The Great MSE family Camping Hunt

daveyjp

Useless - airbeds. Uncomfortable and the air inside cools leaving you cold.
Most expensive - sleeping bag - never skimp, once you are cold in a tent you will never warm up and trying to sleep is miserable.
Best equipment - Coleman petrol stove. Not so cheap to buy, but even at £5 per gallon petrol is still a very cheap fuel as the Coleman doesn't use much and any left over can be used in the car.

richoneday

How many people in the family?......We are 2 adults, 2 kids 13 and 10 some weekends and a couple of weeks in summer non electric 2 dogs sometimes! .

What equipment do you consider essential? Sleeping bags, ice box and loads of ice packs as people nick them!

What's the most useless piece of equipment you've bought? None really we are into our second era of camping - used to go as a couple pre-kids so have learnt all we need to know! Lesson is to buy good quality as it will last you if you look after it

What's the best piece of equipment? a good stove and one of those flexible plastic buckets for the washing up - they take more than a bowl and can be squashed in the car for packing as well as being used for many other purposes while you are away

Most expensive (excluding tent)? trailer (although ours came courtesy of my parents)

What's the worst thing in terms of value for money? camp beds

What do you look for in a campsite? quiet, ability to have a fire and preferably a nice walk to the nearest village or town

Do you cram all the stuff into the car? No trailer and roof box usually due to dogs in the boot

happyin_devon

best thing we bought was a big tent with enuf room to stand up in,and separate rooms for us and the kids!

only our 3rd camping trip as a family and we are still refining what we actually need,but have found that they sell little stacking round tubs in s/drug (think its meant for face creams etc) in their holiday section,we use these to take dried herbs,salt and pepper,dried chillis etc as just enough for a weeks camping for a family of 4.also use a little squeezy bottle to decant wash up liquid in2 as saves lugging a big one to the sinks!

Mammy_of_2_yr_old_twins

We have just spent a fantastic weekend in wigwams at Seahouses, which has lead us to purchase a tent. We have bought a job lot off ebay from a family that had grown up. For £225 we got:

Sunncamp vario 6 6 man tent
ELECTRIC HOOK UP ( 4 GANG )
GROUND SHEET
2 RING COOKER WITH GRILL + STAND
GAS BOTTLE, ALL FITMENTS READY TO USE
PANS + KETTLE, CUTLERY + PLATES
HALOGEN HEATER
SMALL GAS HEATER WITH 8 GAS REFILL CARTRIDGES
2 HOT WATER BOTTLES
COLLAPSABLE FRESH WATER BOTTLE
COOLBOX
3 ROLL MATS
FOOT PUMP
2 X 5FT WINDBREAKERS
TABLE + 2 BENCHES, COLLAPSABLE FOR EACH STORAGE
AND FINALLY A LAMP

The girls already have blow up beds with sleeping bags and we have bought a double air bed and sleeping bag

We are a family of four (twins of 2 1/2)

Our first trip is going to be 01/07 - wish us luck

Puzzledbubbles

Hi

We are a couple and are going on our first camping holiday very soon

Originally we were going to go in our 2 man tent to Snowdonia and live with the basics (as we were starting from scratch aside from the tent)

However, luckily and thankfully, my Nan had a clear out and has donated sinificantly to our cause, we now have

4 man dome tent
Tent blanket
4 gang hook up
2 ring gas cooker/bbq
collapsable lantern

I have been on loads of caravan holidays and did extreme camping (a poncho and a sleeping bag) with Army cadets and OH has camped a handfull of times before so we are all fit to go.

Our problem is we keep thinking of extra things to take lol

How many people in the family?...... Just 2 adults

What equipment do you consider essential? Sleeping bags and a ring to cook on

What's the most useless piece of equipment you've bought? Well, we have been donated a toaster thing for the top of the gas which looks pretty useless, but i will let you know how we get on lol

What's the best piece of equipment? Dont know yet - will see when we have been

Most expensive (excluding tent)? Well, we have been very lucky with the donations, but the most expensive thing we have actually bought are the two folding stools, bogof £10

What's the worst thing in terms of value for money? Metal plates i expect

What do you look for in a campsite? Everything, we are having one quiet holiday in wales with nothing on the site other than ablutions, the other is cornwall on a fully serviced park with entertainment etc

Do you cram all the stuff into the car? At the moment we only have the car (a old style fiesta!) so there is no other option.

Puzzled xxx

chocdonuty

How many people in the family?...... Just me and dd 7 We usually go with several other familys all at the same time.

What equipment do you consider essential? Extra Blankets! I hate being cold, crocs, quick drying towel- so much easier to take one of thesel than trying to store and dry a whopping great bath towel!

What's the most useless piece of equipment you've bought? thingy to cook the toast on top of the stove, took forever and used up all the gas!!

What's the best piece of equipment? simple stove with gas, small and easy

Most expensive (excluding tent)? The gas bottles, the other stuff I have got for free or very cheap from car boots, I'm looking at self inflating mattresses next

What's the worst thing in terms of value for money? air beds, too cold and deflate far too easily

What do you look for in a campsite? Loos, showers and a place for kids to play and stuff within walking distance

Do you cram all the stuff into the car? For the first time I should be borrowing mums car, the last few times I have got a lift with another camper, packing the bare minimum is hard!

BrownGirl

How many people in the family?...... Just the two of us - me and OH.

What equipment do you consider essential? Chairs and blankets.

What's the most useless piece of equipment you've bought? another vote for the thing to cook the toast on top of the stove!

What's the best piece of equipment? BBQ burger turner - kind of a cooling rack frame on a handle. To hold over the gas to make toast! (I do like toast in a morning)

Most expensive (excluding tent)? Self inflating air beds - we've tried normal air beds (take too long to inflate) and camp beds. Hopefully this will solve everything.

What's the worst thing in terms of value for money? Larder shelving unit - seemed a good idea at the time but a cheap plastic crates works better for us.

What do you look for in a campsite? Toilets, showers and being able to book online (don't want to drive round looking for a site on the day) Oh and a pub within walking distance is a bonus.

Do you cram all the stuff into the car? Yup - we have an estate and fill the boot right up - especially on the way home. We do try and pack it in a sort of logical order though.

flea72

raphanius wrote: »

this year we will be adding a small storage tent to our equipment list to take the load off the main tent. each year the cooking improves as i get used to making simple tasty meals we all like with two gas burners and mostly tinned/dried food.

just watch out, as most sites charge an extra few £s per night for storage tents

F

flea72

we are a family of 5 - i would say we are fair weather campers, but i think thats more by luck than judgement, as so far we havent had any adverse conditions to cope with

we are recent converts to EHU. mainly due to purchasing a pair of GHDs and now cant live without hair that isnt anything other than poker straight. Also being a family of 5, it means i can take a double toaster, rather than trying to cook one slice at a time under the grill, or on one of those useless stands on the gas ring

Most expensive purchase, has to the towbar and trailer to fit all the stuff in

most useful purchase, vacuum storage bags, now the car and trailer arent overrun with pillows and sleeping bags- also keeps them fresh in the loft once home again. oh and not forgetting the pump that sucks the air out of the bags, and blows up the airbeds


most useless piece of equipment, has to the toaster ring mentioned above

main draw of a campsite is obviously clean and tidy washing facilities. not interested in 24hr entertainment (other than people watching), and sites with likeminded people

biggest hate of camping - invasion of space, and lack of etiquette. i dont know, when i go camping i clean the showers after i have used them (after trying as hard as i can to not make a mess in the first place), follow the paths, and dont cut between tents. make sure my kids dont annoy other people, so no kicking footballs in the vicinity of tents/cars, and most of all, dont let my kids run around other peoples tents. ive lost count of the number of times ive had guy ropes ripped out and wind breaks snapped, by some kid thinking its ok to chase his mate around the outside (on odd occasion they have even run in thru the open door to escape)

As for price - i cant believe how the event of the 'staycation' has affected my camping experience. having been able to book a pitch for £15 a night over a b/hol weekend 5yrs ago, we are now faced with fee per pitch, plus per person, b/hol & large tent supplements, entertainment passes, EHU, etc. now meaning its highly unlikely you can go camping for under £30 per night

actually last year we stayed in a TL for 2wks at £9pn - private hot shower, unlimited tea and coffee, clean towels and bedlinen, and tv for the kids - not as enjoyable as being in the fresh air, but for us camping was a cheap means to an end

my biggest tip though, is however big a tent you think you need, buy that and then some. so if a tent says sleeps 5, it really means 3 at a push. we now have a 12 berth and the sleeping compartments are still full with 2 adults and 3kids. i really wish frame tents were still readily available to buy. you had decent headroom over the whole of the tent, they werent so flappy and noisy, and you could hang storage off the poles (also liked the fact you had curtains lol)

F

rolo-polo1965

How many people in the family?......We are me, 19 year old son, 17 year old daughter and 15 year old daughter and the dog
What equipment do you consider essential? Electric hook up and fan heater
What's the most useless piece of equipment you've bought? Gas top toaster
What's the best piece of equipment? Electric toaster and kettle
Most expensive (excluding tent)? Electric hook up
What's the worst thing in terms of value for money? camp beds

What do you look for in a campsite? Toilets, showers, quiet, somewhere to go walking

Do you cram all the stuff into the car? Most of the stuff goes in the car which 10 yer old drives, he takes one of his sisters with him and the dog in the car. Me and my other daughter go on the train. Going to Norfolk this summer, got a family rail card so bought tickets on Friday £10 there and £7.50 home Nottingham to Acle in Norwich