Newbie camper - woohoo what stuff shall I buy?

[melonian]

Yay DH finally thinks the DC are ready for camping at 3y and 18m! Am so excited but we haven't been since pre DC and then we were hiking with a 2 man tent. So we need just about everything!

So first, what tent? Really want one that'll last forever with lots of space. Quite like the tunnel ones and am v.taken with an outwell hawaii. I think this is partly because the cool orange colour reminds me of our old retro frame tent, but I really like the zip up porch bit for cooking in and shoes etc. But lumme, £999 for a tent (and none on ebay as I think it's a new model)!! Is there anything at, say 1/2 that price which is similar but good quality?

And any other recommendations. Are we best to try & borrow a tent for this summer and see if we can get a bargain in the autumn?

Can't wait! And will prob need to pick all your brains about all the other fun stuff we may or may not need. Please let me know any tips for camping with kids or produst recommendations

TIA

Lots of old thread one here (not that I need half an excuse to prattle on about the stuff I like, but in case you want to read whilst waiting!), so might be woth reading back a couple of pages or do a quick search.

My take on it:

Yes, ABSOLUTELY borrow first if you can. Nothing to do with sales, but more so that you get a feel of what you need or like in a tent now that you have children too.

Other bits: Self inflating mats - Thermarests or Alpkit Dozers

To cook: Cobb or Cadac, depending on your type of cooking

Warm bedding. I take our down duvets now, but have sleeping bags for overnight. Am going to buy me a good warm camping double / two zippables this year.

The child

The husband

Marshmallows

Wine

The rest not that important. :)

Have you looked at the Outwell Montana?

It's the family tent of choice for many people and Go Outdoors has a good deal on it atm. It's on my shopping list for this year, I particularly like the look of the zip up porch bit, handy for boots, wet stuff etc.

We went in a couple of those Outwell orange tents....you will need sunglasses even on cloudy days inside the tent, honestly they are really bright!

It would be a really good idea to borrow a tent first. We are on our second tent in our second year of camping because what we though would suit us didn't at all once we were camping!

Just beware of tent size when folded aswell. When it's been up once you can never get it back to the size it was when you bought it so consider space in the back of the car. Our tent has steel poles which are much heavier and take up more space but less bendy in the wind.

Good thick sleeping bags and something decent to sleep on are essentials IMO. Also a good size table and decent chairs to sit on.

We have a cadac which is great but kind of wish I had a cobb