It’s New Year’s Eve for me, and I headed up onto a tor on Dartmoor for a properly freezing wild camp with the forecast dropping to -3°C. I pitched up on Raltor, battled the frozen ground getting the pegs in, and soaked up that unreal last light of the year — one of those calm, silent Dartmoor evenings where there’s somehow not a breath of wind… even though it’s absolutely Baltic. Then it was time to settle in for what turned into about 16 hours of darkness, see the new year in from the tent, and hope my winter setup actually did the job. This camp was also a big gear test for me. I took my new Osprey Rook 65 (cheers, Mom), plus the OEX Ultralight Flux 7R mat and the OEX Fathom EV400 sleeping bag — both picked up on sale from Go Outdoors. I ran them together in proper winter conditions, and even when the wind got up around 2am and the rain started pattering on the tent, I stayed toasty warm. Add in a Firepot chilli con carne, a surprise subscriber meet-up on the tor, and a cracking sunrise to kick off 2026, and it’s a pretty special way to start the year — left no trace, as always.