Camping for the 1st time- advice?

hampshirebabe

I'm loving this thread, I've been thinking of getting a tent for a while, and now I'm definately going to.
What kind of tent do you recomend for a family, 2 kids, 4 and 1 at the moment, but hoping to use the tent for a few years to come. Someone mentioned one you can stand up in, but are most 4 man tents big enough, 1 bedroom or 2, would an extra 'room' be good, and on a money saving note, is it worth spending more,or are cheaper tents almost as good?
Does anyone take thier own loo, in a loo tent?

lovethymini

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I'm loving this thread, I've been thinking of getting a tent for a while, and now I'm definately going to.
What kind of tent do you recomend for a family, 2 kids, 4 and 1 at the moment, but hoping to use the tent for a few years to come. Someone mentioned one you can stand up in, but are most 4 man tents big enough, 1 bedroom or 2, would an extra 'room' be good, and on a money saving note, is it worth spending more,or are cheaper tents almost as good?
Does anyone take thier own loo, in a loo tent?

I'd recommend looking at a dome style - very fast to put up, and you can get one high enough to stand up in. We bought ours last year and saw it on display before buying it, I think it's a Vango, and I'm really glad we got the extension tunnel - good for sun or rain shade. For working out which one to buy, I looked at reviews for the cheaper ones online (and decided to spend a bit more money), and spoke to a seasoned camper for advice on what type of tent. Ours is a 5 berth, there are three of us (toddlers take up a lot of space! :rotfl:)
We dont have a loo - we'll always be staying in a campsite where there'll be facilities nearby.
NB Vango 5 berth plus the extension was about £200

DCFC79

Definitely go to either go outdoors or another campiing shop thats close by to look at the tents and get a feel for them in terms of length, how much room inside etc. Then once you have model number and prices you can see if the tent is cheaper online, if not you might be able to get it cheaper from go outdoors if you have 1 of theyre discount cards

shelleuk

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I'm loving this thread, I've been thinking of getting a tent for a while, and now I'm definately going to.
What kind of tent do you recomend for a family, 2 kids, 4 and 1 at the moment, but hoping to use the tent for a few years to come. Someone mentioned one you can stand up in, but are most 4 man tents big enough, 1 bedroom or 2, would an extra 'room' be good, and on a money saving note, is it worth spending more,or are cheaper tents almost as good?
Does anyone take thier own loo, in a loo tent?

We started camping last year with our 3 children aged 1, 3 and 6. The youngest was 4 months old at the time. I definatly agree with the above regarding a dome tent. We originally had a tunnel tent and there wasnt enough room for the 5 of us. This year we have bought a dome tent and there are extra bedrooms to put all the things out of the way that the children bring with them. The only problem with this new tent is that on some camp sites i have to pay a premium because it is bigger than a standard pitch size.

hoggle_2

hampshirebabe wrote: »

I'm loving this thread, I've been thinking of getting a tent for a while, and now I'm definately going to.
What kind of tent do you recomend for a family, 2 kids, 4 and 1 at the moment, but hoping to use the tent for a few years to come. Someone mentioned one you can stand up in, but are most 4 man tents big enough, 1 bedroom or 2, would an extra 'room' be good, and on a money saving note, is it worth spending more,or are cheaper tents almost as good?
Does anyone take thier own loo, in a loo tent?

I would suggest trying to get a polycotton tent 2nd hand from ebay. My first tent was an Outwell Vermont XL which is made from polyester and it was incredibly hot during the day, cold at night and a bit flimsy, (got a couple of tears after a windy night!!). I have now got an Outwell Bear Lake 6 which I got from ebay, it was like new and cost a fraction of the cost of a new one. The build quality is far superior and we are hoping for a much more enjoyable camping experience. We are 2 adults ond 2 kids and there is oodles of space

brook2jack

If camping with kids make sure tent has porch or awning that you can cook under when its raining. You will also want a wind break to make a barrier around cooker to keep toddlers away.

second hand tents are numerous in papers ,people buy all the kit ,go once and decide they dont like it.

Use a travel cot for toddlers stops them wandering in the night and acts as play pen when you're busy.

Choose a tent with at least two bedrooms as kids like privacy as they get older. A bedroom each stops lots of fights. Try and pick one that you can put a small table up inside to eat on if raining. Kids,sitting on floor eating is a bad idea.

Dome tents are more stable in wind and need less guy ropes than tunnel tents. We tie shopping bags at kid height to main guy ropes so they dont run or cycle into them.

Always take bikes when camping, kids live on them.

Never pack a tent away damp, it will rot or develop mold.Use towels,tea towels to mop off worst and if raining when you leave dry out at home before packing away.

lawrie28

Marshmallows.

Wellie sticks.

Waterproofs.

Take the solarshower - use it to heat up some water during the day to save time boiling the kettle for a brew.

First aid kit

bucksie

brook2jack wrote: »

We tie shopping bags at kid height to main guy ropes so they dont run or cycle into them.

Not a bad idea, shame i didnt think of this last time i went camping, had a few too many and tripped over my own guy ropes. :rotfl:
Some good tips.

hcb42

WE have a bear lake 4 and I agree, get the polycotton if you can, much more comfortable. I went to one campsite, weather was really attrocious, although it was only September. I slept right through it, woke up and everyone around us had packed up in the night and left! Ours is a great size, although we dont share it with anyone, only 2 of us.

sooty&sweep

Hi

Strongly recommend that you visit www.ukcampsite.co.uk

You'll find all you need to know about camping there, reviews on types of tent, info on campsites and forums to ask lots of questions.

Camping is is a fab holiday with kids ! Enjoy !!!

Jen