Calling all campers

[Rachel (mumsnet)]

We're at the finishing stages of completing our survey of the best campsites both in Britain and abroad based on the reviews you've sent over to us. If you've just come back from a campsite that you think shd be included, it's not too late to send a review - even if it doesn't get included in this survey, it'll be noted and could well appear in the future.

The introduction will include a checklist for novice campers and we're keen to have your tips here. What items do you pack that make life easier under canvas? whether it's a dustpan and brush to keep your groundsheet grass-free or a car battery operated air bed pump, we want to know about it...(you can tell what I've been doing this summer!)

We're also keen to hear any other tips you have that make camping life easier/more relaxing/more fun/less uncomfortable/bearable. So, if you wish to send a review of your favourite site, click here and post your camping tips on this thread.

Thanks a lot

Rachel

[Lucycat]

OK then here goes! Not sure whether I qualify to really give advice as such a newbie but.....

Get an Electric Hook Up! fantastic things - great for a tent light, kettle (no boiling pans of water in the morning for a cuppa!)and fan heater when the nights get a bit nippy!

Put one of those plastic backed picnic rugs under your airbed to keep the cold out.

Socks!!

Keep the kids up REALLY late so they sleep in the morning and don't wake the rest of the campsite up!

Offer new arrivals a cuppa - camping etiquette and all that - also means they'll keep an eye on your tent when you go out!

If I think of any more little pearls of wisdom, I'll post them! In the meantime - where is everybody?

[happymerryberries]

have a toilet bag with a loo roll, squirty soap and hand towel easy to hand in case your campsite doesn't provide....most French sites don't. Don't pack this at the bottom of a bag, especialy if you have a newly potty trained child.

have a bucket with a lid for night time emergencies....the old nappy bucket is ideal. It is dh's job to empty this in the morning is required

Teach your children that dish washing is their job for the holiday!

Don't forget the cork screw and some comfy chairs, but wear insect repellant or you will look like the blob at the end of the holiday

Sex doesn't happen in a tent....break this to him /her early on to avoid disapointment

[Lucycat]

Ah hello hmb!!! wondered if you'd smelt this thread! We survived in our Colorado - couldn't get the side canopy to work though! There were big gaps at the side and when you pulled it over the tent, it blocked the sea view from the doors/windows!! Needs some working on methinks

Sorry to hijack thread MN

[Lucycat]

Wine boxes - only in this country obviously hmb! they don't spill when tipped over and last for ooooh at least a couple of nights

and no corkscrew needed!!

[Freddiecat]

cheap paddling pool (type that tesco sell for £1.30) ideal as a baby/toddler bath.

get a hookup and a camping fridge - BUT keep fridge in the car so it's not noisy and then swap it to run off the car in the day if you go out. can then do supermarket (or better still local market) run early and keep stuff fresh.

[hi5]

shower cap - campers with longer hair suffer from cold wet heads!!! before bed - when the temperature lowers and the showers are not adjustable as in Scotland - this weekend.

[basketcase]

Best camping holiday item this year by far was a tent light - oval shaped, battery operated (obv.) with two powerful magnets. The light goes inside the inner and held into place with a powerful magnetic strip on the outside of the inner. Brilliant. Worked just like a softly lit wall light. Much easier than messing with gas lamps or torches when putting the kids to bed.

Worth spending out on buying decent, strong tent pegs with brightly coloured plastic bits on the end - safer to see in the grass and easier to use.

If you are taking a young child, take their pillow/duvet cover with you to use as well as a sleeping bag - makes them feel more at home.

Take a potty for young children who are toilet trained but still get up in the night a couple of times. We learnt the hard way..

If camping in the New Forest, be aware that horses and donkeys freely roam around a lot of the campsites. My children love animals but found this quite daunting. Keep all food in your cars to stop them invading your tents was also hard work and unpleasant in the heat.

[SleepySuzy]

Freddiecat - love the paddling pool idea, I hated the fact I couldn't bathe my dd, but how do you fill it?

[Katherine]

Waterproof trousers for the kids are a MUST!
Buy your crockery etc from ikea - cheap and cheerful and much nicer than plastic.
We found a basket with a lid great for clothes this summer as it can double up as a table. Might look for a solid trunk for next year so we don't need to worry about spillages!
Potty essential - not just for kids. If you are going to a festival then an old nappy bucket with a lid is great for the slops as small kids and festival loos just don't go!
Pillows are a great luxury if you can afford the space.
Make sur you take loads of carrier bags for wet clothes, rubbish etc.
I prefer a tube of facewash etc to a bar of soap. Easier to control and doesn't go soggy.
Don't bother taking toys. They never get played with and just end up in a mess. A football and bikes if you can take them. Kids will entertain themselves!
I always find it easier to take several smaller boxes for food etc than a few big ones. Makes it easier to keep tidy. We got a cheap collapsible 3 tier veg rack from our discount centre which is really handy.
A decent light or lantern. Torches with rechargeable batteries just don't last. Get a lamnp to recharge from the car battery or petrol or multi-fuel one.

DH has a mad idea to attach solar pannels to the roof rack of our landrover next year which will flip down when we are stopped and heat a tank of water!!!!!!

[fruitful]

I've only done camping at festivals with few facilities (no electric, no hot water washing up places, nowhere to refreeze your ice blocks etc)

a potty

an insulated pump flask - so you've always got hot water

Ive got a folding clothes rail and some of those canvas hanging shelf things to keep the tent tidy

a gas lamp, a gas fridge, and a gas heater...

thermals

clothes pegs to hang baby toys off the guy ropes (lay baby underneath!)

a few other families with children the same age as yours (or some little girls a bit older than your toddlers)

a planned list of hardly-any-cooking meals so you don't have to think