starting camping - advice pls

mutley74

Thinking of starting camping for occiasional weekends away with my the kids.

Looking at 4 man tent and liked the Vango 500 but think its pricey at around £140.

Saw some 6 man tents in Asda for £75 with 3000 rain rating. DAK if these tents are any good?

Also what other gear do people need?
my list is:
-tent
-sleeping mats
-sleeping bags
-pillows

Is it eseential to buy a gas stove or do camp sites have facilities to make hot drinks and cook food?

what else does one need? (1 adult and several kids)

redmel1621

Hi Mutley

A 3000 should be fine, it is probably the minimum you would want in this country though, so don't go any lower.
Campsites don't generally have anywhere to cook, although a lot will have a washing up/freezer facilty, so you would need a camp stove....OR use the local chippy/cafe/on site bars etc....

I will point you in the direction of a FANTASTIC camping website and you will get all the information (and more) that you will ever need.....it takes a bit of getting used to to navigate the site, but it is honestly a campers paradise, there is also a search facility on there so you can find sites in the areas you are looking at and the majority have pretty extensive reviews too...

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/

If you get the bug you will never be off that website

HTH Mel x

Cash-Cow_3

mutley74 wrote: »

Thinking of starting camping for occiasional weekends away with my the kids.

Looking at 4 man tent and liked the Vango 500 but think its pricey at around £140.

Saw some 6 man tents in Asda for £75 with 3000 rain rating. DAK if these tents are any good?

Also what other gear do people need?
my list is:
-tent
-sleeping mats
-sleeping bags
-pillows

Is it eseential to buy a gas stove or do camp sites have facilities to make hot drinks and cook food?

what else does one need? (1 adult and several kids)

If you want to boil water for tea you will need your own stove although your neighbourhood campers might boil some water for you if you're feeling cheeky and ask. Chairs are handy if you get any sunshine.

All this gear you buy does add up but you can build on what you have over time.

Like anything you get what you pay for. Can't comment on the ASDA tent not seen or used it but that is a very budget tent at that price. Problems you might get with cheaper tents are pole breakage, difficulty pitching it, broken zips etc

I would recommend that whatever tent you buy it has a sewn in ground sheet. Keeps the weather and bugs out.

Seanymph

You can pick up second hand tents fairly easily- but I would start by borrowing one for the weekend.

Don't buy sleeping mats, buy inflatable beds - you buy a motor for about £10 that plugs into your cigarette lighter in the car and pumps them up for you. Takes minutes. You can then use the inflatable beds in the house too if anyone stays over.

You will want a bowl with washing up liquid, a teatowel and scourer/cloth.
A box with a lid for food/tins/packets mostly.
A box with a lid for cutlery/pans/plates etc.

I have the boxes one either side of the doorway, and as things are used they get put straight into the bowl. This then is portable to the central washing up facilities, and they can be brought back and put back into the plastic box ready to be used again. The boxes are about a fiver each in QD's or similar.

We have sleeping bags, but tend to open them and use them on top of the inflatable beds and take our duvets and pillows (I have a big car!).

You will want chairs to sit in - camping shops do 'tables' which have four integral chairs, it opens up like a wallpapering table, and the chairs 'pop out' - it's worth it's weight to be honest with kids - is plastic and waterproof - but you will want loungey chairs too.

Waterproof coats - if your kids are little all in one waterproof suits are bonus! - wellies and or crocs for walking to the loos and back in the wet.

We take one shower bag, and whoever is going over takes it and brings it back - we share just about everyting in there - everyone has their own towel.

It really only takes a couple of practices and you will learn how you want to set things up - initially just visit some shops and websites, and see what you can borrow to see if you like it.

You will however need a cooker - don't be tempted by the silly one person up a mountain rings - buy a nice size two ringer for families - otherwise you'll drive yourself mad and run out of gas every day!

Enjoy.

hcb42

We started with the basics and have built up quite a lot of gear now. we definitely got the bug.

we initially went for a couple of nights with tent, sleeping bags, airbeds, and a camping stove, kettle and two mugs. Oh and a windbreak.

Now we have chairs, kitchen sink unit, esky, pan set, picnic set, you name it. We normally opt for electric hookup where we can too.

Definitely invest in a tent which has a completely sewn in sheet though. Might be better to borrow first if you can to see if you do get the bug.

I work in hotel industry, yet i camp when I can!

mutley74

Thank you for the replies.
I am not keen on borrowing a tent from someone just in case something goes wrong.
I guess the tent we buy will only be used 2-3 times a year, if that. As it depends when everyone is available. Hence why the £75 tent at asda seemed tempting.

I think i need a think about this as being just 1 adult and with 3 kids will be quite a challenge rather than a break.

socks_uk

We're new to camping too and after a very chilly night a friend gave us the tip of putting one of those 'emergency blankets' under the airbed. Well, I found 'emergency shelters' at the pound shop and bought 2 of them, one for under the airbed and one for on top over the sleeping bag. Worked a treat, we were so toasty. BUT, I don't know how safe the on top one would be for children to use.

mttylad

Definitely get a windbreak - in fact get 2.

You cant cook inside, so you need the windbreaks to keep the wind off so you can cook outside.

woozywendy

If you have a look on www.ukcampsite.co.uk as the other poster suggested there is a page you can look at to see if your tent has been reviewed by anyone.

onestep

try asking for a tent on freecycle - you never know! Even if the tent isn't your ideal, it'll still give you an idea of whether camping is for you or not. Airbeds/camp beds are definitely worth investing in, a decent night's sleep is essential. Also essential I would say is a 2 burner stove, and sleeping bags. Anything else you can bring from home (crockery, glasses, frying pan etc), and pick up camping replacements once you know you like sleeping under canvas!

As the previous posters have suggested, ukcampsite is a superb resource! HTH

artichoke

i think the cheap £75 tent will be pretty cr*p BUT if you do not want to borrow a tent (due to risk of damage) i would buy it- and use it once or twice (in summer) to see if you like camping with 3 kids....

it might be a nightmare and you have spent £75 on 2 or so holidays (but the tent can still be used in back gardens etc)

or it might be fun - in which case read the reviews on ukcampsites and get a second hand tent in september when those who bought an expensive tent for their first camping holiday and then found out it was a nightmare camping for them - want to sell....

re gas cooker etc - you could manage without for the first few times - get an kettle that works form the cigarette lighter in the car.. and make sandwiches for lunch and fish and chips etc for tea - or buy a couple of disposable bbq's and put them on bricks - AND promise yourself that if you do like camping you will buy all the kit for next year....

camping with 3 kids might be hell / might be great - it depends on the age and behaviour of the kids and your own expectations of the experience.....

i camp with my 2 alone sometimes - but i choose my campsite wisely - they are 5 and 6 - i choose somewhere to tire them out in the day and then buy red wine to make the evenings ok!

art