How do you deal with that freezing cold damp evening bit when you're camping?

[geraldinetheluckygoat]

You know, when the kids have gone to bed, and its starting to get dark, and it gets all damp and chilly in this country. Unless you miraculously manage to coincide with the one or two weeks of freak warm evenings in this country?!
Im thinking the best way is to find a campsite which allows camp fires? Our tent doesn't have sewn in groundsheet so is breezy, so I think a heater would be useless...

I LOVE camping, except for the miserable evenings, so im interested in what you all do to make them more fun! Would like to stay up beyond eight thirty....

Buy a caravan. It was either that or a divorce. I don't do cold!

I was going to post re PJs under clothes! We have been doing & recommending this for years too :)

Also - a hot water bottle is possible to cuddle under a blanket over knees (then take to sleeping bag)

Mulled wine is nice if fed up with Hot Choc with Baileys

But nothing beats a camp fire or fire in the BBQ if proper fire not allowed.

I have a host of hot water bottles, and keeping the stove lit for the length of time it takes to boil enough water to fill them all keeps us plenty warm enough!

Am I the only one who doesn't like a campfire? I mean, I like the idea of it, but I just can't cope with the smell of smoke .
And that's said as an ex-40-a-dayer!

I hate campfires, I try only to go to campsite where they are not allowed. the smell of smoke is horrible and the combined smell of smoke and bacon in the mornings even worse...

we bought a gas lamp last year, the nice yellow glow and the heat it gives off certainly helped us feel cosier as it pissed down for 3 days in cornwall last august!

a double skin tent is also cosier, shame we havent got one of those (our neighbours had one, drier too as ours was showering on us, they were dry with the water running off their inner tent)! thought am tempted this year to set up one of the bedrooms as a lounge for the evenings :-)

Keep the children up late in the pub and all go to bed at the same time

Love a campfire, but then all your clothes stink of it and people move away from you when every you go in a shop/museum/pub

Cannot comment on the underwear/overwear recommendations...I just wrap up but you have to have a campfire to survive the British evening.

You can search for campsites that allow fires on www.campfiresburning.org/sites.php and www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=4 - both really good with reviews etc.

If clothes/bedding do get damp I find the best way of drying them out is to take everything in the car with us, lay it out as much as possible and as we drive round everything gets dry...

Oh you have to try naked in camp bed. It does work! None of that poncey thermal arseing about needed...

ah thanks everyone, for all the ideas! I like the idea of pj's under clothes!! had not thought of bbq fire....and LOVE the idea of aldi bunting/sleeping bag liners. Genius!

I drink wine whilst in my sleeping bag...