Camping....in the rain!!!

bexbex

I'm going camping with my partner, son and son's friend this weekend. It'll be my first time, although my partner has been going all his life.
I was quite enthusiastic to start with. Tried the new 8 man tent, seems roomy and nice, tried the airbed and sleeping bags etc and bought a bbq and stove to cook on.
I'm not too sure now though. The weather for the peak district where we're going is heavy rain ALL weekend
Should I just say we can't go or do I make best of it?
Any tips?
xx

Keefcat

I'm in the same boat, have never been camping, never even set foot in a tent but am going with friends tomorrow, kids are so excited, I'm dreading it but am going to pitch in & make the most of it - if we waited for decent weather in this country, we'd spend a lot of time indoors! Don't have any tips except keep smiling and take plenty of wine :-)

lemontart

I camped in the rain in the lake district couple years ago, treat it as an adventure, make sure you have a ground sheet and maybe a rug to put on top after you get any wet clothes shoes off so something comfy for feet,

MX5huggy

Get a pair of wellies. Dry feet = happy.

Horace

Go and enjoy it. A good ground sheet is a must, take a pair of wellies too. A tip is to take some cheapo fleecy blankets and put them on the top of the airbed and put your sleeping bag on top (you can still get cold on the airbed), put fleecy blankets over you too.
Take a pack of playing cards and a few travel games so that if you are stuck in the tent you can at least have some fun.

Remember not to put the bbq or stove inside the tent with you as they give off carbon monoxide fumes which have killed people this year who have done that very thing.

Faith177

Hi

We camp at festivals ever year for a week and have got quite use to it.

This year however was difficult because of the constant rain.

Few tips for you

1) take plenty of clothing so that if it gets wet you have at least 2 spares of everything. Also keep fresh clean clothes in a car if your taking one so when you leave you have nice clean stuff for journey home
2) take rubbish sacks these can me used to put wet clothes in and stored until they can be washed. Also we put several in one corner of the tent to put muddy boots ect.
3) thick socks for in the tent and at night. I brought some fluffy ones in tesco but primark do them too
4) take some bounty with you or cloths to wipe down ground sheet if it gets muddy. You can even use your dirty clothes.
5) take a couple of pegs we used this to hang clothes up inside the tent to dry them out
6) Go Outdoors do some amazing deals on walking boots & waterproof clothing. Pay £5 for the year and you can join their discount club

Hope some of these tips help you but above all have a great time. Camping can be great fun! :T

greenface

wine. dont pitch in a ditch. wine. did i mention wine.enjoy it .kids will love it .

daveyjp

Rain isn't too bad, the 20+ mph winds are more of an issue in a large tent. I wouldn't like to be putting a tent up at the moment!

SailorSam

The rain can be a bit of a downer when you're camping, but when you're snuggled up inside the tent one of the nicest sounds is the pita-pata of the rain outside.

Judi101

Pitching in the rain and bringing home a wet tent are not good. I can cope with a few days but we went camping in June for a week and lasted halfway before we came home as heavy rain everyday. We got electric hook up so we could take a heater which was invaluable as in a tent in this weather you cant dry anything.

NeverAgain_2

There are a few campers on the site where I have my static.

One of the biggest problem in the wet appears to be the grass turning to mud in areas of high footfall - the entrance to the tent.

Some put down an old carpet outside, might even be worth buying a cheap piece for the purpose.

I would pitch the tent with that in mind, ie fairly close to the nearest hard path if there is such a thing.