Site Preparation When Setting Up Your Swag

When you arrive at your camping spot and it’s time to find a good place to setup your swag, there are a few things to watch out for. One of the most dangerous things for a camper in the Australian bush is the very thing that we all go to enjoy, the trees. Every year especially in hot weather large limbs break and fall off the various types of trees you find in our great bushland. So that is the most important thing you should be looking for, a place to set up your swag away from large trees and over hanging branches. Most people get caught out camping under these trees because they look like such inviting places to camp with all the shade that they cast, but please don’t fall for it! Each year people get seriously injured and killed by falling branches.

The next thing to keep in mind is the slope of the ground, even though it may seem level it rarely is. Once you have determined which way the slope falls, set the swag up with your head end to the uphill slope so you will be more comfortable. Otherwise your blood runs to your head or you roll down the hill against the side of the swag if you set up in any other direction, this will certainly give you an uncomfortable night’s sleep!!

Another important factor to setting up your swag is to look for where the water will run if it decides to rain, or if there is a depression in the ground where you want to set up as the water may pool where you have picked to erect your swag. You don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night to find water in your swag, when a quick check before you set the swag up can prevent it. In most cases a swag leaks because the water runs down under or against the swag and slowly seeps through the canvas walls. A small trench dug around three sides of your swag on the uphill side will help divert the water around the swag.

Make sure you clear the area around where you are going to pitch your swag. Be sure to check the ground for sticks and rocks that could pierce the bottom of the swag, and would also make your night’s sleep very uncomfortable. Also check for any overhanging branches of smaller trees, these branches can drip sticky sap onto your swag and birds also like to sit on these branches and poo on your swag.

The few tips mentioned here are common sense and will help keep you safe, comfortable, dry and your swag in good condition. From all my years of travelling with different groups of people I have observed one more and pretty vital tip; be sure to set up your swag completely with all linen, ready for sleeping in before you open your first beer. A swag is a very simple thing to set up yet I have observed with great humour numerous amounts of blokes that try to set their swag up after drinking a few too many cans and usually end up sleeping on top of the swag in a crumpled heap, they regularly wake up wet and cold wishing they had set their swag up before they opened their first can!