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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.

Tell me everything about camping...

251 replies

MrsPiddlewink · 17/03/2015 19:26

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!!

OP posts:
Pixel · 17/03/2015 21:37

Wind up lights are grim! You have to wind for ages and they whirr and the sound carries for miles. We've tried various lights but have ended up with these. They are only small but very bright, can be a torch or a lantern and the AA batteries last for ages. We got one and it was so good we got a couple more and retired our big lanterns (which were a pain to pack anyway as I was always worried about them getting broken).

MrsCosmopilite · 17/03/2015 21:37

We do a weekend's camping every year. I'm no expert but my essentials are:

Car
Old duvets (warmer than sleeping bags and allow you to fidget)
Old blankets/towels/yoga mats to put under air beds
Battery operated/electric pump for airbed
Head torch/small wind up light
Wellies
Doormat/old towels - so you don't tread mud all over the tent and if it rains before you go pack up you can dry the tent off a bit.
Baby wipes and bags - easy to keep clean without running to the shower block (the campsite we go to has running water and portaloos, no showers/electric hook ups)

Pixel · 17/03/2015 21:39

Head torch a must if you like reading though.

MehsMum · 17/03/2015 21:40

I second the earplugs. And the layers of clothes (unless you're going somewhere reliably hot, and even then take waterproofs: it can fair piss down in the American desert and you might not want to get soaked just then, even if it isn't cold).

Our biggest discovery were those huge plastic boxes with clip lids you can buy in Staples (Really Useful Boxes, I think they're called). In between camping, all our loose stuff lives in one (the plastic plates, cups, the thermos jug in which we make tea - another great discovery, well done, DH - the tin mugs, the tea towels, the washing-up bowl, plastic chopping board, washing line & pegs, the stacking pans et cetera et cetera...). When we get to the campsite, up goes the folding cupboard, in which all the waterproof stuff lives.

And into the plastic box goes anything vulnerable to the weather (like the matches, in another - tiny - plastic box) or the wildlife (food, mostly, esp bread).

We also take an old lunchbox (this goes in the big plastic box between times) with all the cutlery, the corkscrew (vital), tin opener etc; we also go with a stock of basic herbs and spices and stock cubes.

Oh, and a brush and dustpan, so you can sweep out the tent before you pack it up at the end, and don't find it full of pine needles or sand next year.

I recommend northern Spain. Northern England is nice too but the campsites tend to be a bit more basic than Spanish ones and you will need twice as many clothes.

ThatBloodyWoman · 17/03/2015 21:43

I got a really bright LED lantern which is wind up/solar.Primark and places have some great battery led lights you can either stick on a magnetic surface or hang.
I have a bit of an off grid lighting fetish.

PigWhisperer · 17/03/2015 21:45

Has anyone used one of those inflatable tents? They look brill, but.....punctures???

ArcheryAnnie · 17/03/2015 21:45

If your car is big enough, and you are planning on camping beds or inflatable mattresses, don't bother buying sleeping bags for the grownups, just stuff your duvet straight off your bed into the boot of your car. And take pillows.

Penguinsaresmall · 17/03/2015 21:49

Personally I would need Valium to get me through. Last time I went camping I felt something itchy in my sleeping bag when I woke up - and found earwigs in there.

The next night a very pissed nan wobbled in through our tent zip shouting 'John, Joooooooohn!'.

Penguinsaresmall · 17/03/2015 21:51

A very pissed 'man', not 'nan'. A nan would have been much less scary!

Carpetcrawler · 17/03/2015 21:57

lol at pissed nan Grin

plummyjam · 17/03/2015 22:02

Love camping. Take wine. If it gets cold heat the wine up.

I recommend at least a gas stove and if a trangier too if possible then you can cook enough for a few people. Disposable bbq's are also good.

Inflatable mattresses and very warm sleeping bags are essential. It always gets cold at night in the UK.

Don't pick a place to go to in advance, check the weather forecast and go wherever it's not raining.

If it looks like rain everywhere, I honestly wouldn't bother.

EddieStobbart · 17/03/2015 22:18

Go here

Buy these

Job done Smile

MrsHathaway · 17/03/2015 22:23

ThatBloodyWoman you have made my day. I have pitched fairy lights and solar meerkats to DH as a safety feature.

thefirstmrsrochester · 17/03/2015 22:27

citronella candles, esp if camping in the very beautiful but midgie Loch Lomond National Park.
more clothing that you think you will need (unless site has a laundry so you can just dry your wet stuff).
alcohol, in abundance.
duvets rather than sleeping bags.
disposable bbq's.
sun block (even when camping in Loch Lomond National Park).
I love camping but would never do more than a long weekend.
Watching the sun set over and the stars come out whilst drinking wine from beakers is one of the finer things in life I think.

TheABC · 17/03/2015 22:41

We do glamping. Bell tent, awning, hunting, rugs, the lot. We only got a roof rack when we had a small child to fit in. Methinks the roof rack for a polyester tent is stretching it a bit.

For newbie campers, I would recommend hiring an on-site yurt, tent or cabin. You get the vibe, you get to try out campsite cooking - and your tent is pre erected and waterproof. If not, pay extra for electric hook up and get a mini heater and lights.

BTW, unless you are going in high season or staying in cheap dumps, most campsite facilities are very clean. If in doubt, check out the reviews, before booking.

Lancelottie · 18/03/2015 08:50

You go hunting in your tent, ABC? That's some seriously upmarket camping.

loveareadingthanks · 18/03/2015 14:27

love camping. As I get older I get more home comforts but no, you don't need carpets/wardrobes etc etc.

Minimum Comfort level for me now is
Tent I can stand up in
enough space for 'stuff' so 2 berths per person
Camping chair (and I have one of those 3 legged fishing stools as well I use as a footstool!)
Lantern as well as torch. Hang it up and it lights up whole tent. If you get a Camping Gaz one it also warms tent up a lot.
Good quality sleeping bag (the ones you get in supermarkets are shit, go to proper camping shop.
Something to pee in in middle of night.
No airbed (cold and go down all the time) have a self inflating foam camp mat instead, very comfy and warm.

Rules
Keep bedroom zips done up at all times to prevent creepy crawly entry
No coats or shoes or wet/muddy stuff in bedroom. Having a dry clean area at all times, is an essential.

loveareadingthanks · 18/03/2015 14:36

on tent choice, go and look round a big camping showroom. Independents can have more choice than the chains. You need to see whether you want a modular style dome tent, a tunnel tent, or an old fashioned frame tent. Frame tents are heavier and you need car space for them but can give you more space. Tunnel tents are quite popular and I know people who divide them up by hanging blankets. Dome tents good but can be quite limited on space/headroom.

Blu · 18/03/2015 16:42

First decide what sort of campers you are likely to be:
'Wild' campers, favouring sites where you can have a fire, camp where you like in a rural / wooded site and have the kids entertain themselves by racing through the woods etc. Mostly these sites do not have electric hook-up (EHU), they often offer bushcraft courses for kids, and people tend to sit outside their tents round the fire at night. May well have compost toilets etc - but you will be a good distance from other campers. Option to cook on your campfire.
or
Traditional campsite campers: pitches in rows, lots of on-site facilities, maybe even a pool kids playground, almost never allow fires, often have a choice of a pitch with EHU.

This will affect the equipment you need, cooking choices etc. Electric cool box v passive box etc.

Then think about sleeping: air mattress v SIM is a very personal choice, SIM is much warmer, and doesn't need all that inflating, the rest is down to which you find more comfortable.

If you buy sleeping bags buy good ones: Vango or Coleman 2 season, for example - don't buy crappy Halfords cheap nylon ones. We almost never need anything other than our Vango sleeping bags and cotton pyjamas in the UK! this sort of thing

Chairs and a fold-up table.

For a tent, I would look at something likethis tent. Very roomy, easy to put up, good brand, will not leak, fully sewn in groundsheet. It will fit the 5 of you for now and then in a year or two your older 2 will want to have their own small 2-person tent, which is fun.

Something to cook on: the 'briefcase' stoves are a good cheap one-burner option to get started with- take 2 if you intend to do much actual cooking, and a portable BBQ. (personally I hate disposables - the coals are too close to the food, everything gets sooty or burnt, they burn down too fast, bad value).

Many of the 'wild camping' sites will hire you a campfire grill to use over the fire.

Check out the Camping Board - lots of kit and camping tips discussed in great detail!

AllTheMadmen · 18/03/2015 16:57

Last time I went camping I felt something itchy in my sleeping bag when I woke up - and found earwigs in there.

OH LORD ^

Lancelottie · 18/03/2015 17:01

No no no, Blu, not a two-season sleeping bag! A nice squishy three-season bag is what you want, unless you have the sort of small child who will be inside it with you.

Lancelottie · 18/03/2015 17:03

(but then I'm going on memories of camping last Easter, when DD and I ended up huddled together in one very small tent inner for warmth)

MrsHathaway · 18/03/2015 17:46

OP when you say "DH is very tall", how tall do you mea

My DH is Very Tall (bumps his head on door frames, some airlines won't let him fly economy) at 6'7"/203cm. We went for [[http://m.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-kalahari-elite-8-family-tent-p286230 this eight-man because (a) the bedrooms are big enough for him to lie down without going diagonally and (b) he can stand up straight in it. Also cost, good reviews, ease of erection (Matron!) etc. Worth a gander while it's reduced.

Lancelottie · 18/03/2015 17:54

Bet he can only stand up in the very centre, MrsHathaway! We have an old-fashioned, two-ton, shaped-like-a-house frame tent for similar-sized DH. He sleeps sideways across what is meant to be the four-berth sleeping compartment.

You can get extra-long airbeds and extra-long sleeping bags, by the way. The one thing that keeps defeating us is extra-strong camping chairs. DH crushes them inexorably to death after a few camp nights.

MrsHathaway · 18/03/2015 18:08

better link, sorry [technophobe]