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Civil Twilight: Get Camp Ready While You Can Still See
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Setup is faster, safer and less stressful with light. A shelter pitched at dusk is a shelter you can check. If you leave pegging, pad inflation and water for later, you will do them with a headlamp in your teeth and cold hands. Hydration belongs here too. Evening is when most people stop drinking, and a cold night makes it easy to skip. Front-load it while it is still pleasant.
Examples of gear this phase leans on, named as examples and not as a promise about any brand. A tent that pitches quickly: the Twilight Series features Sky View Tents, built around a rapid-pitch pole design. See Sky View Tents: {{SKYVIEW_PARTNER_URL}}. A bottle you can reach: the Nuataaq carabiner bottle, a wide-mouth bottle that clips to your pack or tent loop. Basics: stakes in good shape, a few spare guy lines, a ground sheet if your tent needs one, a sleeping pad and a pad pump or inflation sack if your pad uses one.
Look up before you pitch. Avoid camping under dead branches, in dry washes that can flood, or in spots with signs of rockfall. Do not set up a stove or fire inside or beside the tent. Fire and stove rules vary by place, so check current rules with the managing agency before your trip. Tell someone your campsite and your return time before you head out.
0 to 6 degrees below the horizon
About 0 to 30 minutes after sunset
The sun is down, but the sky is still bright enough to work by. This is the last easy light you get. Spend it on the jobs that are hard in the dark: your shelter, your sleeping pad, your water and your camp perimeter.
SHELTER (first 10 minutes)
[ ] Ground Clearing: sweep the tent footprint of rocks, sticks and pinecones
[ ] Check the ground for slope, low spots where water pools, and overhead dead branches
[ ] Orient the tent: door away from the wind, and with your night view in mind
[ ] Peg out the corners, then the guy lines
[ ] Rainfly Tensioning: pull the fly taut so it does not touch the inner wall or flap in the wind
[ ] Re-check tension once the fabric settles
SLEEP GEAR (next 10 minutes)
[ ] Sleeping Pad Inflate: do it now so it can settle and you can check for leaks
[ ] Lay out the bag, pillow and your dry sleep layer inside
[ ] Keep tomorrow's clothes and anything you want dry in the tent, not outside
WATER (active hydration)
[ ] 500ml Hydration: drink about a 500ml bottle's worth now, before the evening gets cold and you stop thinking about it
[ ] Fill every bottle you need for the night and the morning
[ ] Put one bottle within reach of your sleeping spot
CAMP PERIMETER (last 10 minutes)
[ ] Stage your headlamp, spare batteries and a small first-aid kit where you can find them blind
[ ] Mark the way to the toilet spot and the food storage spot
[ ] Put away anything that blows away, gets wet or smells like food
[ ] Do a last lap: if it is still on the ground, does it need to be?
0 to 6 degrees below the horizon