Checklist for weekend camping.......

[VanillaPumpkin]

We are off this weekend for our first family expedition. DD's are 6 and 3. What do we need to take? Am I missing anything? Is there a definitive list anywhere?

Tent
Footprint
Carpet
Mallet
Folding chairs
Sleeping bags
Matress / sleeping mat things
Gas hob
Spare gas canister
Kettle
Saucepans
Wooden spoons
Scissors
Sharp knife
Corkscrew
Chopping board
Salt pepper, ketchup
Portapotty thing (gift!)
Card games etc for children
Washing up bowl
Tea towels
Washing up liquid
Cutlery
Plastic crockery
Cups
Cool box (stocked)
Washbags and clothes
Torch
Lantern
Sunhat and Buff for bad hair

Am I missing anything obvious??

TIA

Ooh, Fat Airics are best thing in the world though a bit pricey - we use even them as spare beds at home and ds has slept on his every night (on floor of dds room, nearer to our room than his own room - long story!) since we came back from Wales in August.

I am absolutely loving the bucket/bin bag/cat litter idea.. now wondering if my old nappy bucket is still in the loft.. if not, I have to buy a bucket with a lid ready for our next jaunt!!

Wine and corkscrew. Tastes best drunk out of big plastic camping tea mugs.
Wooly hats - it gets cold at night in a tent.

VanillaPumpkin you've definately started something here ...

Bunny could I also have a copy of your camping list; [email protected]

My DH and go camping several times a year but this summer we'll be going for the first time with our DD - she'll be 9months - so I'll be keen to benefit from you (impressively organised) experience ...

Thanks.

Hi bunnyrabbit (or anyone who now has the spreadsheet!) sorry to add myself to the list of people wanting your spreadsheet but we're taking 9mth old camping next month and would love your advice - thankyou - it's [email protected]

For those of you wondering what to do with those wet towels...
Take your clothes airer from home. A friend of mine did that when we went away with them and I thought it was a fab idea. Will be pinching that idea from her next time we go. They are nice and flat to pack into the car.

Even better than finding some special way to dry your old wet towels is to buy a micro fibre towel instead, they can be v pricey but we found ours in a 50% off sale in camping shop- they dry almost instantly and fold up v small, weigh hardly anything! lol Sarah

Well can I say a huge thank you to everyone who gave such top tips!!!
We have had a hugely successful first camping trip, due in part to the weather but also massively due to the tips I got on here.
Hooray for my pillows, pegs (I take back all my ridicule ), crop trousers for the mornings, hanging bag for the showers, plastic bag for by the sinks, BABY WIPES, hot water bottle and sacrificial towels .

I wish we had had some blindfold sleeping mask things and ear plugs and the food went a bit wrong as we left the butter on the top and it melted all over the ice box.....Also the BBQ's everyone else was having smelt sooooo good that our tuna pasta thing was a bit crap by comparison.

I want to go again now!!!

Taking notes as I may actually use my van for camping properly one day, well maybe we will see .

See I will sleep in the van and kids in the tent LOL.

Second the idea of tote bags for going to the loo block, the amount of times I see adults and kids juggling a handful of clothes and a toilet bag, fling it all in a tote bag that can be hung on the door and it reduces the chance of your last pair clean knickers dropping in the wet shower cubicle. Or worse your dirty knickers droppin in the field on the way back.

Something to hang wet jackets on, be it chairs, or an airer. I have a mini concertina airer I plan to take to set up in the awning for towels and or jackets.

Couldn't imagine not having pillows, well I can as I have forgot them or ended up with a crappy flat one on other types of trips I have been on its no fun, and will be a pain (literally) very night.

Sacrificial towels are a great idea, I have them at home in the kitchen for major spillages leaks etc, so handy. Added to my might take the kids camping one day list.

Last year we went to a site where the showers were lovely but only had a tiny little hook on the back of the door to hang clothes/washbags etc (and no bench annoyingly) and it was so annoying, especially as I usually had a small child with me and all their paraphanalia too. We are going back this year but I'm prepared! I've bought at couple of those slimline over-the-door hooks that you hang Christmas wreaths on to take with me as they hardly take up any room when packing.

Absolutly brilliant idea, thankyou soooo much. I have to frequent portaloo showers and other crap showers and often they lack in any kind of a hook and they don't have a dry bit.

I need my own over the door hook . and probably a pair of crocs much to my dismay, but you can't really walk in mud with flipflops on, i find them uncomfortable and often feet are manky by the time I get back from showers.

vanilla - am so pleased for you, hurrah! well done. i am adding trillions of top tips to my own list for when i take DS next weekend. am glad you saw the light over pillows . skramble - i know it's a hard, hard step to take, literally, but crocs are a boon when camping - all four of us have a pair now, making us disgusting middle-class ponces, but they're (nearly!) up there with pillows-eyemasks-earplugs for me!

Crocs are on my list of 'non essential camping wants' now too .
I took crop trousers and a hoody specifically for the morning shower/toilet run. I took clean knickers but didn't take a clean change of clothes, just dressed for the day back at the tent. There was no room for any sort of bench where we were but there were 4 hooks!

We've just come back from a camping weekend. It helped a lot to have lots of pre-prepared food, like rattatouille and roasted veg drowned in oil to make it last a bit longer. A lantern is SO important! Something to read by.

Music helps.
Suncream
First Aid kit
Spare rugs
Dog food
LEADS
Container for drinking water

Well what a fantastic weekend for camping. Then after 16 years of camping whit weekend, and only a handfull of dry weekends, I think we had one coming!!

Portable hooks.... what a great idea. Added to my spreadsheet along with cat litter!

I have also decided that zip off trousers will be on my list.

Everythingspink I need your email address.

Bea and Julie, will send list as soon as I can get into my hotmail.

BR

To whomever suggested sacrificial towels on this thread THANKYOU!!!!! We have had a fab weekend ( lots of tips from this thread ) and are still in the van for the rest of the week. Its been v wet and loads of towels were sacrificed and will duly be dyed black and taken with us next time.

My only tip is to take 2 can't believe its not butter type spreads and freeze one to act as ice pack, also we take our slow cooker with us along with frozen casserole mix - it will last a day at fridgey temperatures and is ideal if you don't have an oven but do have electric. no peeling to be done and if you chuck everything in in the morning its done by the time you get back too knackered to cook.

there's a lovely Italin restuarant near the campsite we go to that does takeaway... and yes they deliver to the campsite.

No cooking, no washing up!

BR

We just got back yesterdays and had a brilliant time.
We take a small fridge with us - I HATE soggy cheese,and worrying about whether or not everything is ok.

This time we got one of those bucket bbq things and it was the best invention ever.
We cooked our dinner on it 2 of the nights, and in the evenings we made a fire in it, and roasted marshmallows. Kids LOVED it

Can you link to your bucket bbq??? I think that is what we would like.....
Thanks .

Hi Vanilla
Don't know if I can find it in cyberspace, but they are at Sainbury's. They were 9.99, but are now £6 something.

Typical!!
It was fab though

headtorches are cool. and old ramekins with tea lights in them.

oh and the old fave, frozen box of wine....

Thank you.....off to Sainsbury's then .

Headtorches fab (DH had one) and like the idea of freezing the wine.....