Camping

[WonderingWanda]

Maybe I should leave it at that 😆

Am I unreasonable to expect the camping stuff to fit in the car? It fit last time. I haven't added anything new since last time apart from a new (larger) roofbox which ought to fit more in it. I can't get it all in. Dh will be back soon and (he hates camping) will start declaring that we don't need all this rubbish and I'll have to try and pick something to leave behind. It can't be him before you suggest it because I can't get the tent up on my own.
How can I make it fit? ...should I drink the booze first so that takes up less space?

Haha, we've just bought an enormous trailer for our camping gear. And yet, the car is still stuffed full. I don't know how I've managed it. Now we're here, I've realised that we've forgotten some stuff.

Roof box. Do you take pillows? I vacpack the m to reduce size

Wow, fitting camping gear into reliant robin is impressive!

Vacuum packing sounds like a plan.

@midairchallenger I agree. I can’t bear over packers. Bet you don’t even use it all!

I can pack for eight days of both business and pleasure including a ball dress into a carryon size suitcase. Even camping doesn’t require entire carfuls….

We ended up taking 2 cars last weekend 🤣

In the process of selling my camper van and honestly can't wait to see the back of it....my camping days are behind me!
Sorry op no help at all!

I love that there are others out there who struggle with the packing. Reasonably large car but excessively large tent is the problem I think. Have been there with the two cars before when we needed travel cots etc. I think camping is really marmite, you love it or loathe it!!

I've forgotten a few things but have all the essentials! And managed to fit bith kids and dh in!

We’ve just had another kid so now we have 2 and I really can’t see how we’re getting it all in this year! The travel cot is the main worry. I think this might be a 2 car year and then hopefully we’ll have a bigger car next year. We are in a caravan this week and I’ve literally had to wedge one child’s clothes into small gaps all over the car 😂

Vac packing stuff is great as long as you have the capability to vac pack it for the way home. We are going tomorrow morning - can't wait!

I'm always a bit embarrased to open the boot and all sorts of crap falls out...a towel, one flip flop, a washbag, a lantern, a bag of charcoal...you get the picture. Other people look so much more organised.

Does anyone have any lantern recommendations? Ours are all a bit dim!

We have the Go Outdoors Airtent 6xl (forget the proper name for it). Its funking massive and definitely contributes to our packing problem. Along with Scout leader DH who packs for every eventuality. You never know when you'll need 100 spare tent pegs or an extra sleeping bag...

You've packed it wrong!

Tent is always the last thing into the boot, because it's the first thing out. Everything else stays in the car until it's up!

Except possibly a couple of beers to help!

Well done! Ours is the same - dustpans and tea towels and pillows and bottles of wine falling out all over the place. You have to adopt a kind of defensive crouch when opening the boot.

I tried to get really organised one year and pack everything in nice see through stackable boxes. Couldn’t fit them in the car. Turns out it only all fits if it’s all in squishy bag-for-lifes or beat up ancient cardboard boxes.

lanterns - this one is fantastic: LE Rechargeable Camping Lantern, 1000 Lumen LED Outdoor Lights, 4 Modes Emergency Light, Water Resistant Tent Light for Camping, Hiking, Fishing, Power Cuts and More amzn.eu/g56ZkKQ

Also these ones are great for small portable light:
Siivton Camping Lantern, Rechargeable Camping light 6400mAh Power Bank Charger - IP65 Ultral Bright Camping Lamp Outdoor Tent Light for Hiking Fishing Camp amzn.eu/d7nGQgk

Good theory but wouldn’t work for us - the tent weighs 50kg at least and is the size of a small sofa when bagged up, and would crush everything else. We have to lump it into the boot with a massive heave, then pile everything around it 😭

Talipesmum thanks for the lantern recommendations!

I always seem to foolisy park with the boot downhill which adds force to the boot avalanche....when will I learn? 😂

Oh god, there's a snorer in another tent 😫...thankfully it's mostly drowned out by the sound of waves. Happy camping to anyone else doing it this weekend!

I'm going tomorrow. We take 2 cars because our air tent is HUGE (not a humble brag, they just never pack down like a non air beam one!)
I've not packed yet. I'm in bedding , blankets, hot water bottles and pillows, food and clothes. What could go wrong?!! Good luck sleeping. I HATE camping sleep but love the drinking and outdoor bit !

We’ve got a new car this year and I realised on Sunday evening that our roof bars don’t fit on the car as we were coming away on Monday morning, so we’ve had to leave the roof box behind. 😩
Luckily we are only away for a few days so we’ve left a lot of stuff at home including the electric pump for the airbeds, the gas for the cooker and my youngest child’s bag of clothes! We had to make an emergency run to Tesco.

We're coming home tomorrow and I’m dreading the car tetris, we have to put the tent in first, it’s a massive air beam and it weighs 40kg, we have to pack around it.

We upgraded to a trailer tent last year which has been a game changer. We realised we had reached packing capacity whilst trying to get everything back into the car at the end of the holiday, and DCs legs are only going to get longer (losing us the foot wells). We are off camping tomorrow, and all we need to fit in the car is clothes, bedding, food and drink (it's fairly local so not buying on arrival this time), and the camping chairs. It still all only just fits, but that's because I now chuck it in haphazardly rather than meticulously making sure no gaps bigger than a matchstick are left unfilled.

I agree with a PP about SIMs. Pre trailer tent we had a double for me and DH. It took up more boot space than our 5-man 3-room tent! (Worth it though!)

Our camping is clearly nothing like some of your camping. Dustpans, travel cots, fancy lanterns, electric pumps?

if I want to go to the level of it not feeling like a tent, I just don’t go away in a tent.

When we camp, it’s pretty raw….

We have a massive airbeam tent and have to pack around it, it's the main reason we got a new car!

Have fun camping, am rather envious, we haven't been camping yet this year.

With this weather you're def being unreasonable to even consider camping

As long as the equipment is good and the location is intriguing, then I love camping, I'd begin with the main essentials first then go from their. All the best op