Complete and utter novice campers

[duckdodgers]

Needing help so excuse all the daft questions!

Well last year DH bought a tent that came with 4 sleeping bags and 4 airbeds as he foolishly thought we could camp after visiting Disney Paris, sensibly we booked into a B&B. And the tent still remains unused, as its difficult to get time away due to DH working every Saturday. Enough is enough and Im dying to use it so really need advice....we have 2 boys aged 4 and 10.

Have found a nice wee holiday park in Dumfries and Galloway called Loch Ken thats only a few hours from us and we are planning on booking in for a few nights over the Jubilee BH.

What are the basics of camping I need to know and what else would you wise campers recomend we take?

I see electric hook ups are mentioned, and I dont even know what this is , well apart from being able to plug in electrical items obviously....is there something I need to take?

What do you do for breakfast etc?

For an electric hook up (EHU) you will need something like this: www.gooutdoors.co.uk/mobile-mains-kit-p155317.

I am sure you wouldn't but don't even think of rigging something up at home - people have done this and, as you can imagine, it is potentially lethal. If you have a proper EHU, you can bring an electric heater with you which could be a godsend and is a lot safer and less worrying than gas in a tent (as other threads on here will testify (the risks of carbon monoxide).

Otherwise, the main things you will need are torches, plenty of warm clothes for the evenings at least, and possibly a table and chairs, although a picnic rug would do for a first trip if you don't have something suitable at home and don't want to invest straight away.

Also, a camping stove of some sort to cook on - for a family of four, a double burner (like this: www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-double-burner-camping-stove-p142454 or this: www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-economy-double-burner-camping-stove-p142450) is a good idea or you can buy little single burners quite cheaply.

For a first trip it is probably worth bringing pots, utensils etc from home and you can decide later what you really need.

A cool box or bag is also a must, for milk and butter, of course, but most importantly, for WINE!

Waterproofs and wellies for everyone and a few indoor games for the DCs in case of rain.

But as the Bank Holiday weekend is going to be TROPICAL, don't forget the sunglasses and suntan lotion too.

Happy Camping!

I've been camping since I was little but dunno how EHU work either, never used one :) I've tended to camp at big events in farmers fields with campfires etc.

I would just say though that the sleeping bags which came with your tent package are likely to be cheapish and fairly thin, and may not be warm enough for the season and location you're thinking of camping in. From bitter experience I would advise using at least a 3 season sleeping bag even in summer, and if you can't afford this, you need to accompany your existing sleeping bag setup with a duvet each from home, and possibly a duvet or fleecy blanket/throw between the person and the airbed. A thin foam roll mat backed with silver stuff is a great way of insulating you from the cold that strikes up through the ground. They are pretty cheap as well, and you should put them directly on the tent groundsheet and top with airbed, then duvet/blanket, then sleeping bag, then person, then duvet or thick blanket.

Are they actually airbeds or self inflating mats, which are thinner and have foam in as well? If they are airbeds, you'll need to think about a pump. Think about how you are going to light the tent when it's dark, and breakfast isn't an issue (milk and cereal) but think about what you'll do for the other two meals of the day and if you plan to cook, you'll need a camping stove or similar.
Good luck! Have fun :)

oranges and hephep - thank you both so much!

This is exactly the information Im after and I will speak to DH about it all later. There will efinately be lots of so will get a cool box. We have lots of smaller cool bags, buit I take it the boxes are better then?

I will get DH to check the airbeds or whatever they are, tips re heating are great

Strangely excited now!!!

We've only got a small-ish cool bag - I take two frozen 1 pint bottles of milk then pack the rest of the bag with whatever else needs to be cool - sausages, bacon etc. The milk defrosts slowly so that you've got lovely ice cold milk for cereal in the morning and enough for lots of coffee, and it keeps everything else cool. Sorted. . Take a few ice packs as well in there and some campsites will let you stick them in their freezers if they have a shop, so you can re-use in the cool bag, depending on how long you're staying.

Another couple of ideas re cooking. For breakfast, bacon butties are quick, easy to cook on a camping stove and taste wonderful outdoors. For other meals, it is best to start simple. Either make up some batches of bolognese sauce/chilli etc at home or get a book of one-pot recipes or a camping cookbook which will have a lot of ideas for things to do on a camping stove. If you do make up in advance, you can also freeze the batches of chilli etc and then use them as iceblocks as DottyDot suggests for milk.

Maybe budget to eat out occasionally to get a rest from cooking if you can, or take a barbecue if the site allows them (although never bring the BBQ or any gas cooker into the tent - the risks of fire and, more insidiously, CO poisoning are too great). It might be worth bringing a tarp or a garden gazebo if you have one to rig up a shelter for cooking in case it is raining. (only use a gazebo if it is calm weather though - they have a nasty habit of coming adrift and flying round campsites when it is windy).

If the site you are going to allows campfires, having one is the nicest way to stay warm in the evenings and everyone loves toasting marshmallows (even if they don't like eating them funnily enough). Also you can cook baked potatoes and chocolate bananas in the embers.

Hope you have a wonderful time.

I always take our duvets from home, as it does get cold at night even in August. On our first trip we just had normal sleeping bags (not superwarm ones) and we froze. Before you go, raid poundland for bats and soft balls etc. My girls (now 13 & 10) love a good game of tennis or cricket. I managed for 2 years with a coolbox and iceblocks but have bought myself an electric cool box for this summer.

Camping is a brilliant family holiday, and it can also be a cheap one. We stay at Camping and Caravanning Club Certificated Sites (smaller, quieter ones) and some are only £10-15 per night per unit. Although when I say quiet, there has always been plenty of room for us all to run around.

Try this website www.ukcampsite.co.uk for a camping message forum, tent reviews and campsite reviews.

We went to Loch Ken over the May Bank Holiday and had a fab time, even though it was bloody freezing it's a great site (and has a snack van which does bacon butties which might sort out your breakfast dilemma )

The camping field is big and you'll have more choice of where to pitch if you don't tie yourself to EHU.
Book as early as possible and get there as early as you can manage, it was pretty busy when we went even though temperatures were Baltic so if the Jubilee weekend is warm oh please please please let it be warm then it'll be hammered.

Good advice already re stuff to take, also don't forget to take a football, Loch Ken has 2 play areas and it was the football pitch that all the kids were queueing for.

Have you pitched the tent before? Worth doing a test run if not, nothing more stressful than finding out it's a swine to put up/something's missing/etc when you're in the middle of a crowded field of other campers.

(And don't forget to visit Cream o'Galloway... have an ice cream for me!)

dottydot thats a great tip regarding the milk, going to remember that!

I love the idea of roasting marshmallows oranges doesnt it take you right back to camping with the guides as a wee girl, well it does me

dlady yes duvets seem to be an essential. I agree with you regarding family holiday - we get little enough time together as a family so love the quality time holidays can bring. We are going to France this year and staying in a cottage but want to book camping in France now for next year!

nonny thats so good you can recommend the site! The reason we picked it really was that my MIL lives just outside of Castle Douglas and seeing we are near Glasgow its a bit of a journey to see her so thought we could combine a new experience for us and pop in and see her to. And no DH hasn't pitched tent so think a wee practice run is called for

Thanks again everyone for your input

A mallet. Don't forget a mallet! Also, head torches are good so you have two hands free to do things. Very useful for night-time cooking.

A mallet - of course! If we forgot this we would never live it down as DS1 didnt have 1 last year for his camp for T in the Park, queue frantic drive to Tesco 20 minutes before his bus was due to buy one. He was planning on using his wellies - I kid you not. Exactly how he was going to hammer the pegs in with his wellies when he would be wearing them we havent quite figured out!

I have a ridiculously long list! Defo do a test run of putting up tent. We broke ours on the first attempt. If you are doing electric then a proper camping kettle is a good idea. I take a frozen spaghetti Bol or something for the first night. It keeps cool box cool and defrosts on way down. (Never cook in tent!) see I'm not the first to say this! We have a colonic that plugs in the car or camp electric.
We have a two ring gas thing with grill for toast. Yum! Travel mugs so tea doesn't end up in tent. Crocs great around the site.
Blankets? Hats? Track suit trousers to go over pjs for quick loo dash. Spare batteries for torches (wind up torches great for kids)
Use hook of a peg to pull pegs back out!
Enjoy!

We have a colonic that plugs in the car or camp electric

Predictive text fail or this season's must have camping accessory? :o

I was wondering that too

We have a colonic that plugs in the car or camp electric

Predictive text fail or this season's must have camping accessory?

Now that makes the mind boggle

I was too polite to ask :o