Hi. Want to go solo camping on dartmoor just need advise to re insure my self

Yo, I am 20 years old and wanting to go wild camping on my own as no one ever wants to go with me. lol. Been into camping since a young age from about the age of 10 - 11. Been camping way over 30 times with friends in tawstock woods near barnstaple which was awesome but when I get the erge to camp I really want to go but can't because everyone is too busy. So for a few years now I've been wanting to solo camp. Now I live next to dartmoor I would like to go on dartmoor but never really explored there and am worried to what can happen eg: being murdered or coming across angry animals, I think im just being silly Im just worried lol. I love the thought of camping in snow tho and survival. I know roughly on what to take with me there to make sure im safe but paranoia overtakes my brain. I've heard that after the first night you wont be scared again but I don't know if that counts for everyone. I just want some advice and insurence to put my mind at rest so I can get up on the moors and do what I've dreamed of doing for ages. If anyone can give me any advice or anything that would be great. Sorry If the way I have wrote this out doesn't make sense, not too great at pouncing what I would like to say but will get there in the end lol. Thanks for reading hope you can help :)

need advice asap :)

Hello.
It's not unusual to get a bit spooked if you're not used to solo camping. I find my hearing gets really keen when I'm out on my own and I can hear every little rustling. That won't change, but you'll learn not to be spooked by the sounds you hear.
If you know what your doing and know what you need to take etc, then I say jemust go for it. You may not sleep well the first time of your feeling on edge, but you'll come home pleased you faced ypr fears and stuck it out and you'll be more keen to go again.
Regarding fears, Try and rationalise a bit... if you were out looking for a victim, would you head to the moors where there's hardly an people? Or would you go Into town where you had your pick?

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thank you for your reply. I will deffiently be giving it a go in the next couple of months hopefully! Just going to get a few light weight stuff as want to have a decent hike and I've got abit of hearing loss due to music so hopefully I will be okay haha I think i just need to learn not to be a wimp. What would you recommend taking and getting and yeah I guess lol thanks for that I think thats just abit of paranoia. n I know camp fires aren't aloud on dartmoor but on youtube videos I see people with camp fires and cooking their stuff of them, thats what I usually do so do u think i would get away with it if its only just a small one and if i get rid of any sign i was there?

Hi, I didn't realise you had posted here aswell and I didn't realise you had some experience so apologies if my other post seemed a little condescending, I didn't mean it to be. Always worth brushing up on map skills though.

Some wise comments there by Pootle:

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Originally Posted by Pootle

... but you'll learn not to be spooked by the sounds you hear..

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To expand on this it is always worth remembering that animals can make a variety of calls in the middle of the night of which you may have never heard the likes of before and some can be very loud, bizarre and scary the first time you hear them! Foxes and Barn Owls can make some un-godly noises which can sometimes sound like people screaming or screeching, I'm not trying to scare you but I just want to reassure you that if you wake up in the middle of the night and hear some crazy noises like that you know not to freak-out, it could just literally be a Barn Owl who has decided to perch in the canopy above you. Go have a listen (on Apps or online) to various different types of Barn Owl calls and you will see what I mean.

No animals out there will do you any harm bud, they are more scared of you than you are of them. I remember many years ago I was camping on Dartmoor on my own, the light was just starting to fade but I had camp setup, tea cooked & in my belly, everything was quiet in the woodland so I just set off treking up a small hill (couple of hundred meters) so that I could get reception on my mobile and let family know where I was on the map, anyway half-way up the hill I must have spooked a Deer, I didn't realise anyway this thing Barked at me real loud! Made me jump out of my skin, the sound echoed through the valley I was in amplifying it, that was the moment I learnt Deer could "bark" lol.

I've spent years camping on the floor and in a hammock on Dartmoor and have never had any issues. The worse you might get is a badger or fox sniffing around your bag at night if you leave really smelly food knocking about, so pack away your food properly etc.

Haha I am glad you told me this as I didn't know that barn owls made loud noises so nothing to be worried about everyones experiences have showed me that nothing to be scared of lol n ill go take a look at some of them sounds in a sec just to help me idenitify them and haha bet that was scarey i dont know what i would do in that situation and deers bark? tf and what would you reccomend hammock or tent camping? I'm used to tent camping but hammock camping sounds more cosey and if a fox can smell food will he try his hardest to get it or can u just scare em off if they get too interested? lol

I reckon it's only natural to be a little nervous the first few times.
I know I was.
But I remember the psychological shift when I realised that I was the nutter in the dark with a knife that other people would be scared of.

When you realise that YOU are the terror in the dark and that, in fact, you're no danger at all, it all becomes a lot more relaxing and enjoyable.

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Originally Posted by Humakt

I reckon it's only natural to be a little nervous the first few times.
I know I was.
But I remember the psychological shift when I realised that I was the nutter in the dark with a knife that other people would be scared of.

When you realise that YOU are the terror in the dark and that, in fact, you're no danger at all, it all becomes a lot more relaxing and enjoyable.

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I like your thinking m8 and yeah Ill bring a kitchen knife just incase anything goes down lol jk jk but gonna get my hands on a nice bushcraft knife soon me thinks :) and would you guys say it was okay to have a little camp fire to cook food if you cover it up and make sure it looks the same as to when u got there?

Spent many a night on Dartmoor and will have a good few more now winter is coming. It's this time of year that I take the Explorer Scout groups out there to train for Ten Tors and next years DofE expeditions. I will have a few nervous ones amongst my groups but that soon disappears as it will with you.

And it's the Barnstaple/Ilfracombe groups I take out there!


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Originally Posted by jus_young

Spent many a night on Dartmoor and will have a good few more now winter is coming. It's this time of year that I take the Explorer Scout groups out there to train for Ten Tors and next years DofE expeditions. I will have a few nervous ones amongst my groups but that soon disappears as it will with you.

And it's the Barnstaple/Ilfracombe groups I take out there!


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I love abit of camping in the winter and wet weather gives it a better vibe I think :) and thats cool I used to be in the scouts in barnstaple a few years ago and beavers I loved it there! I was thinking of joining again soon but Im 20 not sure what group it is that i will join now? Could you private message me please :)