Camping - how to do it better next year (DIBNY)

[Crinklycut]

Before we even set off this year, DH and I were discussing how we could do it better next year, and it occurs to me that this is one of the great (and many) pleasures of camping.

So what will you do better? What’s your DIBNY?

Our first thought was that we would get a load of boxes that exactly fit the boot of the car and pack into those. And bring a bottle opener.

@Puppypower83 It’s a site called Little Meadow just outside Ilfracombe in north Devon. Real back to basics site with pretty much no mobile phone signal but very peaceful with amazing views.

@PuttingDownRoots What make of solar panels and battery did you choose?

I don't think I mentioned flights.... So sorry that you seem to have lost your sense of humour - last time I looked that was free!

For @longestlurkerever and others wondering about storage - I had to move from a house with a double garage and 2 sheds to one with no garage and 1 falling-down shed 😬I bought four heavy duty storage boxes on wheels like these (but smaller I think, maybe 75L) which I put in a shady corner of my patio, stacked two high. They've been outside for 6 years now and are still fine - haven't leaked, cracked or collapsed. Tent and all the camping paraphernalia divided between the boxes, plus some gardening stuff. Bedding in the loft.

These boxes are available in various sizes from different places. I got mine from B&Q but they only do them online now. They are an absolute bargain! Storage boxes

@LimeJellyforBrains The storage of the camping stuff when not camping is a big part of it.

Do you just pick up your boxes and put them in the boot when you want to go camping? Sounds good!

Don’t people find plastic boxes really hard to pack into the boot without wasting space?

Yeah, we did - tried it one year and not only couldn’t I fit them well into the boot, I found them inefficient for packing stuff into cos it’s all awkward shapes. So back to the old trusted squashy boxes and bags it was! We have a couple of plastic boxes for the fiddly bits and everything else packs around them.

No, they are for home storage only. I only take a couple of plastic folding crates for kitchen stuff, everything else is in glamorous carrier bags which can be stuffed into all the nooks and crannies!

Can anyone recommend me some stacking heavy-duty crates for kitchen equipment? I'm thinking of the kind that an online food shop comes in! We currently use a huge plastic tub with lid but stuff disappears in there too easily. I need some sort of storage that can function as a small table if needed, stacks for transportation in the boot, but can divvy up kitchen stuff in one and my standard food stuff (oil, vinegar, herbs and spices etc) in another.

Also, just to note for anyone about to cheerfully advise campers to book a hotel and sack off the whole thing as a bad job...campers are aware of other forms of holidays 😀 there are usually reasons (like there are for literally anything)...often cost, or maybe spontaneity, access to lovely quiet and often very beautiful places that you perhaps wouldn't see on a more traditional holiday, the fun/adventure aspect for small children etc...

Hotel/self-catering holidayers are trusted to plan their own holidays, so maybe we can be too?! 😂

I have one pretty large Really Useful box thst i store all camping kitcheny stuff in and when we go camping i pack every gap with food and snacks. Then the whole thing goes in boot. I think one big one is more efficient spacewise.

I need a new SIM/blow up mattress. My thermarest basecamp has finally sprung a leak which is a shame as comfy snd v warm. New equiv is £100 which I havent got. Any recommendations- I need a min of 5cm and one that won't make me cold...

Solar powered battery block is a brilliant idea. Will put on my Christmas list!

Sounds lovely But I suspect many on this thread camp as its the only way to afford a holiday. One week pitch near coast in Cornwall for 3 £270, free live bands and pool.

Does anyone know if it's possible to power a small fridge using a solar charger (or similar). Every time i go camping I think that this problem should have been solved by now, but I haven't seen a set up that does this! Would love it for my next festival!

That is literally what we are doing at the moment... camping fridge hooked up to a 12v leisure battery connected to solar panels.

I think its rained constantly since Sunday but we are getting enough power through to keep the charge constant.

After ten days in Devon and Cornwall, we have knocked the camping on the head for this summer.

My DIBNY would definitely be to pack better for wet weather. For some reason, I had been optimistic that there would be a heatwave, but waterproof everything would have been a better call.

I saw some kids in pyjama onesies, so will put dcs in those last year.

My mistake this year was to overpack on food - tins, salamis, flatbreads. I love Annie Bell’s Camping cookery book and had hoped to cook a lot more of her recipes, but we ended up eating out more because of the rain (and we had to keep buying milk for the toddler, and fresh vegetables).

My camping hero has been a big squishy bag from IKEA (PARKLA) for clothes, and a last minute moment of inspiration where I had put outfits for dcs in their own ziplock bags for each day.

This thread has been so helpful. Thank you to all of you!

Ahhh sorry to hear that @Crinklycut 😭
that’s tough, that the weather didn’t pick up. Did the kids have a great time, though?
I am hoping to camp for the first time with kids this summer but am so fair whether I’m waiting for a dry weekend! Which takes the fun out of a far away trip like Cornwall or Wales as we won’t go that far.

I'm off next week with the kids for a couple of nights and my cousin with hers. We don't go far as the kids moan about distance and just want to play together.
Last year, on the same trip, I broke the plastic box that I keep the kitchen stuff in, so got a plastic 3 drawer set that was lurking in the attic down. It fits all the same stuff as my 2 previous boxes (except the washing up bowl) and takes up no extra space in the car. We used it a few weeks later and it was great as was an extra surface for the kettle and so much easier to find everything. I just put a luggage strap round it to stop the drawers opening when being transported or shoved back on the high shelf in rhe garage.
I don't take any of my stuff from the kitchen. It's just all spares (from merging two houses) so it's always packed.

@Crinklycut I actually found onesie to be really unpractical when camping (for girls anyway!) Due to the toilet issue... they end up being dragged to the toilet floor. Plus they get cold going tobthe toilet! My tip is fleece pj's!

Our current regret is packing croc style shoes not wellies.

Buy shoes with bottle openers in the soles - I think they’re reefs.

People have been asking for the make of a solar charger. We have a jackery. It’s a game changer, powers for a family of 8 plus guests. Won’t power anything with a heating element but works for everything else (not sure about a fridge, you’d have to check).

We usually cook and freeze a few meals and use them as additional freezer blocks which works brilliantly. Didn’t do it this year and missed it.

Thanks @Puppypower83 We had a great time. We all love camping—the dcs definitely do, but we also find it really relaxing. It is also amazing how much nice weather you get even on a rainy day - we got plenty of beach time, and the dc found friends on the campsite, so that was entertaining in itself.

@PuttingDownRoots Noted on the onesie. DC actually wore ordinary pyjamas and were warm enough. It was me who had to go to Tesco to buy a tracksuit to sleep in (with a ‘fashion’ logo on the front, which DH found endlessly amusing!).

Ewwwww. Think of what you walk on and then put those germs to the neck of the bottle you're going to drink from! That seems like a gimmick designed by someone with no hygiene. 😶

After ten days in Devon and Cornwall, we have knocked the camping on the head for this summer

You did better than some people. The campsite my cousin wanted to use was fully booked but when he drove past on Sunday he noticed that it had loads of space. It turns out that loads of people went home early at the weekend because of the awful weather. Some managed only one night.

We are at a farm site just down the road and it is virtually empty. We have a field to ourselves.

@Polis we had a field to ourselves in Somerset. It was lovely!

take away on the first night
pillows from bedroom
electric kettle
Oodie
picnic hamper set up with cutlery, paper plates & utensils, tea towel, washing up sponge that is always camping packed
son of hibachi BBQ - absolutely brilliant
sheet & projector with blue tooth sharing for headphones & movie nights
rain ponchos

So camping people... I'm camping in Devon this weekend. It is on a site with different areas so hoping it provides some shelter/not top of a hill or super exposed

But there's a wind weather warning for Saturday! Help!?