First Time Campers - What are the essentials needed?

Winky,_The_House_Elf

Oh yes dont forget the cork-screw/bottle opener!

Most of the things you can just borrow from home, no need to buy new stuff until you are sure you'll like it...be warned though it is addictive!

We are off to The Lakes tomorrow and I'm 6 months pregnant! I'm itching to get away, so OH will do all the heavy stuff, and I'll drive.

Good luck!

socks_uk

Winky,_The_House_Elf wrote: »

We are off to The Lakes tomorrow and I'm 6 months pregnant!

Wow! Take it easy! I'm actually 46 years old and 3 weeks post-surgery from ovary removal op! But by the time my husband's birthday is here it'll be 8 weeks since my op. He's already used to picking up for me so it shouldn't be too bad!

Ooooh... have a piece of Grasmere Gingerbread for me!

keigcf

You'll love it, very relaxing!
When we went for the first time I raided the cupboards and took duvets just in case... Luckily we enjoyed so I have gradually built up our camping stock.
Hot Water bottle is a good idea, when we went last time I was soo cold was debating starting the car and getting in it! Hubby was off down the pub and I was left babysitting.
I would advise having a look on www.ukcampsite.co.uk they have a forum there for choosing the right site etc.
If you come to Llandrindod I'll keep an eye on you

ailuro2

Get yourself down to Poundland, they have lots of things from foling cutlery to billy cans and cheap frying pans.

i would say yes to the sleeping bags - it's harder to get a draught up your back if DH rolls over in the middle of the night if you're in separate sleeping bags. Get two the same so you can transform them into one double bag by putting the zips together for if it's really cold and you need to share hugs for heat.

bambinaUK

Which Quechua tent did you buy? I would suggest downloading the 'folding' video to your mobile phone.

Asda & B&Q are selling off their camping gear at the moment.
Sleeping bags for £2.50 in Asda. I would definitely take pillows and a quilt as well.

Airbeds are a must, I bought two to keep for spares at TEsco last week for £4.60 each.

Get a couple of folding chairs like this.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3406412/Trail/searchtext%3ECAMPING.htm

If you like camping then you can consider upgrading everything.
If it's your first time out, then you might not want to cook but a cooking ring and kettle might be a good idea so you can make a cup of tea. Similar to this one, but you should be able to find one from about £9.99
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3407497/Trail/searchtext%3ECAMPING.htm

The Poundshop is the best place for lots of camping bargains. Get a pack of emergency blankets and put one under your mattress, it will keep you warm.

Loughton_Monkey

My wife and I are seasoned campers (30+ years). We go off for 8 weeks minimum every year, with a significant sized trailer (and the car) fully loaded. OK, a long way from 'first time' camping, but we do in fact carry a small pop-up Quechua tent. We use this for overnight stops, since our main tent is very large and takes 10 times as long to put up.

While most of the recommendations above make some sense, I would suggest that the most important addition is a "tarp". Sadly, the Quechua tent - while excellent in many ways - has a design fault. When it rains, then it will come in if you leave the door even slightly ajar. And when it rains, you WANT the door open a tad to allow fresh air in.

A Tarp (we use an Outwell) takes a couple of minutes to put up. Only two poles, and 6 guy ropes, making sure it just overlaps with the tent, and now you're dry. And so is all the other stuff (cooker, coolbox etc.) that you'd prefer not to be in such a small tent.

Otherwise, look (above) at posts by Winky - she seems to talk a lot of sense.

The only other addition I have added for next year is a machine gun. This is to shoot the hundreds of parents who think camping is an ideal opportunity not to supervise the kids, sending them to the toilet blocks to play hide and seek. Banging doors.... screeching....

But that's another subject!.........

Mankysteve

Invest in a decent tent would be my advice.

socks_uk

Mankysteve wrote: »

Invest in a decent tent would be my advice.

This is the tent I have ordered for my husband...

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/2-seconds-iii-117139358/

It started with me seeing people on MSE posting about the cheap pop-up tents in Morrisons & Asda but then reading the following posts and then people recomending the Quechua ones. £50 seemed enough to pay on a tent when I wasn't sure how much we'll use it.

Did I make a good choice?

socks_uk

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

My wife and I are seasoned campers (30+ years). We go off for 8 weeks minimum every year, with a significant sized trailer (and the car) fully loaded. OK, a long way from 'first time' camping, but we do in fact carry a small pop-up Quechua tent. We use this for overnight stops, since our main tent is very large and takes 10 times as long to put up.

While most of the recommendations above make some sense, I would suggest that the most important addition is a "tarp". Sadly, the Quechua tent - while excellent in many ways - has a design fault. When it rains, then it will come in if you leave the door even slightly ajar. And when it rains, you WANT the door open a tad to allow fresh air in.

A Tarp (we use an Outwell) takes a couple of minutes to put up. Only two poles, and 6 guy ropes, making sure it just overlaps with the tent, and now you're dry. And so is all the other stuff (cooker, coolbox etc.) that you'd prefer not to be in such a small tent.

Otherwise, look (above) at posts by Winky - she seems to talk a lot of sense.

The only other addition I have added for next year is a machine gun. This is to shoot the hundreds of parents who think camping is an ideal opportunity not to supervise the kids, sending them to the toilet blocks to play hide and seek. Banging doors.... screeching....

But that's another subject!.........

Thank you for your expertise! Most appreciated! I'm not sure we'll still be camping in 30 years time but I'm sure there are 76 year olds somewhere that are still popping up their tents!

It's actually a shame that we have a week's holiday together before my hubby's birthday (by together I mean that my husband has a week off work... I work in a school so have the whole of the 6 weeks off) because my husband has been 'plotting' a surprise for our wedding anniversary - I'm guessing a balloon ride down south but I might be wrong! but I know he's booking 5 x £19 travelodges in various locations between Lincolnshire and Southampton. We could have gone camping instead.

Thanks again!

socks_uk

bambinaUK wrote: »

Which Quechua tent did you buy? I would suggest downloading the 'folding' video to your mobile phone.

Asda & B&Q are selling off their camping gear at the moment.
Sleeping bags for £2.50 in Asda. I would definitely take pillows and a quilt as well.

Airbeds are a must, I bought two to keep for spares at TEsco last week for £4.60 each.

Get a couple of folding chairs like this.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3406412/Trail/searchtext%3ECAMPING.htm

If you like camping then you can consider upgrading everything.
If it's your first time out, then you might not want to cook but a cooking ring and kettle might be a good idea so you can make a cup of tea. Similar to this one, but you should be able to find one from about £9.99
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3407497/Trail/searchtext%3ECAMPING.htm

The Poundshop is the best place for lots of camping bargains. Get a pack of emergency blankets and put one under your mattress, it will keep you warm.

Thanks for the 'Pound shop' idea! I hadn't thought of that! I hope I can pick some bits up there that I can wrap up as 'little' pressies - I hate to give just one 'big' pressy!

This is the Quechua tent I decided on...

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/2-seconds-iii-117139358/

We already have some fold-up garden chairs (bought in the sale from Tesco a couple of years ago after a tip-off on MSE!) but we also have a pop-up gazebo with sides which may be ok as a day tent while we are deciding if we are going to become 'campers'!

Thanks for everyone's advice!