I've bought a tent, what other essentials do I need?

[ImFree2doasiwant]

I posted before, starting from scratch, camping with 2 small children. I've bought a tent! Vango icarus 5, with extension. Bloody huge.

What are the bare essentials?

I have -
Cool box, small.
Single gas ring, the sort that a little canister fits under.
Kids chairs. (Necessary? )
Loads of waterproofs, wellies etc.
Foam tiles for under beds.
Lanterns.
Fleece blankets.

To get -
Air bed or SIMs?
Sleeping bags
Er.........

LOL, as an adult with 2 small kids and a massive porch you definitely do not need an event shelter.

Flannels, they are good for drying wet legs, mopping up spills all sorts of things and dry quicker than towels.

Pegs, dustpan and brush, bin bag for rubbish with separate ones for recycling.

@InTheWings yes just me and the DC. And yes, 3 or 4 nights to start, i dont want to put us all off with a hideous experience!! I've actually just found a holiday site, quite close, which I'm going to call tomorrow. It's next to the beach, a small holiday town. Everything you might want with small children. Most people's idea of hell I imagine, but I'd rather go there where I have access to everything I might have forgotten, than have an awful time while the DC are so small . I'll work up to more ambitious trips!

@AriettyHomily let me know how it goes! I don't have much space in my car. Event shelter??

@rhowton

A hotel?

😂😂

I'm saving the hotel for my child free break. never gonna happen....

I'd say Valium would be essential myself! LOL

Hope you enjoy it, sounds like a lot of work, but each to their own.

If you use air beds then put a blanket under the sleeping bags - it stops cold air seeping up. Plenty of blankets is good anyway, which you can throw over anyone that's feeling cold, plus you can wrap them round if chilly in the evening. A camp bed to me is better as you can put stuff under it.

Get a 3 season sleeping bag rather than the fashion ones. You can always unzip them if too warm.

Somewhere to sit and eat - we have a table and chairs - plus somewhere for you to prep food and somewhere for you to put a camp stove. We have a camp larder too but that's a luxury that you may not have room for.

Small games for when the kids get bored, plus balls/frisbee/cricket for them to play with.

We use microfibre towels, which take up very little room.

Washing up bowl, either a fold flat one or a normal one that you use to carry crockery in.

Washing line & pegs - we have a mini rotary airer - to dry towels etc on. You can use the guy ropes if necessary but if you have big towels they would drop on the floor.

If you haven't got a tent carpet then picnic rugs. We use the ones that go into a roll in the bedrooms, plus a couple that we use in the daytime.

A camp lamp is good too - a decent one that you can hang in the tent.

You can get a multi purpose camping tool that's a hammer one end (with a pick for pulling the pegs out afterwards!) and tools the other end. I've used mine every time I've been! (Mine also has a corkscrew ;) )

Ooo have you got enough pegs? The tents we have bought recently never have enough pegs. We got some that glow on the dark that we use for the guys to stop people falling over them in the dark.

1. Scrounge everything you can from home with the exception of the tent and sleeping mattresses. If you are going for the airbed option, use a fleece instead of a cotton sheet, for warmth. Take fairy lights for the door; they look pretty and make it much easier to pick your tent out in the dark.

2. Make a list of everything you take. Keep it and afterwards cross off/add items to it for next time. You can save this on your phone.

3. The first time is the hardest. It gets much easier as you get more experienced, simply because you start to acquire dedicated kit and know what you are doing. We've done it for years and now just pull out the packed boxes from the shed and add clothes.

4. Do a practise run of pitching your tent before you go away. That will ensure you have everything you need to set it up (e.g. mallet and extra pegs), checked it for rips or faults and you know what to expect.

I am not being malicious or anything, but could someone point out the attraction of camping to me please.

Sounds like a lot of work and initial capital outlay on so many things.

Anyway is it because

A. people like the outdoors experience even if in a tent
B It is cheap and cheerful
C it is an adventure
D. I don't know.

I would definitely second practising putting the tent up. We put ours up for next week just to check it over.

I’ve got three big plastic boxes that are labelled - kitchen, set up and general. The set up box has everything we need to get the tent up and ready and is always the last thing in the car so we can just grab it without pulling everything out. They are in turn really handy tables once the tent is up. We’ve got lanterns from amazon that are also power banks which are really handy.

@saltycat I haven't taken children before, and when I used to go it didn't really matter what happened or what we forgot.

We do all love being outdoors . We spend a lot of time out, all year round.
I don't have much money for holidays. But I work part time so am able to go for 3 it 4 nights without taking much/any time off.

DC will love it I think.

I don't want/can't afford/haven't the space in the car to go berserk with buying kit . I got a bargain with the tent. I can get 4 nights at the really nice holiday park we've been to before, for £100, instead of the £700+ that it would cost to rent a caravan for the same time.

@saltycat once the initial outlay is done it’s really cheap for multiple holidays. We go to eco sort of campsites so fantastic outdoors and we love the rough and readiness of it plus campfires and snuggling in.

I even absolutely love being in a tent when it’s raining outside and we can all be together in the tent either reading or playing games. Then as soon as it stops we are ready to go exploring. Saying that, I couldn’t do it in a small tent. Ours isn’t huge but DH can stand upright and there’s space to move around. Plus it’s a doddle to put up.

ImFree2doasiwant

Aw that's lovely, and I meant no disrespect at all (Just not for me lol), so each to their own.

I hope it all works out and that you have a lovely time. Hope the sun shines for you also. Enjoy.

Solar charger for your phone.

Saltycat:

We love being outside, especially in a tent. We sit outside, cook over a campfire, look at the stars, and enjoy it a lot.

I don’t take half the stuff suggested on this thread.

Camping can involve a lot of outlay but it doesn’t have to. It can be very cheap.

It doesn’t suit everyone,

Never go camping without a new roll of gaffer tape. You can do a pretty good temporary fix on almost anything if you have gaffer tape.

I often ask myself why I go camping, as it can feel like it’s more work than relaxation at times! Even making a cup of tea becomes a mission when you have to go and fetch water, then wait ages for it to boil, then faff about with the cool box to get the milk, (not to mention washing up BY HAND afterwards!)

But then when you sit there in the sunshine, watching the kids run around instead of being cooped up inside on iPads, getting back to nature, and there’s no pressure to do anything or be anywhere, no interruptions or distractions, it feels natural and right. It’s the slow pace of everything and the feeling that even though you’ve spent hundreds of pounds on little gadgets and equipment you’re living minimally and appreciating a simple life.

Second the gaffer tape tip and also recommend a table of some sort too which makes food prep much easier... I also bring multiple blankets and a SIM for me and a ready bed for my daughter to sleep in. A lantern for the tent and a headlamp makes late night loo trips easier. Warm clothes and hats for sleeping in. I chuck all the tent gear in a big tub which doubles as an extra seat or table. Pack of cards/ uno/ pens and paper are good, and a ball and a kite to play with. We also bring the tablet to watch a movie if it rains!

Second the gaffer tape tip and also recommend a table of some sort too which makes food prep much easier... I also bring multiple blankets and a SIM for me and a ready bed for my daughter to sleep in. A lantern for the tent and a headlamp makes late night loo trips easier. Warm clothes and hats for sleeping in. I chuck all the tent gear in a big tub which doubles as an extra seat or table. Pack of cards/ uno/ pens and paper are good, and a ball and a kite to play with. We also bring the tablet to watch a movie if it rains!

Second the gaffer tape tip and also recommend a table of some sort too which makes food prep much easier... I also bring multiple blankets and a SIM for me and a ready bed for my daughter to sleep in. A lantern for the tent and a headlamp makes late night loo trips easier. Warm clothes and hats for sleeping in. I chuck all the tent gear in a big tub which doubles as an extra seat or table. Pack of cards/ uno/ pens and paper are good, and a ball and a kite to play with. We also bring the tablet to watch a movie if it rains!

Just back from our first camping trip with our own kit. Dc each spent a night sleeping on tent floor as they came off their sim - didn't bother them one bit 😀

Yes gaffer tape, dustpan and brush, decent lighting. Thick Socks for sleeping in.

We have SIMs. Ask if anyone had some you can borrow.
Are you doing electric hook up? If not you need a way of charging phone.

For now id use picnic blankets for kids but get yourself a decent camping chair.