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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

Camping people

87 replies

MrsDoolittle · 14/03/2006 13:00

Okay we have the \link{http://www.wildday.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=2168\tent}, we haven't put it up yet but assuming that that's no problem I need stuff to put in it. We have nothing. But! We have booked a campsite for 5 days in June.
So where to start? Any tips, ideas? Where is the best place to get stuff?
There is dh, a toddler and a newborn to think of.

Isn't it time I started getting excited?

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KBear · 14/03/2006 13:11

We started camping last year - bought a tent in the sale, a great cooker with grill from ebay, airbeds from a camping shop - two doubles to stop the kids falling down the gap! Get a couple of plastic boxes with lids - great for storing perishable stuff in the tent as well as tidy in the car. I keep all the camping stuff in them piled up in the garage too. (Mrs organised!).

Camping & General is a good shop - they have a website too.

KBear · 14/03/2006 13:12

I would not recommend you take Tilley lamps/gas lamps - they get very hot and could be dangerous with kids or husbands around (DH burnt his arm last year!). Buy rechargeable flouresent(?) lamps or electric ones if you're getting a hook up.

MrsDoolittle · 14/03/2006 13:37

Thank you Kbear. Any particular airbed you recommend?
I was thinking along the lines of big plastic boxes (like dd's nursery) - great minds.....Smile

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beatie · 14/03/2006 13:48

When we took our dd camping (at age 20 months) we took a travel cot for her and she slept better than she ever slept before or ever slept since!

Wellingtons are useful for your toddler to slip on to walk to the toilet/shower block. In the mornings we'd put scruffy clothes on dd so that she could get dirty and we'd change her just before we headed out for the day.

I'd recommend a cooker with a grill also. We bought two windbreaks when we were camping. We positioned one so that dd only had one escape route and positioned the other one around the stove area to section off a little kitchen.

Kathy1972 · 14/03/2006 14:00

You're getting me all excited MrsDoolittle - I can't wait to go camping again!
For kit, army surplus type shops/independent outdoor shops tend to be cheaper than Millets, Blacks etc. Some great deals online.
If I were you I would put it up as soon as possible (as soon as you get a dry and non-windy day!) just in case there are any bits missing and you need to get them sent.
Agree with KBear about lamps - gaslamps are too dangerous and can create fumes. Take lots of torches.
We took dd last year at 6 weeks. She slept fine but I was awake all night checking the thermometer (don't take a thermometer!!!) to make sure she was warm enough - duh....

MrsDoolittle · 14/03/2006 14:04

I'm looking at \link{http://www.wildday.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=2443\sleeping bags} on the Wild day website.
Dd hates travel cots, she's never slept well in them so I was going to put her in her own pod on a little canvas camping bed that we have. We bought it cheaply in Argos but it's surprisingly comfortable and it dips in the middle so she's less likely to fall out.

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MrsDoolittle · 15/03/2006 15:06

Anyone else?

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Billster · 15/03/2006 15:10

we go posh camping in a caravan Wink but still have some similar considerations. My clever friend took a big plastic box to hold all the food and utensils etc they took and it doubled up as a fab baby bath!

Just looking at hotels, villas, apartments and it just doesn't feel the same vibe as camping (beit posh or traditional!) iykwim.

Sara

MrsDoolittle · 15/03/2006 15:18

Ah - hah Shed draggers!!!! Grin

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Billster · 15/03/2006 15:28

oh no! def not shed draggers - we let someone else put the shed there and just rock up. Grin Grin Wink

Blandmum · 15/03/2006 17:56

Tin Tenter! Grin

We have plastic boxes. We also have the drop sided plastic boxes that fold down flat (IYSWIM) to put clothes in , this helps to kids to find stuff and stops it getting into too much of a muddle

Blu · 15/03/2006 18:22

The sleeping bags look good - and v good value. Halfords have good value camping stuff, but not sure when they start to sell it. But Wildday are good, anyway.

I like our slightly up market airbed - it's a coleman one, a double mattress, but two separate cpmpartments, so you don't dip towards DP.

Take your own kitchen pans - saucepan, bigger pan and frying pan - but you might like to get a camping kettle.

You need a two ring camping cooker - get one with a grill if you like - BUT I think that on the more basic models, you can't use the rings and grill simultaneously. You need a 'regulator' which may or may not come with the cooker, and a gas canister...check your nearest suppliers - they are not those little tiny ones you use for primus stoves.

Take a plastic washing up bowl, and a container for water.

Do you want folding chairs and a table? We have chairs, but have managed without a table. The chairs with the drink holder in the arm are good, as cups tip over on rough ground.

Take a bucket for weeing in in the night! You don't always want to be traipsing to the toilet block esp if it is raining.

MrsDoolittle · 15/03/2006 20:55

Blu - that's the airbed I have been looking at. I understand they are the best. But will it fit in my two berth pod?

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Blandmum · 15/03/2006 20:59

check that it isn't too high.....if you touch the sides you can let the rain in, and some pods slope quite a bit ime

lucy5 · 15/03/2006 21:01

I have a really good battery powered lamp. Also make sure you have comfy fold up chairs. The first year we went camping we bought little fishing stools, we didnt realise that we would use them so much. The following year we bought comfy chairs with backs, it was worth spending the extra. You can also get fold up tables with attached seats, they are handy and dont take up much room. Also take a brush, we always camp near a beach and it gets really muddy and sandy. We also take a washing line and pegs to hang towels on, little bits of washing etc. Sorry if this is a bit muddled, just typing as i'm thinking.

lucy5 · 15/03/2006 21:02

If we have room we also take duvets, much cosier.

Blandmum · 15/03/2006 21:09

don't get the folding table and chairs attached if you (or your dh/p) have a large arse Blush

lucy5 · 15/03/2006 21:11

Hahahaha, im going to take that as a compliment as I have a big bum and have had no problems. Thank you you have made my day. Grin

Blandmum · 15/03/2006 21:12

Ahem! I can sit on them OK.....I'll have you know! They are just not that comfortable. Grin

MrsDoolittle · 15/03/2006 21:27

Think I'll have to wait til I get the tent up before buying the airbed - I've no idea about the slope in the pod. I will also be breast feeding ds who will be 4 months old by then. He's quite fidgety so I'm not too keen on the idea of co-sleeping with him in a cramped space but where will I put the carrycot?

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KBear · 15/03/2006 21:43

The one thing that we bought last year which was a godsend (you'll think I'm ever so posh!) was a doormat. A rubber one which will scrub.

When we arrived at the site it had been pouring for a week so it was very muddy. Fine once we'd got our tent up but everytime we came in there was a struggle to get wellies off before treading mud in (lots of falling over!). Doormat saved the day! Bought it at the local ironmongers for a couple of quid.

Hyacinth "kbear" Bouquet!

jamiesam · 15/03/2006 21:49

Try to raise the carrycot off the ground if you can. It can still be cold at night in June (July and August!) and my ds's have been really cold in the night when I've checked at our bedtime (they were asleep and fine but cold). Even if you just put some old blankets and a waterproof sheet under the carrycot.

Take extra blankets for your toddler and yourself just in case.

If you have the room (that's a mighty big tent) it's helpful to use one room for 'stuff' so the central area is tidy - you could bring your mattress into the central area at bedtime, then you're right next to your babies bedroom? Or separate (single) mattress's for you and dh in separate bedrooms, then you could co-sleep with your baby. Perhaps (not been camping with such a little one - have a lovely time)

Take a really easy meal for first night (might not want to cook by the time you've set up). And some emergency food you can bring home if you don't need - like enough pasta for three, tin tuna and sweetcorn and cream cheese for 'sauce'.

Make sure you remember water container Blush Oh, and old floor cloths so you can wipe ground sheet down after everyone comes back with dew on wellies after early morning visit to loo (get curously tent proud.....Grin)

jamiesam · 15/03/2006 21:51

(phew Kbear, I think I might have got away with my floor cloths suggestion. You're even more tent proud than I am!)

lucy5 · 15/03/2006 21:56

Hehehehe I had visions of you walking round with a table stuck on your bum Wink

MrsDoolittle · 15/03/2006 21:58

Thanks for this advise.
I was thinking about separate sleeping. Maybe ds and me in a pod together and dh on his own - he won't be happy though!! Thankfully the carrycot has legs that fold out.

I am terribly fussy and houseproud at home. I think dh is hoping that I won't be the same in a tent!!!
I don't think we have a sewn in groundsheet so we have yet to find out if this arrangement suits or not. I don't like creepy crawlies!!

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