Tell me everything about camping...

[MrsPiddlewink]

Somehow I have agreed to going camping this year. I've put it off for about 5 years.

We have nothing.

What are the essentials?

There are 5 of us (DH is very tall) + dog. Kids aged 3 - 9. Will a 5 berth tent be big enough? What features should be looking out for? Do we need a carpet?!

Please give me your tried and tested tips to make this experience as bearable as possible!!

A cheap one man tent for all the shite and food is a good idea

Sod milk, you need wine. In mugs.

I do think camping is an excellent excuse to wash little,wear clothes in to a comforting level of stench and filth,and get pissed every night.
Whats not to love?

DH is also very tall.
Every year he says that's it, he is NOT spending his next holiday hunched over in a tent too small to stand up in.

Then he looks at the price of other holidays, and off we go to a windy field somewhere again...

Wine in a box too

ThatBloodyWOman, I once looked properly at DS2 at the end of a fortnight's holiday and realised he was still wearing the t-shirt he'd arrived in .
I think we'd get on.

The getting pissed every night certainly helps you sleep.

And yes take a wee bucket.

My own warmness ideal is fleece blanket under, Thermarest, sheet, pillow, sleeping bag, duvet, bedsocks, tracksuit, long johns, hoodie, hat. And I don't feel the cold that much.

Essentials-
Ear plugs
Good strong duct tape
Cold beers for puttin the tent up. Tent erecting is much better with a little beer buzz
Wooly hat
Hot water bottles- lovely to warm beds with
Baileys for hot choc night caps
Glow sticks for the kids
Camp site that allows an op w fire- roasting marsh mallows, camp bread, melting glass bottles overnight!
Make your bed tely comfy and pretty my and DH bed set up is thusly-
2 fat Airics pushed together with a cellular blanket on top, then a fitted sheet on top. Then a double duvet, then a massive Welsh wool blanket. Goose down pillows and a couple of cushions. The blanket and cushions get used in the day time.

Lancelottie I think we would!
I think shower blocks are a bit of an unnecessary extra when it comes to picking a camp site.

We've never needed a wee bucket. I must be lucky but my dcs have never needed to visit the toilets in the middle of the night. They are usually too exhausted from all the running around in the fresh air and just sleep right through (and we've been camping since our oldest was 2). I've had to be quite tough with myself though to convince myself I DO NOT need to go again the minute I've got into the sleeping bag, because I went 5 MINUTES AGO. It's all in the mind!

Also, wine is fine, but I also rather like those little pre-mixed cans of gin and tonic on a sunny evening. Sometimes I even remember to take a lemon .

We did our first two trips last summer. Super advice up-thread! I would agree most with the comments about comfy and warm bedding. Even the warmest week of last summer I was cold at night so I'm looking at fleece linings for our sleeping bags and hot water bottles. I would be sorely tempted by an electric pitch next time for heating, lighting and boiling water. Our children were not raised on camping and woke the whole site screaming because they thought a sheep was in their tent! We bought a mid range tent with separate rooms, in the end we ended up all sleeping together so that seemed a bit of a pointless purchase. We went to a very quiet site and I think that was ideal for a first trip. All the stuff we bought, for cooking and things worked well and yes a bucket for wee was essential!

What do you all do with the gaffer/duct tape? We went camping for 3 days last year, first time in over 25 yrs and I don't know what we would have used tape for?

mygrandchildren - its to repair the holes you discover that squirrels have chewed in your gazebo.

If you get a heater than make sure it's a low powered one for use at campsites or you'll blow all the hook ups and really piss everyone off! Some campsites have a ban on their use. Same with electric kettles, make sure are camping ones.

We've been camping since we were all babies and still love it, although disability means now have a trailer tent as can no longer do tents and getting down to low level etc. Mind you I lived in a field for about a year without electric / running water and long drop toilets only, so campsite are pretty luxurious to me!

Or maybe to repair anything that New Forest ponies have trampled over while you've been out for the day?

Gazebo - sounds posh!

Hmm could also be used for some 50 shades of grey activities! (after first silencing the kids/animals!)

Separate blow up mattresses.
DP makes it like sleeping on a bloody boat on a double.

Ha ha, we should have got separate ones. Ours gets softer as the week goes on and by the end, every time dh gets up my bum hits the floor! (ok we should pump it up but we are too lazy and actually it's quite comfy once we are both on it).

A lot of campsites don't allow dogs and most insist that your dog is either on their usual short lead or a long lead attached to a tether.

It's also worth thinking about two tents (one adult in each) as larger tents can be a nightmare to put up. Or a trailer tent is a good compromise between a tent and a caravan.

Get good quality sleeping bags as opposed to duvets, camping chairs are a must as its strangely tiring not being able to sit down properly. Wind up lights are good and more economical than battery operated and you'll be surprised how dark it gets early. Without good lighting you're asleep by 7 and up at 6.

Duct tape- emergency repairs of holes in anything.