Where is the worst place you have ever slept?

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brianmanahan

Lifer
Sep 2, 2006
24,419
5,852
136
With proper gear, camping can be comfortable, its hard to see the good stuff without a little sacrifice in life. We are avid campers and generally spend 30-nights a year under the stars.

if by proper gear you mean glamping, then i'm all in
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dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,479
3,976
126
so many people think it's fun but i think it's uncomfortable and annoying.
With proper gear, camping can be comfortable, its hard to see the good stuff without a little sacrifice in life. We are avid campers and generally spend 30-nights a year under the stars.
Exactly. If you are uncomfortable, then you are doing it wrong. You should have a proper thickness mat, at the proper firmness level for your sleeping style, so that it feels just like you are at home in bed. You should have a proper warmth sleeping bag and tent. Then the only really annoying part is if you get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

What it opens up is fantastic scenery and beauty that you cannot see otherwise. So much of the best locations in the world are not accessible without (A) a tent or (B) a private helicopter. I cannot afford option (B) yet, so I go backpacking. A campfire, with good food and drink under the stars, crawling into a cozy tent, waking up to the local animals 10 feet away and a sunrise over the lake / canyon / mountain / hoodoos / whatever is unbeatable.

Not my photo: but here is the first place that I backpacked. My tent was right there in the curve of the river.

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dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,479
3,976
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The worst place for me was the dorm room when I had a roommate one summer. The dorm did not have good temperature control, and I swear it was almost 90°F on some nights inside the room. I would have to press my body firmly against the wall, coated with dozens of layers of lead paint in order to have something to draw some heat away, even if temporary. That intense heat didn't stop my roommate from reaching for the baby oil under his covers at 3 AM.
 
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ondma

Platinum Member
Mar 18, 2018
2,999
1,520
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My worst experience was in Boy Scouts. About 10 or 12 of us were sleeping in a huge tepee like tent when a storm came up and collapsed the tent in the middle of the night. Waking up with a heavy, wet canvas tent collapsed on you is terrifying to say the least.

Edit: dullard's post reminded me. Second worst was sleeping during summer weather when I was growing up. I lived in Missouri, very hot summers. We had a very small house with no air conditioning. It was almost unbearable trying to sleep on the hottest nights. We used to splash water on the sheets to try to get some relief.
 
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shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,079
136
My worst experience was in Boy Scouts. About 10 or 12 of us were sleeping in a huge tepee like tent when a storm came up and collapsed the tent in the middle of the night. Waking up with a heavy, wet canvas tent collapsed on you is terrifying to say the least.
I did Cub Scouts and boy scouts for many years. Was shocked that nothing absolutely terrible ever happened on our trips. Either we were blessed or lucky or the pack leader was a druid.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,104
672
126
Pretty much everywhere I went in China (except a couple of western style hotels). Chinese beds are basically a piece of plywood with a blanket on top. Painful.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,167
1,638
126
The last time I went on a group canoe trip with my brother, my uncle, and some friends, we found the worst possible place to sleep.
You are permitted to camp on any of the islands/sand bars along that section of the Wisconsin river.
Usually, you try to find a bigger island a with some grassy areas/a bit higher off the ground
My brother wanted to stop for camp early in the afternoon on a small low island. We set up like 12 or so tents for the 24 of us, and tried to make the most of it.
It was very windy, many of the tents collapsed.
It was very wet since the island only rose like 1-2 feet from the water level.
The tent stakes didn't hold very good since it was damp sand, there was no proper dirt/soil to get a better grip.
It never cooled down, it was abnormally hot year during a heatwave in July.

Woke up wet, hot, inside a collapsed tent sore, sunburned, and with heat exhaustion.

Uncle and I said fuck this, we packed up the tent, got in the canoe, and went downstream the 3-4 miles to the very next possible launch/pickup place, went to the car, drove to a hotel with 2 double beds and AC, and cooled off. Then we went to eat steak at the nearest gastropub.

I still like to canoe, but, wont go if its more than 75 degrees outside, and, wont go overnight any more even though other trips in the past were excellent fun when we found better islands to camp, and when it wasn't so damn hot or windy.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,167
1,638
126
Ohh also, winter camping in boy scouts kinda sucked. I like the cold, but, i dont like going outside below freezing to pee in the middle of the night.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
59,239
13,840
136
The worst place for me was the dorm room when I had a roommate one summer. The dorm did not have good temperature control, and I swear it was almost 90°F on some nights inside the room. I would have to press my body firmly against the wall, coated with dozens of layers of lead paint in order to have something to draw some heat away, even if temporary. That intense heat didn't stop my roommate from reaching for the baby oil under his covers at 3 AM.
Unfortunately this reminded me of when I was in the military dorm on the third floor when the AC for the building was out and it was in the upper 90s outside during the day, and the room had one window which was probably exactly the right size to be considered a bedroom window for legal purposes. It was probably still 90+ in that room overnight.
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,266
126
In a car as a kid with 6 adults and a dog on the side of a Louisiana road during a heatwave. It was a big ass car, no AC.
 

deadlyapp

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2004
6,622
720
126
It was shortly after I had graduated college and left that town. I went back a few months later for a friend's graduation. The plan was to all stay at their apartment that night after drinking at the bars. I end up getting excessively drunk and stumble back to their apartment on my own - of course the door is locked so I can't get in. I then decide my next bright idea is to go stay at a hotel, however it's like 2am and there's nobody at the front desk, and the door is locked, so I can't get in. I end up kind of wandering around this hotel and find a tow behind box trailer at the business next door - it's filled with construction materials because they're rebuilding the business. The box trailer isn't locked, so I go ahead and open it up, get inside, and pass out on a box of electrical fittings, screws, etc. I wake up probably 5-6am the next morning and stumble out of the trailer and walk back to my friends apartment.

That is definitely the worst place I've ever slept.