Camping Virgin - what do I really need ?

roadiegirl

When I go camping at festivals (not much sleep mind, but I like to be comfy when I do!) I always take my airbed, put a thin roll mat (my yoga mat usually) underneath it, then a sheet on the airbed and take my duvet and blankets, I wear my fleece all in one from Primark and I also make sure I take my own pillows. It is a bit more to carry, but if I don't get a good couple of hours sleep I get grumpy and don't enjoy watching the bands. I also take a spare phone battery just incase, and plenty of bin bags like others have said. Other than that, everything else I take I bought relatively cheaply, mainly plastic plates/bowls, mugs, wind up torch (only £2 at Leeds Fest and has lasted 3 years) and plenty of warm base layers.

marywooyeah

toilet paper!!!! its a must! also baby wipes and some of that hand gel you pump on then rub in.

mezzamay

For me, a comfortable night's sleep is the most important thing. I would definitely recommend a proper camp bed & a good quality sleeping bag.

I found a camp bed to be the mots comfortable thing you can sleep on. Rubber mats are pointless and more or less like sleeping directly on the ground. Inflatable mattresses are noisy, stink of rubber (very bad if you have allergies - my sister got anaphylactic shock from sleeping on one, even with a sheet and a sleeping bag between her and the mattress) and unless you get a double mattress to yourself, you will spend most of the night rolling off onto the ground.

And unlike a mattress, a camp bed doesn't need inflating.

The other posters have mentioned some good essentials but I would also take flip-flops for walking to the shower cubicles and toilets and wellies for the inevitable rain if you are camping in the UK.

curlytop12

Cruiksl wrote: »

Lol - apart from tent and sleeping bags, what do I really need to go camping ?

Would be really grateful for advice.

me too!
have booked a camping pod for 3 nights-and am totally clueless,looking on it as an acventure though!!

emmasmum01

did our first family (2ad-3kid) camping trip 18mths ago, we initially bought a cheap 8man tent from tesco that was on special offer for about £40. that was our first mistake, it didnt have a fitted ground sheet so the wind blowing up the hill also blew up our tent and i was shivering so much i actually woke my husband up. so we have since bought a slightly more expensive one (rage dremmen 8man) and I was very suprised how much better it was, it kept the wind and bugs out. we also bought, blow up beds, sleeping bags (but we now take our quilts instead)cooker and a stand for it, wind breakers (managed to accumilate 6!) to stop said wind blowing out the cooker, got a complete plastic picnic set and plastic utensil cooking set from argos for few quid which includes can and bottle opener & works a treat itsn't too heavy and we keep everything in plastic lidded toy boxes. saucepans, cool boxes for your milk ect,fold up garden chairs the ones that go into a bag, we did buy a few bits from our local 99p store, water carriers, little head lights for going to loo at night but the kids also like to have them in the tent at night and we bought a few larger ones too and some glow sticks. we would hide them around the sight and they'd all have to go off looking for them keeps them ammused but then we were on a site which was just a field!!! we also took footballs, a cricket set and in the end everyone on the site was playing. had a brilliant time but unfortunately due to work have only been 3 times since. at the end of the day if your warm and dry you'll have a great time, we did probably over do it the first time we went but you soon work out whats essential and whats not for future trips. we don't bother with electrical hook ups tho. you also mentioned the machine your husband uses. u may want to make sure it won't be too noisy at night, you'll be suprised how loud something is in the middle of a field in the middle of no where with no air pollution like traffic, tv's ect and the usual hum drum noise in most housholds. Enjoy!!!

old_mother

W UP LIQUID, SPONGE, T TOWELS are the one thing I always forget & they are invaluable.

I usually pack clothes in plastic lidded storage boxes becuase I find that stuff can get a bit damp if the weathers crap. Then the kids use them (empty or full as applicable) as chair/table/bath/any other "game" that needs a box. They stack easily in the porch of the tent giving more space in the "bedroom" but wont necessarily fit in the car (we use a trailer anyway), so each to their own!

Relax! Enjoy it.