Tent vs Swag for Camping

This is personal choice. If you feel you need the comfort of a big 2 or 3 bedroom tent, go for it. I prefer one of those small domes with the fibreglass poles. That way I can spend less time fighting with nylon and steel and more time opening stubbies.

A bush swag is good for an overnight stop but a tent beats it for privacy and protection from mosquitoes. If you drop the nylon poles out of it, fold it over your bed and roll it up, you will have a neat waterproof bundle the same size as a normal swag to stow away.

When you arrive at camp, undo the straps, roll it out, put the poles in and you will be set up in less than 5 minutes. Don’t even bother pegging it down. It will stay there in some fairly strong winds.

In saying that, there are other camp-shifting hazards.

A few “mates” and I were camped at Cadney Park Homestead after a few days out bush. I whipped up my dome and was in the bar, long before the others.

Curiosity got the better of me when I heard a second road train sounding its horn. I looked out the window to see the third trailer of a road train making its way slowly past a small blue tent. It looked as if it had been set up in the middle of the roadhouse driveway.

Racing outside, I pretended to ignore the applause and horn blowing as I sheepishly dragged MY TENT out of the way of a third road train and back into the park where I had originally set it up. Of course when I returned to my drink at the bar my “mates” knew nothing of the migrating dome.

What if it rains while you are camping outback? The best advice is to pack up and head for a sealed road. Unless you want to spend some time in the one place waiting for the country to dry out. This will be a good chance to break your camping trip in a nice comfortable motel room. On the other hand if you have taken my advice and not overloaded the station wagon with the kitchen sink and the sewing table, you can unload it enough to throw your bed in the back. Then you can see out the roughest thunderstorm.

My dog and I had to do this one night. I was camped at the beautiful sandy Tookaninna Waterhole on a graves research trip. A summer thunderstorm came up suddenly and mt camp was blown flat. I eventually found my way out of it and was opening the back doors of the Toyota when I heard a dog barking.

I looked around to see the tent, my bed and the dog rolling along the sandy bank of the waterhole. I retrieved them all and spent the night in a wet bed in the Toyota. At the camp the following night the dog took one look at the lopsided dome and curled up underneath the Toyota.

Apart from thunderstorms, which happen mainly in the summer, and dodgy camping associates, there are relatively few camping hazards.

From camping in a tent to picking a campsite