OK packing gurus - sort me out!

[user12785]

I am an old hand at camping, as far as equipment goes I know my stuff. It's the clothes and towels packing that has gone a bit wrong in the last few years. One year not enough, ended up buying more fleeces at the "only shop in the village". Last year way too much, it didn't all get used, and took up too much space in the car and in the tent.

So please tell me how much to take this year! The brief:

2 adults. Ds aged 9, dd aged 12.
14 days.
Camping (def not glamping). Muddy field, stream to fall in multiple times per day.
Nearest launderette 8 miles away, and the dryers are crap.
Beach.
Walking, cycling, running.
A few trips where we need to scrub up a bit, eg cinema, museum.
Day time temp last year ranged from 12 - 22 deg.
Cold at night, need a fleece & socks on top of pjs.
Any suggestions re how much clothing / towels to take gratefully accepted, especially as I don't normally post given my track record as an accidental thread-killer! Thanks .

2 pairs pjs, 2 pairs sleepy socks. 1 fleece each for sleeping.

If you do wash clothes will you need to use dryer? If you will be allowed to hangs stuff out by tent then 5 pairs of underwear each should be enough. Ditto T shirts.
Shorts and trousers: 1 pair to be muddy, 1 pair to be sandy, 2 pairs drying and one pair on. I think this is shaping up to be 5 of everything if you are planning on washing as you go.
plus sportswear.

Yay, a reply! Thank you Bombay. Drying is a major issue. We are allowed washing lines, but it rains A LOT. Last year I washed mid way through, and everything was still wet when it was time to go home!

Do you have Microfibre towels ? They fold up very small and dry quickly ! If the dryers are useless at the launderette see if there are any at a nearby campsite you could use instead. Or just wear the dirty stuff again, the kids don't seem to mind ! Have fun

I'm currently wondering the same thing OP. Camping for a fortnight from next Sunday. No launderette on site (and despite going to the same place for centuries I've never managed to locate one in any of the towns nearby.)

We could have two weeks of back to back rain. Or we could have two weeks of scorching sun. Or anything in between. Don't know what to bloody pack. Or how many pairs of flipping knickers.

Eliza - yes we have microfibre towels, handy for the rucksacks as dh and dcs found of spontaneous swimming!
Turkey - I always take 2 weeks of knickers, I figure that even if the rest of everyone's outfits needs washing, at least they will have clean pants on!

Thin lightweight stuff for muddy stream and cycling: thin quick dry shorts.

If warm, just swim suits and T shirt at the stream. If rainy: swimsuits / shorts / waterproof or fleece.

I don't like big towels. Get the worst of the wet off with a flannel. You can almost dry yourself completely with a well wrung flannel. Then small thin hand towels.

Good point well made about the knickers but neither me nor dp are a svelte size 8 so undercrackers alone take up loads of space!