Does anyone here have experience with camping in arid conditions,

I don't know about the Arabian peninsula but I've done plenty of desert camping.

The biggest pain in the ass is that your tent will become uninhabitable within an hour or two after sunrise unless it's 100% shaded. If you get a canvas tent this gets a little better, but those are significantly heacier and bulkier.

The other thing to keep in mind is the massive temperature swing. At night you'll probably need a cold weather sleeping bag, whereas during the day you're going to be miserable from the heat. Pack accordingly.

>>1155632
>your tent will become uninhabitable within an hour or two after sunrise
Well thankfully? we should be out and about all day with a new campsite every night.

>the massive temperature swing
This is one thing I am interested in, is it actually a bad thing to get a high R-value mattress because it will stop he days heat from radiating out of the ground at night?

>>1155626
Watch out for Camel Spiders

>>1155687
w-what?

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>>1155750
Theese cunts

I camped around Oman for a couple weeks. Apart from one close call with a snake and a scorpion, it was all pretty smooth. Temeratures were good, mosquitoes weren't bad, firewood easy to find, nobody cares where you pitch your tent.
Possibly the best vacation I've ever had.
Where are you going?

>>1155757
I'll be in Oman as well, what places did you go?

Most of read about Oman says what you said, that its incredibly laid back and easy to roam around and camp.. It can't all be that simple, surely there is some complication?

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>>1155750

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Don't worry, there's only a 10% at best chance you'll encounter a camel spider, besides their bites generally aren't fatal...

>>1155756
Weren't they confirmed as a hoax or something?

>>1155890
How would a scientifically documented creature be a hoax?

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>>1155879
We went to Wadi Shab, Wadi Tiwi, Wadi Bani Khalid, Al Hamra, most of the forts, and Musandam. I highly recommend all of those.
We drove up about a hundred random little wadis in our little Mazda. Every night we pitched camp, lit a big fire, brewed tea, danced naked...it really was amazingly easy. If you're getting a 4x4 you'll have a much easier time than we did; exploring wadis in a 2wd compact car you just have to grit your teeth and try not to think about your liability policy. And some places have police checkpoints where only 4x4s are allowed through.
We camped on beaches around Muscat to save money on hotels; once we went for a nighttime walk and we actually lost our car. Jesus christ, I cringe thinking about that experience -- stumbling around sand dunes in the pitch black for two hours, trying to find our own footprints.
We found a better beach after that; if you want to camp near Muscat, look up Yiti Beach.There are some thick trees there for privacy.

Gear: We didn't have a camp stove because we couldn't find fuel for one in Muscat, but it'd be handy to have. I was gathering firewood in the dark when I almost got bit by a snake and scorpion at the same time.
Definitely get a sleeping pad because you'll always be camping on rocks.
And get mobile data so you can use google earth to look up potential camping spots.

Photo is where we camped on Thanksgiving and had a feast.

This is common knowledge, but don't leave your boots outside your tent; snakes and scorpions like to crawl inside them for the warmth.

>>1155756
Oh god I remember hearing stories about Brit and US soldiers accidently bringing them back home because these cunts would crawl into their bags and burrow.

>>1155908
Packinglist and tips? Doing africa soon so need all tips I can get a hold on

Btw, great story man, how manny people? And backgroundstories if you wan't to tell. I envy that story

>>1155687
>>1155756
>>1155888
>>1155889
I served in iraq in 2004 near basra and we had many encounters with camel spiders, i was on guard with a mate and he came across a large camel spider about 8in in size and he decided to stomp on it, as i watched he gave it a good british army size ten right on its back, at this the spider rared up at him and let out a squeal! we were both a bit stunned and decided to back up somewhat, at this the spider decided it was time to
leave and ran off at pace without any sign of injury, we decided that camel spider squashing activities should be avoided after that as they appeared to be harder than the iraqis we were fighting!!!
On another occasion we payed a nightime visit to the british war memorial outside shiabah as it was on our patrol route, while we were looking around one of the section noticed that the walls seemed to be shimmering in the dark, on closer inspection we found that there were so many camel spiders on the thing that what we could see was the rapid movement of the things, we decided to pay our respects at a distance!!!
They can out run just about anything! they do fight with just about anything! and they dont back down when they are cornered! and they are nearly all bloody ugly! not much differant than the british army really!!! and trust me you can always tell the old sweats that have served in the desert, they always shiver when they see the facehugging bloody things in the alien movies!!!

>>1155890
>>1155902
http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp

Chap stick, dear god, chap stick. Lip balm, whatever you call it. I camped 2 weeks in the American Southwest this summer and Carmex was a gift from God.

>>1156052
It was just me and my fiancee. Just being alone together, enjoying absolute freedom in a country where gas costs $1/gallon, driving down the Arabian coast with no idea where we were going to sleep that night...definitely my favorite travel memories.
Swimming in the Wadi Shab cave was awesome too, though there were a lot of other tourists there.
I've told the story a few times about our time exploring Musandam, I did a big write-up about that on STP:
https://squattheplanet.com/threads/hitching-boats-in-the-strait-of-hormuz-expat-squatters-of-oman.26498/


Where are you going in Africa? Most of my camping experience is in the Maghreb; I go to Morocco every year.

>>1156190
oh man, what a great read and a great girl you've found. sounds so beutiful, I'm from norway so would deffently want to check out the fjords over there.
my plan was (before I red this) to start in morocco, chill there, fly to sengal and move along the cost to cameroun. after that I figured to go to ethopia and do the coast down again to s.a or fly to Nambia and do the coast to ethopia. Would defently try to go to oman to after this read.

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>>1156485
Well shit, you're practically doing my dream trip. The grass is always greener, I guess.

Morocco is the perfect place to chill but it's also the perfect place to spend time outdoors.

Packing list:
-Good road map, with topography (Amazon has decent selection)
-Sand goggles if you're going to sandy regions
-Good sleeping bag
-Tent is not necessary for Morocco, but you'll need one for mosquitoes in Senegal/Cameroon.
-Sunscreen
-Messkit and teapot
-Local phrasebook for when you get invited to people's homes

Buy a headscarf in Morocco and ask them to show you how to tie it. That's the best thing for the burning sun.
I also recommend buying a nice wool jellaba; they keep you cool in the sun and warm at night.

You're gonna have so much goddamn fun.

>>1156616
Thanks mate, can't wait to go on some good trekks there. Hoping to go to mt. Killimanjaro aswell.
Thanks for the tips, and will deffently buy that shit in morocco. I do belive I will try to get the maps in localy, would be a lot to walk around with so many extra maps. Trying to keep it light you know. You got some tent-tips? Would wan't one that works in the dessert and in the jungle for two. Sorry for bombarding you with questions.
But hey, if you'd like, i can leave my contact info ib here and reach out to you, and if you would like we could meet up.

>>1155626
>Turn your boots upside and shake them before putting them back on
>Check the inside of the tent before you go to bed
>Don't use a tent with a black "bottom" if you plan on staying somewhere during the day with your tent up.
>Bring ORS in case you need a fast rehydration
>If you spot a really good shadowy spot and your close to stopping for the day take it and don't think "ah I'll probs encounter something else in a bit anyways"
>Bring something to cover your mouth, fuckin sand get's everywhere even when you have the windows of the car closed
>Don't keep your water in the same spot/one large container.
>Bring a survival guide, sounds cheesy as fuck but I always found it interesting to read and learn

>>1156842
Thanks dude, what types of cantines (plast, aluminium...) works best in the heat?