Camping Top Tips!!!! Come on over and fill this thread with your red sock knowledge!!!

[Nixz]

This thread may be a total killer but I could do with a load of tips myself and think it would be fun!

I have so far learned that sites will freeze ice blocks for you!

Please feel free to leave questions or advice on anything to do with the great outdoors
Thanks!

[Nixz]

What would you never go camping without?

What do you eat if your out in the hulu??? (No Shops)

What do you keep the kids entertained with if its bad weather?

What lessons have you learned through experience? (good or bad!)

[fillyjonk]

don't take a stove, its just unecessary. they are huge, you spend half your life washing baked beans off plastic plates and if you have young kids its just an invitation to twitchiness.

eat picnic food and either stay on campsites with tea/coffee or get one of those in-car kettles.

[moopymoo]

if weather is at all damp dress dcs top to toe in waterproofs.
we take smal one burner stove eat a lot of sausages, some convenience food like unc bens ready cooked rice, noodles, lots of salad and picnic stuff
take washing up bowl.
flip flops
be bossy with no muddy/grassy shoes in tent please
have fun love camping. we went last weekend and will be off again as soon as weathe rimproves

[Blueblob]

Young kids, take a plastic backed picnic rug. Young boys and we take a small plastic box of cars and one of those fold up road maps. Doesn't take up much room and good for bad weather. The fold up road map makes another good thing to put on the ground in the living area!

Those fold up crates with a handle and wheels are great for taking things to be washed up.

My best purchase EVER was a wine glass holder Similar to these www.alt-gifts.com/shop/shop/page/product_group/id/3538

Otherwise where DO you put your glass eh? Ours seem to be taller than that picture. When we're not camping they're by my hammock in the garden.

[Blueblob]

Young kids, take a plastic backed picnic rug. Young boys and we take a small plastic box of cars and one of those fold up road maps. Doesn't take up much room and good for bad weather. The fold up road map makes another good thing to put on the ground in the living area!

Those fold up crates with a handle and wheels are great for taking things to be washed up.

My best purchase EVER was a wine glass holder Similar to these www.alt-gifts.com/shop/shop/page/product_group/id/3538

Otherwise where DO you put your glass eh? Ours seem to be taller than that picture. When we're not camping they're by my hammock in the garden.

[FeelingOld]

Agree with deffo no shoes in the tent, we have a doormat at the door to stand on whist changing into your slippers .

We put one of those silver first aid blanket thingys (like the ones they wrap round runners at the end of a marathon) on the floor of the bedrooms in tent then a blanket on top, keeps the pods really cosy.

We take food like tinned curry/sweet and sour chicken etc so only needs warming and boil some rice, also do bbqs. Take lots of nibbles too such as dips with carrots and breadsticks, cheese straws etc.

We also take travel games such as guess who and connect 4, we also take dominoes, cards, uno, puzzle books etc for bad weather evenings. We have also been known to take the portable dvd player .

[puppydavies]

disagree w/no stove, we got a cheapo canister one and it's essential.

once you get cold of a night you will not get warm again. hats and socks and fleeces on as soon as sun goes down and you can stay up warmly much later.

sage advice i was given once - everything will be fine as long as you have enough cake. you can live off diet of cake, whiskey and coffee for months.

[KbearBrockovich]

My top tip is to put waterproof trousers and wellies on the kids when they go out and play first thing so when the fall over they don't get wet from the dewy grass. (We camped in a field where the grass was very long once and they were soaked in two minutes).

[ChippyMinton]

Take pegs and a line for drying damp towels etc.

[fennel]

Love the wine glass holder idea . my wine is always spilling unless we have it in mugs which isn't right.

We have a plastic camping cafetiere for decent coffee first thing in the morning.

My top tip. If the forecast is for rain, don't go. Wait for the sunshine and go then. It just isn't worth it in the rain.

Wouldn't go as far as not taking stove but do agree cook as little as possible. Eat meals out or have sandwiches and snacks.

[KbearBrockovich]

I love cooking on my camping stove, it's part of the fun. I am a saddo though. We have a little camping BBQ which is great also and DH is in charge of that which means I can go and play!

[Blueblob]

Oh yes, we have a BBQ bucket. We mainly use it for warmth in the evenings but great for a few sausages.

[Lucycat]

We keep toothbrushes, paste and face cloth(one for boys washrooms one for girls) in those zip up 'wetbags' that i got given when the dd's were little - I think they are supposed to ahve pooey clothes zipped in or something.

they are great last thing at night when all you want to go and do is clean your teeth.

fold up crates - essential
take a picnic for the first night (cold chicken & couscous salad for us) then you don't have to get the cooker out before you can eat.
Scoth pancakes for breakfast - butter only needed

take wine boxes


ooh I could go on

[dustystar]

Take a bucket with a lid for night time wees and lots of wine

[dustystar]

I disagree with no stove too as eating out can get expensive and the small portable ones don't take up much room.

We take pens and paper, playdough, wikistix, travel board games and books for cold and wet days. We have a swingball anywhere and put blow up balls, a frizbee and skipping ropes in the box as well. Boules are good too.

Hats and gloves for cold everning are a must as are wellies (or walking boots) and waterproofs.

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

The main reason I go camping is to use my stove. It's a Trangia and I love it and feel silly using it in the back garden.

[fillyjonk]

you don't eat out

you just eat cold food

here is the choice

baguette, cheese and prepacked salad or

whatever you normally eat at home, "cooked" on a stove

my way is far less faffy, far more fun, and oddly cheap

[Nixz]

Oooohhh - some great tips here!

[Nixz]

Readybrek or instant porridge is an easy hot snack - especially the ones that you can just add hot water.

We have a small, flat portable (travel) potty with a lid from when dd was little, ideal for night time wee's!

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

No no Filly, you eat things you wouldn't dream of eating at home, like corned beef hash or those tins of sausages and baked beans. They taste lovely because they are hot and it's raining.
Can't imagine not being able to make tea all the time, too.

[PeachesMcLean]

Well I don't know that I could do baguette and cheese every night for a week, and we certainly can't afford to eat out all the time. We take a small cooker and a sturdy table to place it on.

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

In case your site won't freeze ice blocks (see OP), take a cold bag stuffed with frozen stuff - milk, sandwiches etc. Should see you through the first few days.

[fillyjonk]

i don't really eat baguette and cheese and salad at home

or you can do stuff like quinoa salad, precooked sausages etc

you are allowed a kettle that plugs into your car, i have decided (a kelly kettle)

actually i was turned onto this path of light by going camping with a friend and her small daughter (and my kids)-her daughter managed to burn herself on a stove, GOD knows how, it hadn't been used for about an hour and it was on top of the car but she clambered up in an unattended moment-and this resulted in a trip to A&E

[crunchie]

we take everything but the kitchen sink!! actually if you count the washing up bowl, we take that too!!

However we go camping for our main summer hols, so a week at least and we need 'stuff'

[fillyjonk]

i am realising i am in the minority as far as camping goes

i have one small tent

i have no stove

i have NO sodding fold out table and chairs

i have no roofbox, and a tiny car

i have me and the stars and some kids