Bivouac
Sure, True_ George have been camping, doing it for many years during service as a member of the Army National Guard. The activity is not called camping, it is called “bivouac”
My first taste of bivouac came when on a hot and dry day at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri, the company was transported into a dirt field, and we were told to pair up with somebody and attach out shelter half (half of a pup tent) to the other person’s shelter half so that both halves can make a whole pup tent.
Once those two halves were connected, there was only enough room to lay side by side, with your head facing the other person’s feet. Making sure that your weapon, and web gear (pistol belt, attached ammo pouches and suspender like equipment carrier) is in between you and the other person.
Well, in a sense it was uneventful because everyone was kind of tired after a training day to do anything else but to prepare our personal equipment for the next day, and go to sleep.
Between terrorizing us, the Drill instructors made sure our meals were brought in to us, all we had to do is make sure that we practice personal hygiene. Easier said than done.
The Drill Instructors say that hot water is located at the edge of the camp, but at 4:00 am in the morning in Missouri, it was so dark that you cannot even see your hands in front of your face, let alone find the location of the water point.
Well, more then half of the company didn’t even bother to feel their way in the dark. For myself, I used to carry my teeth brush and soap around so that I can wash my arm pits, and crouch when I get the opportunity to do it during the training day.
Too bad many other members of the company never had the same idea. They didn’t even bother to brush their teeth, or wash the parts of the body that carries odor. You can imagine how some people’s breath smells like shit and some people body odor smelled like ass. All that in addition to being dirty cause there were no showers set up in the field. It was a relief when bivouac week was over.
Now, flash forward, in my National Guard unit, we always went out in the field, out in the woods no matter the weather.
Yes, True_George has spent time in a tent with no heat, during the cold, and when it snowed, or rained. No air condition or fan during the heat without bug repellant. In fact, what true_George doesn’t understand is why is it so dam cold in the woods during the height of summer.
Yeah, in the woods during the summer, the mornings is damp and cold, by high noon the sun is beaming its heat down, then at sundown the temperature drops so low, you have to transition from wearing a T-shirt to putting on a jacket. At some point it rains, and you can see the carbon monoxide every time you exhale. The cycle repeats the following day.
Speaking of rain, sometimes we enter the woods and we stay there maybe for two, three or even four weeks and it rains the entire time that we are there. I shit you not.
When it rains every day, the type of rain that you experience, is the one that is a light sprinkle. The kind of sprinkle that will soak you over time, it is never ending, it can go on for days, during the night and day. You need to be really careful because if you don’t take precautions of keeping your hands, feet and clothing dry, you will catch hyperthermia.
Yeah, we had trucks, some choose to sleep in the trucks, but it didn’t help them, cause the unit did not install a heater in the unit’s truck. So, you may end up being even colder because the truck’s metal make being inside the truck even colder.
Now sometimes you have the heavy rain. This type of rain does not last long. Only a couple of hours. Sometimes, heavy rain comes down so hard that you can take a bar of soap and wash yourself like you’re taking a shower. The rain is cold, but in places like Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, Texas, the rain is warm.
Sometimes with heavy rain, you may get a storm. Whether it comes with strong winds, lighting and thunder.
Camping out in the woods when lighting strikes, it is deadly. Its like the earth is spitting on the ground. With the lighting traveling in a circle. Striking the open field and artillery gun. If you’re ever in the woods and lighting strikes, stay within the tree line, and keep away from the artillery gun otherwise, you will be cooked goose.
The one thing that accompanies rain whether it is that light sprinkle that last for days on end, or the heavy rain that lasts for a few hours, its the mud.
The mud can be so thick that entire 5-ton trucks get stuck, or sink. Track vehicles may fair well in the mud, to a certain point. It the mud gets too thick; they too will get stuck. Where does that leave someone who has to sleep in a tent? I leave that to your imagination.
The one thing that I hated about bivouac is that if you need to do a number 2 nature walk, we had to dig a hole and squat. The army wouldn’t even issue each person a roll of toilet paper. I made sure to have at least three rolls of toilet paper. Like a good Non-Commissioned Officer, one roll was reserved for any one of my charges who needed it. The other was in reserve in case we run out. The third one was mine, hidden away, so when the other two rolls were finished, I’m not without. After all the toilet paper was an important commodity.
Oh yeah above all that I hated, was the day when we finished our bivouac, the nasty weather turns into good weather. It’s like nature was laughing at us giving us the worse when we are there, then celebrating our departure saying, “see you suckers.”
Apart from that I cannot fathom, why anyone would spend a vacation out in the woods camping? I would not spend any more time in a tent, in the woods even if you paid me to do it. Cause, I’ve been there and done that already.
Psych Ward Chronicles II: The Support House Shenanigans
$15.00
Wasn’t Meant to Be: 4 Sagas of toxic romance
$15.00
Psych Ward Chronciles
$10.00
Night Watch
$10.00
M.A.G.A
E-Book
$3.00
True_George 
I think camping is generally something you don’t mind doing when you’re really young but, after that, you like your home comforts too much. I don’t camp at all unless I have no choice. But I do sleep in my cars (and yes it is probably colder but at least you’re locked in and the wind can’t blow it down in the night). I also go what we call ‘bothying’ by choice – that is much better as it is an old, unoccupied building (which used to be a small one or 2 roomed house) out in the wilds but generally has a fire place with a cord above to dry your wet clothes from the day spent in the mountains. You can also walk around and cook properly. You still have to go outside with a shovel come the time though… Even though there is no running water in the bothy, I always go out to the beck (stream), get a container of water and have a soap and water wash of any bits which would sweat or smell! Lots of people don’t bother as they only know how to shower nowadays I think!
Our weather is generally what you describe in your bad weather section most of the time so this country doesn’t really lend itself to camping – not up north anyway!
LikeLike
I heard people going camping and bring with them propane power stoves, heater, and generated lights. They claim they are roughing it but run to the nearest hotel when the weather gets bad, make me laugh.
So you have those “bothy” buildings, are they big, or old buildings to explore. If they look ir are creepy inside it could inspire writing a ghost story…
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are plenty of ghostly happenings in bothies. They’re generally small stone-built buildings out in the wilds which were used by shepherds to live in. Usually about 100 years old or more, one or two rooms but occasionally there is an upstairs too. No furniture, just the shell of the building and the interior walls and the upstairs flooring – you just put you sleeping mats on the floor, then your bag and sleep like that. The downstairs have often since had a wooden sleeping platform for everyone to sleep on rather than them sleeping on what would otherwise be an earth floor downstairs (or concrete). Many have a fireplace – I generally don’t go to bothies which don’t, especially in winter!
LikeLike