Camping bowls and plates recommendations please!

[MysteriousFalafel]

Looking to upgrade some of our camping gear this year as I’ve been making do with cheap stuff for about 6 years now and I think it’s time to admit it…we’re proper campers

I have a very motley collection of cheap plastic plates, cups and bowls but they pack horribly as nothing stacks, all different sizes and they’re very flimsy. Any recommendations? We need new bowls, cups for cold drinks and plates. Family of 5 with small children so they need to be fairly sturdy as I’ve found flimsy plastic plates on knees tends to end in disaster. Plates with a lip are great! I haven’t got a gigantic budget, certainly not spending hundreds of pounds on camping plates as I’ve seen some sets for up to £200 which blows my tiny mind.

Anyone using anything good they can recommend please?

Once the shops start selling Spring / Summer seasonal stuff Waitrose often have sets of stacking garden cups and glasses, and nice outdoor picnic plates and bowls.

Also - look at IKEA, The Kitchen stuff and also kids stuff. Their bowls and cups are good for kids.

It depends on your style. I like enamel 'Rice Plates' - sold as rice plates in my local market, they are deep rimmed plates so good for not tipping your burger etc. off the plate. An example, but available in many markets and from Amazon. Mine are 20Cm I think Enamel Rice/Pasta Plate White with Grey Rim (20cm)

I also have some melamine square plates which fit into my kitchen box without wasting space like round ones do - they came in a set of 4 from Waitrose! But I haven't seen them recently - but google and you will find sets of square melamine plates.

Also - Mn has a camping board!

Sea to summit X series, find them brilliant, collapsible, hard wearing.

Ours are just melamine. It seems to last well, is solid, goes in the dishwasher. I like the look of those "rice plates" though, and friends of ours have special camping soup/ramen bowls with handles which are brilliant, especially if you don't want to eat every meal at the table.

Unless you are back packing which you obviously aren’t just use china , so much nicer. I always take proper mugs even on the motorcycle and we have very little packing space (I pack things into the mugs!)

😂😂

Enamel is your friend. I still have my dad’s enamel camping mug and it’s fine!

I’m confident the kids would kill some china in pretty short order 😁 square ones would be amazing! I like the look of those rice plates, we probably wouldn’t need a separate bowl if we had those as the kids can eat cereal out of their mugs. We’ve added kid number 3 this year so car space is at an absolute premium!

hohahagogo That reminds me of the lovely older couple on the next pitch to us once. They had what otherwise seemed like normal camping gear but put a beautiful cloth on their table and used bone china with silvery cutlery. She said it just made camping more civilised.

OP as someone else said, wait until the supermarkets get their outdoor eating stock in. Sainsburys had some nice stuff a year or so back.

I love my enamel ones - enamel feels more ‘campy’, like I’m doing things properly.

Family of six here. We have melamine plates from Dunelm, bought in the end of summer sale! They were sold in sets of 4 bowls plus 4 plates (bought 2 sets), and had complementary plastic cups stacked inside a plastic jug (again, two sets of four). We’ve had them for about 5 years now, and they’ve survived countless camping trips, the rigours of campsite washing up stations and being dropped on the way, and best of all they go in the dishwasher, so the last day of washing up can come home in the washing up bucket and go through the dishwasher for a really clean clean before they’re packed away!

Sets sold by camping shops are no better than the melamine sets sold in supermarkets/dunelm etc. They are eye watering expensive because they’re in a camping shop!

I had the same idea when we started, but backpacking or not you have to slug every plate and bowl to the washing up block and back. We never had a breakage but when there are 5 of you and it's all china that is a lot of weight, especially for a child, to carry across a field 6 times a day. Lighter crockery makes a big difference. It also means the task can be done independently by the children much younger.

We got ours out when we were having our kitchen refitted recently too. Got tired of lugging washing up bowls full of crockery up the stairs to wash in the bath. Had a sudden brainwave and got the camping stuff out instead. So much easier.

Wildo Kasa bowls were excellent as they have a handle on the side, just the business for eating cereal/spag Bol etc in a tent
https://www.trekitt.co.uk/equipment/cutlery-utensils/wildo-kasa-xl-bowl-dark-grey__35142?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=1513&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22924726045&gbraid=0AAAAADpEPuidMhIjx8qLykm9zHoTFbwP1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmp3LBhAkEiwAJM2JUP5TwUSFHzWA7La-fYAECxmuXWNcel1O6jxVCHYcrbZrh-pLK7xRKBoCSVMQAvD_BwE

also camp-a-box if you want easily stored stuff
https://www.trekitt.co.uk/equipment/cutlery-utensils/wildo-camp-a-box-complete-camping-dinnerware-set-lime__35163?currency=GBP&chosenAttribute=W10267&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22924726045&gbraid=0AAAAADpEPuidMhIjx8qLykm9zHoTFbwP1&gclid=CjwKCAiAmp3LBhAkEiwAJM2JUDvmTTXR7cdQexwi49c2ka4aAOZpNfWCieReOOMbubemi2UDQLxCbhoC15sQAvD_BwE

Balti bowls! Cheap, indestructible, stackable & lighter than enamel. Plus you can eat cereal or pasta or curry out of them, but just as easily plonk a burger in them. You can also heat stuff up directly on the camping stove in them, although possibly not something you'd do a lot with small DC in the mix.

Tiffin tins also work well, & because they clip together in a stack, you can use to transport the tea bags or rice or whatever to the camp in the first place.

We have a mix, some enamel and some plastic camping gear from Lidl. I will say the enamel ones are tricky to hold on your lap if you're eating a hot meal, the plates themselves can get quite hot, but we have a camping table and chairs set up so we tend to eat at a table more often than not anyway.

All the supermarkets get melamine plates in the summer. Plus m&s, the range, home bargains etc. Just pick something you like.
I got mine in tkmaxx