"If you have so much rain that mud and water starts to run under your tent, here's what to do:
* Go to a DIY store and buy a length of waste pipe that plumbers use under sinks to take waste water out of the building. It needs to be slightly longer than the entrance to your tent.
* Cut a channel in front of your tent entrance to accept the pipe -
o half the diameter of the pipe in depth
o running parallel to, and a couple of feet away from, the entrance to your tent
o take care not to obstruct either end of the pipe - the water has to be able to flow through
o do not stand on the pipe as you walk to and from your tent
* Dig a narrow channel (about a foot deep), starting at one end of the pipe, continuing all the way around your tent, and finishing at the other end of the pipe. The result should resemble a moat around your tent!
You now have a simple drainage system to take the rainwater away from your tent."
And one very upset campsite owner !
Taken from the link in the post above.
Hang on a minute while I fetch the Yurt (how cumbersome are these to carry around I could do with a bigger car) and evict the cat off the sheepskin rugs from the bedroom!
It is actually interesting reading this. Different style of camping to what most of us are used to i'm sure. This guy has a good excuse for drinking vodka too!! OK then put your hands up who does'nt bother brushing their teeth when your'e camping, I'll know next time I smell vodka on your breath that you're not really drinking it you're using it as mouthwash!
Where does he go camping? Don't fancy the communal showers myself.
I`ve been to many cycling rallies based in places like rugby clubs where showers have been communal. Actually, it`s a lot easier if you`ve got small kids with you, especially if there`s one of these big communal pool affairs!
I went to one rally in Brittany based in a local community sports ground where the showers were a row of open air tin cubicles, with a slatted grid to stand on over a long concrete drainage channel. If you dropped the soap you were in trouble! Sinks and toothbrushing were under a long open-air lean to. The toilet cubicles were a row of tin sheds too, except they had lights. There was a very French p*ssior for the men as well...no walls, just tacked on the side of an outbuilding! It was all kept spotlessly clean, btw, and the community buzz was great.
I am NOT keen on portaloos for a whole week however...been there, done that. Yuck.
And I`ve dug at least one drainage channel to stop a tent flooding. You don`t need fancy pipes to do it, btw...just an angled channel dug uphill from you to direct the ground run-off away from the tent. I dunno...young campers today! Don`t they teach you anything at Guides and scouts????????
I think the great thing about camping is that there is room for all sorts This guy is just someone who goes to various kinds of alternative camp - he talks about attending festivals and workshops, and the stuff he is into is clearly based on eco-friendly ideas ( compost loos etc).
And within traveller and new age- influenced communities there have always been traditions of outdoor living drawing on simple technologies from all around the globe. Yurts are great and very comfy - a few folks I know have them ( including one friend who lived in one for 6 months whilst he did his house up!) And surely there can be nothing more satisfying than being able to build your own shelter from scratch - fair play to him!
OK it might not be your particular kind of camping, but each to their own - he is just sharing his experience for like-minded folks to benefit from. Isn't that what we see ourselves as doing on here?