After returning from my wife's first trip to the BWCA, I have been tossing around ideas about how to get camp torn down faster and easier.

Being her first trip, we base camped on Brule because I didn't want to push her too hard and I wanted her first experience to be a positive one. Mission one accomplished.

While there I thought to myself, how can I make this easier for both of us next year so we can move around some? Mission two in the planning stage.

We have a Nemo Losi 3p and two Warbonnet hammocks. We took the two hammocks with us on this trip, along with two hexagonal tarps for the hammocks. Additionally, we hung a 12x12 over the kitchen area. Hanging gravity water system, cookware, flex lite chairs, food, etc.

It seems to me, the only real way to cut down on time would be to change from the hammocks to the tent and forego a tarp for the kitchen. Fewer ropes to deal with by far! We don't hang our food so there is no bothering with that. I don't like the idea of our only dry space being the two vestibules on the tent which are extremely small.

What's your secret to a fast camp setup and tear-down?

I find it helpful to organize our packs by "zone". Everything for tent, sleeping, clothes, etc. is in one pack. We drop it by tent pad - our highest campsite priority. Another pack is all food and .misc stuff. Third is "camp" pack, with kitchen gear, tarp, water, tp, tarp, and misc. It gets dropped by campfire or wherever we will set kitchen. We only set tarp if it looks like rain (or snow). Lots of stuff sacks and keeping things put away. It seems to go fast.

No real secret here....just experience and everyone knowing how to do every job so something isn't waiting on a certain person to get that item done.

We typically have a tent and tarp setup. The stuff inside the tent (pad, sleeping bag, etc) and then tent itself are the first things to get packed up. Then everything is re-packed into the packs and tarp is taken down and put near the top of one of the packs (since it's often first thing up if chances of rain are good)

Other than that....we're never really in a hurry or rushed. Just focused on the tasks at hand to keep getting things packed up. It goes pretty quick after you've done it a few times

+1 on zone based packing and experience establishes a routine.
Secure a hair band to the tie outs on the tarp, figure eight wrap the lines and double wrap the hair band to secure the line to the tie out loop. Tie out lines do not tangle and that can save time and lots of hassle.
Snake skins for hammock and tarp may not save much time, but sure make rigging and tear down nice.
I have looked at set up and tear down as a challenge, faster or tweak this to make it "better". Part of me still does, but mostly it is part of the total experience and unless I have some good reason to hurry I usually set up the hammock and tarp then wander around awhile thinking about how I will fit into the campsite. The camp chair gets set up and tested out. Then I might get wood or fix a hot beverage while setting up the kitchen. Each segment has its routine, and overall faster is not a concern. Easier, now that sounds interesting...see tips above.

PS I was also on Brule late the 19th and paddled to No Temperance the 20th. Came out the 22nd. Brule was packed the 19th. Great weather and colors.

I don't think I'd forego the kitchen tarp for time. It can give you a lot of time at other times when you would be miserable in the rain...

I'm never in a hurry. I want to spend as much time there as possible. It's all about organization and organizing gear before I go in to 1) might be nice to have, 2) would be very nice to have, and 3) must have. Category #1 get nixed. For the stuff I take with I have a dozen or more various sized CCS organizer bags. I made some identification tags out of colored paper and paracord (like luggage tags) and laminated the tags. I ran printed the labels on my printer. All the bags with green tags go in one pack, the orange in another, the blue in one, purple in one, the yellow in the food pack, and the red ones are first aid or ditch kits. The labels give a general description of what's in the bag and my tripping partners have the system down also - i.e. kitchen, shelter, campsite, sleeping, tarps & ropes, campfire, lighting, fishing, etc. Msst everything gets put into the correct pack each night and placed under the tarp to stay dry. I make it as easy as possible in the event we have to pack up and head out in case of an emergency. I also have a tag just inside each pack with my name, address, email, and phone # on it in the event it gets left behind or someone else accidentally grabs it at a portage.

As we've been married and camping together for 30 plus years, we have pretty much fine tuned our set set up and take down routine. In other words, we are set in our ways!

If I'm in the tent stuffing my sleeping bag etc, then he's putting the stoves, water filter etc together. When he's in the tent I count dishes and put kitchen stuff away. As the stuff sacks are filled they are placed next to the backpack they will go in. We each always carry the same items so we don't have to wonder who has what -he always takes the ropes, saw, hatchet, fuel. I always get the the stove, first aid, tent, Tp. We use 2 backpacking packs, so everything gets packed the same way every time- after all you pretty much pack the same stuff for a 2, 5, or 7 day trip. I'm not sure our take down is really fast, but it is smooth and fairly efficient.

I don't know about secrets. Organization is key. I always put all the stuff sacks for things like chairs, water filter, tarp, etc in one specific pack, so I don't have to hunt for them. I do the dishes first, so I can pack up the cooking stuff and the food pack, filter some water for the day, and just start putting stuff away. My wife packs up the tent while take care of the kitchen and the gear.

I don't spend a lot of time on the tarp. I grab it by the center, stuff it in the stuff sack, and all the ropes just get wadded together and stuffed last. I don't have trouble with tangling. I get worse tangles by winding up the ropes.

I use bear ropes, and I wind that up just like you would wind up a ball of yarn, pulley and all. When I pull it out I just give it a toss holding on the the end and it unwinds by itself.

4keys: "As we've been married and camping together for 30 plus years, we have pretty much fine tuned our set set up and take down routine. In other words, we are set in our ways! "

+1 here. A routine is key. Divide and conquer. You will quickly find a pattern that works best and has you both finishing about the same time. Try to set up everything so only one person is needed to tear it down. Have FUN!

I agree with zone packing even if I have never called it that. But we do have a inside the tent pack for clothes, sleeping bags, and pads. And then a food, kitchen gear, tarp, and tent pack.

We tend to do a mix of moving days and sitting in place days. If we want to make an early start then we try to pack as much as possible the night before and skip a hot breakfast that morning. Some water and fig newtons and we can be on our way. That means we can pack up almost all of the gear the night before.

But to be honest, we’re not really fast at this stuff most of the time.

I'm a tent camper so I can't speak to your hammocks, but I don't think I'd get rid of the kitchen tarp either. That is an investment in your happiness and comfort on a wet/windy day. My tarp is pre-rigged with all the lines I need for fast setup and teardown. I have about 20' of line permanently tied to each corner with a bowline knot. Each line is stored using this guy's method: No Tangle Method. I have never had a tangled line since I switched to this storage approach. For fast setup, be sure you know your trucker's hitch (Dan Cooke's instructions for the knot are here ).

I do keep some extra line and stakes in my tarp's stuff sack in case they are needed to complete a setup at a particularly challenging site.

With that plan in place, setting up and tearing down a tarp should be 10 minutes or less once you are comfortable with it.

Some great ideas here. Organization is certainly the key, and some of the ideas for ropes will get a second look. However, there is just a certain amount of "unpacking/setup/repacking" time baked in to every stop.

However, the real time savings for us came when we decided to look into a way to forego "cooking" breakfast. At first, we played with the idea of eating lunch for breakfast. Peanut butter and jelly or sausage and cheese go well. But then we found we didn't want to stop to cook for lunch either. So we came up with other no cook options for breakfast. Breakfast cookies, instant oatmeal, cliff bars, etc. We still had hot beverages, but just didn't want the clean up associated with say pancakes or scrambled eggs. Boil water, eat while you pack other things, and go. Very little clean up, etc. This saved us a lot of time getting out of camp in the morning. It gets us on the water much sooner.

I am not an overnight hammock sleeper but I have always thought; if you hang your hammock tarp just a touch higher you could sit under it in case of rain. I usually bring a hammock for napping. I can usually pull it across "kitchen" area when needed. I never try and hang a tarp over fire grate.

If you are looking at making things easier for set up and tear down, I would choose between tent camping and hammock camping. Having both a tent and hammocks is unnecessarily redundant. Regardless of which you choose, I would definitely keep the community/kitchen tarp for reasons already stated. Have the tarp pre-rigged with cordage and packed in a manner that allows quick deployment and packing. This and proficiency in the few knots required to hang the tarp will speed things up immensely.
For me, setting up the community tarp and hanging my hammock & fly is a thoroughly enjoyable activity and integral to the whole BWCAW camping experience.

unshavenman: "If you are looking at making things easier for set up and tear down, I would choose between tent camping and hammock camping.

I agree.

There have been many other good suggestions already. Should you decide to skip the tent and just use hammocks - you can save a lot of time by using sleeve for you hammock much like the sleeve(aka snake skins) used for hammock tarps.
The benefit is you can leave everything(underquilt, top quilt, pillow, sleeping clothes,etc...) you need right where it belongs and just slide the sleeve over the hammock while it's suspended. Then just unhook the hammock/sleeve from the suspension, suspension from trees and stuff it all in your pack.
I use a similar approach with a big "bishop bag" and I can setup my hammock/tarp in a few minutes.
The longest part usually occurs "testing" the hang... I tend to linger horizontally longer than necessary. :)

Something that Northwoods alluded to: The fewer things you take, the easier it is to organize and repack. Organization is important . . . and staying organized is too. Stuff sacks are good for organizing, and putting stuff away when you're done with it helps. If you use the gear repair or first aid, put it away when you're done. Do everything that you can the night before - filter water and put the filter away, pack up the clothes you won't wear, put away kitchen items you won't use, etc.

Like Bill, I only set my tarp up if I need to, but also take it down the night before if not needed. Pre-rigging the tarp makes setup and takedown much quicker. I use the ridgeline setup on my tarp - lots of information here if you search that.

I also have a very simple breakfast as mentioned - coffee and cold cereal. There's really nothing much to clean up and pack.

As mentioned but to keep it brief-

Defined packs- Sleeping gear, Cooking gear, fishing gear

Tarp- hair bungees tied into loop on tarp and quick figure-8 loop around thumb and pinky

Before buying more gear, ask yourself- will I actually carry this with? Does it overlap the function of something else? Everyone has their own opinions of must haves and luxuries. I wouldn't ever forgo a tarp- I'm tempting to take two. First thing that gets set and last thing that gets taken down.

Stuff sacks. Everything gets a sack. Sacks go in the pack. Nothing loose and for the most part keep things in their sacks in camp.

When it's time to go, stuff the sleeping bag and pad, pack the tent. Clothes sack, kitchen sack, and food sack go on top, and I'm on the water.

When I'm solo I can make it from up to on the water in ten minutes if I want to. I assume having a wife or kids along would change this, can't help you there.

This system works for anyone who can make themselves organize things before sleeping.

Great replies so far and surprising. Thank you so much. I have always tended to pack the most important things on the top of the pack like raincoats, stakes, rope, tarps, and left other stuff way down inside. I get the camp divide type of thing and I think that can help.

I have been on some pretty hefty treks up there but it was always when I was much younger and the packing decisions were being made by someone else. Since then I've pretty much base camped and have gotten used to it. I was semi-relieved when most said that it's not a quick operation. That's something that I thought I was missing and wasn't able to figure out.

So what are we talking for packs? Currently only have backpacking packs which I hate because they don't sit low in the canoe. I'm in the market for some real packs. So one big 120ltr-ish for sleeping, one smaller 3.5ish for camp and a school backpack type size for misc?

I have all of my ropes sectioned off into 20' and 10' lengths looped on each end so I can "daisy chain" if needed. When I went that route, it never occurred to me to leave one rope on each tie down point for tarps. That would save a lot of time.

Also forgot to mention that I have stuff sacks coming out my ears. I've made about 15 on my own but also can recycle stuff sacks like my sleeping bag because it gets squished down a lot better in a waterproof compression bag.

Pack less stuff. We always take and setup a kitchen fly. In fact, it’s the first thing up at camp and the last thing down when leaving. We’re single portages so we only have two packs. My biggest suggestion.......make a VERY detailed list of eveything your currently packing and the exact weights of each on day 1. For us to single portage we cannot have more than 115# of pack weight total including the packs themselves. For us the 115# lincludes ALOT of fishing gear so this number could easily be reduced substantially if you don’t fish a lot.
The reason I point this out is others have highlighted organization, however, organizing and packing less gear is way faster than some of the garage sales We’ve seen at portages. I sure wouldn’t want to pack and unpack all that unnecessary gear.

BnD: "Pack less stuff. We always take and setup a kitchen fly. In fact, it’s the first thing up at camp and the last thing down when leaving. We’re single portages so we only have two packs. My biggest suggestion.......make a VERY detailed list of eveything your currently packing and the exact weights of each on day 1. For us to single portage we cannot have more than 115# of pack weight total including the packs themselves. For us the 115# lincludes ALOT of fishing gear so this number could easily be reduced substantially if you don’t fish a lot.
The reason I point this out is others have highlighted organization, however, organizing and packing less gear is way faster than some of the garage sales We’ve seen at portages. I sure wouldn’t want to pack and unpack all that unnecessary gear."

I get where you are coming from and yes, if I had to do a hard look at stuff I don't need and I was new to this, I'd say that's sound advice. Thank you for pointing that out just in case someone else comes along looking for advice. Seriously. That said, I think we've trimmed to our comfort level. It's always a trade off of course but I don't think any more than 1-2 of our extras are time consuming.

I'm not looking to single portage and never have been. 1 1/2 might be nice if I could get my wife down to one trip. Pretty sure she'd agree to that. :)

We started doing that sort of 1.5. It makes life easier for me too because only my big pack gets put on the ground. At the far end of the portage the canoe goes into the water and her pack goes into it and then she watches it while I go back for my pack. She can move it out of the way if another group comes by and so we aren't blocking the end. I think this works really well for us.

andym: "We started doing that sort of 1.5. It makes life easier for me too because only my big pack gets put on the ground. At the far end of the portage the canoe goes into the water and her pack goes into it and then she watches it while I go back for my pack. She can move it out of the way if another group comes by and so we aren't blocking the end. I think this works really well for us."

That sounds like a nice system. I'm pretty sure we should be able to do close to the same but we are definitely going to need to replace our hiking packs with portage packs.

okinaw55: "

andym: "We started doing that sort of 1.5. It makes life easier for me too because only my big pack gets put on the ground. At the far end of the portage the canoe goes into the water and her pack goes into it and then she watches it while I go back for my pack. She can move it out of the way if another group comes by and so we aren't blocking the end. I think this works really well for us."

That sounds like a nice system. I'm pretty sure we should be able to do close to the same but we are definitely going to need to replace our hiking packs with portage packs.
"

My old paddle partner and I used to 1.5 portage, but a bit different than Andym says. She would take off with one pack and I’d carry the other about 1/3 to 1/2 the way and drop it in the trail, then go back for the canoe. We would end up at the far end at just about the same time. Passed lots of other groups this way.

I too am always trying to find ways toSet up and take down faster, especially with my solo trips. I don’t think there are a lot of secrets - just minor improvements. I do use the separate bags approach - one bag with the tent and everything that goes in it, and one pag with the tarp and everything that goes there. I used to waste time walking back and forth. Love my CCS packs for this.

I think I also saved a lot of time when I rigged my tarp for a ridgeline set up. The tarp is always on top of the “camp” bag and the first thing up/last thing down. The ridgeline and tie out ropes all stay on and are figure -eight bundled and tied to prevent tangles. I think I can get it up in less than 2 minutes when rain if falling, though I might tweak it for a while after all else is done. I also almost always tie a slip-taughtline hitch for the tie outs. It’s like a regular taughtline hitch but with the tail end inserted back through so it can be untied with just one hand in just a second. I think this saves me a lot of time in the end, and stuffing my tarp as I undo the ridgeline also saves time and mess over folding and rolling like I used to do.

I would absolutely bring the tarp. That's a "must have" item for me. I usually try to organize the camp the night before leaving. I pack away all kitchen stuff except for what I'll need in the morning. If I won't be fishing in the morning, I'll break down the rods and get tackle put away in packs, etc.

A little different take here. While you are setting up or taking down, just keep at an even keel pace. If you really want to speed up your exit from a camp site, consider getting up earlier by anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. With the predawn light, you can break camp and be on your way by sun up. The first portages after that will be open unless you are traveling far on the first or second lake. This approach gives you the option of a long day to travel and still settle into a camp by mid afternoon. There is less of an advantage in early May or Mid September due to shorter days.

I do a little staging the night before. Organize gear into piles with their pack draped over top. Just get it organized and ready to roll in morning. At wake up, while coffee water boils, I take down the tarp and wrap up cordage. Before I even leave the tent, I pop the valve on sleeping mat, pack my clothes stuff sack and sleeping bag and pad. All those items get pitched out the door if not raining so that after breakfast, the tent is ready to take down and pack. You get into a routine.....things get done quick but it doesn't feel like a rush.

If you're looking to cut down time I would take your next trip and do things much the same as you did this last trip. However, next time pay special attention to the time it takes to do the various set up and tear down tasks.

How long does it take to set up hammocks?
How long does it take to tear down hammocks?
How long does it take to set up the tarp?
How long does it take to tear down the tarp?
How long does it take to get the gear unpacked and to the needed location?
How long does it take to get all the gear back into the packs?
Are there certain parts of any tasks that seems to be the major time suck?

Rarely is there one single change that will end up saving a ton of time. If there was one thing that was taking up all your time you'd have probably already figured out a better way by now. Instead the time is consumed in small increments in each step of the process. Not a big deal if looked at individually but when combined they can add up to a lot.

I think as you pay more attention to the time involved in each task you'll start to see where you'll be able to make things easier and save time. Likely it won't be that you're changing gear or electing to not set up something like the tarp but you'll probably start learning faster/easier ways of doing the same things you're doing now and ways to be more efficient in your motions.

Also as you take more trips with your wife and refine your set up you'll both begin to be a well oiled machine. You'll both know the fastest system and you'll both be able to just dig in and get the work done without thinking or wondering what the other person is doing.

Not sure what the rush is.... but, I would do as much packing and prep ahead of time. Pack and organize the night before.

Try sleeping in the canoe?

Our group was 6 men in hammocks. It took all of 5 minutes for each of the men to set up their hammocks. We group them in the same area, then suspend a large group tarp over the entire area to we can cook and gather in the same area that the hammocks are in. In short, one hammock per guy (5 minute set up), two large group tarps covering them all, then set up the camp kitchen in the middle of it all and we are done.

Lots of good suggestions. Taking less is my favorite!

On the shelter setup time aspect, I have found that especially for my hammock and hammock tarp, getting it just right is important, and in the early days it took me 20+ minutes of fiddling and adjusting, testing, more fiddling, etc.

Over several weekends this summer I would take a break from other tasks, and would set it up and tear it down, 3, 5, 8 times per day, in new trees each time. Practice really helped my judgement on eyeballing distances, tensions, heights, etc. and I am sure I cut my average setup time in half.

Of course, then I was the moth to the hammock's flame, and many a nap was had during those 'practice' weekends.

I really love all the feedback and suggestions !

I think what I'm leaning to is what most have suggested. Organize. There was talk of a lot of stuff sacks. I have a bunch I have made but then thinking about the subject here it hit me, dedicated color stuff sacks for each zone that you guys have been discussing. I think that would work well.

All above good ideas.
For my tent, when I get up, I start packing everything into their respective stuff sack (water resistant). Once a stuff sack is full, I toss it out of the tent and go to the next one. When all is removed from the tent, I tear down the tent.

These were learned while a scoutmaster: four BWCA and two Philmont trips. All changed campsites on a daily basis.

I do like TechnoScout; I actually keep the stuff sacks for that stuff - bag, pad, clothes, tent - in the tent with me. I've also found it's important to keep it organized in camp as much as possible and not spread all over the place.

TechnoScout: "All above good ideas.
For my tent, when I get up, I start packing everything into their respective stuff sack (water resistant). Once a stuff sack is full, I toss it out of the tent and go to the next one. When all is removed from the tent, I tear down the tent.


These were learned while a scoutmaster: four BWCA and two Philmont trips. All changed campsites on a daily basis."

Nice. I spent a week at Philmont as a teen. Was a very nice (and HOT) week. I still have the unused patch I bought there.

I switched from hanging a food pack to using the Ursack system. I no longer spend time evaluating a potential site based on the availability of good hanging trees. I also don’t spend time hanging the pack once I choose a site. As a bonus, I bring less cord, and no longer worry about whether my hang is sufficient to deter the bears. Of course, take down is also a snap.