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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

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Original poster

hello please come help a camping virgin me buy stuff

42 replies

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:17

we are thinking of camping so we will need to buy tent and, um, what else?

we have nothing (well a couple of elderly sleeping bags)

we need big tent with three bedrooms and - this is important - no lip to climb over (dd1 disabled so no pods to climb through - level access needed) - any good tent suggestions?

also with children what do you do about toilets? (esp as dd1 can't just run off to toilet she walks slowly with frame so will have weed self by time she gets across campsite)

and what do we need to sleep on

please we need a big list for Stupid People Who Know Nothing

OP posts:

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:25

OK. We may need to break this down a bit! Shall we start with a tent?

Most tents have doors that open right out so no lip to climb over. Not so sure about the bedroom compartments though. Although you could probably customise it slightly to your needs. Its pretty easy to just stand on it to make it flat iykwim.

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:26

OK. We may need to break this down a bit! Shall we start with a tent?

Original poster

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:27

yes start with tent

OP posts:

Original poster

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:27

oh doesn't matter about rooms so much if she can crawl into them

OP posts:

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:31

Have you looked on Argos yet? There's plenty to choose from and for a first timer, reasonably cheap too.

Original poster

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:33

I honestly don't know what I'm looking at

how big does it need to be for 4 (2 adults, 2 children)

what is easy to put up?

what is a sig?

OP posts:

PeachesMcLean · 09/02/2008 17:39

A sig is a sewn in groundsheet. I would say you don't want one of those cos that's what causes the lip at the main door.
However, ours doesn't have a sig, but the bedrooms do. If that's ok as you say below though, and they do just push down if you step on them.

Would second argos as a good place to buy a first tent.

Or outdoor megastore has loads online.

Original poster

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:40

what is good about sewn in groundsheet?

I have seen people demanding them on camping threads where I have lurked, hopelessly

OP posts:

Original poster

Cappuccino · 09/02/2008 17:41

how can you tell if tent is big enough/ too big?

WHAT ABOUT TOILETS

OP posts:

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:42

You want a tunnel tent, not dome. Tunnel as it suggests is just that. Bedrooms at one end and a living space in front. Just looked on Argos actually, most of them appear to be domes.

PeachesMcLean · 09/02/2008 17:44

For 4 people, you really need to look at 6 birth or more. Do you want three bedrooms or will two do? Most tent places will give you dimensions so you can work out how much space each person will get in bed. eg, my DH is very tall so we had to check he could lie down straight, and we found a tent he could stand up in too.

However, for real tent advice I have to say you really need the original Peachy not this camping imposter!

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:45

I would suggest getting at least 6 person tent for 4 people. You'll need space inside to sit, if its raining or in the evenings.

You can buy chemical toilets and toilet tents! Both on Argos. Alternatively, you could go for the pee in a bucket option! OR you pitch your tent near to the toilet block!

A SIG finishes it off nicely and stops the beesties getting in at night I suppose, but you do pay extra for it.

PeachesMcLean · 09/02/2008 17:45

Maureen, so how do tunnels work. Do you need to go through one bedroom to get to the next? Do you recommend them cos they're easier to put up?

ScarletA · 09/02/2008 17:49

The toilets thing Cappucino - can your dd sit on a bucket? If she can, without it toppling over, I'd get one with a lid. I went camping for a month when I was 7 months pregnant and the bucket was a lifesaver. Emptying it in the morning was rather a furtive event however....

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:49

No, its just the term refered to a tent which is kinda rectanglular in shape, I think, with the same head height all the way through. I may have that totally wrong! (I'm not Peachy either! )

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 17:52

I may be talking out of my arse! I did sound knowledgable for a moment there though, eh?

needmorecoffee · 09/02/2008 17:53

you need a camping stove and if you have some extra cash, a folding kitchen unit to put it on. If car camping you can go to town on equipment
inflatable sleeping mat for everyone, 3 season sleeping bag.
Kitchen - stove, kitchen unit, camping plates and cups n cutlery
Chairs to sit on or a foldable table for food.

I pee in a tupperware container at night but you can buy a little loo if you want.

ScarletA · 09/02/2008 17:56

For sleeping you need airbeds - FORGET the horrible thin bed rolls that we all used as young people, gawd, me old bones cannot take it. Airbeds elevate you off the (cold, damp) ground and they are fantastically comfortable - get double ones, for the kids to share too - and NOT the 'flock' kind (the ones with the velety texture) because they puncture after about 3 minutes. You need the good old fashioned rubbery ones that last for years - Halfords do them (usually red one side, blue the other with a little peg as a stopper - anyone know what they are called?).
Double sleeping bags are a must if you are a couple, much warmer to snuggle up with your Loved One and also more fun, iykwim.

ScarletA · 09/02/2008 17:59

Great website too is www.wildday.co.uk. You can look at a whole load of tents and even get to virtually walk inside them.

PeachesMcLean · 09/02/2008 17:59

Double sleeping bags are ideal if you enjoy sleeping pinned into a small space with someone else who is wriggling and trying to get comfortable

ingles2 · 09/02/2008 18:00

Where are you thinkng of going camping Cappuccino? It'll help with your list...

Lucycat · 09/02/2008 18:02

Firstly what is your budget?

How many bedrooms do you want?

Do you want to be next to your kids in a bedroom or at opposite ends of the tent / at a diagonal to them?

And to make life simpler for your dd I would definately recommend a sig.

MaureenMLove · 09/02/2008 18:02

What is reallt useful is if you can get to either camping superstore or a camping show. They have them all set up and you can get a much better idea of what you need/want. We did that. We went to every shop and show going and then bought from E-bay at half the cost!

Lucycat · 09/02/2008 18:06

Something like a Outwell Colorado 7 would be easiest to put up, it has a dividing curtain between you and the lo's so you won't have to crawl across a dark, cold tent at 3am to tend to a screaming child. It is a tunnel design and a movable front wall so you can have more inside living space.

you like?

Lucycat · 09/02/2008 18:08

oh and the extra 2 man room can always be used as a dumping storage room.

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