I had an old guy in our hunt camp one time explain to me that in the days before alarm clocks, having to get up to use the outhouse was how you woke yourself up in the morning.

This fellas English was poor and my French was worse but I think the way he said to do it was this; before going to bed when you absolutely had to get up early the next morning (e.g. to go hunting) you drank a lot of liquids, that way your body would not allow you the comfort of sleeping in.

This fellow was 76 years young and got up about 3 times a night, the best thing was that he added wood to the woodstove each time so our uninsulated camp was nice and warm at 4.30am when the rest of us got up.

Merry Christmas,

Mike