Do you have a ‘lovely’ camping set-up ?

[ViaRia01]

I’m looking for inspiration on how to get together a collection of ‘lovely’ gear for camping with my family - two parents, two preschoolers.

So, what I mean by this, is that while we are away we still want to have comfort, quality, colour and - did I mention - comfort?! We don’t want to ‘pack everything and the kitchen sink’, but for the things we do need, we want them to feel nice.

I’m struggling a bit to explain this I think but does anyone understand what I mean and do you have this sort of set up?

Examples I’ve found so far include:
I’m thinking the Heston Everdure mini barbecue. It’s pricey but the quality looks good and I think it will serve its purpose while being nice to use.

Wooden directors chairs as opposed to standard folding camp chairs. I know they’ll be a little more heavy/ bulky but I think I’d put up with that in order to have the nice look and feel.

I’d want a plug in cool box as we will want to keep food fresh rather than having very basic meals/ rations.

We will have an 8 berth tent rather than being all squashed into a 4 berth tent.

I really hope it makes sense but do let me know if not! Do you have this kind of lovely set up? Can you share the products you’d recommend/ avoid? Maybe some lovely photos too if you can?

Thank you

If you use nespresso capsules the minipresso is brilliant (think you can also use ground cofee but we just use our capsules). Decent coffee was the one thing we always missed when we camp.

Please look at the Cadac bbq. They fold down into a bag and are easy to transport. They come with a bbq plate, a non sick pan, that is great for breakfast, can take them all off and just use it as a gas ring. You can also get a pizza stone for it. We had a camper van and took it everywhere, good quality and very versatile.

I write this as I sit in my tent! Please don’t forfeit comfort and function for looks. Those wooden chairs won’t be so comfy or as easy to fold up. We have a 6 man air tent, comfy camp chairs, a high blow up bed etc, but it’s a tight fit in an estate car with a roof box and a roof bag! No way would director style chairs fit in anywhere.
Honestly, focus on making it comfy and getting storage that works in the tent, before focusing on the pretty things.

This camping sofa is the absolute best, it’s so so comfortable

https://www.wowcamping.co.uk/productDetail/outwell-sardis-lake-camping-sofa/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=876969534&gbraid=0AAAAADMkiixjjC1Brie6ZIV6ZgZiPRNoD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwtMHEBhC-ARIsABua5iTO293zzLCdubcNqcbqRf6HfyE7Ow-wXsu_U_RtAQ--Cgx74sNohVEaAvC8EALw_wcB

We also have a cadac bbq, it’s great. We bought a dometic compressor fridge freezer and it is so good, much better than a normal cool box. Very quiet too. Voited blankets are great, they work as blankets, to wear, or as sleeping bags and you can fit two together as well. If you are a coffee addict an aeropress makes a great espresso.

My top tip is to put a large tarp under your tent so you don’t have to clean mud off the bottom of your tent when you get home. I take a foam mattress topper to go on top of the airbed, you can squeeze one into those vacuum pack bags and it doesn’t take up much space.

Thank you!!!
Had no idea this existed and have just ordered! No more rubbish coffee when camping 🥳

We have a bed like this one that’s off the ground and we put a mattress topper on then sheets and duvet. It gets a bit of a spine in the middle so not ideal for cuddling but I quite like that it keeps DP from encroaching on my side 🤭.

We also have a gas oven and hob with grill that came out of a caravan that means we can cook pizza, warm croissants, make toast, we even did a roast one year. You can find them on fb marketplace. we also have an old caravan fridge that you can run on gas, don’t ask me how it works but it’s amazing and can even make ice and keep ice cream cold in the little freezer compartment. we bought an event shelter tent thing like this to have as the kitchen/eating area which means we aren’t in the tent if kids are trying to sleep and it’s raining. Some of these things do depend how big your car is or if you have a trailer. A camping trailer is very handy and can fit bikes in too.

I also love having proper china/pottery mugs and glass glasses rather than all metal or plastic. I just buy stemless wine glasses and they work for wine or any other drink. A mocha pot makes lovely coffee.

I’ve been using little disposable filters that sit over your cup with ground coffee. They’ve been a success so am looking for a reusable option! Much easier than pods etc. Just pour your hot water over.

Until you are very sure that you will want to do this year after year, I would recommend trying Eurocamping. Book a site, turn up with your clothes & sheet-sleeping-bag, everything else is there ready for you.
As well as Eurocamp, there are a number of other companies who rent out ready-erected & "everything ready" tents, chalets & caravans of various sizes.

Recently I read an article, in The 'i' newspaper, describing a holiday in Brittany in a "Eurocamp-type" setting and making the point that it was (including ferries, etc) about one-third of the price of Center Parcs.

Third the cadac bbq - it’s great. Also, I don’t think you can beat the look of a bell tent. We have a log burner fitted in ours. It does mean everyone all in one room though. Very easy to put up but is heavy and takes up a fair amount of boot space.

I'm shocked at the price of some of these products, we are going festival camping at the end of August so we don't do a lot of camping mainly because I got fed up of not sleeping well either from the floor, being too cold, other people being too noisy. I'd love to upgrade our mattresses but some of these are over £100 and I would have to really like it and keep using it, rather than when there is no other option which is the current setup. We also have five of us so by the time we have a tent we scarcely have room for the paddle boards or bodyboards or wetsuits or hiking boots or the rest of the paraphernalia...

Proper cutlery. A decent dinner set, mine is melamine which is much nicer than just plastic plates. I love my gas stove and whistling kettle....I won't be converted to taking an electric kettle despite often having a hook up. We have Outwell 10cm sims and they are great, so much warmer than an air bed.

We’re slowly upgrading our camping set up.

my favourite this is our air bed, we’ve got the hi gear high rise foam air bed. It’s amazing. I’ve camped being 6 months pregnant on it and it didn’t let as much air out as cheaper one. Honestly found it so comfortable and you can’t feel another person on it either

we all take our own duvet and extra blankets. Keeps us warmer and it just feels nicer than a sleeping bag

This years purchase was an air tent which we found so much easier to put up and down and we also bought a kitchen unit which saved us having everything everywhere!

The best way to think of camping is comfort to bootspace ratio. Its not even expense, its whether you can fit it in.

And what you allocate space to is what personally you find comfortable.

So. In my experience, these are the things that make a material difference to the comfort of a camping trip in the UK:

1. Canvas tent. A canvas tent breathes and lets you sleep after 5am instead of sweating your way to an early, inevitable loo trip caused by drinking too much water.

1. Proper comfort underneath your bed. I.e. a decent, sectioned, insulated airbed. Not a cheap, double airbed where you'll both roll together. Not a flat yoga mat on the floor. There are always bits of new kit coming out so I cant make a recommendation, but if I could find bootspace, I'd be on a single high pocketed airbed.

1. Lots of layers of clothing. Things like fleeces and bedsocks that can be worn day or night or rou d the campfire.

1. A campfire for marshmallows. Im going to be controversial and say if you can afford it, eat out or takeaway. Don't bother cooking.

1. Light party decoration. Its amazing how good a bell tent can look worh a bit of cheap bunting, a lantern and a cheap set of fairy lights.

Agree with a lot of other people - thick SIMs are a game changer, and we also have a great chest of drawers with lots of pockets to keep living room tidy and carpet clear. some other things to think about:

• one of those bobbly bath mats at your ‘front door’ to keep the grass / mud out.
• the insulated wine mugs! Perfect for keeping your drinks cold - or warm!
• a wind break with some battery fairy lights on top.
• within the area of your windbreak, assemble one of those beach shelters for your kids. Make it cosy with blankets and they can sit with you outside in the evening before going bed but gives them some warmth, especially if you have a campfire going.
• Webber BBQ - use it as a fire pit too. And use the self lighting logs - game changer.
• if going with others - the fast pitch Coleman event shelter is probably the best thing we’ve bought!

I also add flags to guy ropes to stop kids tripping. The cheap glow up snap bands are great for evening time too for kids!

I got fed up of waking up FREEZING in my sleeping bag, unable to sleep comfortably on my side, not able to zip it all the way up, etc etc. I discovered “The Beast” sleeping bag and it’s been a game changer! It’s extra wide so if you’re a side sleeper you can do so whilst staying in the bag. You can roll over in it. I’ve not woken up cold even once since getting it. I can do the zip all the way up. Best sleeping bag ever. I hope the link works as I attempted to remove all the extra crap you don’t need!

www.millets.co.uk/16553355/pod-the-beast-sleeping-pod-16553355/4348526/?

We landed on exactly the same type - also cheaper - about £20 from recollection.

They really are good and literally pack flat.

We've only ever camped in Spain in the summer, so have never needed warm bedding, so had extra room for things like a fold up kitchen cupboard. We also have a portable wardrobe like this, which means everyone has there own shelf for clothes and it helps keep the tent so much more organised and tidy.

I get you - I embarrassed DH greatly by insisting on getting sleeping bags out in Go Outdoors and lying down in them to make sure they felt nice and I could get comfy!!

Rugs make a huge difference - pretty AND practical to
keep floor / tent warm overnight.

Ditto nice blankets. Make kids sit on them in car.

Decent speaker.

Lighting!! Good quality solar or rechargeable festoon lights are good both in and outside tent.

Westlake fishing bed chairs - pricey but you need a good sleep or you'll hate camping. Good offers in the sales.

Rechargeable lamps/bug zappers

Airfryer, kettle, elec cooler box, tower fan.

Chillys travel mugs - keep drinks hot for hours.

😳THEIR own shelf

Snoooz pod sleeping bags are beautiful, warm, snuggly and a very generous size. We all love them. I also pack a vacuum shrink bag of clothing for each day and that means that no matter how damp things get, we have clean and dry clothes. A dedicated rainy useful kitchen box has always been a life saver and I filled it with lovely decent quality stuff. A Proper knife, decent chopping board, cast iron griddle for on the fire pit, scissors, seasonings, string, washing line, pegs, tea towels etc

My game changer when I used to camp was a remote control light so I didn’t have to stumble around in the dark if I had to get up in the night. The light and remote were magnetic so can stick on the tent poles.
Also being a very cold bod I always took a duvet to sleep on and my 15 tog feather duvet for on top - absolute heaven! Big blue Ikea bag at the tent entrance to stand in and remove wet shoes, clothes, boots etc when it’s rainy/muddy keeps the tent rugs nice and clean

Campsite where no one is allowed to use a speaker, decent or otherwise!

See how everyone’s ‘lovely ‘ is so personal?