Downsizing camping stuff - help! And also food for camping.

[FlamingoBingo]

Hello

This year I am determined to whittle down the amount of stuff we take camping each year. We have four kids, so don't have that much choice, but I'm certain we can get things down quite a lot, so hoping for some hints from you seasoned lot!

We also have a bell-tent and the bedroom inner, which I know takes up more space than most tents, but that's not really the problem.

We have four small self-inflating mats, and one double one.

We take four sleeping bags and one double one - none of which collapse very small - not sure how to sort that out without spending a lot of money on new ones (spending extra money isn't really an option this year )

We take a silly camp kitchen thing which I'm going to ditch this year. And do we really need a table? But that doesn't take up that much space as it's one of those teeny concertina thingies... We do have a very teeny one which we put the water bottle on so the kids can help themselves easily. Does anyone manage easily without a table? We only use it for putting things on while we're cooking. But last year we put the stove on the ground, so it was less likely to get knocked over - our camp kitchen is truly crap - so...

Which brings me to the stove. We have a double ring stove with a grill - do we really need that? Does anyone with a large family manage with a single ring trangia type thing?

We take a humungous crate of dry food - would love, love, love some tips as to how to do food when camping, but will make a different thread for that.

And clothes...we manage to get it all down to two suitcases...well, one large suitcase and a large holdall. I'd be happy to take just one of everything and have the kids get muddy and stuff, which they do anyway, but I worry about clothes getting sodden and them getting cold and drying them if it's wet etc. etc.

And what cooking equipment do you manage with? We have a pan set, a kettle, plates/bowls etc. and some utensils.

Oh, and torches, lanterns etc.

So any tips?

Forgot - chairs! Would love to do without chairs, but we tend to have a campfire and sit around it in the evening...any bright ideas about that?

Doesn't really sound as though you take that much. You should only take what you will use but you are ditching the camp kitchen this year so that should help.

Yes, I personally would take the table and chairs. We sit around our table to eat, prepare food and play games so it does get well used.
Cooker sounds fine, you will need a cooker of some desription anyway, so may well stick with that one.

What dry food do you take and do you use all of it whilst away? I tend to take all sauces, salt, pepper, pasta and cereal in dry food box and mayo, eggs, milk etc in fridge. But you could take the minimum and do a shop when you arrive, saving space in your car. We do a food shop to last for a few days when we arrive and then go as needed after that.

Hope that helps a bit.

in same boat here, only two of my 4 dc are adult sized (14 and 12) so normal sized beds, not little ones

no way I'd leave my camp kitchen behind, and cannot even fathom cooking on one ring! I take am extra single burner as well as the double stove

not sure I'm going to be very useful on this thread!

Erm, I hate to say it, but it sounds like you are doing quite well really! I think you do need the things you are taking - unless you are only going for a night or so.
I'm going to try vacuum bags for my pillows this year and try and squeeze the air out - not sure it will work though!
I have bought travel towels too, as always fed up of waiting for them to dry and taking up space.
For my next trip I am going to meal plan - have just bought this book which seems great and lists all the dry ingredients and things you can make at home in advance.

So what do people do who camp without cars? We couldn't do it because of the
Bell tent, but that's the only reason really.

Table - I only use it to prepare food and the top of the cool box is just as good for that.

The only thing we use the camp kitchen for is storing some of the food, but it's crap so we can't put much in it, so not really any point in having it really!

We never had a camp kitchen when we went as children - don't even think they existed then! But what's the best way to store food? A big plastic box?

Great idea to go shopping once you get there. Could use the plastic box (or whatever I decide to use) to pack pillows or something in in the car then. That's my fave tip yet!

That book looks great, lucky. Are there many veggie recipes in it, do you know?

I'm probably not much help, but could you do your dried foods into individual meal sized packs in advance? Like a ziploc bag with, say, the rice for 1 meal (in a smaller plastic sambo bag), the stock cube, tin of kidney beans, tin of tomatoes, etc for a chilli night. Meals are easily prepped, and you only bring what you need. Onions and garlic are unbiquitous so bring them in a seperate bag for everyday.

When I go self catering (have done lots of camping but not in recent years), I bring a salt and pepper mill (the little bottles with the mill on the top) that I keep in my SC "shoebox", a small bottle of olive oil, chill powder, mixed herbs, and that's about it for seasonings. Well, a couple of stock cubes too. But not the full range that I use at home.

I use a bog plastic box to store food in, one of the collapsible crate things you get from b&q. Can you get a roofbox?

Get the vacuum bags and then a little thing that plugs into a cigerette lighter that can suck air out or blow things up. Then you can make your sleeping bags smaller.

The book is great for veggies - has recipes for little kids, older kids and veggies separately as a meal plan. It also sounds perfectly doable without too much fuss.

I'm liking the car vacuum bag thingy - off to google!

Can you get tescos or sainsburys to do an online delivery to the campsite? Morning of day 2 seems the most convenient time for us.

I have a shopping trolley with a seat similar to this www.amazon.co.uk/Shopping-Cart-Trolley-Folding-DCHI-SCS-FT-197D-Y/dp/B004QJ2HZC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1337104400&sr=8-6 it's really handy for storing "stuff". (tent, sleeping bags, & mats and one of those aluminium tables + sundries such as stools torches, blanket etc go in it on the coach). Once onsite the food goes in it.

Do you NEED lots of chairs or would a few stools like this for the kids actually be more handy? www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/outdoor-solutions-camping-stool/ My elderly Mum often takes one around with her for train station waits/ the park etc.

Solar fairy lights are really handy and take up very little space - perhaps you'd need fewer lanterns/torches with a string of those?

Cooking - I'm baaad here as I refuse to part with my ghilly kettle www.ghillie-kettle.co.uk/ I like the fact it keeps the fire well contained around kids. Also gives me a key camping necessity - boiling water for my cuppa in less than 5 mins. If we are in the mood I'll buy a couple of £1 BBQ's.

ooooh I'm liking the suckie blowie thingie for vaccum bags. Any found yet?

We use the sucky bags which are AMAZING!! Till I came on here I thought I was the only one who had thought of the idea (I certainly got some admiring glances while sucking on site :o) but now it seems its quite widespread.

As others have said, I can't really see how you would cut it down too much more as someone who compulsively buys unnecessary paraphenalia :) I have found the key is not less "stuff" but more organised packing, so not an inch of space is wasted. This works admirably until you need to reload in the pi**g rain and it will not all go in. In these circumstances DS inevitably ends up surrounded by welly boot bags with the dog at his feet, a couple of saucepans on his lap and several half opened bags of rice, pasta etc. wedged between his seat and the door :o

Nope, getting no where.
Do you mean vacuum bags? If so, how do you sucky-sucky them back in when you're off home?

Esme I think they are called vacuum storage bags (we got ours from Lakeland if that helps)
We suck the air out at home with the vacuum cleaner and use the bed blowy up device that plugs into the car cigarette lighter when we come home (our has a bed sucky nozzle on as well) Ours needed the addition of a small length of white waste pipe to make the sucky thing on site work but its dead easy. You then chuck the bags in the boot and put everything else on top- even if the seal breaks the weight of our other crap camping gear keeps them small :o

? You legend!

Going to investigate if air bed has sucky sucky feature.

Most pumps have sucky as well as blowy things I've discovered.

If you're not going for long and cash isn't much of an issue, I took some 'Look What We Found' vacuum packed pouches of food the other week and they were great, really tasty. They're individual sized but one pack of chilli with a couple of baked potatoes cooked on your fire could easily feed two (unless you are as greedy as I am )

I am definitely going to take them next trip - they're so much easier than cooking and no worry about keeping things cool either.

Family of 5 and we manage with 1 burner, however have just bought a cobb to ease the pressure so that tells you! We used to take a grill off a big bbq and rest it on a couple of stones/wood over fire for a bbq, its flat, takes up no room and gives more cooking options.
Chairs do take up lots of room , we camped in a place where we knew there were def going to be logs to sit on, so depends on campsite. I was also thinking about this - if you can get your hands on a v thick plastic bin bag (no idea where to get one from, I'm thinking of ones that hold rubble from building sites) then chuck all the sleeping bags and pillows in there, tie end and have a huge bean bag -ish thing for kids to sit on outside round fire?

If you look on the Go Outdoors website and put Air Pump in the search bar they have one for £7.50. Argos has them as well.

Meant to say I do all bedding and clothes in the vacuum bags.

Get a roof box?

(but then don't do as i did, and drive it into a low-roofed carpark...)

I take the clothes I am standing up in (tho swill be a few layers!) and one change, pjs, and a warm jumper, hat, flip flops. That is it. Rotate as appropriate. Same for DH and kids.

Take a vat of stew for the 1st night pre made, just re-heat.

head torches, no need for lanterns.

On clothes -- the more polyestery and nylony and artificial the better, as they dry much faster.

So:
-fleeces not woollies

• nylon tracksuit trousers instead of jeans, pref three-quarter length so they don't trail on the wet ground, and you can make up the difference with socks

-all-in-one rainsuit for anyone small enough -you could do what a friend of mine did for Guide camps, and take all your oldest, grottiest clothes, and throw out anything wrecked at the end of the camp, to make space in the car!

One memorable fortnight's holiday in Wales, DS2 wore the same t-shirt the whole time, alternating with a wetsuit.