So, i have the tent, i have sleeping bags and we are away this weekend.....

[TheoriginalLEM]

I still need to buy air beds and seats and we have a tent light (wind up thing that i was given when we bought the tent - long story)

What else shouldn't i leave the house without?

DP insisting we need a gas stove thing - but we have hired a fire pit and logs so can i buy anything to use on that to cook stuff on?

We are only going for two nights to test the tent really, i really want DD to enjoy it as she has been a bit recitent.

We have two dogs as well ....both jrt bastards we have asked for an out of the way pitch :)

Where do peoples dogs generally sleep? Ours dont have beds because they sleep in ours

They had some 10cm SIMs on amazon last week. See if I can find the link. smaller to pack than an airbed and apparently quite comfy.

They aren't very big though are they? i am quite a lard arse - i need the padding!

SIMs are much warmer than airbeds. If you do opt for airbeds get thin foam matting to go underneath it to prevent the ground cooling the air in your bed all night.
If, like me, you need a cup of tea or coffee before getting going in the morning you may want to invest in a single burner stove, the kind that runs on canisters, and a kettle.

www.only-airbeds.co.uk sell INTEX airbeds at quite good prices and you can get all sizes up to king size (which is a UK superking or 6 foot wide).

Also Decathlon do an airbed which has the ribbing horizontally rather than vertically which we found made the bed less prone to moving around when one of you turns. Also they have a 2 year guarantee which is good.www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-air-comfort-inflatable-camping-sleeping-bed-140-cm-id_8331814.html

We just put an open sleeping bag between a sheet and the airbed and that stops us feeling the cold from below.

You can buy a campfire grill to use to cook over the fire here: www.campfirecookinggrill.co.uk/grill.html.

Have you got a coolbox or fridge of some sort to keep your wine food cold?

If you are only going to test the tent, do you want to splash out on chairs? If you have folding garden chairs, they would do for a first trip. Or you could just take a few picnic blankets for each of you to sit on?

Also don't forget the marshmallows and sticks.

I took a duvet as well as my sleeping bag! Toasty warm!

Actually, if you have hired a fire pit, any sort of grill from home would do just to rest over the top of it as a cooking surface.

A gas stove would be good to boil a kettle quickly. Something like this would be fine for a first trip though: www.wilko.com/camping-equipment-and-essentials/mini-portable-stove/invt/0331541

I think you will need a gas stove and kettle. Just a little one like a camping gaz bistro - otherwise how will you get a cup of tea in the morning?!

Pressed post too soon...

Also, camping breakfast for us is usually something fried (bacon, sausage, egg) wedged into bread and butter. Wouldn't do that on a campfire in the morning.

If it helps, I love my little stove, and it is the most used bit of kit we have. We take it to the beach, and the picnic tables with bbq plates on the end in the local country park. It comes in a little suitcase.

I love my little stove too Callmecordelia. It's all we take with us a lot of the time now (limited space so the Cobb often stays at home :( ). We use it for barbecues on the beach, moor, forests, all over the place. And it's ideal for a cup of tea/coffee in the morning when camping or any quick food. Love it!

I am quite hardcore and will happily cook all meals on the fire, but honestly having a small gas stove, as linked and available v cheaply in lots of places, Halfords, Argos etc, is a freal help when you want a quick cup of coffee in the morning without faffing about with logs, getting your fire going, and it might be raining

But generally an old grate of some kind - from the old BBQ rusting outside (oh, doesn't everyone have one of those ) or an old baking grille, or oven shelf is good rested across the fire pit. Just make sure you let the fire die down to a nice bed of embers for cooking if you are BBQing on it - you can build it up again afterwards. You can put a kettle or pan of water on a small flame.

Lidl were selling good folding chairs a few weeks ago, Halfords usually have an offere on. I think it's worth having one of these types of chair each , but not pink, obv, and they are cheap. It's just more comfortable.