Help! Total beginner. Which tent & what basic equipment?!

[gerbo]

We are a family of 4 (dd, 3 and ds 4 mths). I am really up for trying out camping as a serious option for us as a family, giving us cheap, outdoorsy holidays.

We Eurocamped in a tent last year and all loved it, however dh is a little unsure about buying our own, as frankly the whole market is daunting and we have no clue where to start.

Any advantage re. tunnel/dome tent?

Is a 6 man tent a better bet as there's more room to move?

For a reasonable but not luxurious budget (£150-300?) which tent's the best>

What basic equipment? I'm thinking...

Stove and pans
Table and chairs
Airbeds and pump
Plates/cutlery etc.

Help!!

Any camping stores you'd recommend checking out?

A real 'novice' post, but any very basic advice (even if it seems very obvious!) would be great.

Thanks!!!

if you have a GoOutdoors near you go check that out. i love camping, i go with my 3 children (10,4&2) and bought the Hi Gear Kalahari 10 from there in the sale for bargain £189. it's a massive tent but is fantastic, plenty of space and being a tunnel tent is eay to erect. i like to think myself a basic camper but still have the fold up tables & chairs, gas cooker, portable kitchen, and pretty much anything i can take from the house, car is usually full!!! & would say if getting airbeds go for the flock ones though as they aren't as cold on your back at night!!!

We started with a 4 man tent, moved onto a 5 man tunnel tent, and then to a 9 man dome tent. The 4 man tent is a little cramped for a family of 4. The 9 man tent is lovely once it's up and loads of room, but is a total pain to put up - hubby usually has to grab a couple of unsuspecting men to help! The 5 man tunnel tent I can put up with my daughter and so we often stick with that one. I'd say that's your best sort of size, a 5 or 6 man one. Also with our big one we often find ourselves paying double pitch fees.

Our 5 and 9 man tents are both Wynnsters and we have found them very good. We did seriously consider a Sunncamp one - my sister has one and has found it great. Having said that, our first tent, the 4 man one, was a cheap argos one we picked up for £49 and it served us beautifully until we decided it wasn't quite big enough.

Other stuff - we used airbeds for years but did get fed up with the fact they didn't last long - usually by the end of the season we would find ourselves on the floor in the morning with a flat bed. Now we have camp beds, 2 dirt cheap ones and 2 more expensive ones. The cheap ones are trickier to assemble but more comfy. the more expensive ones are like sleeping on a brick.

Best tip I can offer is buy fleecy pyjamas in the winter from primark or the like, and use them camping. Take LOTS of blankets or invest in a really good sleeping bag. It gets colder than you think!

I agree with all the above comments. We borrowed a friends tent for our first couple of holidays until we decided we loved camping.

I love our plastic picnic bench (from Halfords), a one ring methans stove is plenty for a weekend.

My essential is one of the stainless steel expresso coffee makers - takes 5 mintes on the cooker to get a great cup of coffee!

Take all your picnic bits / kids plastic plates etc.

One thing you do need is sleeping bags for your dc's we attempted to use ready beds for our first trip - it was freezing! never again!

Thanks guys! All fantastic tips. Can anyone finally clear up my confusion about dome and tunnel tents, though?

I'm seeing that a 5/6 man would be best, and that we should go check some out at Go Camping first.

We've had lots of friends offer their tents so would def. take them up on that before buying our own...

DH is a little hesitant about the weather ruining a holiday - so how many camping hold have been ruined by rain for you? Rough percentages?!

wind is usually more of a problem than rain. we've had some of our best holidays when there's been flood alerts. choose your campsite with care - i don't go anywhere that doesn't drain well or near cliff edges due to the wind. though we have quite a large tent

here's a basic checklist its a good site for tips as well but as others said don't buy everything straight away you can actually utilize lots of things from home ,use charity shops as well as friends or family.

Yes check out go outdoors... choose the tent you like, come back and buy last eyar's colours on ebay at far less actual price.