40 minutes in the summer and 40-50 minutes in the winter. Putting in contacts is my “get moving” timer, I usually put on my day clothes and pack some stuff before I undo the valve or pack up my ccf pad/pack frame. Then I stand up and get out of the tent while I pack up the rest of my stuff. I don’t put much effort into drying the tent, just stuff it in its sack. I usually start eating or drinking a powdered drink right when I start walking.

[Crossbar]

I'm with LoneStranger, 60 to 90 minutes. I like to enjoy a coffee or two and a leisure pack up. Only time I'm under 60 min is if it's raining and 'cram and go' like LoneStranger said.

[garlic08]

I'm in the habit of not eating where I camp. I hike after my last meal or snack, set up camp, then hike before stopping for my first meal or snack. Camp is only a place to sleep. Both set-up and tear-down seldom take more than 10 minutes. My spouse and two usual hiking partners do the same.

[Traveler]

Though time tracking may not be necessary for a lot of people in setting up/breaking down camp, there is something to be said about knowing the average time it takes to do various things like walking a mile at different times of day on different terrain, carrying different loads in different weather conditions, how long does a sun-aided dry-out take on average, and setting up/breaking down camp. These things are nice to know in general terms when weather is approaching and calculations have to be made as the time/distance decisions are being calculated.

Like many here I'm sure, over time I have gotten to know these average times (along with a number of other things) to the point I can sense when I am ahead of or behind the "usual" amount of time. There are some things I typically do not speed up if the internal clock is saying I am slow today, breaking camp is one of those (typically 40-mins). I have lost a number of things over the years by hurrying through that process from tent stakes to socks hanging on a branch. This started a standardized approach to setting up/breaking down camp and other routines that I'm sure many have developed over time to avoid preventable loss or damage to gear.

There is a lot to backpacking, to paraphrase Yogi Berra, "Backpacking is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical."

[Tipi Walter]

For me it depends on winter conditions. If it's 0F or 20F with a 40mph wind I like to stay sequestered and wait for Mr Sun to enter camp and if possible warm up the tent. The Oven Effect. Plus I have a morning ritual with my white gas stove to invariably brew up hot herbal tea with honey. So my winter shove off could be around 12 noon or 1pm.

Packing up every morning on a winter trip is usually the hardest part---because it's All About Hands and Feet---and stuffing large cold objects into tiny sacks. Hot Hand warming packets and a Nalgene filled with hot water(tea) can make morning shove off easier.

Usually the biggest hassle is getting my large 8+lb tent inside its stuff sack---which is impossible when covered in a varnish of ice and frozen webbing etc. In the Southeast it usually rains at 35F for a full day/night and then temps drop to 15F with sleet or snow and the once wet tent becomes a stiff frozen mess---can't get it in its stuff sack so I have to roll the whole wad in my ground cloth and strap the beast on the outside of my pack. This happened on my last recent February trip and the tent went from 8 lbs to about 15 lbs of hellish weight---all due to ice varnish.

Trip 223 (45)-XL.jpg
Here's an example of ice varnish on silnylon which can't be removed until it melts.

Trip 195 (181)-XL.jpg
Wrapping the bulky ice covered tent in my white ground cloth for transport.


In summer during pit viper season I like to shove off around 7am and stop hiking around noon---to avoid most of the copperheads and rattlesnakes out sunning themselves.

[Leo L.]

@Crossbar:
Wow, 10 minutes is really quick.
Suppose this is in nice&dry conditions, and you're using a tarp?

@Traveller:
Exactly, IMHO its essential to develope a routine and optimize it, and once set to stick to it.
Especially dangerous would be to break something when, say, setting up in a threatening storm, and breaking tent and packing everything to not lose smaller items when in a hurry. This I'm thinking of deep snow.
Both happened to me, I lost about 1/4th of my equipment when having an emergency-bivouac in deep snow once - just found everything in spring after the snowmelt, and broke the poles of my MSR twice when setting up in a hurry.

When being camped under edgy conditions like heavy snow, deep freeze or pouring rain, I usually take some minutes to think through and memorize the order I'm intending to do all my tasks.
And to not lose smaller items, I never leave anything laying around in camp, but put everything in the according stuffsacks.

Thanks for all your imput, very welcome!

[LittleRock]

Interesting to see that some people start out by emptying their air mattress. That's literally the last thing I do before I leave the tent. Until then it makes a comfy place to sit.

[Mockernut]

I empty the pad while I'm laying on it just to make that part easy. I've usually changed clothes and gotten ready to bail out of the tent at that point though.

[Leo L.]

Interesting to see that some people start out by emptying their air mattress. That's literally the last thing I do before I leave the tent. Until then it makes a comfy place to sit.

Deflating the pad is the ultimate kick in the arse to get going. No way to laze around after that.
In winter when camping in snow, I've daopted Tipi Walters style of carrying two pads, one CCF and one Thermarest.
In such cases, I leave the CCF unfolded as a protection against cold until the very last moment.

[TwoSpirits]

Same. When I'm all nice and cozy and dry and warm in my sleeping bag, the last thing I want to do is get out of it! Too often I've drifted back to sleep (again and again), and then it's a late start. So yes, venting the air out is the first thing I do as well. The CCF pad I bring (a cut down one, or "torso" size) keeps me something to sit on as I get everything packed up.