Camping

Louisa_Jane_2

Have a look on the message boards of https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk

Piggy-bank_2

Hi Metherer, camping at festivals is my favourite pastime :j

My top tips are as follows:

If you get a new but cheap (nylon?) tent, put it up in the garden first and give it a good watering (I have heard this helps the fibres expand so less likely to leak the second time it gets wet, dont know if its true but certainly doesn't hurt) and then once it's dry, give it a coat of the waterproof stuff you can get from any camping/outdoors store - you can get some pump action ones which are a bit more environmentally friendly than the aerosols;).
I once bought a "bargain" from ebay that leaked like anything at our first festival, but after treating it as above, it has survived several torrential downpours (including last years floods at Glastonbury), without a drop getting through.

Airbeds they are heavy, but unless you are used to sleeping on the floor at home (or are going to be completely paraletic every night!) I reckon they are worth the effort! If you dont mind about the comfort, you still really need something to seperate you from the floor (I'd go for camping roll and spaceblanket and blanket) otherwise your body heat gets zapped from underneath - moreso than from the top I think. Even in the middle of summer it can get very very cold at 3 or 4am (although by 8 or 9 it's usually like an oven again!)

Spaceblankets are FANTASTIC for keeping warm.(can usually get them on ebay cheaply). Yep, you look like a christmas turkey if you wrap them round you :rotfl: and I am going to sound like a right old granny, but I really hate the cold! We once got to a festival to find my fella had left his sleeping bag at home..he slept like a log by layering a couple between two old blankets (although it sounded like I was sleeping with a multipack of crisps...!). Can also be used to construct flags, drinks coolers, makeshift sunshades - hours of fun for all the family:p ! Best of all they take up hardly any space and weigh almost nothing.

Again, to keep warm at night, change (or just remove) your clothes before getting into your sleeping bag. Once you're in a grungy festival mindset, it's very temping to jump straight in a snuggle down, but all the moisture thats been collected in your clothes during the day makes you very cold when it cools down.

On the other hand, at night, tuck drinks (cans or plastic bottles) under your groundsheet or spaceblanket, they will get lovely and cool for the morning.

You will find loads of festival specific camping tips on the efestivals forums - there may even be a forum for the BGG, I can't remember.

Big tents are heavy to shift and I think H&S rules now mean you can't camp in a tent next to your vehicle at a public event, so if you haven't already, I'd get in touch with the festival organisers to find out if they have any special arangements you could make use of - some will let you drive up and drop your kit off at a camping field, before going to dump the car, but for most you would have to arrange this in advance.

I really hope you enjoy it! I took my fella to his first fest about 5 years ago, and since then, we've increased it to 6 or 7 a year, including working as volunteers for oxfam (a really enjoyable and economical way to get to experience them whilst raising money for a fantastic cause!)

Have fun!:beer:

Glen_b

Big tents are good as long as you have help to put them up on a windy site...

We upgraded to a big tent and now OH has to help get it up.. which He is not always happy about!!!

Also make sure you have a decent light again Lidl are selling some good ones next week with their camping stuff, starts Monday.

Most of all just enjoy being outside in the open spaces and relax.

Have fun

SusanCarter

We camped on part of our honeymoon and some friends lent us their double airmattress. Unfortunately it was so big (and our tent so small) that when we lay on it our faces were about 6" from the roof of the tent so had to abandon that idea. Having a large tent is definitely a good idea as is a decnet stove and decent lights.

Take plenty of easy to cook food that doesn't need to be kept in the fridge (e.g. tinned stuff or dried stuff in packets). Try to make sure the food doesn't create too much washing up as that is a bit of a faff when camping. Also make sure you have plenty crockery and utensils. We bought a load of cheap picnic stuff from a supermarket as it was "in season" in June. A cool box and somewhere to store your food which insects/other animals can't get into is also a good idea.

Hope that's some help and hope you have a great time. We really enjoyed it apart from one campsite where my husband was virtually bitten to death by midges (it was Scotland).

Linda32

metherer wrote:

Hi All

As mentioned on a couple of other threads (can you tell I'm excited:j ) I may well be going to the Big Green Gathering for my honeymoon.:A

Can't offer anything more, just wanted to say :T thats cool

tim_n

metherer wrote:

to be fair, we need a HUGE tent anyway.
My OH is disabled, so we need a four person tent so he has enough room for all his kit and to put his leg on in a morning. Not many folk can say that!

trying to find one we can stand up in may be a challenge, especially on a £100 budget. However, I like challenes. Goodd job really.

My problem is the spiders.

Metherer
x

bought a massive 6-8 birth jobbie from Aldi last year and was utterly chuffed with it! was only £79. Withstood gale winds and even I (6ft 5ins) could stand up!

Frugal_Goblin

Hi,

I'd recommend you get a really good sleeping bag. It's doesn't need to be too expensive, but avoid the ones that pack really small as in my experience they are not that warm! Better to have one which you need to leave unzipped because you are too hot than to have to wear all your clothes in bed. My sister in law got me and oh a couple of bags which I think were £30 each. They are not massive when rolled up in their bags, but they're about twice the size of the really expensive ones I saw in a camping shop.

And don't forget your tin opener, corkscrew, bottle opener and matches!

billieboy_2

Frugal_Goblin wrote:

Hi,

I'd recommend you get a really good sleeping bag. It's doesn't need to be too expensive, but avoid the ones that pack really small as in my experience they are not that warm! Better to have one which you need to leave unzipped because you are too hot than to have to wear all your clothes in bed. My sister in law got me and oh a couple of bags which I think were £30 each. They are not massive when rolled up in their bags, but they're about twice the size of the really expensive ones I saw in a camping shop.

And don't forget your tin opener, corkscrew, bottle opener and matches!

We've always taken our duvet from home and a sheet and slept on a double blow-up mattress. Now we've progressed to a Dandy folding camper we feel really spoiled as we're no longer sleeping on the floor! However, we've been camping for the last 25+ years and still go now the kids have grown up and don't want to holiday with us anymore :sad: . It's great for socialising (campers are usually very sociable). One thing we've always taken with us is an old nappy bucket with lid for emergencies in the night or first thing in the morning (as we're getting older those emergencies are getting more frequent! - sorry too much information!). I'm sure you'll enjoy it! Have fun.

PS We've also found a winebox very useful!

jen_jen_2

as other poster said, underneath you is probably more important than whats over you, make sure you put lots of layers underneath you, if you dont want to take airbed it will also act as cushioning, i have a yoga mat (about £3 in tesco) and a blanket under the sleeping bag and thats fine.
i also recommend a bottle of the anti bac gel that you just rub on your hands to clean them, festival toilets are baaaddd, and when you want a snack no having to run down to wash your hands (about 99p from most places)
erm, may also be worth a taking a pack of cards (but your on honeymoon so i hope you dont use them) and a camera so you can remember the great or disasterous time whatever it turns out.

loopy_lass

er... ok, camping... where do you plug ur hairdryer and hair straightners in, where is the heating in those tent things, why are they so thin? er lights?? where? and exactly where is the toilet??? shower???

WHY??? wot on earth posses people to live in a bit of plastic wen they have a nice warm house to live in.. see to me its like swimming in the public pool, why on earth would you want to swim around on other peoples washed body water which is usually a tad too cold when you have a shower or bath at home......

is it me?

loops