Where’s all the stylish camping gear?

[Jauntyangles]

I dress wi the style, my interior is curated so wtf can’t I find even vaguely stylish camping gear? Why is it all grey plastic? Help a woman out!

Camping does not equal stylish in anyway.

Well that's an oxymoron if ever I've seen one !

It's designed to be practical, usually lightweight and portable. There isn't really any room to throw fashionable in with that, what exactly are you expecting?
You can book glamping in a lovely yurt with rugs and floor cushions but you'd only want that in a fixed place, you can't realistically pack it up and move it around!

What are you looking for? The stylish stuff tends to be heavy, bell tents, enamel or steel plates, bowls, pans etc. I think you’d mostly be looking at old style stuff which means you might miss out on the improvements in stuff

I’ve got a bell tent, won’t be going anywhere for less than 10 days but want to make it look nice inside! A table, chairs, washable rug, cute lights. Everything looks Soviet style! Edited to add have a cute frontier stove and netherton pans.

I think you should rethink your holiday plans. Camping seems to be way below your expectations. Camping should be fun, not a fashion statement.

This year whilst camping I followed a woman out of the loos who looked fabulous but was dressed head to toe in white or cream linen. Very brave, I thought. Was this you by any chance OP?

😂😂😂
Just when I thought I'd read it all here.
Op I hope you have a large van to transport all your stuff in..bell tents are heavy.
The reason camping equipment is in bland practical colours is because it's...practical. Imagine a cute cream or pale pink rug and then trudging back from the loos in the rain at 2am...
Camping and fashion are not a thing except in magazines. Pretty camping lights you can get anywhere (cheaper the better..Amazon do plenty) If you must then Dunelms do some very nice washable rugs (I have a cerise one and a duck egg blue one at home as I have pets and grandkids) but really... camping stuff should be light weight and practical if you are actually camping and not just trying to pose for IG !

Join some bell tent groups and they'll give you ideas. You'll need a big car.

I'm sure this isn't your style OP, but I've gone down the vintage route with my camping gear. 1970s striped deckchair, orange and turquoise Tupperware containers, mokka pot, rag rugs, vintage Cath Kidston stuff, crochet blankets, colourful bunting, old enamel saucepans and a whistling kettle. Add in some candle lanterns, fairy lights, comfy cushions, a wicker basket and I'm away - literally.

A little lad passing my tent once said to his mum, "That's the tent I would like to sleep in" and I swear it was the nicest compliment I've ever had.

Unless you're carrying all your gear up K2 it doesn't all have to be collapsible and featherlight. The secret is to use stuff you like, not specifically camping stuff which has surely all been designed to appeal to the kind of man who goes camping to read Practical Coding magazine whilst wearing a grey cagoule.

On a campsite nobody gives a fuck what you or your gear look like. Grow up.

Buy everything from Snow Peak.

That's unjustified Enjoying your camp kit is part of the fun for me and OP too it seems. It's nothing to do with having everyone on the campsite admiring my tent pegs or wellies.

We used to camp with a bell tent and our tent and belongings looked really chic and chichi, however it was heavy, took up so much room, dreadful to dry and wash

I used a lot of non camping stuff. We had to buy a Berlingo to fit it all in and even then it didnt fit in

I got fed up with the effort involved and the hard work Id made for myself so sold the lot and we now self cater!!

Why can't camping be fun & stylish. I found a site called Bell camping boutique. I take all sorts with me. String lights, cushions lovely blankets. There's loads of stuff on Pinterest have a look at life in tents.

I dont have ugly things in my house, I dont rent holiday cottages that look grey and plastic and ugly and so I didnt want my camping set up to be grey, polyester and ugly either.

Hence the impracticality!!!

Yes we used to camp for a week at a time so the set up usually took around 3 hours, slightly quicker to pack down. But once its up, its up. We had table and chairs in the awning, our wood burner in the tent and a little kitchen outside. Very little was 'camping' equipment.

We had a portable shower and a toilet as well as we only used to stay on the CC sites where they had no facitlities usually, often just water and the loo dump thing (cant remember what its called). Usally we were the only ones on these massive fields, it was lovely. So we had to be self sufficient for the week. I did like it when we did it, it was getting home and dealing with washing everything, I made sure everything was washable.

We had massive round jute rugs for the floor and then covered those with washable rugs. I used to hoover the rugs in the garden!!!

I’m with you OP, why can’t we be stylish AND at one with nature

That’s a bit harsh. Why not enjoy whatever.

Thank you to those who’ve mentioned sites - I love the painted tables.
And as to some of the other posters- I don’t rip the piss out of people in dry robes etc on campsites, I don’t mock people in fleeces or with plastic pot plants in front of their pitches because I accept they like them and whether I don’t is irrelevant to and for them. I’m asking for advice on where things I want are because I can’t see it so the bitchiness of a few pps isn’t that helpful.

On a campsite nobody gives a fuck what you or your gear look like
missing the point - I do, and nice things bring me pleasure. Why wouldn’t I want to be surrounded by things that give me joy?

have you looked at Yeti and Joseph Joseph? 6 end of the spectrum is Dunelm but you might get a few things in there at the right time of year.,

I definitely love having a cute camping set up and often take inspiration for my own from people I camp near. At a festival this summer a family in a bell tent had 2 huge pots of freshly cut flowers on either side of the door - it was stunning. I stopped to chat to the mum and she did confide they’d sacrificed space in the car for the camping chairs to swap for the flowers, but she had no regrets 😂 So that’s my goal for next summer.

In terms of actual equipment I find stuff labelled ‘camping’ is generally more expensive, duller and bulkier than the non-camping equivalents. Some bits I have invested in over the years:

I bought an Aldi middle Isle outdoor picnic blanket (woven, beige with pastel pink running through) for like £8 which was both thinner and trendier than our old ‘camping carpet’ and 6 years on it’s still going strong.

I use airbeds with a fitted sheet, full sized duvet and pillows (I use a vacuum bag to suck the air out) ~ I got white company linens from a charity shop for £5 and, despite their paleness, they’re also going strong years on. It’s actually nice to see bugs etc show up on the sheets instead of sleeping in pure darkness.

Fairy lights ofc

I have cute tea towels, and a pretty kitchen area (white/pink storage boxes, mugs, plates etc) ~ I normally find a picnic range for eating utensils/plates etc rather than a camping one which is always one dull colour! I also have a wicker hamper for rolled blankets and floor cushions - all lovely colours instead of dull greys! And another basket for snacks.

This year I invested in some garden loungers (with padded seats, again in nice colours!) which fold up nearly as well as regular camping chairs.

Although not aesthetically pleasing, I have learnt you will never regret camping tables as the ability to put something down, not on the grass is invaluable 😂 You can always cover them in sheets and some fold down really small.

There’s a camping board and there was a thread about lovely set up earlier this year.

IKEA have great cotton flat weave rugs at v cheap prices.

What on earth are you finding that is grey plastic?

https://www.millets.co.uk/15982089/eurohike-peak-folding-chair-15982089/1981252/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19901172198&gbraid=0AAAAADqH8epr6Lwb8O8TC61fwG7Nwpdiw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2uLbrJSxkAMV8phQBh26kC4dEAQYASABEgKx9vD_BwE

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4632845

One of Decathlon’s folding tables this year had a lovely retro ice cream parlour vibe top. OLPRO have nice stuff, I have beautiful vintage melamine mugs and plates from a charity shop.

And so on.

Several years ago I camped next to two young lads who had the most fabulous set up ever. They had a red carpet up to the door of their tent, pots with palms and flamingos in and a chandelier in their tent. Every evening they'd sit in the back of their car watching films and knocking back champagne. It taught me that if you're going to do it - do it in style.