Camping hacks

[Silverbirch2]

Camping for 10 days I summer with 2 dc 6 & 8
Any tips, tricks or help

Packing cubes (for clothes)

Real pillows from home

Crocs for everyone!

Tent carpet of interlocking foam tiles to stop the cold seeping up. Duvets and blankets instead of sleeping bags. Lots of wine, marshmallows and crisps.

A small bucket lined with a plastic bag with cat litter in. In the morning knot the bag and dispose of. Replenish every night.

Perfect for night time wees to avoid trekking across the field in darkness.

Portable toilet/bucket thing for night time wees - an absolute must!

Self inflating mattresses rather than airbed.

Don’t know if it’s permitted to share links but…..everything on this blog resonates.

andotheridiots.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/family-camping-tips/

Hot water bottles, it’s very difficult to warm up on an evening and get to sleep if you are cold.

Double airbed but one that inflates separately on both sides

I'm chunky and dh is slim - he rolls onto me if we sleep on a normal double one

Bring a dustpan and brush/portable vacuum/even just one of those lint roller things. Even if you have a shoes off in the tent rule bits will still come in, especially over 10 days.

You can buy small solar panels for charging phones, tablets etc.

Fairy lights, the little ones on the copper wire are the easiest to put where you want (festoon lights look lovely but are a pain in the arse!)

Moonchair is very comfy for sitting in, although takes up a lot of room.

Mini packs of cereal, open bag, pour milk in and eat

Cut up egg boxes to use as egg cups

Use a cool box with frozen bottles of water in

Lanterns you can hang up with low/nightlight setting

Take a cooked/prepared meal for first night.

Hot water bottles

Blankets under the airbeds to keep the cold from seeping up.

Stay in a hotel

A transit van . Seriously bare minimum at least a big car with a roof box. A box of outdoor toys, frisbee, balls, stomp rocket, bats, magic parachute etc

Essentials…

Box of white wine. Open box. Take pouch out. Freeze. You have seriously cold wine for at least 2 days (if it last that long).

Freeze 2L milks. Acts as a ice pack and keep another things in your cool bag/box cold. Makes your milk last for days.

If you have a hook up, an electric blanket/throw is far better than a heater that heats ambient air.

Excuse typos am using my phone and trying not to wake grizzly DC up next to me!

Take something mostly or all pre-cooked for the first night, e.g. a simple pasta sauce (remember the cheese grater). And food for breakfast, then you don't have to do a food shop until later on.
Take a plastic washing up bowl for carrying stuff to and from the washing up block.
Freeze a bottle of milk the day before you go then put in your coolbox/bag, it will keep everything else cool and as it defrosts you can use in your tea or with cereal.
Take china mugs for tea/coffee - much nicer than plastic.
Decant some salt into a small container to take with you (I use a tiny jam jar) so you don't take a heavy salt container or have to buy more there.
Torches for everyone, plus batteries!
Eye masks to help you sleep as it gets very light early in the morning in a tent.
Take a few outdoor toys for that age group - bubble wands are fun, maybe a frisbee or a ball.
Take a cheap lightweight doormat for the entrance to the tent, to put muddy shoes on. Even if the weather forecast is dry, the grass will still be wet with dew in the early morning.

I am camping now....couldn't do it without alcohol and l amsomeo e who can go for months with drinking usually!
Hot water bottle absolutely essential.
Have fun x

Do NOT take bubbles. They damage the tents. I'd be pissed off if kids were playing around my tent with bubbles.

Thank you so much! Brilliant advice. I feel the cold so looking at tent carpets, blankets and hot water bottles!

Camp beds, self inflating mattress, sleeping bags, quilted throw.

Camp bed keeps you off the cold ground and provides somewhere to store things out the way underneath. These fold away ones are great

www.gooutdoors.co.uk/15983967/hi-gear-slumber-campbed-15983967

Self inflating mattress is easy to inflate, comfortable, and take up little room when travelling. Secure onto the camp bed with bungee straps

Sleeping bag get the warmest you can afford with the hood

Quilted throw from somewhere like Matalan or Primark, it will keep you warm over your bag and hide all the crap stuff you store under the camp bed in the day

Also agree take a hot water bottle and lots of fairy lights on the copper wire

This is the best set up I have worked out

Where are you going camping OP? Personally we camped through last summers heatwave and nearly boiled alive. The cold was definitely not a concern.

Have a camping table so you can eat around it/prepare food on it whilst standing up.

Camping chairs for each person.

Make sure all food is kept in an air right container otherwise ants (or ponies if you are in the New Forest) will want to investigate.

Flip flop/crocs for showers.

Something for storage in the tent, I like Kallax boxes or cheap pop up laundry hampers that
I can throw things in to keep tidy.

Bags for rubbish/recycling. Not all campsites dispose of rubbish.

Pegs, useful for hanging up things in the tent to dry, keeping stuff off of the floor, doing up food packets.

@GreenTeaPingPong please leave the bubble wands at home, or at least do not let your kids play with them anywhere near tents.