Chippy's chaps are going man-camping at Silverstone and would appreciate your best tips. Thank you

[ChippyMinton]

DH has a face like this as the reality of a weekend's camping at the F1 with DS1 (10) sinks in. Any tips for surviving 3 nights in large field with several thousand sports fans? It's mainly the catering & keeping stuff fresh that's perplexing him, I think - he doesn't want to pay for eat fast food all weekend but will happily cook his own I think BBQs are permitted.

A good cool box with ice packs will keep things fresher.

Boil in the bag dinners will keep for ages and don't need to be cold. I like Look What we Found. Doesn't claim to be boil in the bag, but it is and it's made of actual food. Some you need to add rice, pasta or bread. Good veggie and 'Free From' range if you need.

UHT milk will be fine for several days in a cool box. It's nice to have a proper mug of tea instead of a polystyrene cup (and some biscuits). And cereal for breakfast.

Always useful to make the first night's dinner in advance and freeze it (eg bolognese sauce/chilli/curry) as it will keep other stuff cool in the coolbox and hopefully have defrosted by the time you want to eat it. Add rice/pasta as desired - those 2 min microwave rices are also boil in the bag (although they don't advertise the fact).

If they're cereal for brekky types then splash out a bit and buy a variety pack for breakfast as it's easier to pack little packets around other stuff rather than 1 big box. We tend to go for saus sarnies - again, I buy a frozen bag of sausages and they slowly defrost over the weekend, keeping the rest of your stuff cool as they do.

Ooh great food ideas. Who stocks the Look What We Found stuff? Microwave rice - assume it's already cooked, so just boil to reheat it?

Are sausages easier than bacon? DS loves cereal, will pick up a variety pack.

I do have a cool box, not sure how good it is, but should be ok for a couple of days. Picked up some tips from the festival threads about freezing wine, milk, juice, water instead of icepacks. Better pack a bucket for night-time emergencies with all that liquid

bacon will cook quicker, sausage sarnies just a 'thing' in our family :)

I've seen the LWWF stuff in Sainsbos, Waitrose & Tesco to name but 3 - they also have a website, I seem to recall. It's always on offer in our local Sainsbos, so you may be able to pick up a few bargains - usually in the same aisle as the tinned meat and beanfeast-style meals (beanfeasts! now there's a blast from the past for camping...). They also do rather nice soups (usually in the soup aisle ) but not sure if that's the sort of thing your men would go for.

We buy LWWF direct from their website here.

I first saw it in Booths in the Lake District, but they're in other supermarkets and outdoor shops now too.

Ooh, lucky them. They are going to have a fantastic time.

Other tips, apart from cooking:

• Take ear defenders or ear plugs. Not just for the cars (they are painfully loud in RL) but also for the eejits letting off fireworks and playing loud music in the campsites all night long. Best take a fire extinguisher too for same reason. There really do seem to be no rules on the campsites round Silverstone.

Ear defenders might also come in useful for the mornings if they're camped next to people who have to run a diesel generator to boil a kettle

• If they've not been before also let them know that if they have general admission tickets they'll want to find their place pretty early on race day. Perhaps not as early as 5am like some of us did but 8ish would be a good idea.

Hope they have a great time.

If you want to save washing up - then do as my youngest does at festivals - miniboxes of cereal and he adds the milk to the bag and eats them that way - saves washing a bowl up ;)

take lots and lots and LOTS of waterproofs, extra groundsheets and spare clothes - unless the wind picks up along with the temperature to dry the ground out it's gonna be muddy underfoot

i'm not far from there, and there is water running out of woodlands whenever it rains right now

Chippy - Waitrose in Balham currently has those Look What We Found meals on sp offer - and almost next to them on shelf are Waitrose' own meals in pouches - potato rosti and sauted bacon, egg and potato - which are brilliant camping standbys and cost £1 0r £1.15 each.

You lot are brilliant - will pass all the suggestions on to DH :)

Ooh-er Chippy, have just been looking into going and camping for the Silverstone Classic weekend in 2 weeks. Have you seen the campsite's Facebook page? (Silverstone Woodlands) and the comments from people queueing to get in. So sorry to be the bearer of bad news if you'd not already heard, or they're already on their way. Still do-able I think, but only if you can carry everything from car to pitch I think (and you are fully waterproofed!)

Maybe ok if they have EHU pitch?

Thanks LimeJelly, I had seen the RED status but didn't know about the queues. The chaps are going at lunchtime today, so hopefully most people will already be in.
Smalltown -Baby wipes are packed! DS is a veteran of cub camps where he doesn't even have those, the mucky pup.

"If you want to save washing up - then do as my youngest does at festivals - miniboxes of cereal and he adds the milk to the bag and eats them that way - saves washing a bowl up ;)"

Zippylovesgeorge - that's the most decadent thing I've ever read on MN!

I hope your chaps have a fab weekend Chippy

Thanks Quenelle. DH was looking rather mournful when they left, but I'm sure they'll be fine once the tent is up.

Uptoapoint - DS has his variety pack at the ready to give it a try! Mind you, I'm pretty sure there have been more decadent suggestions on MN

Must go and get ready for my weekend. I rather foolishly have invited DS2's friend for a sleepover tonight. On the upside I won a rather nice bottle of chardonnay on the school tombola earlier, so that should ease the pain. What time do 9yos go to bed on a sleepover?

I think the Variety Pack suggestion is a fab idea, and uber sensible!

Hope your boys have a great time Chippy, and you too. I'm afraid we have bottled out of the camping (will be 4 of us so big tent and lots of gear) and have booked a family room at a Premier Inn!

I have 9yo boy too - last sleepover he went to, think he got to sleep at about, oooh, 2am? Can you fiddle with the clock?

Good plans -both the hotel and the clocks!

Grrrr. The boys have been sent away, without getting near the campsite. Sounds chaotic to say the least. Managed to book them a hotel in Northampton, thankfully . Wonder if they can rustle up supper on a camp stove without setting off the fire alarm?

DS is going to love that Variety Pack tip. It will cost me a fortune in Variety Packs!

Chippy - have they managed to get into the ground? Apparantly 20,000 people were turned away or told not to attempt to arrive

Yes, they managed to get onto Whittlebury at 7am this morning after queuing all yesterday afternoon for Woodlands then being told to go home . Luckily I managed to book a cheap-ish hotel room for them for last night, and they set the alarm for 4.30am to get a place on the campsite. So all ok so far. DH has saod 'never again' and is worried about what time they will get home tomorrow night.

To whoever recommended the boil in bag grub - from DH. They tucked into a tasty chilli and rice before turning in tonight.

Sounds chaotic chippy- I heard they had shut the carparks today I hope they still get to see the race tomorrow - this weather is causing havoc!

They will see the race, they are the lucky ones, plenty of fans won't get to see anything .

I hope they enjoyed themselves in the end Chippy. I confess would never go to the British again. The cost and the crap weather are both enough to put me off.

Perhaps they could try one of the European ones next year? Better weather and often cheaper tickets too.