Bell tent beginner, please help me accessorise!

[catellington]

I have received my new 5m SIG soulpad with mosquito netting doors which I'm very happy with although am waiting for the weekend for its first trial in the garden.

Have booked one Saturday night away in a couple of weeks at a lovely small campsite a couple of miles away. Will be going with dh, and two dds aged 3m and 2.5.

Please can you help me with the following, sorry there are some threads on some of these big can't find recent ones and things may have changed:

Carpet / rug - is this really necessary ? Will toddler be tripping up all the time? Is it for comfort or aesthetics? What does everyone use? Do rag rugs leak colour onto tent?

Footprint - good idea? To keep bottom of tent clean? Any tips where to get one.

Thinking of getting a double SIM but not sure if a double air bed would be better. Or two singles which we can put together. Dh and I don't normally sleep together as I'm in with the baby so it will be a bit unusual for us all to be together!! Actually probably need more space for dcs too. For cosleeping a double is probably safer than two singles together for me and baby. Anyone been crazy enough to go camping with a young baby?

Any other tips?

Thanks campers.

[Callmecordelia]

I don't have a bell tent, but from a practical point of view a footprint is a really good buy whatever tent you have. Especially with a canvas tent, you don't want to put it away wet, and the footprint will help with that.

I would think either a double sim or airbed would be better for co sleeping.

[catellington]

Thanks callme, yes thinking about it double probably better and if so probably a sim as I hear the double air beds are very bouncy.

Is there such a thing as a sim that's easy to deflate I wonder ?

[Callmecordelia]

It depends - I have a dual chamber airbed which cuts down on the bounce. Have you tried sleeping on a SIM? Some people love them, some people don't. There are some cheap ones in the argos camping sale atm, and a single one would probably be good for your toddler, if you aren't co sleeping with the DC as well as the baby, and you could see how it feels.

[catellington]

Thanks, I'll have a look now. Where did you get the dual chamber air bed?mdo you find it cold?

[Callmecordelia]

Amazon. It's an aerobed active and was on special offer, it is expensive I'm afraid. I don't get cold on it - but I do a lot to avoid the cold airbed thing. I put a foil backed picnic blanket under it, a fleece sheet over it, another sheet, a feather duvet and then extra blankets. I'm also prepared to put a jumper over my pyjamas if necessary.

[NannyR]

For a footprint, I just bought a cheap blue tarp from argos and cut it into a circle, seems to do the job. Mine is only 3m though, not sure if you would easily find one big enough for a 5m tent.

[catellington]

Thanks nannyr,

How did you cut it? Ie what tool and did you cut it slightly so it was completely covered by the tent so water doesn't get underneath?

[NannyR]

I just folded it into quarters and used a sharpie to mark out a quarter circle, then cut it with scissors. I push anything that's showing under the tent .

[gotellitonthemountain]

We have a 4m Obelink (sim to Bell tent) and use a very large tarp as a footprint. Much easier just to fold under the bits of tarp you don't need when pegging out the tent. Then you haven't got to exactly align the tent on top of a cut out.

We have been twice now, with a 3.6 and 5m and then again when baby was 7m. Baby sleeps well on blow up and we have a campbed which she joins us in....

I have found every single blow up bigger than a single seems to leak. That could just be my thrifty buys!

Everyone sleeps well, but we're awake at 6 every morning. Joy.