Camping, What do i really need to buy?

creased-leach

Our first time camping was for two weeks, and we had 3 kids under 7. It was a last minute jobbie- heres what we took, it's a pretty minimal list of stuff you'll NEED. You can add on more & more stuff to make it more comfortable, but theres a part of me that misses the "bare bones" trip.

Tent (at least 2000mm HH head- anything else isn't worth buying. And for 2 adults & two kids, get a 5/6 berth) Ours was an easy to put up dome tent with a porch.

Sleeping bags- one each. (Jumpers/coats make good pillows. mats are a luxury)

Single burner camp stove & gas.

One saucepan, one fryingpan.

Water carrier (poundland)

Big plastic container, with plastic plate, bowl, cutlery for all. Sharp knife, spoon for stirring. Tin opener.

The container was a great multi use thing. You transport stuff in it. Take the stuff out, and you can keep food in it as you batch cook. The top then serves as a chopping board/table top. When you're done cooking- it's a washing up bowl.

Unless you're in somewhere like Scotland- you may well get away without a mallet even.

Have fun!

tori.k

kezlou wrote: »

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.

they loved it kezlou all part of the adventure, we are lucky with where we live as Cornwall run's a slow but good bus service during the summer and it was cheap as i was single at the time so a family bus ticket for a tenner, and the world (cornwall) was our oyster we just find a cheap campsite and hit the beach, have a look at sport direct.com they do some great bits,
i got the kids decent backpacks with padded straps they carried all there own clothes, wash bag and kip bag.
for a week i would only pack for them 3 trousers (zip off ones were ideal)/pants/t-shirts 2 fleeces and 4 socks thick jogging bottoms (for night) rolled up the weight wasnt alot. i carried the rest of our kit in my old burgan, i use compression sacks which are fantastic, best investment so far is a jetboil...great for that instant cuppa when the kids get you up at 6am...all this talk i want to go away this weekend:j my youngest (11) remembers the stormy night in a tent when i had to get up every hour to check the pegs:cool: when he was 6 but couldnt tell you what he had for christmas that year...camping makes great memories:rotfl:

virgin_moneysaver

I'm an experienced camper with over 30 years under my belt, the most important piece of kit is your tent - its all very well when the sun is shining, then a cheapo from Argos is all well & good, but so often the weather in Britain changes - we camped the last 2 years in Cornwall where the rain was tremendous, in fact only came back from a week in West Wales where the sun was lovely for 3 days but 1 night we had winds over 14mph - I've seen cheaper tents in hedges after a good storm - don't want to frighten you, just being realistic

johnmc

the most important piece of kit is your tent

Almost 50 years camping under my belt and I couldn't agree more.

I love camping and go as often as I can. I have a selection of tents that I pull out depending on the season / weather, ranging from large frame tent to a bivi bag.

February half term was a 2 nighter under a tarpaulin. Left the 4+ season bag and rollmat at home in favour of a king size 13 tog duvet and blow up bed as I had the car! Cooking was by small open fires and mess kit pans. Great break!

For first timers, the lists as above, but look at what you can use from home, such as duvets, which only cost about a tenner from Asda as opposed to £50 + for a decent sleeeping bag, plus they can be reused if you don't like it.

I prefer to use air beds and have an electric pump which plugs into the car. For wild camping I have a cheapo pvc blow up one.

For cooking remember that gas MUST NOT be changed in or near the tent. Severe explosion risk. And no matter how cold it gets don't use it in the tent with the door shut. Don't get Trangia all-in-one cook sets unless you are planning a light weight camp.

Get a wok. Much better than a frying pan. Plan your meals around the cooker.

For lighting get pound shop head lamps and a parasol LED battery lamp from Asda (about £3 and VERY good).

LOADS of plastic boxes with sealable lids for food which will keep ants and wild animals out.

ENJOY. And don't be afraid to move your tent if the lot next door insist on running the generator all night!

sprogs

As lots of people have already said the UK campsite site is fab and has a checklist of what you need - that's where I started and crossed off and added to it after every trip.

If you are camping in the UK then you are never going to be far away from a familier store if you find you have forgotten something. Our first 'trip' was to my parents garden to see how we got on!

We have a couple of old car batteries one is an old one from my car the other from freecycle, I adapted a car power doubler and put some clips on in place of the plug and we use that to power a light (bought from cpc/farnell), can also be used to charge the mobile using a car charger and if the weather is really c**p we can resort to the portable dvd player as well. I also have one of those 12v coolboxes but have never tried running that from it - think it would drain it in a day! Got mine from Aldi - they often have camping stuff on offer.

With regard to food - my kiddies favourite camping dinner is fajitas, easy to do if you buy the kits which are often on offer and last for ages.

mobby-2554

OMG!

I don't mean to be rude but how do you get all that in your car?

onetomany wrote: »

We went camping for the first time last summer and a few people have asked for lists of things to take with them, so here's our checklist for car camping, that I've built up since last year, of all the "stuff" we take with us, I hope it's useful for someone! :cheesy:

Equipment
Tent – canvas, poles, pegs
Groundsheet
Mallet
Tent Waterproofer
Windbreak
Sleeping Mats
Sleeping Bags
Camping Pillows
Self-Inflating Matresses
Lantern
Handheld Torches
Head Torches
Stove
Fuel
Cook Set (2 saucepans, frying pan & kettle)
Plates
Bowls
Cups
Cutlery
Cooking Utensils
Chef's Knife
Chopping Board
Scissors
Water Carrier
Lighters
Matches
Canvas Fold-Up Chairs
Parasol
Fold Up Table x2
Cooker
Fold Up Stand
Wash Basin
Bike Rack
Roof Bars
Cool Box
Cool Bag
Ice Packs
Plastic Boxes
Compass
Day Sacks
Map
Picnic Rug
Padlocks
Large Padlocks
Chain
Electric Hookup
Windbreak with canopy
Electric Lantern
Citronella Candles

Emergency Kit
Extra pegs
Vango Tent Kit (guylines, extractor, etc)
Self-Adhesive Patches
Duct Tape
String
Rope
Good Knife
Mountain First Aid Kit
Replacement Tent Poles

Personal Items
Towel
Toiletries
Insect Repellent
Bite Ointment
Water Bottles


Essential Clothing
Jeans
Lightweight Walking Pants
Combats
T-shirts
Jumpers
Fleece
Waterproof Jacket
Wooly Hat
Wooly Gloves
Sun Hat
Walking Boots
Trainers
Sandals
Sunglasses
Walking Socks
Crocs/Flip Flops
Wellies
theres some great tips on this thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=993135 hope this helps

When we first started we just got the basic things;

Tent, poles, pegs will be included.
Just make sure it ticks all the boxes for you!

Stove.
Self-Inflating Matresses
Sleeping Bags
Mallet
Torch
Cool Box
Ice Packs
Cook Set (2 saucepans, frying pan & kettle)
Plates
Bowls
Cups
Cutlery
Cooking Utensils
Can/bottle opener
Fold Up Table that seated four.
Canvas Fold-Up Chairs.

You'll soon know what other things you need yourself.

As sprogs said;

If you are camping in the UK then you are never going to be far away from a familier store if you find you have forgotten something.

mobby-2554

One thing that is a must Electric 12v pump.

We started with a foot pump but now we just plug it in while we get on with putting the tent up.

gingerdad

mathsus wrote: »

oh! and definitely buy one of those gadgets for pulling tent pegs out and consider taking more than one mallet for quick erection in the rain or for 'helpful' children

Its called another tent peg.. used sideways saves wasting money...

keep it simple at first

get the best sleeping bags you can afford esp for the kids about 20 should get them a good 3 season vango kids bag, because if they are cold they won't enjoy it.

don't by too much kit to start with till you know your going to do it more often...

GD

Rachie_B

sprogs wrote: »

As lots of people have already said the UK campsite site is fab and has a checklist of what you need - that's where I started and crossed off and added to it after every trip.

If you are camping in the UK then you are never going to be far away from a familier store if you find you have forgotten something. Our first 'trip' was to my parents garden to see how we got on!

We have a couple of old car batteries one is an old one from my car the other from freecycle, I adapted a car power doubler and put some clips on in place of the plug and we use that to power a light (bought from cpc/farnell), can also be used to charge the mobile using a car charger and if the weather is really c**p we can resort to the portable dvd player as well. I also have one of those 12v coolboxes but have never tried running that from it - think it would drain it in a day! Got mine from Aldi - they often have camping stuff on offer.

With regard to food - my kiddies favourite camping dinner is fajitas, easy to do if you buy the kits which are often on offer and last for ages.

that's what we plan to do aswell !

pingu

we are thinking about camping family of three 2 adults and 13 years old son

is this any good?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_388623_langId_-1_categoryId_165617?jspStoreDir=HalfordsConsumerDirect&mpe_id=64901&cm_cr=No+Campaign-_-Web+Activity-_-00-0905-camping-r1-1-_-PRODHOME_ESPOTRIGHT-_-00-0905-camping-r1-1&catalogId=10151&evtype=CpgnClick&intv_id=116635&langId=-1&storeId=10001&ddkey=ClickInfo

many thanks