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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.

Original poster

How do I camp with a tiny car?

31 replies

WhatKindofFool · 25/03/2013 11:26

I love camping with the kids and hope to go again in the summer. The problem is that I bought a Fiat 500 as I liked it and it is cheap to run. The down size is that there is no way on earth to fit the kids in plus camping gear. I have a bell tent which takes up loads of room.

What do I do? It has a glass roof so I don't think I can put roof bars on. I was thinking about a trailer.

Suggestions please?

OP posts:
lljkk · 25/03/2013 11:27

My 500 wouldn't easily tow a trailer.
How many kids, how big the kids and what dimensions is the tent when packed down?

Original poster
WhatKindofFool · 25/03/2013 11:33

3 kids and the tent would fill the entire boot so no space left for luggage. Have no idea about the dimensions - it is just a big bundle!

OP posts:
Original poster
WhatKindofFool · 25/03/2013 11:33

Kids a 7, 10 and 12 - bit enough to weigh the car down.

OP posts:
lljkk · 25/03/2013 11:52

Could you hire a bigger car?
Procure a smaller tent?
Go with a friend who has bigger car & can carry some of your stuff?

lljkk · 25/03/2013 11:53

Some technical info for you here.

Original poster
WhatKindofFool · 25/03/2013 12:03

Thanks lljkk I could prob tow the stuff. Alternatively, I might have to do a pre-pitched tent or go with a friend with a big car.

OP posts:
fossil971 · 25/03/2013 23:44

Get a tiny tent. Or hire/borrow a bigger car.

The times we have been camping using DH's van have been bliss - no wedging things into the car under people's feet and lashed onto the roof. Open doors, throw it in (sort of!) and go Grin.

Or go somewhere not too far from home and do two runs, one for the tent and one for the stuff.

MummyPigsFatTummy · 26/03/2013 11:45

What about something like this? www.bak-rak.com/box-rak.htm. I have no idea if it would work on a Fiat 500 but presumably the sellers would know?

Blu · 26/03/2013 12:34

Get all your gear freighted / couriered to the site?

Sell your Fiat 500 and get something compact but with a big boot and which can take a roof box, before the kids get too big to sit in the back of a Fiat 500?

Blu · 26/03/2013 12:34

Leave the kids behind?

Blu · 26/03/2013 12:35

Send the kids on the train! The 2 older ones, anyway.

Machadaynu · 26/03/2013 12:39

The bak-rak mentioned above will fit on any car with a tow ball. The Fiat 500 can have one fitted, and the towing capacity is easily enough for a trailer if you have room to store one. The advantage of the bak-rak is that it folds flat for storage.

victoriasmith · 26/03/2013 12:54

A friend of mine in similar situation used to send her husband with the children on the train to the nearest station whilst she went on to the site in the car with all the stuff and then went to collect them from the station afterwards.

Original poster
WhatKindofFool · 26/03/2013 13:26

Thanks for all your suggestions. I think the best one is from Blu - "leave the kids behind." ;)

The bak rackis worth investigating too. However, it is quite expensive to get a tow bar fitted ....

OP posts:
MummyPigsFatTummy · 26/03/2013 13:32

There was some sort of soft sided rear storage carrier reviewed on here a year or so back and I don't think it needed a tow bar. Can't for the life of me think what it was called though. Can anyone remember?

Machadaynu · 26/03/2013 13:36

Was it an autorucksack?

www.autorucksack.de/

It's not that big - 120 litres. I had a person-rucksack that was 85 litres :)

Machadaynu · 26/03/2013 13:38

Also, it has a maximum load of only 20kg I've just noticed - our tent weighs 60-odd. Might be ok for sleeping bags and things, but it's a lot of money for not much space.

hettie · 26/03/2013 13:53

i think the plain bac-rac with bungees and tarp will get the most load on....
the crate thing was the tailcrate thread here and website here
but they went under?

MummyPigsFatTummy · 26/03/2013 14:00

Brilliant hettie. 'Twas driving me mad. Disappointed they have gone bust as it was a great idea.

fossil971 · 26/03/2013 22:21

There are some quite small lightweight trailers here but you might want to check the overall weight of the car, passengers and kit in case it is overloaded. (or you find you can't go up hills).

Blu · 27/03/2013 10:36

That BakRac looks great - but I think in all truth that tent, cooker, gas bottle, sleeping bags, SIMs or airbeds, clothes, cooking gear, chairs, table, cooler, food, waterproofs, wellies, lanterns, and assorted child paraphanalia will not all fit in a Fiat500 plus 4 passengers, even with a BacRac.
Especially a bell tent. And the Decathlon pack-very-flat pop-up tents pack down to a v big diameter disc that wouldn't fit - and if you have a lovely bell tent, you need to use it.

fossil971 · 27/03/2013 11:22

I think Fiat are missing a trick to be honest with a sassy little trailer to match the cars a bit like those ones you can get for motorbikes Just think how cute it would look parked up beside your bell tent! All your other camping stuff would need to be a miracle of compactness though which doesn't really fit in with the kilim-and-cushion look - could be a challenge Grin

Blu · 27/03/2013 11:28

OMG, look at the way that trailer lid transforms into a table!

Fab.

I want one NOW.

They should look more as if they were made by Vespa, or even a F500, as you say -or like those teeny mini Belgian caravan pod things.Or Like a 1950s toaster.

MummyPigsFatTummy · 27/03/2013 12:09

Forget the bell tent - you need one of these (if they ever become a reality) - yum!

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/2679680/Caravan-pods-aim-to-make-caravanning-fashionable.html

Or these, which are here now:

podcaravans.co.uk/product/

MummyPigsFatTummy · 27/03/2013 12:11

Even more options: www.365campingcaravanning.com/cvanstents.htm