Camping

[snowboarder]

We're off on our first family camping (ummm, glamping maybe?) trip this weekend (yes I've seen the forecast). Any tips and must not forgets for first time amateur soft-used-to-home-comforts campers? I'm slightly traumatised about the thought of no ipad/phone...never mind the toilet/shower situation :-)

[david_carnell]

Are you planning on cooking while camping?

If so, and you have the space, I like taking my own favourite knife, utensils and pan with me to go on a camping stove. Much better than "camping" equipment which while light is often of questionable quality.

[enjoy]

Just relax, have fun, take a good book and wine

(And sun lotion, wellies for wet mornings, moskito spray

Outdoor toys for the kids, plenty of snacks, torch, matches, detol wipes to make toilets nicer ...)

enjoy

[nunheadmum]

A bed roll or yoga mat under your airbed helps stop the cold coming up from the ground. Even better if you put a folded blanket between the mat and the airbed. (Can you tell I don't like getting cold?) Blanket for over sleeping bag helps too.

Second the decent cooking equipment too.

And worth finding a campsite that's good for kids. Hopefully with other kids around, your kids will find friends and then you can sit back and enjoy your wine while they go feral / investigate someone else's tent / generally have fun.

[snowboarder]

We are going here - anyone been?

http://www.billycancamping.co.uk

I can see we are going to be taking a car full - keep the tips coming!

[intexasatthe moment]

I always take hot water bottles .

And a really warm jacket + blanket for sitting outside at night .

You'll have a lovely time ,I'm envious .

[Medusa]

When my children were younger and still woke to pee at night (with that frantic, urgent look), I took a camping loo. Not a chemical one, but one like a toilet-sized potty. You can have it in the tent or just outside and it means you don't have to tramp across a field in the dark with a squirming child to get to the toilets.

I still have one, in fact, if you'd like to borrow it.

[Dez]

Ah yes, I envy you too. My wife doesn't do camping anymore, so we're reduced to hotels! One obvious thing I like to carry is a comfortable pillow.

[Mellors]

I love camping! Home comforts/things to make it easier for me:

- cafetiere and decent coffee

- a decent knife

- duvet/nice pillows rather than sleeping bags for me & OH (if taking car so space not an issue)

- Kindle/books

- pack of cards

- booze. A quite surprising amount of it.

- easy food. Beans, pasta sauces (or, ideally, a good local chippy/pizza place!)

[Shaggy]

If you are bringing meat for the barbie, freeze it before you leave. The cool box won't be all that cool.

Remember crocs. If you are walking to and from the loo blocks and it gets a bit wet out, you are better off having something you can kick off when you get to your tent and slip into when you leave. Welles are a faff, and most people prefer not to wear them in the shower.

Quick dry towels are great.

Apart from that, it looks quite glamp, so you should be ok.

Have fun!

[Shaggy]

....also I love using my old cast iron pan when camping. Great to cook on and you can use it on anything, including the barbie and camp fire. If you bring one, remember to bring a few tea towels to pick it up with. Not so light in a rucksack though.

[snowboarder]

Gah so much stuff!

It'll be fun, right?!? It's costing more than I'd pay for 3 nights in a hotel!!

[Convex]

Yes you will love it.

Take bubbles and plenty of bubble mix.

Even if it doesn't rain, the grass will be wet in the morning so waterproofs for the kids are handy.

I also take a super warm coat, hat and gloves for the cold night around the campfire!

And I second the duvet rather than sleeping bag.

[Kes]

I second blankets under the beds to keep you warm. Also, if you are cooking over a wood fire, rub a layer of washing up liquid over the outside of theh pan first, makes it much easier to clean off the soot.

We went to a festival last year, also took battery powered fairy lights, hand to put on the tent so you can find your way back in the dark and also putting on the buggy so no one falls over it.

Also got a big pack of glow stick bracelets on ebay, eldest loved making bracelets and necklaces and made it easier to see her in the dark!

Take lots of waterproofs - we ended up having to buy a second pair of wellies for our eldest as she completely filled her other pair. But if it's hot and raining just strip everyone down to as little as possible, easier to dry out a few thin clothes and your skin than a load of waterproofs.

Yes - it will be fun!! We camped twice with the kids last year, this weekend is our first trip of at least 3 for this year.

[BeccaL]

Colleague at work went camping last weekend and ended up on an emergency mission to Asda to buy cheap duvets the next day as they were all freezing at night, so much so that kids wouldn't/didn't sleep... Hope it goes well!

[Sarah9999]

Agree with everything above, just to add torches and matches.

[Monkey]

Don't forget cakes and biscuits! And porridge pots to which you only had boiling water and it's ready.

Also wash bags to take all your stuff with you to go to the shower block.

Wipes and hand gel.

Gilets.

[Polly D]

Hey SB

As you know, I went 2 years ago. You really, really don't need much equipment. In the main kitchen tent there is everything you could possibly need for a family of 4, it's v kid focused. There are a few (a couple?) of little other kitchen areas too. I wouldn't take any cooking stuff. Showers & loos perfectly good. Picnic benches by each yurt/bell tent from what I remember. We took our own camping chairs which was nice for sitting round our fire pit. Also inside the yurt there are stoves which keep you v cosy. We had a proper bed, so did R. I was 5 months pregnant with little at when we went, totally comfy.

Are you there for the communal welcome Friday evening dinner? That was soooo lovely.

Wish you 4 a brilliant trip!

P x

[SE22mum]

just make sure you have proper coffee for the morning and enough pasta/rice/beans to last and all will be fine. it feels like a hassle with so much stuff but you will all relax completely and the kids will run around all day. it is so worth it. we go just about every weekend we can in the summer. did 2 and a half weeks in sussex last summer. love it.

[Huggers]

as well as the blanket under the blow up bed, put a blanket between you/sheet and blow up bed. They absorb the cold from the ground and you need to insulate as much as poss.

A lidded bucket (available from AJ Farmers for emergency wee wee's - the lids clip on to avoid spillage.

Lidl in Peckham are currently doing single flower solar garden lights- they spear into the ground. Good for marking outside of tent entrance.

plenty of spare containers to keep food dry/insect proof.

I take a couple of those flexible builders buckets- great for washing up, carrying washing up to sinks, carrying anything really and then can be used for keeping fruit and veg off the ground.

[SE22mum]

IT'S HORRIBLE WEATHER!!! what would it take you to cancel the trip???

we're meant to be going but.....???

[snowboarder]

We're here!! Quite toasty in the tent last night, rain has stopped and kids are doing art in the kitchen hut, wellies, shorts and fleeces. All a bit cold and muddy but we're having fun so far! One weird thing - the children spent the whole night rolling off their air beds...found one halfway across the room!

[intexasatthe moment]

Well done snowboarder !

Can you deflate the kids airbeds slightly ? To lessen rolling off ?