Tent Pegs I Like & Dislike (with reasons)

Tent pegs ordered as I'd choose them from one I wouldn't use on the left to my favourite on the right.

Tent pegs are essential items you should be able to take for granted. Simple, functional, not particularly interesting. However, I’ve been irritated recently at how many of them are barely adequate, if that.

Tent pegs only have one purpose, to secure a tent or tarp so it doesn’t fall down or blow away. That shouldn’t be difficult. And for many years it wasn’t. Pegs for backpacking and mountaineering tents were mostly of two sorts – pin or skewers pegs with shepherd’s crook heads and U or V-shaped pegs with bent over tops. Made of aluminium both sorts were lightweight and suitable for all but the softest ground if long enough. Attaching guylines and pegging points securely was easy. Using them was easy.

These pegs are still around and better and cheaper than most modern styles. For example, Vango Pin Pegs have shepherd's crook tops. They are 18cm long, weigh 12g each, and cost £4.99 for ten from Ultralight Outdoor Gear (all prices in this article are from Ultralight Outdoor Gear and are current for mid-August 2026). Such pegs are plain and dull – as tent pegs should be! You can spend £20-£50 or more for ten modern pegs that look much fancier, most of which aren’t as good as the Pin Pegs, though they usually weigh a little less. I’m much more concerned that a peg will hold my tent up than that I’m saving 6g. 

The Pin Pegs are tubular aluminium like my old ones. There are much thinner titanium shepherd's crook pegs - you can see three on the left of the picture at the top. The longer ones are okay in hard ground though I wouldn't use them for anything other than the corners of a tent or for a groundsheet inside a tarp. Being titanium they are very light - 6-9g.

Too many of the latest pegs are too short and have notched tops that guylines and pegging points can easily slip off. I’ve tested six backpacking tents in the last year and only one had adequate pegs, and that was by far the least expensive one. The others were all too short and had tiny notches for attaching pegging points. They are brightly coloured though with the brand name embossed on the side.  

One set did have bigger notches at the head that did hold guylines better, until they broke or bent that is. Because the notches were deeper only a narrow section of the peg was left between them so when pressure was applied, the head tore and bent.  Four failed like this on a winter camp on stony ground high in the Cairngorms. It could have been awkward, but I always carry extra pegs, so I replaced them with shepherd’s crook ones.

One of the pegs that broke and the replacement I was glad I had.

Another problem with many modern pegs is that the heads can be quite hard and sharp, so they hurt or even cut your hands when you apply pressure to them. I’ve seen suggestions for using a plastic bottle cap or a thimble to put over the peg, so it doesn’t hurt your hand. This isn’t necessary with old-style pegs!

The short length (under 16cms) of many of these pegs means that they don’t hold well except in very hard ground. The wind tugging on guylines can pull them out.

It’s annoying that too many expensive backpacking tents come with these pegs, so you need to replace them or at least add better pegs for the main pegging points and guylines. This should not be necessary.

 

My favourite peg on the right. Two of the short, tiny notch Y-pegs that come with many modern tents.

The pegs I find best of all are long tubular ones. These hold well in all types of ground from soft to rock hard and the ones I've used are very tough. There are several brands. Mine are Easton. They’re 22cm long and weigh 15g each. I’ve been using them for many years and they’ve never failed, though I have bent one. It’s still usable.  Current ones are a bit longer at 23cm and a bit lighter at 13g. They are expensive though. £6.49 each for an Easton Nano one.  

As Easton pegs have apparently been discontinued if I was replacing them it would be with the 20cm Big Sky International Tube Steak 20 which weigh 14g per peg and cost £16.99 for a pack of four.

I don’t carry enough tubular pegs for every pegging point and guyline. That’s unnecessary. I carry enough for key stress points and shorter, lighter pegs for everywhere else.

I’ve also made a YouTube video about pegs.

Glen Tromie & Meallach Mhor: a camp and a hill or four

Loch an t-Seilich from the slopes of Meallach Mhor

On the western side of the Cairngorms National Park is long Glen Tromie. It’s not as well-known or popular as the glens and passes to the east – Glen Feshie, Gleann Eanaich, the Lairig Ghru. No Munros rise above Glen Tromie, no cliff-girt corries. The hills are rolling and round heathery bumps, steep-sided but not dramatic. The glen has some fine native woodlands though and these are regenerating since the conservation organisation WildLand bought the estate several years to add to Glen Feshie which they already owned and began the process of rewilding.

Woodland in Glen Tromie

Not having been to Glen Tromie myself for many years, not since 2208 in fact when I walked through the glen in December with Cameron McNeish (as described in this old blog post), I thought it was time to go and see what it’s like now and go up into the hills from the glen.

The estate track in lower Glen Tromie

There is a Corbett rising above the glen, 769-metre Meallach Mhor. I went up this many years ago from the east but had never climbed it from Glen Tromie, to which it belongs. Guidebooks and websites mostly suggest cycling along the private estate track that runs up the glen to the base of the hill, climbing it, then cycling back down the glen. Whilst the ascent and descent routes can be varied this doesn’t spend much time actually on the hills. Most of the day is spent cycling. I decided I would walk up the glen, camp, climb Meallach Mhor the next day then follow the line of lower hills that parallels Glen Tromie. (This is a route described by Walk Highlands).

Meadowsweet, meadows, & forest in Glen Tromie

The weather was showery and cloudy with bursts of sunshine and a brisk wind as I set off from Tromie Bridge. The lower glen was lush, a mix of hay meadows and woodland. There were many wild flowers and many impressive alder trees by the river. Soon I could see young trees spreading out from the thickening forest. The walk up the glen grew more and more heartening as I saw more and more signs of regeneration.

I thought of camping by Bhran Cottage, where I’d camped with Cameron eighteen years before, but it was summer not winter and I wanted a breezier site to avoid the midges. Not much further was a little lochan, oddly situated above the track and the river. A long straight embankment along the western and northern sides showed that it was almost certainly artificial. I couldn’t find a name on any map.

Camp by the unnamed lochan

The bank was overgrown with deep heather and young rowan and birch trees. I had walked almost the whole length of it and was beginning to think I’d have to return to Bhran Cottage when I found a grassy patch just big enough for the tent. A breeze swept over the lochan, just strong enough to keep off the midges. It was a fine camp. There was rain overnight but the morning came with a touch of sunshine.

Meallach Mhor lay directly above, barely two kilometres away. The direct ascent was not easy though. The slope is steep in places but that wasn’t the reason. It was the deep, thick heather, which sometimes came up to my thighs. Relief came higher up when the angle and the heather finally lessened and I could walk normally rather than stagger and thrash.

Cairn on the ascent of Meallach Mhor

The views were excellent and dramatic though, giving a good excuse to stop frequently. There was no path but I did come upon a fine cairn that overlooked the unnamed lochan. 

Squalls in the distance

To the south and the west the clouds were low on the hills and I could see squalls scudding across the land. Further up Glen Tromie I could see Loch an t-Seilich filling a wide cleft between steep hills. Although there were dark clouds on three sides none of the rain reached me. The wind though was strong, buffeting me along.

The summit of Meallach Mhor, looking to Loch an t-Seilich

The stony summit of Meallach Mhor is flat, the high point marked by a small cairn. It’s not very distinctive but as a viewpoint it’s superb and the sense of space and vastness is exhilarating. To the east you look across waves of rolling hills to the Cairngorm giants Braeriach, Sgor an Lochain Uaine, and Cairn Toul, a magnificent view.

Braeriach, Sgor an Lochain Uaine, & Cairn Toul from Meallach Mhor

From the summit I descended to the col with Meallach Bheag on a rough intermittent path. An ORV track crosses the col and here I met the only other walkers I saw all trip, a party of four backpackers who’d come from Glen Feshie. They were leaving their packs while they went up and down Meallach Mhor then descending the track into Glen Tromie. That track probably is the easiest route from Glen Tromie to Meallach Mhor, longer but undoubtedly less strenuous than my head-on, heather-bashing climb.

Croidh-la. The high point is the tiny cairn on the horizon on the right

The hills and the fine views continued over long Clach-mheall to Croidh-la. This is the lowest but most distinctive of the four tops on the east side of Glen Tromie and the only one with a trig point, though this isn’t on the very highest point. The slopes running down to Glen Tromie are very steep with some little crags and probably not a good place to descend. There’s a rough path on the hill anyway that leads gently downwards to Cadha Giorraid where it turns westwards and descends to Glen Tromie through regenerating native woodland.

Sleeping Mat Thoughts

With my old Therm-A-Rest Ultralite and a tent full of mats ready for making a video

I started thinking about mat and tent combinations for the first time last year. The idea had never occurred to me before because it had never been necessary. Why would the two items affect each other? Until fairly recently they didn’t but now some mats are thick enough to reduce headroom and end space in a tent, especially a lightweight solo one.

Camp on the Cape Wrath Trail with the Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT. 2024

I decided to make a little video about this as I’d never seen it discussed anywhere. Then I thought I might as well talk about the different types of mats and my views on them and that became the main theme of the video. Mat thickness does appear at the end!

Reviewing the different mats I’ve used over the years and the advantages and disadvantages of each seemed a good subject for a written piece as well. So here it is, with photos from over the decades.

1978 in the Cairngorms with a closed cell foam mat strapped to my pack

Back when I started backpacking closed cell foam mats were all there were. The standard was the Karrimat, usually in bright yellow. They were 9mm thick and warm enough most of the time. There was a thinner green 3mm version too. I used this for a few years. How I ever slept on such a thin mat I can’t imagine now.

Closed cell foam (ccf) is tough and durable. That’s it’s big advantage. CCF mats can be chucked on the ground with no fear of punctures and generally treated roughly. They do lose a bit of thickness after much use and the edges can get tattered. But they still work. Given that the cost is low in the first place they’re great value for money.

Closed cell foam mats are great for just chucking on the ground and using as a seat or to put gear on

Ccf mats aren’t very heavy (200-400 grams depending on thickness) but they are bulky. They’re usually carried on the outside of packs, which is convenient for using one during the day as a sitmat. The big drawback is that they’re not very comfortable. As there was no other choice I used ccf mats on hundreds of nights in my first decade of backpacking, including my first long walks, the Pennine Way and Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Camp on the Pacific Crest Trail with my first Therm-A-Rest self-inflating mat. 1982

Then around 1980 I discovered the existence of a new self-inflating mat called a Therm-A-Rest that was filled with open cell foam and said to be far more comfortable than ccf. I soon got one and discovered that the claims were true. The comfort was a revelation. No more ccf for me! (I wrote a piece about the invention of the Therm-A-Rest back in 2018).

With the Therm-A-Rest Ultralite on my Canadian Rockies walk. I was obviously confident in its durability. It lasted the trip. 1988

That first Therm-A-Rest was quite a bit heavier at 652 grams than ccf but I still took it on my Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike. I just loved the comfort. Cascade Designs, the makers of Therm-A-Rest, then brought out an UltraLite version that weighed 468 grams in the ¾ length version so I changed to this and took it on the Continental Divide Trail, Canadian Rockies, Yukon Territory and Scandinavian Mountains walks, totalling about 7000 miles and hundreds of nights. I also used it on all the shorter walks I did during the ten years it lasted. It is by far my most-used mat.

RidgeRest closed cell foam mat strapped under my pack on the Arizona Trail. 2000.

I stayed with Therm-A-Rest self-inflating mats for many more years and walks. In all that time I only ever had two punctures, both quickly found and mended. I did go back to a closed cell mat, a Therm-A-Rest RidgeRest, for the Arizona Trail as I wanted to sleep out under the stars whenever I could and I reckoned there might be too many spiky things in the desert for a mat that could be punctured. With a ridged surface (hence the name) this was more comfortable than the flat ccf mats of earlier years but I still missed the comfort of a self-inflating mat and returned to one for future walks.

Original NeoAir, 2008

Until, that is, Therm-A-Rest reinvented the air bed with the inflatable NeoAir. This was said to be even more comfortable than a self-inflating mat as well as being lighter weight and more compact when packed. I was convinced. I still am but soon found a big disadvantage – durability. Over the years I’ve had inflatable air beds from half a dozen different brands fail, often out in the wilds where repair was difficult if not impossible.

Camp on the Pacific Northwest Trail with the inflatable mat that later failed. 2010.

The first time an inflatable mat became a deflated mat was on a cold stormy night on the Pacific Northwest Trail when I found myself wrestling the mat into a freezing lake in the dark trying to find the leaks. I did have a short thin ccf mat with me but also a quilt, the only time I’ve used one on a long walk. You really need a warm mat with a quilt! I did manage to find and patch the leaks though the mat still went down several times a night. As soon as I could I swapped it for a self-inflating one.

In Death Valley with a NeoAir XLite mat and a foam pad to protect it. 2016

With a few mats the problem has been the internal walls tearing so one end of the mat swells up like a balloon. As well as making a mat difficult and then impossible to use this also led to the fear that it might explode during the night with an almighty bang.

In the Colorado Rockies with the Therm-A-Rest self-inflating mat Andrew Terrill loaned me after my inflatable mat failed. 2019

Three times on long walks I’ve borrowed old well-used self-inflating Therm-A-Rest mats to replace failed inflatable ones. There was a message there but it took me a while to learn it.

Keeping warm in an igloo on a Therm-A-Rest Prolite Plus & a Therm-A-Rest RidgeRest. 2007.

I still use inflatable mats. I don’t trust them though so I always carry a ccf mat as well, , (usually a 190g Multimat Superlite 8), which rather cancels out the weight and packed size advantage of inflatables. And I am thinking of going back to a self-inflating mat despite the extra weight and bulk. I still have a Therm-A-Rest Ultralite and a Therm-A-Rest Prolite Plus. It’s time I used them again. The Multimat plus my lightest inflatable mat, the Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT, weighs 560g, the Multimat plus the Prolite Plus is 640g. I have heavier ccf and inflatable mats I use occasionally but those are my lightest combinations. I don’t 120g is significant except maybe on long trips where weight really matters.

Sitting on the Multimat Superlite 8 with the NeoAir XLite NXT just visible in the tent. 2023.

As well as being more durable an advantage of a self-inflating mat is that there’s still some insulation if it does deflate as it’s full of foam. They don’t even out bumps and dips in the ground as well as an air bed, though better than ccf, but they don’t fail often either. You also don’t need to think about headroom in a tent either. My thickest self-inflating mat is 3.8cm, my thinnest air bed 7.5cm. In a small tent with a 90cm high point and low ends the difference is noticeable.

This 9cm thick mat really restricted the space at the foot end and the headroom in this small tent

Links to mats mentioned:

Multimat Superlite 8

https://amzn.to/4boow7z

Therm-A-Rest RidgeRest

https://amzn.to/4slnb8X

Therm-A-Rest Prolite Plus

https://amzn.to/4bdiXKE

Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite NXT

https://amzn.to/4bFurqh

I am an Amazon Associate. If you buy from the Amazon links I receive a commission at no cost to you. Clicking then finding your own items within 24 hours also helps but with a much smaller commission. Every click helps! Thank you if you do purchase something or click on one of my links. StoreID: christownse0c-21

My Favourite Camps of 2024 & The Tents I Used

Coire Ardair, Creag Meagaidh, April. Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid XL.

The winter solstice is when I to start looking back on the year that's ending and at the trips and camps I've done. For the fifth year running I didn't venture beyond the Scottish Highlands. As I said last year, there is so much to do here! Most trips were just two or three days. The longest was eighteen days on the Cape Wrath Trail in the Northwest Highlands in mid-May and early June, the second longest six days also on the Cape Wrath Trail in October. And I still didn't quite complete it! 

Last camp on Cape Wrath Trail near Sandwood Bay, October. Uncomfortable but sheltered from the worst of the wind. Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstars. Tony Hobbs has just lowered his as we packed up in the rain.

I camped at least once every month except for August and December (I don't think I'll manage another trip between now and New Year). Overall I had some great camps and splendid walks. Here's some pictures from each month. As someone usually asks about one or two of the tents this year I've made a few comments about them. I've also given links to my posts about the trips.

Dawn in the Cairngorms, January. Nortent Vern 1 (Version 1).

My first camp was in January in snow on Miadan Creag an Leth-choin in the Cairngorms. The temperature fell to -7C and I needed crampons and ice axe for the walk over the Northern Corries the next day. The Vern 1 is the only tent I had to test this year. I never reviewed it as the design was changed drastically and I never received the new version. 

On the Moine Mhor, Cairngorms, January. Nortent Vern 1 & Hilleberg Nammatj 2.

January saw a second Cairngorms trip, this time two nights with Tony Hobbs. There was less snow than earlier in the month and we pitched on frozen ground.

Down in Glen Feshie, January.

After crossing the Moine Mhor we descended into Glen Feshie for a sheltered camp in the forest as the wind picked up.

Deep in the forest, February. Hilleberg Soulo.

February saw another forest camp in the Cairngorms with Tony, this time in Rothiemurchus Forest. We had intended camping higher but couldn't find a site that was reasonably sheltered from the fierce wind and not sodden from recent rain and snowmelt. Down in the trees I didn't need the Hilleberg Soulo, the strongest most storm-resistant tent I have. A much lighter shelter would have been fine.  The next day we failed to reach a summit due to the wind.

By the Allt Coire Bhlair, Glen Feshie, March. Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid XL. 

March saw three trips. Early in the month I walked through Glen Feshie and camped where the forest starts to fade away before heading up to snowy Mullach Clach a' Bhlair and back down to the glen. For this trip I took the DuoMid XL pyramid tent, which has been a favourite for a decade. I love the room inside, especially when used with just a groundsheet, as I usually do.

Below Sail Mhor, March. Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar.

Two weeks later I made the first trip of the year away from the Cairngorms when I headed west to An Teallach to join the It's Up To Us path work for a feature in The Great Outdoors. My magazine work finished I walked up the Allt Airdeasaidh glen to camp between An Teallach and Sail Mhor. I climbed the latter from camp on the spring equinox. The superb Trailstar tarp I used has been a favourite for over twelve years and by far my most used shelter in that time as it's been on several long-distance walks including the Scottish Watershed. 

 

Spring snow camp, March. Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid XL.

My third March trip was back in the Cairngorms on the annual Inverness Backcountry Snowsports Club igloo building trip on the Moine Mhor.  Having helped with the igloos I retired to the quiet of my tent. This was the last camp on snow until the autumn.

Dusk in Coire Ardair, April. Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid XL.

In April I was joined by Tony Hobbs again for a walk into Coire Ardair below the great cliffs of Creag Meagaidh. From our camp we went over snow-covered Creag Meagaidh. Ice axes were still needed.

Upper Glen Affric, Cape Wrath Trail, May. Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid XL.

Mid May to early June I was on the Cape Wrath Trail, completing most of it before storms persuaded me to leave the rest for better weather. The first five days were superb with clear blue skies and sunshine. Then it became rainier and windier. I took the SoloMid XL as it's lighter than the DuoMid XL and has a door that can be closed, unlike the Trailstar. I gave it Best Buy in a review of solo tents in The Great Outdoors.

Lovely evening light at Loch Coire Fionnaraich after a wet day, Cape Wrath Trail, May

There was fine light at times though, even if short-lived, and I still had some good camps.

Glen Oykel plantation, Cape Wrath Trail, June. Tony with the Mountain Laurel Designs Grace Tarp.

Tony Hobbs joined me for the last four days of this trip, during which the weather worsened. After one wet and windy day we found a sheltered site in a plantation in Glen Oykel, not a scenic site but a very welcome one. The next morning the sun shone for a short while and we were able to air our damp gear.

Last camp on the Cape Wrath Trail, June.

After crossing a high pass in very strong winds and with a forecast for even stronger ones to come along with heavy rain we had one last camp before I decided to end the walk at Inchnadamph.

Stormy by Loch Eanaich, July. MSR Hubba NX Solo.

July saw just one camp before an operation on my hand put me out of action for a couple of months. Back in the Cairngorms I walked up Gleann Eanaich to camp by Loch Eanaich. The weather was wet and windy and the next day I walked back out the same way, which was no hardship in this beautiful landscape. Forgoing pyramid tents I took the MSR Hubba NX Solo, a good three-season tent I like but for some reason don't use that often. I should take it out more often.

On the Cairngorm Plateau, September. Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid XL.

August was spent waiting for my hand to heal. By early September I felt ready for an overnight trip so I went up to the Cairngorm Plateau. The weather was hot and dry and after a comfortable camp I wandered up Ben Macdui and then back across the Plateau. 

At Fuaran Diotach, September. Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid XL.

Ten days later I was out in the Cairngorms again, this time camping on the flanks of Sgor Gaoith before traversing that hill and Sgoran Dubh Mor in mixed weather.

Below Scotland's highest waterfall,  the Eas a' Chual Aluinn, Cape Wrath Trail, October. Mountain Laurel Designs Trailstar.

Early October saw a return to the Cape Wrath Trail with Tony Hobbs and a five day walk from Inchnadamph to Sandwood Bay in increasingly stormy weather.

At Lone, Cape Wrath Trail, October.

On this walk I took the Trailstar for the extra room and storm resistance. I didn't need a mesh inner as midge season was over nor a zipped door for privacy on camp sites. I just took a groundsheet and revelled in all the space.

Shelter in the forest, October. Hilleberg Niak.

Later in October I had a camp in Glen Feshie, a place I always visit in the autumn as the colours are wonderful. I used the Hilleberg Niak which had just been returned by Tony Hobbs who'd had it on loan for a year or so. Whilst it's a bit heavy compared with the pyramid shelters it is very roomy and quite stable. The latter was needed on this trip as it was quite windy.

In Strath Nethy. November. Hilleberg Niak.

I liked using the Niak so much I took it out again in November for a camp in Strath Nethy in the Cairngorms before I went up to The Saddle and back to Glenmore via Ciste Mhearad. 

Early morning, November. Hilleberg Soulo.

My camping in 2024 ended as it had begun with a camp in the snow on Miadan Creag an Leth-choin. This time the temperature fell to -9C. I took the Hilleberg Soulo, which was appropriate up here rather than in the forest, though the weather was less wind

Tips for Pitching a Tent or Tarp in Stormy Weather and Snow

This article is expanded from one that appeared earlier in the year as part of a series of articles on tents and backpacking I wrote for The Great Outdoors in conjunction with Hilleberg. I posted the first article on choosing a tent last month.

Shelters, whether tents or tarps, really come into their own when the weather turns stormy.

The way you pitch a shelter is often key to how secure it will feel. It can be immensely comforting to be warm and dry in the wilds inside a shelter you know is sturdy and well-pitched while rain, wind or snow whirl outside. Conversely, being inside a poorly pitched shelter which seems at risk of collapsing can be a very unnerving experience and guarantees a poor night’s sleep.

To maximise storm-worthiness there are a number of things you can do. The first is to ensure you are familiar and well-practiced at pitching your shelter so you do it quickly and efficiently in poor conditions – a howling storm is not the best time to be fumbling with a confusing mass of flapping nylon. Knowing the capabilities of your shelter is important too.

On a showery very windy day I found a sheltered site by dropping down into the top of a forest in the lee of the wind

1.     Pitch selection

In very windy weather, a sheltered site is well worth taking the time to find, though sometimes an exposed pitch may be the only option there is. Often, though, there are options; even a gentle bank or a pile of rocks can help cut the wind. Passing by that lovely hillside pitch and continuing downhill to a less windy spot is a good idea. In heavy rain, be wary of damp hollows though; these could fill with water. In woods, look up. Camping under a dead branch is a bad idea.

On a day of heavy rain and strong winds I descended into a glen to find a sheltered spot and then spent some time finding a slightly raised spot in case the river rose.

2.      Pitching

To stop your tent blowing away, peg down one end securely before inserting any poles or laying the tent out. In really strong winds you can put your pack on the tent while you do this or even lie on it. Then peg down the other end before inserting the poles (you may then have to unpeg each corner in turn to get the poles in).

 

Tunnel tents should be pitched with the rear into the wind for best stability. With other designs the door should be away from the wind if there’s only one.

3.      Pegs and guylines

Pegs should go in at about a 45-degree angle (leaning away from the tent) right up to their heads. Carry a selection of different pegs for different ground conditions – thin ones for stony and hard ground, wide ones for soft ground – so you can do this. In hard ground pegs can be pushed in with your feet or hammered in with a small rock. Don’t hit them too hard, even the toughest pegs can bend or break (a good reason for carrying a few spares).

If pegs really won’t go fully into the ground, pegging loops and guylines should be looped round the peg at ground level – higher up and they could lever the peg out. All guylines should be pegged out and tightened. I do this even if it’s calm – the wind may pick up during the night.

  

 Pitching in snow

 

It’s always preferable to pitch on dry ground rather than snow – it’s easier to do and the tent will be warmer, especially under you. When snow cover is extensive camping on it may be the only option. When this is the case a snow shovel is very useful for preparing the site (and transporting snow for melting for water). I always carry one. 

In soft snow, a platform should be stamped out then levelled for the tent. The platform should be as flat as possible – any lumps will harden under you. Leading the platform to firm up is the best way to avoid this but in a storm you’ll want to get under cover as soon as possible.

Special extra wide and long pegs are useful for snow. In soft snow these should be buried horizontally with guylines looped round them. Extra cord may be needed for pegging points round the edge of the flysheet for this. Ordinary pegs can be buried like this too. Stamp down on the snow above the peg to harden it – they’ll freeze in place and you may need an ice axe to dig them out the next day. Ice axes, trekking poles, and skis can be used as pegs in snow too.

 5.   Securing gear

 

Before pitching the tent, ensure all other gear is in your pack and the lid is shut so it stays dry and doesn’t blow away. Tent stuffsacks should be pushed into garment or pack pockets to stop them being lost to the wind.

Final checks 

Before getting inside the tent check all pegging points are secure and tighten the guylines. In rain it’s worth getting out last thing before sleep to tighten everything again – some tent fabrics stretch when wet. If it’s snowy, knock any snow off the tent. In very heavy snow you may need to do this during the night too. 

7.     Keeping the inner dry

Fill up water containers and do any other outside chores before entering the tent. If your outer clothing is wet, strip this off in the porch. A small sitmat is useful for kneeling on to do this. The idea is to keep any damp gear out of the inner tent so it stays as dry as possible.