When I'm backpacking solo, I have a very well defined routine for setting up and breaking camp that keeps me organized even if I'm tired. If you don't stay organized, it is really easy to lose gear or forget to do critical chores.

To give you a practical example: I  carry a very small swiss army knife which is attached to a mini-biner on my backpack. Whenever I take it off the biner and use it, I immediately put it back on the biner when I'm done. If I don't and stick it in my pocket, there's a good chance that I'll misplace or lose it. It's happened.

Now you're probably thinking that I'm an obsessive compulsive nutter, but trust me, staying organized and keeping track of your gear is very important when you are hiking lightweight and solo because you have a lot less functional redundancy than you're probably used to. I have redundancy in my clothing system (a rain layer, clean thermal sleeping clothes), water purification (water filter/purifier, chlorine dioxide tables), water storage (2 water bladders), fire (lighter, emergency matches) and lighting (headlamp, solar powered LED), but that's it. I carry as little extra gear as possible.

Here's my 3-season camp setup routine, in order:

1. Hang bear bag (suspension system and food)
2. Fill and purify water bladders. Return water filter/purifier to pack pocket
3. Set up shelter
4. Inflate sleeping pad/loft sleeping bag
5. Pull out night gear. Pack the rest in a waterproof liner and pack
6. Retrieve bear bag
7. Cook dinner
8. Wash up, myself mostly
9. Hang bear bag (food only)
10. Arrange night time gear
11. Write or record a journal entry
12. Plan next day's route for the 40th time
13. Fall aleep at sundown or earlier

Ok, so the first thing I do after site selection is to hang my bear bag, because doing it in the dark is a real pain in the butt. After that, I get all of the water I need for cooking dinner, breakfast next morning and for the first half of the next day. This lets me break camp quickly in the morning without a lot of fuss. Sometimes getting water means hiking to a stream or spring that's out of sight of camp, so having my bear bag suspended frees me from having to worry that it will be stolen or looted by the local wildlife.

Next, I set up my shelter or I'll often hang up a bug net of some sort if I'm sleeping in a lean-to. I carry screw-eyes (screws with eyelets at one end) with me on trips that let me hang a bug canopy from the wooden bunk beds that we have in some lean-tos in the states or from rafters in the lean-to's roof.

After that, I pull out my sleeping pad and inflate it and/or lay it out where I'll be sleeping, and then pull my sleeping bag out of its waterproof sack and lay it on top of the pad to loft up. Next, I dump everything else out of my pack, figure out what I need for the rest of the evening, and put the rest back into my waterproof pack liner inside the backpack. If I have room in my shelter, I'll keep this stuff next to me at night, but if I'm in a hammock, I'll secure it to a tree nearby. All the stuff I think I'll need, like my map, my sleeping clothes, and a hat or balaclava gets stuffed into my shelter until I'm ready for it.

Once my shelter and sleep system are set up, I start dinner. I'll go get my bear bag but leave the suspension system intact so I don't have to rehang it from scratch in the dark.

I'll start my stove, boil some water, add it to my freezer-bag dinner and stick it in a pot cozy for 15-20 minutes or so. While this is happening, I'll usually wash my face and neck to get clean, but I never leave my fire unattended to do this. When dinner is ready, I'll eat and then pack my smelly garbage, pot cozy, and remaining food into my bear bag and hang it again for the night.

When I get back to my shelter, I arrange my gear in the same configuration each night, with my boots near my head. I put my glasses and a head lamp in one of them so I can find them easily in the dark if I wake up at night.

After that, it's quiet time. I write or record a journal entry, read my map and try to visualize the next day, and then quickly fall asleep.

I also have a routine for breaking camp that looks like this and is biased toward a fast departure the next morning.

1. Get dressed for the day: clothes and boots.
2. Visit privy or take care of business elsewhere.
3. Take down bear bag. Pull out snacks for the day and stow in outer pack pockets.
4. Cook breakfast if I want a hot one, or eat it cold.
5. Pack sleeping bag and pad in backpack.
6. Pack sleeping clothes.
7. Pack food bag.
8. Pack water.
9. Pack shelter.
10.  Pack external pockets (toiletries, rain gear, cooking pot).
11. Quick check of site and then leave.

By now, my camp routine is firmly established in my mind and I run through it automatically. But there was a time, when I was getting back into backpacking, when I used to write my routine on a piece of paper, so I could remember the order in which I wanted to do things. It might not seem like setting up camp is a complicated process, but when you break down these steps into subtasks, it adds up to a lot of activities.

If you don't have a well established camp routine yet, try writing up all of the things you need to do after site selection and before falling asleep. Ultimately, codifying your routine will keep you safer, help you identify holes in your gear list, and maximize the amount of down time you have to enjoy in camp before dark.

Related posts:

1. Mouse Mobiles
2. How NOT to hang a Bear Bag
3. Assembling an Ultralight Bear Bag System
4. Defining a Winter Packing System
5. Campsite Selection Tips