Camping!

[starsdontburn]

Hi all
Going camping for the first time this week and have no idea what to take. We obviously have basics like tent and blow up mattresses but does anyone have any fantastic tips and tricks to make it go smoothly?! We're heading to go outdoors in the morning so can pick up anything recommended! Thanks so much

Children are 4 and 1!

Tea towels
Washing up stuff
Beanie hats - heads get really cold at night.

Head torch
Recomment plastic boxes with clothes in - stope stuff getting damp.

Just did camping with my 7&9yo.

•Mats for under air beds. They get so cold at night.
•Layers. Layers layers. I went early august, it was warm, I slept in joggers, top cardigan and jumper.
•Flip flops/crocs for showers. Veruca central in there.
•Going for a week? Pack clothes for 2 weeks. Especially for the kids. They fall, wet themselves, fall again. Find a puddle. They go fucking feral. If there is mud in a 10mile radius, they are in it.
•Socks, so many socks.
•Night wees. Boys - wild wee on the grass. Seriously, just let them.
Girls - I still have a travel potty and I've used it at 3am.
•Bottled water.

•wine
•sleeping bags. Zip them in. They will freeze with a duvet.
•pillows - it's just not worth the neck ache.
•camp kitchen - plastic tub. Camp stove, gas, plates, cutlery, bin bags (so many bin bags), mugs, plastic beakers, kitchen roll, sponge dish soap dish towel. Wooden spoon, frying pan, chopping board etc etc.
•chairs - Halfords do them for £10, might be 2for£15 now can't remember.
•foldable table. Big enough to prep on and eat on.
•Wine
•toys - bat abs ball, frizbe, etc.
•solar lights that stick in the ground - Poundland for these.
•headlamps - I got them from millets on sale. These are a godsend. Kids love them and actually wear them.
•first aid kit. Plasters, calpol.
•Wine

Depending on where you can are shop closer and way home from any day trips.
But if you're taking a cool bag. Freeze a bottle of water (2L) and it takes ages to defrost will keep milk and food cold for a day or so.

Good luck. Camping is so much fun.

Take Wine.

We put a space blanket and then a fleece blanket under the air bed to keep the cold out. Keep a toilet roll and a torch in a plastic bag by the door to make night time wees easier. Have an Ikea bag or a box by the door for shoes to keep the tent clean. Take a dustpan and brush and a folding clothes airer.

Pegs.
If something gets wet I peg it to the guy ropes. Handy way of avoiding a washing line or similar.

Good shout on shoe box.
No shoes in the tent if you've got a integral groundsheet. (I don't at the front part so it's easy to shake off)

Dust pan and brush (cos they will ignore you and go in wearing shoes)

Wine

Lol at how many people mention wine! 🤣🤣🤣

A camping toilet - saves going out of the tent at night for a wee.
Slip on crocs/gardening shoes for popping in and out if the tent.
Lanterns for inside the tent.
A good quality cool bag. We bought 2 in Go Outdoors a couple of years ago - a soft inflatable one and a hard sided one. The soft one keeps things cool for much longer. We were camping last week. Froze sausages and milk before we went and they were still cold on day 4.

Always change your clothes before bed, even if you don’t want to put on cold PJ’s. If you don’t you will wake up cold.

Eat out.

Get camp beds, the blow ups are horrendous, the self inflating mats for the beds are a dream to sleep on.

Pack clothes in plastic tubs to keep dry from the damp air

Take duplicate towels because they dry very sloooooooowly in tents

Storm pegs too. Trust me they work

Bacon Brunch potato rösti from Sainsbury’s (in the packet food aisle)

Sausages (take frozen)

Cider

Coffee

Sorted!

I took baskets a few weeks ago - one for toiletries , one for food , one for clothes it worked so much better than rummaging around in bags looking for stuff. Remember to pack the tent into the car last do it's the first thing you take out . Have fun - kids love it !

Haven't read the full thread but we used to always forget pillows and a lamp

Lots of useful comments here. We are recently back from 2 nights away. What you want to take may depend on weather forecast facilities on site and your plans for meals. We actually weren't as cold at night as others say - I think the 'bedroom compartment' in our tent keeps in heat pretty well, and our sleeping bags are warm. I took my warmest pj's and kind of regretted it! Layers useful though as hard to predict.

We don't bother with camping toilets and just accept a nighttime walk to the toilet block(or nearby trees for DH!) as part of the adventure, but at your kids age I might take a potty.
This time found 'doormat ' outside tent useful for taking shoes on and off (used one of the car mats). Also yes to Durham and brush, lots of carrier bags for bin, dirty washing, carrying stuff to shower etc.
We tend to take one lidded plastic box with kitchen stuff and one with Good plus a cool box / bag or 2. We have a camping stove and a fold up bbq. Remember gas cannister and easy light charcoal!
We found a couple of led lanterns and a couple of small torches fine- kids didnt seem to get on with wearing head torches. Microfiber travel towels are useful as they take up less room and dry quicker.

Aaargh forgot to preview. So many typos!
dustpan and brush.
food not good!

The giant travel towels (microfibre) are the most useful things-they dry even on the soggiest of days.

Piriton.
I am allergic to camping.

Sleep in joggers and hoodie.
Take a nail brush. For some reason nails get filthy in a field.
More zip lock bags of all sizes then you would usually use in a year.
If you are used to reading at night but don’t want to read by torch light, down load audio books to phone instead. (Plenty of power packs for charging.

My best tip is to strip and remake beds before you leave home. Nothing better then a warm shower, clean pj’s and a clean bed to crawl into when you get home.

Mouseproof containers for food packets.

For night time wees use a bucket lined with a plastic bag with some cat litter in - the cat litter means wee is absorbed so you won't have any accidental spills. In the morning tie up the bag and dispose of in the bin.

Oh, if there's any chance of rain then a pop-up clothes airer is a godsend for wet coats, trousers etc

Echo the advice to insulate air beds from the ground 🥶
And a camping loo, we’ve got the chemical version and the bucket version, with biodegradable bags and biodegradable cat litter, we default to the bucket version, as it’s far easier
If the site offers ice pack freezing, take some you’re not too bothered about, as you’ll invariable end up with tent #2’s Poundland jobbies
Keep some clothes in the car, less likely to get damp
Layers, warm socks and fleece blankets
And don’t let kids blow bubbles near tents, as it affects their waterproofing!

I have never taken a bucket to pee in at night, I try to go as late as possible at night in the toilet block and hold it til the morning, ds is nearly 10 and goes by himself in the night. When he was younger (4 or so) I would take him with me, and then stick a pull up on to avoid wet sleeping bags

I camp a lot (just back from 3 days in our big tent). I used to freeze when camping, wore hats and layers and all sorts. Then I invested in a very good 4 season sleeping bag and silk liner and it's a bloody revelation. I'm never cold now and I am a cold, cold person.

You've got lots of suggestions here but to repeat the really key ones for us:
Head torches and spare batteries
Shoes or wellies you can slip on or off for nipping in and out of the tent or to the loo/showers
Camping microfibre towels, don't take normal towels
Kitchen roll
Bin bags/carrier bags
Camping table
Proper pillows
Warm clothing for the evening. I have a snugpak jacket which is basically a duvet of a jacket, warm as feck and packs down really small
Jet boiler - quick hot drinks but we also cook pasta and similar in it

A potty for night time wees, a vest top, pj top and hoody for bed, and full length joggers, socks and a hat if you're me, I love camping but at night I really feel the cold in a tent, at home we have the bedroom windows right open year round and I even quite like my feet to dangle out the sides (no monsters here 😂) but camping is a totally different kind of cold, I try to time my showers as just before bed if I can't do a bit of jog on the spot type of thing so you are warm getting in, if you get in cold you won't warm up, so getting in warm is the trick.
We take little milk cartons for the kids too, I haven't seen any recently that are just milk they all seem to be milkshake but they definitely do just normal milk somewhere, a water carrier, picnic blankets for a carpet area if you don't have a tent carpet, if you are going with electric the b&m cooker is brilliant it's about £20 and you can do all sorts of things on it, pizzas, breakfasts, pancakes, curry's I definitely recommend, waterproofs, light for the tent, wind breaks, games or something to keep them occupied if it's a bit rainy, sun cream if it's not, oh and fly repellent, bobbles - if your hair is long enough it's much easier to just plait your hair rather than taking straighteners or using the ones in the bathrooms, a little fold up table, can be a prep space for food, table for the kids or coffee table if your sitting out, I'd also suggest one of those kids canvas drawer type things that fold down flat and have a pull down frame, tents very easily become untidy so they can help and takes up hardly any room in the car! Enjoy your trip!

Lots of good advice here already.
-More warm clothes than you would ever believe imaginable in August!

• wellies and all-in-one suits for the dcs, especially the 1yo
• a pack of cards / games and lots of wine (red after day1 as you don't have to keep it cold)

I have such fond memories of camping with mine at that age. Have fun!

You have no idea how grateful I am to all of you! These tips are wonderful! Thank you so much, I'm almost looking forward to it now!