dumb question about camping. never been before

[mumma24]

Would love to go camping at local campsite, (never slept in a tent)have looked at 8 berth tents 3 adults 4 kids) and will need to buy more sleeping bags, my question is, do all campers, (families) have a trailer too? And what else do I need to buy? The basics!!! Thanks

Meant to say 2 adults, 4 kids

We don't have a trailer, but do have an MPV and a roof box and it all gets packed to the hilt!

I suppose we could take 2 cars as only planning 2 nights initially, not sure how much room a tent will take up in the car?

The tent is not often too bad, it's the sleeping bags, pillows. chairs, table, gas bottle, cooker, BBQ, wine, coolbox, wine....

The kids have to get used to being squashed in with all the stuff, but it's worth it!

Tent, groundsheet (May be built in with the tent).
Electric hookup lead if planning to use. Then lamps, head torches. Cool box.
Air beds, Sleeping bags, pillows, towels. Blankets to snuggle in.
Tea towel, washing up bowl, washing up liquid, sponge.
Clothes and toiletries.
Cooker, pans, kettle.
Camping chairs and table, picnic blanket.
Things to do, books, colouring, travel games etc.

Depends on the tent (!) but my 4-man Vango is sports-holdall kid of sized.
Sleeping bags sold in stuff sacs - can be shoved in corners or used as pillows in the car.
Worth buying sleeping mats - either foam or self-inflating (e.g. Thermarest). I also take a pillow as I hate sleeping "flat".
Head-torch - currently £1 in Asda!
Consider taking blankets too - ideally you won't need them and can use them for extra comfort under you.
Onesies .... Cosy for sleeping in, but consider that you need to take the whole thing off if you need to go to the loo in the middle of the night, so top half of you gets cold too!

I think most large families I know who are diehard campers have a trailer. If you don't want to invest it's probably cheaper to take 2 cars until you know you like it.

We are a family of 4 and we could just fit our kit in a big estate car for a long trip, with the tent on the roof.

Basics - have a good look at the Go outdoors sale.

Tent, 3-4 season sleeping bags, mats or airbeds (but check the size of the tent bedrooms and that they aren't tapered). Cushions take up less space than pillows.
Chair for each person and a table (height adjustable useful)
Cooker and pans/kettle, crockery etc.
Trug is good for washing up,
Lantern and head torches (don't rely on wind up ones)
Cold box and a water container (or couple of 5l mineral water bottles)
Couple of sturdy plastic boxes are useful to double up as table tops/for kids to sit on.

Then it just depends on the weather and what you want to do.

I heartily re co end a tent with an integral groundsheet, keeps out the bugs! We bought our tent off of eBay and saved a fortune.

We are just back and managed with an SUV and roof box. Lots of trailers but many of those campers seemed to have fridges and lots of other stuff.

We were rammed but had...

Tent, carpet and footprint
Sleeping bags, airbeds, pump, pillows (from home) and some fleeces
Clothes, toiletries, shoes etc.
Plastic box with cooking stuff - plates, cups, cutlery, pans, tea towels, washing up stuff. Cooking stove in separate carry pack.
Lanterns, torches, first aid kit, mosi spray
Cool box, food, snacks, wine

Brilliant, thanks everyone