To think to enjoy camping you need to invest in the best and it’s a huge risk

[Raspberryberetthekindyoufind]

Just that really. I went camping in my early adulthood and hated it- small tent, shit facilitates, bucket for toilet etc
A few years ago my husband persuaded me to try it again and I said yes on the basis we would spend some of his bonus on getting decent stuff so we got
Blow up big tent which goes up in ten minutes with porch and lots of storage plus had a put up extra bedroom you can use a toilet cubical. Also bedroom are covered in black out material.
Portable flushing toilet with bags that you just take out and dispose of
Extra ground footprint
Extra roof protective sheet
Extra indoor roof liner to stop condensation

Tent carpet
Amazing thick comfy blow up beds
Inflatable sofa and chairs
Put up clothes storage unit
Storage rack for porch for shoes, toys etc
2 other fold up storage boxes

Tent Lighting unit
Good camping stove plus kitchen unit for it to sit on
Fire pit
Thick sleeping bags that can be used as a quilt of if like me you need your legs to be free
And the most important thing/ the best most expensive earplugs that don’t let a dam thing through
Also always go to a campsite with electric hook ups so you can charge phones, plug in a hairdryer etc (some people even bring a telly)
The reason I am posting this is to say I understand people’s misery and I used to think have all singing and all dancing camping stuff would be useless but it really does make a difference.
unfortunately it means a big outlay as well at the beginning
We took the risk and it payed off. I now love it and have been converted but it so could have gone the other way.

Just wondering if anyone agrees or disagrees with me

It’s the whole sleeping thing that is the main issue.

Helped by having separate air beds but as a martyr to my spine I do suffer after a while.

So solve that and I would be happy

Did go to a scout camp where one of the dads appeared with his kids single mattress, still with bedding as he had a bad back.

How do Bell tents stay dry? Or do they stay dry?

chillpizza i'm envious of you being there the other day! It's my spiritual home and i love the place dearly. The cove is beautiful too, although gradually getting spoiled sadly now.

My parents gave me way too much lots of freedom when i was very young and from 6/7 years old i'd be wandering alone over the hills to the cove beach from the durdle door campsite after breakfast for something to do Or go down the cliff path and sit and gaze out at the lovely sea.

One pass time was to go and sit legs swinging on the fence at the top of the (steep!) track up from the D.Door beach at about 5 pm and watch all the red faced folks virtually on their hands and knees coming back up with all their gear.

The little ice cream caravan used to be eased down that track in the morning and then pulled slowly back up in the evening by a tractor. Don't know if it's still done. It's couplings broke as it go to the top once and i witnessed the ice cream van (no one inside) go hurtling all the way back down the path and straight over the cliff!! By some miracle no one was hurt, but the ice cream van was in a million pieces. I had my first proper kiss at the top of the cliffs along there at about 13 ... Ah memories memories :)

i'll shut up now, i've gone right off thread

The same way other tents stay dry

But the reason I hate camping is because tents don’t stay dry. You touch the sides and the whole bloody tent is wet.

I have to say I have limited experience of sleeping under anything but canvas

But I’ve never got wet, nor has any of my stuff

It amazes me that people spend so much on a plastic tent. Yuck.

If you want real comfort, get a canvas tent. They are cool when it is hot, warm when it is cool, silent in the wind, and safe - you can put a stove inside.

Bell tents stay dry. I’ve been camping in all weathers in ours- it’s usually raining whenever we camp; we go regardless. The canvas is quite thick. The 1st time it rains there are a few drips on the occasional seam but then the canvas shrinks a little and becomes completely watertight. The doors are sensible so you don’t get the problem of loads of rain coming in when you open it either (unlike many nylon tents with the door tilted in the direction of the rain).

@Raspberryberetthekindyoufind which ear plugs do you have??

Definitely don’t agree. Camping should be the minimum. To me it’s embracing the primeval and the wildlife. We camp Ray Mears style, for a couple weeks at a time.

It depends on what you are looking for in a camping holiday. I go by train/coach then walk so if I can't carry it its not coming. I like the real basic cook on a campfire and walk halfway up the field to the eco toilet type sites.

DD and I take:
Small, lightweight tent.
bedding roll each (sleeping bag, camp blanket, pillow & teddy wrapped in a groundsheet)
clothes
1st aid kit
barbecue bucket & cooking stuff
Matches
torches
candles
food

DDs bag usually has travel board games (the magnetic ones that do like 8 games), cards, dominoes, a pocket kite, poi, paper, pens, colouring pencils, water colour pad and watercolours, a camera, scissors, string, glue, tape, binoculars notepad and her trusty bird watching book.

I agree about building up to it.
I used to take my dc in a pop up tent with a lilo stuffed inside and out clothes and camping stove just lived in the car boot!
I got a bigger tent when I met dh then we started to collect equipment.
Then I had dd and so we bought a bongi which we had for two years before buying an old but nice motor home with a BATHROOM!
The ultimately luxury for me is to be able to have another beer at night without worrying I'll need the loo!!

We camp every year for one or two weeks. When I was a teen a roll mats, two man tent and a sleeping bag were it.

Now over twenty years later we have a tent we can stand up in, folding camp beds, a floor of roll mats topped by carpet, down sleeping bags, large folding camp chairs. Thats the minimum for comfort these days. We don't cook and I don't want an electric hook up.

I eye the bell tents every year, but our current tent needs running into the ground first. Also I thought the pack up size was bigger than synthetic? We're rammed when we go as it is.

I've not been camping for a good 5 years but used to love going away for a couple of nights with friends. We camped often and did it in an £8 B&M tent, took a pillow and double duvet and 3 or 4 of us would sleep under it. No bother.

Then we did a night in the Lakes and it POURED. In the middle of nowhere, random field, and someones dad had dropped us off so we couldn't even leave til the next morning when he came back to pick us up all looking like cold drowned rats.

This setup sounds really nice OP. Approximately how much would the initial outlay be for something like that? We don't have that much money so is there anything we could miss out on without missing out too much.. maybe a carpet?

Aww I love camping although i have a campervan so is that cheating???

My ddad had a large motorhome for a few years which we borrowed and whilst it was very fancy I secretly prefer our more basic camper. I like doing longer holidays but the weekend getaways are the best especially without ehu. Throw a bag in, throw some fresh food in the fridge (cupboard usually stocked with staples) and off we go :)

I totally agree! I really didn't like camping, then we moved to New Zealand and went away with friends, and I loved it. We're back in the UK now and I still love camping BUT I camp in style (or 'take too much sh*t' depending on whether you're listening to me, or dh!)

We have an 8 man tent for the 5 of us, with 4 seperate bedroom pods, a massive living area, a back hall bit (I kid you not, amazing for storage, and for the kids to slink off to to play/draw if it's raining) and a big porch. We always go with electric, so we've got a toaster, kettle, and huge electric cool box and it really makes a difference.

We go for 8 days at a time, and I can only do that if I take the things that make it comfy for us - proper duvets, enough pillows, decent beds, enough tables/cupboards (I hate things tipping over on the floor, so I need stable surfaces cough for my wine cough) Some of the friends we go with are also from NZ, and we used to camp with them over there - but much less luxuriously - they mock me now, because every year when we meet up I've bought another luxury item that makes me that bit comfier, they think it's hilarious.

We go with friends for a week every year, so there are 9 children, 9 adults and 4 dogs and we love it, it's the one week of the year where we totally wind down and the kids run feral. I'm a total camping convert.

You sound just like me op!
I've just got back from 10 days camping on the Isle of Wight.
We have a massive polycotton tent, it has a separate side porch in which we keep the Thetford.
We do have a heck of a lot of clobber. Full car, roof box and small trailer for two adults and two children. The tent takes up half the trailer though.
I too have fibromyalgia and need to be comfortable sleeping. A good air bed, blankets and proper pillows.
Gas and electric powered proper fridge. Ours makes ice cubes!
DH takes our two boys for long weekend camping and they use a small nylon tent and rough it a lot. I don't go.
I love our tent, but it's so bloody heavy I can't help much putting it up. We were holidaying with my parents and my sister and her family. My sister has a swanky Berghaus blow up tent and they were pitched in about 15 minutes tops. I was but we had more space.

Camping is most definitely not for me.
I’d rather have no holiday than camp.
Do took me once, when we’d not long been together, before dc came along. I said to him if he ever suggested taking me camping again that I’d leave him
It was a basic set up but I agree that if you’re camping, all the electric, indoor toilets, carpet etc isn’t really camping. And still, I wouldn’t go with all of that!
It also seems like an ENORMOUS faff to get all of that stuff ready, packed up and to set it all up. Plus at the end of your stay, to clean it all down, pack it up and take it home again.
Meh. I’m not a camper and that’s fine by me.
I see a lot of outside/greenery/nature day to day, having 3dc and getting them out every day. When I go on holiday, I want a hotel/villa/apartment at the very least, with hot running water and the ability to just leave it all behind when I go home!

I still enjoy camping. But admittedly prefer the cabin in the woods type of holiday.

Not necessarily because of the comfort / amenities (although beds are nice...) but because of the people!! (Ok, and the cooking...)

And also because it's so much less fuss / less preparation for the holiday.

We go semi cheaply but have a great time. I've bought a black sheet cheaply from a supermarket and fashion a kind of blackout blind over the dc bedroom pod. Plus, as pp said, NEVER FORGET EARPLUGS

Agree op, that's why we ended up getting a caravan

Well, a good tent helps, but that doesn't necessarily equate a big outlay. You can be clever instead....When I set out to buy a tent, I knew I wanted a canvas one, because I can't stand the rustliness of nylon, and the way they get so hot in the mornings, and I wanted something to stand up in. I looked at bell tents, but there aren't many second hand bargains there nowadays (too popular), so ended up getting a second hand Cabanon frame tent on eBay.......for £30. It was immaculate, too. Several years down the line, and I still love it, even though it's not immaculate any more, by a long chalk.

I got a two ring gas cooker (originally for my late camper van) that is apparently a very good make, and has certainly been very good, for £15 out of a horse box in a scrap yard.

We always take sheets, pillows and duvets because they're far more comfortable than sleeping bags, but they come straight off our beds at home, so we don't need to spend any extra on those. Just this year, we've upgraded to air mattresses for the princely sum of £10 each (Tesco).

Also, if you're skint, you've usually got a crap phone, so don't mind leaving it plugged in in one of the communal areas that every campsite I've ever been in has had, because nobody's going to nick it

My best buy EVER was our three double-bedroom tent (with inflatable beds included), with a massive living space ypu can comfortably stand up in for 60 euros, on a second-hand site from pople who'd bought it to try camping and hated it so only used it for 2 nights! My OH jokes that it's bigger than our appartment...and we once heard some other campers walk past and say "now THAT'S a tent!" :-) We have just come back from 4 nights in the South of France, 22 euros/night with electricity, in a beautiful spot with direct access to a beautiful lake for swimming, sailing, windsurfing, SUPping (and amazing photos)...my essentials are fitted and top sheets with sleeping bags unzipped over the top like a duvet if necessary, pillows, a fold-away table (discovered last week that it also serves as an indoor ping-pong table when it rains, couple of hardback comic books in the middle, job's a goodun) and camping chairs, a fan, an electric cool box (for the wine), a few rechargable camping lights...and matches to mask any residual smells when using collective toilets! I love going low-maintenance for a while, it's so relaxing (and don't get me started on how well I sleep in a tent)...can't wait for the next trip!

@Blondiechips any chance you could say which site? We have been looking at camping abroad but my French is non-existent! . We are definitely with you OP, and find it more relaxing to have our home comforts. Nothing like campfires, chilled wine, and the total relaxation of not needing to do anything. Life is too busy, I crave camping when I'm not there. Almost the end of the season for us (we are currently camping!)

Where is the best place to buy all this kit?