few camping questions please help...

[juicychops]

got a few camping threads going as im going next week and trying to book, get organised etc

do i need to be worried about someone stealing my tent if i leave it?

do i leave it up if i leave the campsite for a day out in a nearby town for example? or do i pack it all away?

how many nights is good for just me and ds (4)? was planning on 3 nights but will that be too much?

how close/ far away from the neighbour's tent are you?

what kind of hammer do i need to bang the pegs in? a wooden mallet?

ive got a list of all the things i need to take. are there any unusual things that one may not think of straight away that i might need?

il add some more as i think of them!

everyone leaves their tent and kit on the site, take anything like cameras with you or lock stuff that might be "nickable" in your car boot. You will get the feel, there's a good 'neighbourhood watch' style thing going on campsites !

Pitches are allocated a minimum of 3.5 metres (i think) apart to meet fire safety regs.

Mallet question - we use a wooden handled rubber-topped thing, on metal pegs. While I think - Get a peg puller-upper (sorry I have no idea what they are called) but they are about £1.50 and save your fingers and feet from peg-removing injuries

do i need to be worried about someone stealing my tent if i leave it?

do i leave it up if i leave the campsite for a day out in a nearby town for example? or do i pack it all away?

leave it up, never heard of anyones whole tent being stolen

how many nights is good for just me and ds (4)? was planning on 3 nights but will that be too much?

3 nights sounds good. Long enough to justify time spent setting up and not too long that you get bored.

how close/ far away from the neighbour's tent are you?

that depends on the campsite and the size of your tent

what kind of hammer do i need to bang the pegs in? a wooden mallet?

wooden mallet is best especially at the moment when the ground is quite hard.

a kit like this looks fab!

btw, we put a windbreak up near our front door - to slow down small escapees and so the neighbours and us get a bit of privacy when doors are all open!

You definately don't need to take your tent down if you leave the campsite lol. Hardly anyone just stays in the campsite the whole time. Just don't leave valuablesa in your tent.

How close you pitch depends on the campsite, some have clearly marked pitches, others don't. Obviously use common sense, like when finding a seat on a bus.

You don't need a mallet to bang pegs in, I just puch them in or use my foot if the ground is a bit harder. Depends how strong you are though, lots of folk on here like their mallets

3 days sounds fine to me.

Things you might forget:

wine

chocolate

towels

thanks everyone. im so excited!! found a lovely campsite on the isle of white but it will cost £60 in ferry fairs so too much for me. got another thread going for recommendations of campsites along the south coast if anyone has any recommendations

thanks

There are two great campsites near Swanage that I could recommend, altohugh one of them is more a minimalist campers' site, and I can't remember the name of the other one but it is fab for children, there is a steam train that runs alongside it and goes to corfe castle and the driver always toots and waves to the children as the reain passes through.

someone here might know what it was called.

It was £5 per adult and £3 per child last time I went (about a month ago)

is it called Herston?

no that doesn't sound familiar

have an old tent with no instuctions!
can anybody help as need to use and cant rember how to errect! its a campus super duo sleeps 4 people and i got noone to help me!