Basics to Camping Sleeping
			Sleeping: Sleeping.. sounds simple enough but if you don't do it right while camping you will pay the cost. Not getting enough sleep, waking up with a sore back or over-sleeping can all make a good camping trip go bad. I will let you in on a few basics for getting a good night sleep. Where to Sleep: Before setting up a place to sleep there are a few things you should do. I always double check where I am setting up my tent. Kick the leaves away and move the pine needles. You will want to make sure there are no rocks or roots where you plan to sleep. A root can keep you up all night and give ya a sore back in the morning. Also, make sure the ground is flat, rolling to one end of the tent is annoying. Your sleeping bag and the tent floor are very smooth so trust me, if the ground is not flat you will "slide" to a side of the tent. Do not sleep at the bottom of a hill if there is any chance it may rain. Setting up your tent to close to a stream or at the bottom of a hill can have you waking up to a flooded tent. A rain fly will keep you dry from the rain but if you get flooded then forget about it. If you do have to sleep where rain water will run past your tent then try digging a trench around the tent on the side where the water will be coming from. The dirt removed from the trench should be pilled next to it to create a little dam. Just remember to fix the trench in the morning. No impact camping!!!!! Let other people enjoy what you leave behind.
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				Making your Bed: Alot of people set up their camps too fast and give little thought to their bed until they have to lay in it. After you have set up a place to sleep on a flat surface with no rocks and no chance of being flooded its time to make your bed. A sleeping bag is nice but you may want to add some padding between you and the ground in order to be comfortable. Here you have several choices: inflatable mattresses, self inflating mattresses and different sleeping pads. Depending on how you got to your camping site will determine the best padding for under the sleeping bag. If you can drive right up to the camp site then you can bring anything you like but if you hiked three days in then you might want to go with a nice thin light sleeping pad. Another reason to use padding is because unless it is the middle of a summer the ground is going to be cold and you make your muscles stiff.
					Sleeping Bags: Sounds simple but just remember a few things. Sleeping bags are rated for different temperatures. Sleeping in a mummy style bag rated for 30 degrees on a summer night is not going to be comfy.. Take what you will need, I have several sleeping bags for my trips. I have a mummy style rated for 30+, next I have one rated for 50+ then I have a thin flannel only bag for late spring and early fall and last I have a thin almost nothing blanket for hot summer nights where you don t need anything. I hike a lot so I like to go as light as possible when possible.
						Tents: I hardly use tents because hammocks are so nice. At first I started to use a simple hammock with a tarp over it and a sleping bag. Now I have found a complete system for hammock camping. Its a hammock with insect netting and a rain fly. (check it out) Just because I like to sleep in a hammock doesn't mean you have to. Once again depending on how you travel to a camp site and who you are going with will determine which kind of tent to bring. There are several to choose from on the market so pick one right for you. Some parents like the tents with two rooms so they can keep the kids close. Other people like seperate tents so they can stay a little bit away from the kids and get some sleep. My family all slept in one tent when I was a kid and it sucked. The old man snored, so did my mom, and my brother and I stayed up all night telling fart jokes or what ever I did when I was five.
							In the Tent: Last but not least remember to have a few things in the tent. Always have a light in the tent but not food. If you are in the wild you may want to hang your food up in a tree away from your tent. Hang it far enough off the ground so nothing can reach it and far enough a tree branch for the same reason. Some areas will require you to lock food up in a bear safe container. You may want to have extra clothes in the tent if you think the temperature may fall duering the night. If you think it may rain then you better have your rain gear inside the tent. Depending on your situation you may want to keep toilet paper or any number sort of things in the tent. Before you sack out for the night just think of what you might need when you wake up. Food is not one of them, small critters sneaking around your tent will keep you up all night.