First time camping

[Noglassjustthebottleandastraw]

Hi De Hi campers 😀

I have never camped in my life but thinking about it for this year. It would more be wild camping in Scotland although there are sites we could use also. Thinking about the North Coast 500. What would you suggest I buy? I've been looking at pop up tents. There would be me, dh and dd 10.

All camping tales welcome

Buy the best quality and highest tog sleeping bag you can.
We camp in Scotland...
A windproof+waterproof coat and decent shoes also.
And a wooly hat.
And a flask!!
Second hand camping equipment is fine. Put the tent up before you go to check it properly.

Hi OP!

I personally wouldn’t attempt a trip in a pop up tent. I am an experienced camper but struggled to have a good time in a ‘three man’ tent with just me and DH. Too small, can’t stand up, if it rains you’re screwed.

I went wild camping last year, had a great time - but you do need some home comforts! Borrow a friend’s larger tent to see if you actually like camping and then go and buy one in the winter sales/second hand. A five man tent is perfect - two bedrooms and a communal area and awning.

I would recommend taking:

wind breakers
a kitchen stand with metal wind breaker
kettle
gas hob
Large comfy folding chairs
ice packs
battery packs
dustpan and brush
doormat
plastic bags for muddy boots

I wouldn't do wild camping as your first time tbh... You will just need so much more stuff! A campsite will have showers and toilets and possibly other facilities!
Also I know they're cheap but pop up tents are generally crap - and a 4 man will give you a bit more space.

Ideally borrow to see if you like it. We have 6 tents to accommodate various combinations of us.
We always take table, chairs, camp kitchen, lights, including head torches.
And I’d definitely consider a campsite for your first trip.
Have fun!

I would stay on a small site or find a bothy if you have not been camping before. You will need to take so much stuff with you and a pop up will not be enough.

Take a duvet. No matter how warm the day is, it plummets in the night. Trust me.

Go to a campsite if your first time.

Good sized tent.
Air bed
Sleeping bag liner
Good tog sleeping bag
Blanket
Hot hands for your feet (yes even in summer)
Midgie repellent
Midgie head net Smidge Head Net https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01EJF6LAE/ref=cmswwrcppapiiiJ7HW39VPQFVHJSGR5X48?encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Camp light

Are my musts

Smidge insect repellent is totally the dog's bollocks and the best I've ever used.

Second the recommendation of a dust pan and brush, you'll tread in a surprising amount of crud.

Collaps cooking gear is handy: www.outwell.com/en-gb/ecommerce/accessories/collaps-collection

From never camped to wild camping ... well, you're braver than me.

What will you do about toilets, water to drink or wash up with?

How will you heat the water?

I recommend practice staking your tent before you go (I did not do this enough). Choose the hardest driest most rocky gravel-filled ground you can find to practice on. Get excellent stakes. Get a ground sheet...

It was smidge head net that I was recommending not their repellent

@Maydaysoonenough I never thought about second hand. Will have a look. Thank you.

@DogsAndGin thanks for your tips. My thinking about pop up tents are that they would be easier to put up. Are normal tents difficult to put up?

@Supersnot123 will look at what the campsites have that wild wouldn't. Thank you.

@Etinoxaurus 6 tents! Wow. I've just had a look at chairs, portable bbq and portable fire pit and table. The amount of stuff you can buy is huge!
Thanks for your advice.

@BlanketsBanned I've just been reading about minimalism in camping and wrote a list. Just said to dh the car would be packed lol.

@Bellevu thanks will pop a duvet on my list. I live in the rural Highlands so used to the temps especially at night.

@MajorCarolDanvers thanks for your list. Yeah midges are a pain and so annoying. What's hot hands?

@Handyweatherstation I would never have thought about a dust pan and brush. Thanks. Will definitely check out your link. Thank you.

@lljkk yes I like to be adventurous and step outside my comfort zone.

Thanks very much everyone for all the great advice and tips. Very much appreciated. You have all definitely gave me food for thought and more research to investigate.

I'm amazed by the amount of gear people take to go camping! For me, the point is to commune with nature and experience something unlike living in the comfort of your home. Why don't you try camping in your back garden for a night to see if you can comfortably sleep on the ground, if not, get an air mattress. I'd say for an initial trip you need a tent, high tog sleeping bags, a pillow (but a pillowcase stuffed with jumpers may do), a little gas stove and cooking pot, a water filtration system (there are little units that screw into your water bottle, bladder systems, or sterilizing tabs). That's pretty much it, you obviously need food and a bag to carry it all, but if you're planning to wild camp I'd imagine you're expecting to get a bit dirty, and to hike from spot to spot loaded up with gear, so weight is important. There's a channel on YouTube called homemade wanderlust which talks about how to prepare for your fist trip and how to use different bits of kit. Have fun!

I'm not sure that wild camping on the NC500 would be great, especially with a kid in tow. I think it's pretty discouraged locally. I would definitely book ahead for campsites.

Yeah I know, I was just thinking about how good Smidge repellent is and wanted to share the joy. Every biting insect on the planet has my number and it's changed my life.

Op look at Ruberslaw wild woods camping at Hawick. Been about 8 times now. Amazing and a lovely little town.

It's for lightweight campers but last year we joined the Camping and Caravanning Club and were well pleased. You get your pitch for a decent rate and many sites have an electric hook up included in the price. There are showers and loos, laundry room and washing up area, plus a little shop. I hadn't been camping in decades and we're both over 60, so we appreciated what was on offer.

The site we were on had a play ground and the kids formed packs and played all day. There was a lot of shrieking and thundering about, but they were kids and doing what kids are supposed to do, which was good to see.

@ThedaBara we are planning on taking the car not hiking. During the pandemic we slept out in our garden a few times with no tent, just under the stars and it was great fun. Will check out the YouTube suggestion, thank you. We live in the rural Highlands so are often out and about up hills etc. We are used to getting dirty, drinking from streams without sterilising the water etc.

@FinnRussell its really not discouraged locally. I live near the NC500. What us locals don't like is the campers who are irresponsible and leave rubbish etc or set fires in woods etc irresponsibly. I live really rural so dd is used to climbing Munros/ mountains. Playing out in woods, walking miles. Generally having an idyllic childhood from the 40s.

@Maydaysoonenough just had a look at the campsite. It looks really good. Thanks so much for the suggestion. Have kept it for maybe a later time.

@Handyweatherstation will check out the camping club. Sounds like you had a good holiday. Yeah I agree its lovely to see kids out playing and having fun especially after the past few years.

How did you stay warm enough and not get soaked with dew/morning moisture camping out in garden without a tent in Highlands?

@lljkk we put duvets/throws on the ground and on top of us. We didn't get wet.

I really think @FinnRussell point is valid, especially given the events this week near Skye. I'm also very rural Scotland, farmers, and we take old caravan all over the place, no power so wild in some sense.

We absolutely have a right to roam and I respect that. But you can't beat local knowledge, which you get from asking. Op, I'm not getting at you, just making the wider point. Try and ask the Tennant or land owner, where is best. I had people shouting at me last weekend who had set up on a hill with cows and calves. I attempted to suggest some safer, and nicer spots and they just were not listening.

This weekend I've directed three lovely families to beautiful spots, and let one use phone when an issue arose.

So my tip would be speak to the locals, make a new friend and find those lovely spots.

@sheepandcaravan with all due respect. Thanks for your advice, however I am not going to rock up and camp on someone's estate or farmland. I have looked into wild camping spots on the NC500 and wider Scotland. And this afternoon spoken to people about it in real life. I appreciate your thoughts but I am clued up about dealing with local villages and the etiquette of the country code and the unwritten codes of country life. Please don't tar people with the same brush as others.

@Noglassjustthebottleandastraw exactly, that's why I said I'm making the wider point, not aimed at you. Because for everyone like you that gets these points, others might not, so as a general point, that would be my tip.

Residents on the NC500 ourselves and just spent a very unpleasant afternoon gloved up and collecting human faeces and wet wipes (left by wild campers) from our land and local shore, I'd just say make sure you've always got a fall back plan for toileting.