Aye the issue of choosing your pitch has a number of factors; the main ones are shelter from the wind, slope direction and water-logging.
If your bedrooms are such that you can only sleep one way in them, then you need to pay attention to any slope and what direction it goes in as you don't want to be rolling off your bed all night, and having feet higher than head can give you problems too (I wake up with my head feeling like it is blocked with concrete as I am prone to sinus problems).
Pitching under trees may give some shelter but will increase the amount of bird poo and sap dribbles on your tent, which are difficult to remove and could shorten the life of the fabric. Pitching near to but not right under trees gives you the benefit of the shelter from wind without the overhead shower of sh*te! However, midges and mozzies will also congregate there, because they also want to be out of the wind. The only solution is to get some good repellant to spray on (on you, not them). Most peeps on here swear by Avon Skin So Soft, and it is allegedly preferred by the Armed Forces too. Tents with mesh doors are also a good idea and this has always been a priroity for me when choosing a tent.
The direction of the wind is something to note too: you don't want the long side of your tent to be presented to a prevailing wind if at all possible. You should aim to present the smallest profile to the wind. This is what the expression "pitching into the wind" means. Of course on an exposed site the wind may shift every day but do try to spot if the tress/shrubs seem to grow in a particular direction as that will give a clue about the most common wind direction. If at all possible you would not want your door to be opening into the wind either, which is one reason why bigger tents offer more than one exit.
And as others have said, avoid low lying pitches as these are more prone to becoming water logged in heavy rain. Finally, when choosing your pitch also walk over it looking for any sharp stones or sudden dips that could damage the tent or be a tripping hazard as you walk around inside.
There are always some tensions between these different factors (e.g. the slope suggests pitching one way and the wind direction suggests another) so sometimes you have to decide which is the most important priority.
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Topic: First Camping session
, although I opted to pitch near trees as I believed it was going to be very windy on the Friday night (which it certainly was, woken at 4am heavy rain and severe winds !) Hubby went out and checked all pegging etc and all was well.
Thank you All!
