How do you make your tent cosy?

[Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]

So - main holidays this year are going to be camping - 3 separate trips.

We're seasoned campers, but in more recent years we've mostly camped at festivals ie never in the tent.

What can I do to make the tent cosy and lovely to be in? Prepared to invest in either infrastructure or fripperies!

Electric hookup campsite
Double height inflatable mattress.
Fitted sheet with a duvet on top instead of a sleeping bag
Insulated Cafetiere
Camping fridge/electric cool box
Slow cooker.....we camp quite a bit and enjoy long distance walking so I put the slow cooker on in the morning (we have a strong folding metal camping table) and when we get back in the evening? Dinners ready.
Solar fairy lights for inside and outside the tent
I also recommend those little solar posts you get in pound shops. We put them in to mark the tent pegs and the solar fairylights round the door guy ropes so on that late night loo trip you can find your tent and not trip over the tent pegs.

I don't have a tent carpet but we use those plastic backed picnic blankets instead and it makes a huge difference.

Battery operated fairy light.

Double campbed with storage boxes that can then go under it. Old duvet underneath fitted bed sheet and then a double duvet with flannel cover on it makes a huge difference.

I've never camped with an electric pitch. What does this mean. Do you just take an outdoors extension lead (like you'd use with a lawn mower) and then put it through the gap in the ground sheet?

We hired a caravan last summer and it still felt a bit too much like camping to be honest. I find it really stressful having to take all your own bedding, towels, on top of the normal gubbins let alone a tent and then things to try and make it all comfortable. I camped plenty in my teens and up to my very early 20's but not since I have had kids. I had enough of it and since staying in hostels in Australia in my early 20's decided I would now only stay somewhere as nice or nicer than my actual house.

Oh and I also take one of what we call the umbrella airer this and some clothes hangers and you can hang damp and wet clothes to dry in the corner of the tent ( we have a head height tent.) means damp coats are dry in the morning mostly

This is what we mean www.dunelm.com/product/6-arm-iron-tidy-1000161319?defaultSkuId=30681679&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu-f044jG6gIVQeztCh3czgKxEAQYASABEgLRWfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Blow up mattresses and fluffy blankets!

I don’t go to sites that have hook up, to avoid people with TVs and the new phenomenon: films projected onto sheets or screens.

Fine if headphones are used, though projected films create light pollution.

We don’t really sit inside the tent, ever. Outside, and round the fire at night. That’s the best kind of camping cost!

I would take real rugs, the cotton ones cheap in places like Range or Dunelm. The tent carpets are very syntheticky, the whole tent environment can be very synthetic. Canvas or polycotton tents are naturally more cosy, I think.

If I had endless money and a big car I would get some of the IKEA rocking deckchairs in traditional stripy fabric. With the matching stools as a footrest,

I've never camped with an electric pitch. What does this mean. Do you just take an outdoors extension lead (like you'd use with a lawn mower) and then put it through the gap in the ground sheet?
Yes you have a lead (we have a 4 socket extension lead) and in our tent there is a little opening/flap for the lead to go out and plug in.
It's kind of cheating but the heater is a an essential for us, and a camping light . I've never taken a tv though. We also have a plug in cool box (although I'm not convinced it's any better than traditional cool boxes but it saves having to faff about with ice packs.)

We've got our first electric pitch booked next week. We've had to buy a special round plug outdoor extension. I learned my lesson after last time when my car cigarette lighter blew on day one pumping up my air bed and I couldn't charge devices including my phone for the rest of the time. Also means we can use an electric cool box as there is no fridge facilities and a standard cool box wouldn't remain cold for the 5 day trip

and a standard cool box wouldn't remain cold for the 5 day trip

We have an Outwell Fulmar cool box (standard not plug in) and it keeps things cold for about 3 days - and 3 days is my limit for camping :)

The electric cool boxes are useless anywhere properly warm (ie France, Spain) because they only cool by about ten degrees cooler than the outside temperature. So on a nice 32 C day, your food won’t get any cooler than 22 C. So they’re really only good for keeping drinks cool.

I have a standard Coleman cool box that does cool to refrigerated temperatures. You just have to keep adding block or cube ice to it as the days go by. Fortunately, most shops have ice for sale in bags. Especially those near to campsites.

*The electric cool boxes are useless anywhere properly warm (ie France, Spain) because they only cool by about ten degrees cooler than the outside temperature. So on a nice 32 C day, your food won’t get any cooler than 22 C. So they’re really only good for keeping drinks cool.
*
We camp in Scotland so this is of no problem. My box is a 240v not a 12v one and can cool 18c 18c below. I don't want to use bagged ice as it's not just for drinks. I don't want soggy cheese etc once the ice melts.

Coolboxes: in general the electric coolboxes cool to a certain number of degrees below ambient Temperature, so in hot weather may not be especially cold. For that you need a camping fridge.

Ordinary coolboxes don’t keep stuff cold for long at all, but a high performance box, like a Coleman Extreme or an Icey Tek will keep cold for 5 days under the right conditions ( pre-chilled, meat and milk packed frozen, ice packs in. If you are disciplined about opening the lid as little as possible and not leaving it open it stays colder, IME, than an electric coolbox in hot weather. And can always be topped up with a bag of ice or re-frozen blocks if the site has a freezer.

Weve taken our electric cool box to france in 30° heat and it's been ok, however once we forgot the plug for it and took it for a weekend camping in the uk. It was 25° during the day and the long life milk, cheese bacon and eggs were all fine without electric cooling or ice!

We have an indoor/outdoor rug for the tent (which is big because it rains and I’m not stooping). We have power banks that are also lanterns which are lovely and we can run small usb fans off them all night too. Inflatable mattresses for everyone with sheet covers, proper pillows and blankets. Turns out I’m not a fan of sleeping bags.

I hate electronic noise so no TVs, music players etc. Kids have iPads but earphones.

We have a Coleman cooler and it works absolutely fine with just topping up ice packs

You can't top up ice packs without a freezer though

Most campsites have a communal freezer for ice packs these days though - I usually stay at fairly basic campsites with no electric hook ups and I've only come across one that didn't have a freezer.

These are covid days now. The only communal facilities where we are are booked at is the toilets and that's only for 4 pitches. There is no fridge or freezer. Maybe there is usually, I'm not sur. 1 out door sink and electric hook up for a couple of tents - the electric wasn't much extra on top of the pitch so definitely worth it in these circumstances

I don't want to use bagged ice as it's not just for drinks. I don't want soggy cheese etc once the ice melts.

? You simply place items like this in a waterproof bag, or plastic container or in a tray that sits on the ice and any melt water. Besides you’d drain the melt water out now and then anyway. I’ve never had anything go soggy.

Orrr, I could just use my electric cool box that I have, and have the power for and save all that effort, purchasing, excess plastic and dripping bags lol

About to buy a cool box after reading through this... thanks! Can anyone tell me how many litres I should get though for family four? The Coleman’s options I’ve seen are either 27l or 47l. Is the 47l to big do you think for cheese, veg, Milk, wine etc? Thanks!

Camp beds , duvet pillows (can’t do sleeping bags) I didn’t but a tent carpet but use picnic blankets instead! Cheaper option. We also have a rule if no shoes in the tent. But take sliders/slip on shoes for easy toilet visits in the night/morning.
We also take a large bucket with handles (often found in garden centres) but handy to chuck the dirty dishes to carry down to the washing up area.

@Whatapickle78
We have the 28qt extreme cool box
Used it for a three week trip to the Pyrenees. Four of us went.
We do tend to buy 3days food at a time.
www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Unisex-Xtreme-Cooler-Blue/dp/B00HQLM270/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=coleman+xtreme+cooler&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1594593493&sr=8-1

@midnightstar66

Orrr, I could just use my electric cool box that I have, and have the power for and save all that effort, purchasing, excess plastic and dripping bags lol

Yes you could. I was merely pointing out that the ice method doesn’t have to result in soggy food like you said. Just that like other posters I hate my camping experience to be ruined by people watching TV or playing loud music in the next pitch. So we go to campsites with no electric hookups. Readers should know that they can avoid electric hookups AND have non soggy food.