Camping, What do i really need to buy?

Sarahlou_2

paybacktime2008 wrote: »

All you hardened campers will laugh at this im sure.:o

Last year we did a 2 night 'trial run' at the campsite 2 miles from home! Proved invaluable to realising 1. I needed more stuff! 2. That I didnt really like camping-though DS and the dog loved it.

Ha not at all! We often took our first caravan only 15 mins down the road - at the end of the day it's away from home. Bit of sun, a BBQ and a cold beer/wine and you could be anywhere! :beer:

PasturesNew

I can't remember where I heard it, but forget tent pegs and get some common or garden 8" long screws. Bang them into the ground at 45degrees. They're cheaper than tent pegs and easiser to knock into the ground, you can use anything too, not just a mallet.

Edit: Think I found it... http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/003666.php

Bitsy_Beans

My tip - plastic tent pegs are better than the metal one as they grip the ground better. Only downside is you have to clean them afterwards!!! Mind you that was always my job as kid so you could get yours doing it too!
If you've never been before it's probably best to beg or borrow as much as you can. I've camped from early age (6 months I believe) so I knew what was involved and what I wanted to take. No point buying loads of stuff if you don't like camping. Perhaps try somewhere relatively local for a weekend before you decide to go the whole hog for a week.
I don't slum it when I go (I have an electric hook up) but I've invested lots of money because I know it will get used in the future. Would go camping this year only didn't fancy a 11 month old baby crawling round the floor if it's as wet as it was last couple of years!

thriftlady_2

Justamum wrote: »

Actually the thought of camping fills me with horror. I'd camp if I could get one of those Harry Potter tents which are like a house on the inside :rotfl::rotfl:

I've asked about those and apparently they're not available to muggles- damn!

My husband takes the kids camping while I stay at home . I asked him for some top tips and he came up with;

1) Don't buy a gadget for getting tent pegs out of the ground, instead do what the Dutch campers do and screw a hook into the end of a mallet.

2) Watch what the Dutch do because they've got it taped;)

3) Just go for it and when you get home make a list of everything you needed and everything you didn't.

4) Go to the CampingUK website and check out their list. It is also good for reviews of campsites.

Penelope_Penguin

All this talk of mallets, DH and I have camped for over 20 years now, and never used one Put the peg in at an angle to the ground, put your heel about 10 cm away, and the ball of your foot on the peg - it'll push in easily :j To extract the peg, use another peg, held at each end, horizontally across the top of the grounded peg, and pull - easy :j

I'll move this to the Holidays Board, where it'll get more replies

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Gingham_Ribbon

I also think it's worth popping in to the camping forum. They have reviews of tents and equipment etc and it's easy to find out anything you need. There are lots of different ideas about what you 'need' and that comes down to you and the type of holidays you want.

We got a 4 person dome tent that was very cheap, thinking we'd get a 'better' one if we enjoyed camping. It's doing fine and we'll hopefully have it for another year. We took a 1 year old and a 4 year old last year and it was enough room for us as the countryside is fairly limitless!

SUESMITH_2

we have a few tents, including a huge 6 berth frame tent which weighs a ton but you can live in it with no probs if it rains. also have a pop up tent which is great when just me and oh, we also have a caravan lol.

netto have got tents in at the mo

i agree with the treats, nice things to eat and drink etc. make it much more fun but i get most of mine from home bargains to make it cheaper.

i also take a hot water bottle if it might be cold as i cant sleep with cold feet, kids like their cheap fleecy blankets from ikea

tori.k

my goodness some of these list its not camping its a military campaign...lol
i took the kids camping for years and had to travel light as we took the bus
i put together a rucksack for each and they carried there own kip bag, didnt bother with mats, bubble wrap does a brilliant job and can be rolled in with the kip bag
pop to an Army surplus store, pick up your cooking equipment a double burner you can get from Asda really cheap.
clothes i always packed cheap supermarket jogging bottons, (woolly for night) and fleeces they can be washed out and dried quickly.
most important thing i took was a baseball hat, for me
it always amazed me at all the gizmo's and gadgets people lug round with them to campsite's a torch yes but a latern that glow's like the sun...WHY???

kezlou

Hi tori, know what you mean about the amount of stuff, especially what we take its unreal. The list i posted was just an overall thing based on what we used to take when both of my children were under 5. Now we keep it plain and simple, don't think i could get my two to carry they own rucksacks though, ones only 5yrs old. So think i would end up carrying it.

Never thought of bubblewrap what a good idea, thanks for that.
If you dont mind me asking how did the kids cope? Did they enjoy it? Was it easy to travel to a campsite on a bus? Most of the places near me, you need a car to get to or face a10 mile walk from the nearest bus stop.
The lanterns we tend to use are dimmed ones which we use inside the test, so that we don't disturb other people.

One year we went to a festival where you need lanterns to walk around but we just used head torches instead worked great.
One family, i swear it was a second home, armed with this double/ oven/ hob thing they tent was huge with curtains. The kitchen area was literally the size of they tent armed with electric tin openers, george foreman grills, it was ridiculous.

I thought we were bad with the amount nappies we lugged about. Saying that ours is a four man tent but eight of us stayed in it.

Gigervamp

kezlou wrote: »

One family, i swear it was a second home, armed with this double/ oven/ hob thing they tent was huge with curtains.

You mean, something like this? :rotfl:

Actually, when I saw that, I did wonder if it would be worth buying for using at home when we have power cuts!