Is there a "Camping Code"?

[TheRedSalamander]

A few messages I've seen make me realise there seems to be an unwritten set of rules about what to do/not to do when camping. As this year will be our first camping holiday (dh, me, 2 ds's 6 and 3) could you seasoned campers share any gems of wisdom please so that when we are on the campsite in Cornwall, other people do not recoil in horror from our terrible social faux pas and our children are not ostracised in the play park?

Don't wee beh

Oops- first faux pas!

Don't wee behind the tent.
Keep your dc (and the rest of you) quiet from 10pm until 7am.
Don't take short-cuts across/between/behind other people's pitches.
Drive very slowly and carefully on-site, giving way to pedestrians.
Don't be precious about your dc being grubby.

Don't park so close to the tent next door that you could step in under their canvas without touching the grass

Pretty - I thought you were suggesting the impossible

BTW I don't mean quiet=utter silence. Just not yelling, running, kicking balls, etc.

Don't have the radio blasting all day
Don't play bongos or guitar into the small hours
Ditto spin the bottle
Don't puke down the side of someone else's tent
Don't set fire to your own tent
Remember tents aren't soundproof, if you're pitched on top of me I can hear you having sex, talking , whatever.
Don't play football, cricket, rounders 4ft from the front of my tent.
If your kids come into my tent to play with mine please check it's ok rather than just dumping them on me for hours while you get pissed.

Everything that PrettyCandles said.

If a bucket and mop is provided, give your shower a quick mop out after you have used it.

If there's is a queue for the showers fgs crack on with it when you are in there. If there is a 15 minute period between us hearing the water stop and you emerging from the cubicle then expect some glares when you come out.

Ditto if there is a big queue for the washing up sinks PLEASE get a move on. Don't triple rinse everything. Wipe the sink down and remove your slops from the plug hole when you leave.

Don't play music, just really not at all, not even super quietly. Chatting, shouting, laughing, farting, kids screaming, dogs going woof, car doors banging, rustling windbreaks, peg-mallet banging all of this noise is fine and dandy between 7/8am and 10pm, but other folk's music no thanks. Do you want me to put on some opera so we can all listen to it together? No? Then turn off your Bob Bleedin Marley because he is giving me the splayed toes.

Salamander obviously I am not saying these things at you , just you know releasing them into the ether on the web.

Can I just back up what Viva said about sound travelling. A few years ago DP and I were in South Devon and had come back to the campsite late after an evening at the local pub. We were sat outside having a last g&t when suddenly strange noises began to emerge from a tent on the other side of the site. By the time they'd finished you could tell from the atmosphere that the whole site was listening. I almost expected a round of applause.

Ewww!

In a similar vein, remember, when undressing in your tent at night, that any lighting inside your tent will cast a nice clear shadow of you on the tent walls. Anyone outside will be treated to a silhouette show of whatever's going on inside. There are some things most of us just don't want to see, thank you very much.

Ok I get the "be considerate" th

Oops did a prettycandles there!

Was saying I understand the being considerate requirement, much as any other holiday I guess with special effort required seeing as you are so close/ visible/audible. One thing I am worried about is doing something not necessarily inconsiderate but merely

Like bringing a toaster.

Oh, on the subject of toasters, if you go to a camping shop you may have the urge to go mad on gadgets. Be warned, though! Those things that advertise themselves as toasters for your camping stove don't work - unless of course you want toast as dry and crispy as Melba toast!!

Mrs wembley (just the one!) does that mean that bringing a little toaster would not be frowned upon? Or that real campers don't toast? This is my dilemma!

Great lists
Try to keep calm when setting up the tent/awning. Can be a relationship breaker if you argue.
It will be chilly first thing in the morning and the grass may well be wet, so keep suitable clothes and shoes close to hand before you go to sleep.

If you need to have overnight excercise remember even a camper van or caravan rocks and gives you away :)

Oh, god, yes - instill into your children that they must not trip over other peope's guy ropes nor run between their tent and stove, tent and car, tent and table...and that they should imagine that the area around the collection of cars, tents, tables etc is somepne's personal living room and not to be run through. Esp kicking a ball.

And don't trip over other people's guy ropes late at night or early in the morning.

Stroll around the campsite and you'll see that there is no 'done thing' - not unless you're with a group who have a particular philosophy or attitude towards camping.

Some people are practically wild-campers, with the bare mi imum of kit, cooking over a Trangia or Primus. Others, particularly motorhomers or trailer-tenters, have a satellite dish and Sky TV! And all mixes and styles between the two extremes.

I have a friend who does the minimalist thing, with the addition of a tent carpet, a fan heater on timer, and a Teasmaid.

Main thing is related to what blu said - make sure you children respect others' boundaries. I went camping with a friend last year whose DD kept going and plonking herself down in other people's tents and they were getting really irritated but didn't say anything in that British way. Better not to let it happen in the first place

Red - It's not so much that it's not done, it's the how are you planning to do it. Battery operated? Electric hook-up? My DP is sat here reminding me that real campers don't do that sort of thing though, it's to do with roughing it

(And I say it's to do with how much you can fit in the car)