Essential Kit for Camping in the Scottish Highlands

Camping in the Scottish Highlands is one of the finest ways to spend a night outdoors anywhere in Britain. You might fall asleep to the sound of a burn tumbling down a glen, wake to mist lifting off a sea loch, and have an entire beach to yourself before breakfast. But the Highlands are also famously changeable, and the difference between a magical trip and a miserable one usually comes down to what you packed. Here is the kit worth carrying.

Midges: The Small, Relentless Reality

From late May until September, the Highland midge is a genuine consideration rather than a joke. They are tiny, silent, and most active at dawn and dusk on still, damp days. The good news is that they are poor fliers, so a breeze keeps them away and a bit of preparation keeps them off you.

• A fine-mesh midge head net is worth its weight in gold. Buy one that packs to the size of a fist and keep it somewhere you can reach without unpacking.
• Take a repellent formulated for midges rather than a general insect spray, and reapply it on exposed skin and cuffs.
• Midge coils or incense sticks work well in a tent porch or under a tarp, but never inside a closed inner tent.
• An after-bite cream or antihistamine takes the misery out of a bad evening.
• Pitch away from boggy ground, standing water and dense birch scrub, and choose the breeziest spot you can find.

Layers That Cope With Four Seasons in a Day

The classic Highland forecast is sunshine, then horizontal rain, then wind strong enough to lean on, all before lunch. Forget cotton; it holds water and chills you once you stop moving.

• A waterproof shell with taped seams and a proper hood, not a fashion jacket. Pit zips help you dump heat on a steep climb.
• Waterproof overtrousers that pull on over boots in seconds. Heavier walking trousers soak through and stay wet for days.
• A couple of moisture-wicking base layers and a warm mid layer, such as a fleece or light synthetic jacket.
• A thin insulating layer for evenings, plus a hat and gloves even in July.
• Waterproof boots with a decent tread, or wellies if you are based on wet machair or estuary mud. Gaiters keep heather and bog out of your socks.

A Tent That Stands Up to the Wind

Coastal and glen campsites can be beautifully sheltered one hour and blasted the next. A flimsy festival tent will not survive a night on exposed ground.

• Choose a three-season tent with a low profile and a strong pole structure. Tunnel designs handle wind well; geodesic designs handle it even better.
• Check the hydrostatic head of the flysheet and groundsheet — look for at least 3,000 mm on the fly for reliable Scottish rain.
• Carry spare alloy pegs, extra guy lines and a peg puller. Stony Highland ground bends cheap pegs quickly.
• Pitch with the low end into the wind, tension everything properly, and never camp directly above the high tide line or beneath loose crags.
• Separate your inner tent from the fly if the forecast is grim — it lets you pack the dry bits first.

Cooking, Water and Fuel

A hot meal and a brew transform a cold, wet evening. Reliability matters more than cleverness.

• A simple gas or multi-fuel stove with a built-in windshield. Gas canisters perform poorly in the cold, so look for a butane and propane mix, or bring a liquid-fuel stove for winter trips.
• Buy fuel before you travel if you are heading to a smaller island, and check what is available locally rather than assuming.
• A spare lighter and a box of matches in a dry bag. Lighters fail when wet and cold.
• A water filter or purification tablets. Most hill burns look clean, but you are sharing the catchment with deer and sheep.
• A small pot, a long spoon, a folding mug and a stuff sack for rubbish. Nothing gets left behind, ever.

Sleeping Warm and Dry

• A three-season sleeping bag rated to around freezing is the sensible default; add a liner for colder months.
• A sleeping mat with a decent insulation value. The ground steals far more heat than the air, and a thin foam mat will leave you shivering by 3am.
• Dry bags for everything — sleeping bag, spare clothes, electronics. Assume the inside of your rucksack will get damp at some point.
• A head torch with a red light mode, plus spare batteries. It saves your night vision and your tent-mate's patience.

The Small Things That Make a Difference

• A tick remover. Ticks are common in long grass and bracken, and prompt removal matters.
• A basic first aid kit, blister plasters and painkillers.
• A midge net for the tent doorway if your tent does not have a solid inner.
• A small trowel and a bag for any waste, plus a bin bag for litter you find along the way.
• A paper map and compass, with a charged phone as backup. Signal vanishes quickly once you leave the towns.

Pack for the weather you might get rather than the weather you hope for, follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code, and the Highlands will reward you with nights you will remember for years.