Want to camp but don't know where to start! Please help!

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We would love to camp but don't know where to start.

There are 4 of us.

What do we need to buy (are on a tight budget too!)

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A tent is a good start!

there are lots of good budget tents around actually, we started with the Argos Pr-action range and it was surprisingly good. Be wary of e-bay though; yes great if you know what tent you need, but lots of dodgy names on there. Stick to the big names if you can, Glert, Vango, Sunncamp, Outwell, etc etc etc then buy one second hand.

What sort of spec do you want? Do you know what shape? Have a look here for ideas of tents, (chose that one simply as I have it copied and pasted for something else LOL). Just to geta feel of the shape you want. We have a Tahoma which is like a Vango Diabolo and love it, but is is personal. Vis a Vis tents are good; IIRC that site I gave you has a Gelert Vis a Vis quite reasonbly priced?

Once you ahve a vague shape in mind, come back here and we'll give you make and model options. Look for shapes that are:

vis a vis , dome or tunnel first

oh and other stuff can be kept basic at first- we did. chairs (but you can take the car seats out to use for the littlie, or a buggy); sleeping- airbeds or campbeds for adults (we have a readybed double, £35 in woolies), travel cots or readybeds tent to be best for littlies, but you can use air beds and there's no need to buy sleeping bags if you don't want, just take your duvets.

First time we went (5 of us for a week) we got by quite happily with a single burner which is about £15 for cooking, supplementing with disposable barbies as we went. now we have a Party Grill, aslso ont hat website in the accessories bit.

Beyond that, it really is choice. Pans can be what you have, we didn't even take a table first time.

Have you looked at uk campsite? their message boards are great- every time you like atent,s earch on it for reviews.

General tips re tents
If there are 4 of you you need at least a 6 man tent (the 'men' they use to measure tent sizes are very small and do not mind sleeping in each others armpits!)
I woudl recommend getting one you can stand up in ( SO much fun trying to put slightly damp jeans on while sitting/kneeling on floor!!) Also helps if your lo's are young enough to need rocking to sleep sometimes - hard to do that while squatting!

Once you have a tent
things to sleep on/in - foamy mats are cheapest but not neccessarily the most comfy - we have airbeds (can get double for £20 in supermarkets etc). We take normal pillows/duvets rather than sleeping bags.

Something to cook on - unless plan to eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner - we used a 2 ring/grill thingy and also take a small bbq with us, one that breaks down into small parts for packing.

Something to eat/drink with - plastic cutlery(although we use all teh odd, unmatching, old stuff we have accumulated as our camoing cutlery) plates and bowls, 'glasses' and mugs for tea etc (actually have some real glasses for wine - not with stems though - as DH cannot drink wine from plastic cup - snob!!)

Have you looked at the other camping threads? There are lots of links to tents on there. Aldi had 6 berth tents for (I think) £60 a couple of weeks ago - mine still had some left last week. One of my friends bought an Aldi tent and has had good use out of it for 3 seasons now though she has just upgraded to an Outwell Montana 6 (me too - and we're going camping in our matching tents this weekend ) You've missed it for this year but Aldi and Lidl both do camping stuff once a year and it's excellent value - I've bought an electric coolbox, sleeping bags, and self-inflating mats from Aldi this year. Another place to look at tents and equipment is the Argos catalogue - they may not be top of the range but they don't seem bad value for money. Millets have a sale on atm too - and they do 'starter packs' with a tent and the basics - seem a good deal.

The advice I was given on MN was to buy bigger than you need - so if there are 4 of you, buy a tent that sleeps at least 6.
Other stuff you'll need: something to sleep on, something to sleep in, something to cook on, I think a folding table and chairs are essential as it's no fun sitting on the ground.

Spend some time browsing the camping threads - there's loads of invaluable advice on there. And good websites I've bought stuff from are Outdoor Megastore and Camperlands and Wild Day .

Asda do a cheap plastic picnic set for £2.50 that suits us a treat. Amazing wwhat you can get in Supermarkets, tesco do a camping range that's worth a look now, for instance

here this has a good range too

Also Halfords have a sale at the moment on their camping stuf. A web company that I've used and deffo recommend is camperite leisure- fantastic customer services and next day delevery too

Have a look at this (Henni remeinded me)

this

Have a look at this (Henni remeinded me)

this

or this

this

And I had this tent (no not the seller LOL) last year, was absolutely fine, great price too

here

wow, thanks great advice!!

I'm wondering if I'm a camping person, though. I have memories from childhood of camping with the bugs running around the groundsheet I'm lying on/also not showering for days.......

What are the campsites like now? Is there lots to do for kids/ do most have clean showers?/washing machines??(see what I mean!!).

Dh ahted the idea of camping, liked suites in vegas and that was it! loves it now

you canmake camping as glam (electric hook up, TV with satellite, dishwasher) or as basic as you like, so realistically it should suit most poeple.

What area do you live in? Can you post a thread asking for a local M- Netter to loan you a tent for a night?