“Well I'll be swagged”

by Patrick Kerin
Hunter 9

For a good few years, my outdoor pursuits centred on tramping and alpine hiking, so my equipment was always ultra-lightweight and super-efficient. However, after a memorable experience in New Zealand involving a 36-hour blizzard, an ice plateau and a gradually collapsing, but supposedly indestructible four-season tent, I came to the conclusion that there just had to be a better way to have fun.

Thus, I eventually found my way back to shooting and hunting and one thing I came to notice was that my narrow, super warm mummy-style sleeping bag and insulating pad were not ideally suited to a lot of the camping I was doing in the outback.

Eventually, I was lucky enough to go on a shoot with an old mate who convinced me to try swagging it instead of using a tent and the experience has really changed the way I enjoy the bush. Instead of zipping myself away inside a nylon cocoon, I now go to sleep with the stars as my ceiling and I love it.

Two valuable tips I have picked up for using swags are, firstly, to use a ground sheet underneath it, not only to keep dust and prickles off the swag, but to give me an area I can use as a buffer between the swag and the bush. I can put on or take off my boots without getting a sock full of burrs and that’s a real bonus. Secondly, by scraping a shallow hip-hole underneath yourself, you will be as comfortable as if you were at home in your own bed instead of feeling like you’re lying on a sheet of steel plate. It really makes all the difference.

Nowadays I often leave my sleeping bag at home and take a doona instead. Whereas I always used to enjoy coming home after a trip, these days I find myself regretting the necessity of doing so. I no longer miss the comforts of home, because I take them with me into the field.