My top 15 tips for Stealth Camping

'Leave no trace' is right. Pi55es me off when people drop their shit everywhere along the beautiful countryside. Good vid.

Hands down the most informative video about stealth camping that I have seen yet,I go to our local regional park to spend a night when things are rough at the house and it took me a whole summer to figure out how to do all the things that you have shared with us ,before I even knew that it was stealth camping basically I learned the hard way.

Besides brightness on a device: turn it to "dark mode" making all your backgrounds black. Red LEDs are better, but the most urgent aspect of light discipline is to never point any light, red or no, to your x axis. Look straight ahead of you - never point a light that way. You can see even a low powered red LED for miles at night under good conditions. Keep your lights pointed straight down, read maps laying down, and never sway or move the light source while using it if possible. Throw a jacket over you while you do it, even better. Multiple people can circle their shelters in a "formation" which blocks visibility and some sound.

Learned some brand new tips on light and noise discipline. TY

Deer managers are trackers and they will notice you and find you, I cover several thousand acres, and even then the slightest thing out of place stands out like a beacon. Even the disturbed pattern of behaviour from wild life, like absent birds or bird noise. Mammals in unusual places at odd times e.t.c. It is fascinating to truly know and be passive in your environment, as a visitor you will have no concept of the familiarity of those who work the land, talk to them it is very rewarding with humility and a little charm.

Haha! That critter nearly ran over you, mate! I almost burst out laughing! Best scene! As always: thumbs up!

Carrying Secateurs is sensible - they are invaluable for tackling brambles.

Good points all. I've in effect stealth camped for many years, because I just prefer not being seen. Good for a bit of 'impromptu' fishing too. This is likely to become increasingly important as we get regulated off the hills and other wild places. One tip of my own I would add - if you're somewhere a bit iffy, don't cook at camp, period. Do your site recce, then eat offsite before setting up, and pack away your camp completely before cooking that breakfast/coffee somewhere else. You rightly focus on visual and aural 'signature', but there's smell too! Your Pocket Rocket sounds like a blowtorch, btw (I used to use one) - a simple meths burner is silent and if you sit it inside a cone there's no visible flame either. Leaving No Trace is of course paramount, but (and I know this isn't popular) I wonder whether that should include leaving no digital trace as well? There are so many wildcamping videos out there of a type which simply hand the enemy evidence on a plate.

Stealth camping we always called a cold camp, as in we didn't have a fire going. Where I live there's an abundance of places you can get your basha up and a fire going. From the coast inwards it just gets wilder. So I'm very fortunate.

I've often thought having secateurs are useful camping tool. Glad someone else has thought of it!

Great video. I suspect many watching this already know but you can also get watch bands and covers the reflective face. Alternatively, you can just wear the watch on the inside of your wrist.

Spring Hare dude, hey have nearly 360° panoramic vision, allowing them to detect predators from all directions. They can see everything behind them and only have a small blind-spot in front of their nose. Seems that blind spot was effecting that Jack. They are normally shy animals, hares change their behaviour in spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around.👌🏻

Hi. Great vid. I’m always off walking around our local woods, looking for places to set up for the night. Fallen trees like the one you are sat on are great, with a tarp over one side, like ‘half a tent’. Going back to noise, and being silent… one thing that some people can’t control, is SNORING, when they are asleep. Big giveaway! I wonder how many people have been found, because of it? All the best.👍🏾🇬🇧

Thanks, I’m going to try stealth camp for as long as possible to stay off grid and save money. Trying to stay as mobile as possible I’ll be paying my mate £10 a week for clothes storage pay gym membership £39.99 for mainly showers. For every month I stealth camp works out around £900 in savings. I start work at 6am anyway so I’ll be packed and long gone before anyone even wakes up and every time I finish work I’ll be at my new location

I love how modest Tom is. “I’m no expert” he says. Typical British military attitude. I’m a former bootneck but even I’d have to accept that the para reg pathfinders are the ‘experts’. Credit where it’s due. Let’s see who wins the rugby at a Exmouth though…….. ATB.

what i usually do in an unfamiliar area, is just stop and sit for 10 or 15 minutes, then once camp is set up ... i move out 20m, 30m, 50m (depending on the ground) and just walk around my camp, just to see if its visible. ... i once set up behind a screen of bushes hidden from view of a track, only to discover a small footpath running parallel 20m to my rear which had a steady stream of dog walkers on it, (so lesson learnt)

Here in South Africa, outside of a properly fenced in 'legal' campsite, you need to be VERY careful. There are some people you DO NOT want stumbling upon your camp - even less if you are 67 and female. I live in a nicely fenced farm garden and anywhere within hiking distance belongs to the people who own the garden. But that means nothing. So, videos like this are of extreme interest to me.

I’ve watched this one must be four or five times now, excellent information and presented well. You knows your onions friend 👍🏻

A tip I got from a COP bloke was to carry light green string so you can tie back foliage to make a space / access etc without having to cut anything. Probably overkill, unless you are in a South Armagh field. Good video as ever Tom

Quick thought: there are some brands & models of sleeping bags or sleep systems which incorporate the sleeping pad INTO the bottom of the bag. (This fact might be relevant when talking about keeping the pad inside of the bivvy bag.)