I know this is the wrong time of year to be worrying about this, but how the hell do we fit it all in the car?

[Cappster]

We have this tent, an 8-man Khyam. (It's too big. There are four of us. BUT dd1 is disabled so we do have to travel with a camping toilet which we pop in a spare bedroom for her. (It's all v proper posh loo with sealed bits etc.)

So we have massive tent. Loo. Wheelchair, all bits, chairs, clothes, mattresses, sleeping bags, coolbox etc etc et-bloody-cetera.

Now I'm thinking we need to get a canopy so we don't end up cooking in the tent and I'm wondering where we will put it? We have a roof box. We have a huuuuuuge boot and one of the three back seats folds down to give extra space (we've got two kids).

The only option I can think of is to leave the kids at home. This is okay, yes?

Does anyone else have problems packing it all in? I've heard of people buying little cupboards to keep all their food in, and I'm just thinking wtf? Do they have a trailer, or something?

[high fives chippy]

You have one? What are they called (I'm borrowing the van, and all the kit from the olds)

Fgs. Here we go.

The thread has gone right off track.

Back to the serious business of packing lite.

How much space does the oven-thing take up?

depends which oven thing you are referring to Chippy.

The glorious and most wonderful Cobb takes up hardly any room at all [lie]. The cadac is huge and cumbersome and ugly and you probably need a separate trailer for it and the gas bottle.

cadac is quite wee, it all folds down. you will have the gas bottle in the caravan anyway [stick tongue out at slubber]

Laydees, please.

Got any good Provençal recipes then? Leg of lamb with rosemary kinda thing?

Blimey, my spell-checker does French accents!

wee my arse. I saw one in Wales and you could have cooked a suckling pig in it.

Leg of lamb sounds lovely chippy though.

honestly the safari chef thingy is small

mm

That's the one, the safari chef. My pa sits on a little stool whilst grilling the sausages, to be at the right height

I don't think I stand a chance of getting all my camping crap essentials in my tiny Clio - even if I left ds at home!

I might have to start making a list now of what I might need and have a few practice runs of loading it into the car.

1/ fill boot too the brim, slam door quickly to avoid leakage.
2/ insert kids into back seat.
3/ cram as much gear as you can around, under, on top of and between kids as you can and they can still breathe, slam doors to avoid avalanches.
4/ fill passenger foot well.
5/ get into passenger seat.
6/ get dogs into front seat on your lap.
7/ slam door quick before something falls out.
8/ don't open doors until you get to camp site!

9/ Count your lucky stars the campsite is only 5 miles from home when you realise you have forgotten the portaloo something essential

I went to Outdoors show in London today, and saw a Cobb in real life. Was very tempted, but dh wasn't too keen to have that and the Cadac. I thought it would be fair to report back: It is indeed considerably smaller than the Cadac Carry Chef that we have (and love). I think if I had to choose between that and the smaller Cadac, I might have been tempted to go for Cobb as it is quite stylish looking (for camping, mind you). Carry Chef brilliant for outdoors and lots of friends, so both prob good for different purposes

I also soooo wanted a tripod and dutch oven pot thingy, but, shock horror, same reaction. Oh, and a small motor home (to rent, not buy, if that makes a difference). I have a faint suspicion that I might have got a bit carried away, so probably just as well dh was with me.

On the upside, the yachts didn't do it for me at all.

Wow. This took off in my absence, didn't it?

I am just busy rofling at the suckling pig

Take 2 cars to fill both with camping eqt and choose the easiest children to take, leaving the noisy / bothersome ones with the man. It is a holiday after all.

We have a Meriva. Camped for 2 weeks last summer and took:
Outwell nevada M tent and associated gubbins including carpet
porch bit for tent
Kitchen tent separate thing
Foldup big table
2 lilos
Double sleeping bags and blankets and pillows
2 gas hobs
Kitchen stand thing
Shelves for kitchen
Other shelf for clothes
Cool box
Small foldup table
Box of toys
Other boxes with various foody/candly/savlony/spare tent peg type things in
Wellies, walking boots, shoes each
A foldup bike trailer
Bbq
2 big lounger chairs
2 small chairs
Clothes
Windbreak (camped on coast was v windy)
Mallet, air pump
Cooking kit, plates etc
...and bunting and fairy lights :o

The car was a work of art and we could see out of the back window.
Oh, and have a roofbox of course!