Camping. I need help.

[RatherBeMutton]

I've managed to sign up to a thing where I'll be walking a lot and camping for two nights in a field with lots of other people.

I'll borrow a tent but beyond that I am totally clueless. What do I need /need to know? Flip flops for the shower block is about all I can think of.

I really, really, need help. Please send tips before I book a hotel (wuss).

Thank you!
You are all fabulously positive. It must be all that fresh air (and wine).

Your own toilet paper. I learnt that the hard way

If you get an inflatable mattress you need to put a normal thin camping mat underneath it to stop yourself freezing .

Warm hat.
Think about wellies for traipsing around in wet grass - if you do have to go to the loo in the night (despite shiwee etc.), they're much easier than anything else to put on. And the grass will most likely be wet in the morning, too.
We downgraded from fantastic SIMs to thick, cheapo airbeds last summer as we were car camping, and took brushed cotton sheets. It was fab - slept for much longer than usual.
Torch - head torch ideally; two free hands.
Are you cooking?? Sneaky powdered pancake mix is great for camping.
Have fun!

Powdered pancake mix! Genius!! Never thought of that. Kids will be delighted

I lock my tent on campsites. Yes people can still slash the tent but it’s more ‘obvious’ & at Festival type things they really don’t bother as they’re usually just looking for extra sleeping bags and stuff. I don’t lock it when I’m in...there’s really no need as all you need to do is shout and you have a campsite full of people in attendance!

I don’t usually really feel the cold, but when I’m camping I am always cold at night. Layer up! Thermals if you have them, leggings, track suit pants...you’re not aiming for sex appeal! Hat.

Foam mattress are amazingly comfortable, warm and cheap, but it depends how much space you have in the car.

If we’re just camping for a night I take a couple of big squeezy bottles of pancake batter for Sunday breakfast. . Old ketchup bottles are perfect.

S hooks to hang towel and washbag on shower door if no hooks available.

Microfibre towels - take up less room and dry pretty quickly.

A couple of pegs to be able to peg out wet towels, socks etc to dry.

Woolly hat to sleep in (really does make a difference! Even in the height of summer).

Also, if you tend towards cold, after dinner and before the real evening chill sets in, go wash up and add on a thermal layer under your clothes before sitting for the evening chat/wine/singsong or whatever. When it gets to bedtime, only strip as far as that thermal layer, and put on pyjamas - you are not letting cold air right in to your skin and it really helps to stay warm rather than trying to heat up again.

(Re previous - I also sleep in a fresh pair of socks, not ones I've worn all day, and with a hot water bottle). And I'd echo Harriet above re layering under and over sleeping bag.

Ikea blue bags are great to throw clothes into - 1 for clean to rummage in easily and a separate one for dirty to go straight into the car at the end.

Pair of flipflops/crocs for the tent and middle of the night treks across the grass - not your all day walking boots (which get mud all over inside the tent - I have a policy of taking those off at the door and leaving neatly just inside so they don't get wet but can dry out from sweatiness).

I bet you have a great time. On top of what people have suggested do take an eye mask if you don't want to be up at 4am!

To minimise night time wees shift to spirits in the evening, there's less fluid (maybe more carnage but never mind). A hot choc with brandy in is the best for warming up.

A stack of baby wipes is helpful for lots of things.

Have fun (I bet you'll love it)

The time to change into warm night things is when it gets dark - the temperature suddenly plummets.

Ikea fleece blankets are fantastic for camping at £3 each. I use 2 underneath and 2 over a 3-season sleeping bag and fleece pyjamas ... by about 7am on a sunny day I'm sweating and fling them all off but it's completely miserable to be cold at night and impossible to sleep.

Will you be able to park your car next to the tent if it is a festival?

A bucket to wee in is fine - some people line the bucket with a plastic bag and put cat litter in the bottom, then you can just knot it up and put it in the rubbish. If you are near bushes behind your tent...al fresco at night.

A small washing up bowl is handy if you do any cooking - either a pan or a frying pan takes care of many possibilities.

Brioche rolls are good for breakfast - the packets of individually wrapped ones in Lidl. You can borrow a coolbox, but unless you have a really top performance one it will be useless. Better to manage with UHT milk if you want cereal, or little pots individual of milk for your coffee, nicked from a Travelodge, for e.g.

Packets of wraps last well.

Ask everyone else what they are doing about cooking, I am sure you can team up.

The people lending you the tent - can they also lend you:
SIM
Folding camp chair
Small stove and kettle

Torch and lantern. You need a light in your tent that doesn't need you to hold it.