camping essentials

[graysalchemy]

I promised my wife two things

Never Play Golf

and

Never Tow a Caravan

I would have a camper van and

you gotta love an airstream :lol: :lol:

 

[falafael]

Getting a new bigger tent round winter when they should be cheaper, and one i can stand in, last one was a bit small, the mrs likes camping, but not the tent we had last time........

Something like this maybe:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/seconds-fami ... 45452.html

 

[fbsf]

I've just bought myself a tent and have booked a week in france in August, so am soaking all of this up!

We've got most things I think we'd need - tent, sleeping bags, campbeds and air mattresses (and leccy pump), gas stoves, cooking equipment, camp chairs, leccy coolbox, euro leccy hookup lead with french adaptor, head torches and a light for inside the tent.

Anything obvious I've missed?

 

[JimmyB78]

I've just bought myself a tent and have booked a week in france in August, so am soaking all of this up!

We've got most things I think we'd need - tent, sleeping bags, campbeds and air mattresses (and leccy pump), gas stoves, cooking equipment, camp chairs, leccy coolbox, euro leccy hookup lead with french adaptor, head torches and a light for inside the tent.

Anything obvious I've missed?

A wind break comes in mightily useful too

Don't forget your breathalysers for driving in France

 

[Zedilly]

I've just bought myself a tent and have booked a week in france in August, so am soaking all of this up!

We've got most things I think we'd need - tent, sleeping bags, campbeds and air mattresses (and leccy pump), gas stoves, cooking equipment, camp chairs, leccy coolbox, euro leccy hookup lead with french adaptor, head torches and a light for inside the tent.

Anything obvious I've missed?

A mallet, if you get one with a wooden handle you can screw a hook into it and you have a tool to pull the pegs out aswell, a windbreak is a good idea too but obviously not essential. A table to sit at and eat, insect repellant, duct tape. As long as you have the main items you can always pick other bits up locally if you find there's something you've forgotten.

If its a new tent practice putting it up well before your trip for 2 reasons.

1) you'll know how to put it up when you arrive on holiday.

2) it gives you an opportunity to look for any faults with the tent and get them sorted before you go, ( can you imagine getting all the way to France only to find out the door has a busted zip?)

Edit: forgot to mention a water container, get a decent sized one you'll be surprised how much you use.

 

[fbsf]

Got a table, windbreak and mallet - but the pegs look weedy. Am I better off getting some Rock pegs?

It's a 2nd hand tent, but managed to get it up (so to speak, Matron) in the garden so all looks ok. Annoyingly my 11yr old daughter had just been on Guide camp, and used an identical tent, so was telling me what to do!

Duct tape - genius idea, and insect repellant is also a great shout.

 

[Jeltz]

Its worth getting some long sturdy metal pegs which work well on hard and stony ground and also some thick plastic ones that work best on soft and wet ground.

 

[borischarlton]

Throw away the pegs that came with the tent and spend about £20 on proper ones, they sell them in Go Outdoors

Rob

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

If you've got a family or lots of heavy kit, a wheelbarrow or sackbarrow is invaluable. Especially if you have to restrain disobedient children for transport.

 

[Megaross]

Is it bad I'm perfectly happy to stay in a tent, but I'd rather not sleep in a caravan?

Not enough space for a decent sized bed in one of them, too cramped. Plus the toilet inside that space? Definitely not.

And then there's the towing the frigging thing, I don't mind the driving with something in tow but it's not ideal, and it just annoys everyone else on the road no end.

 

[alawlor66430]

I like a caravan as much as I like a tent, they both have different pros and cons but are equally enjoyable for me, I invested in some hammocks and tarps for the boys and me when we go out trekking and fishing because they're allot lighter to carry than a tent.

 

[alawlor66430]

For some reason I can't post pics of the set up though ??

 

[alawlor66430]

there we go.

 

[Dave1970]

One of our best buys for camping has been one of these

We camp with kids so once they're in bed we want to be able to sit outside and have a beer or three. Very handy to have this for when it rains, we keep the chairs, table etc in it. Good for cooking in it the rain.
I've come across better and bigger camping gazebos but they all cost loads more and pack down a lot bigger...this one packs down to about 40x15x20cm

Three recommendations
1. Gazebo as above
2. Gas lamp (for sitting outside)
3. More clothes than you think, it gets cold sitting out at night, layers, a hat and at least one glove each for your drinking hand :drink:

 

[Vossy1]

Not quite related but seeing as your attention is drawn...what's the view on trailer tents :hmm:
We're in the market for a new tent, or trailer tent, as we don't have room to store a caravan and won't pay storage. We like the Outwell Montana 6P (possibly the brown one posted earlier) as we've stayed in the sisters but Mrs is drawn to a Camp_let .
Advice re the aluminium framed 'quick beds'..... if you go for them put a quilt or mattress under your sleeping bag as the airflow under them can make them quite cold at night. Also, make sure you air your bedding the next day by taking it off the bed, as they trap condensation quite well.

 

[alawlor66430]

I seen a review on them on the caravan show and they look to be pretty good, obviously there's a large range to choose from and if I remember rightly the cheaper ones were made from a material that would perish allot quicker than the middle of the range ones so look out for that when choosing one.

 

[Zedilly]

A few things with trailer tents.

You still have to tow it......slooooowly.

They don't take up much less space (footprint) than a small caravan when packed down.

If they are wet when you pack them away you need space at home to put it up to dry when you get home.

This last one may be just me, but every trailer tent I have ever seen looks like it should be in the film "Carry on Camping"

 

[Zedilly]

If you are after a decent sized tent something like this is ideal, and a cracking price too. http://www.rutlandoutdoor.com/63719/Gel ... -Tent.html

There is even an additional porch available for extra space.

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

I grew up going camping every year in a trailer tent. It had a kitchen unit on the back that could be unclipped and placed wherever you wanted it in the front awning. It had a basic gas stove - two rings and a grill - plus a miniscule sink that never got used because of its size, but that's an early 80s design, so I'm pretty sure a modern one would be better equipped. There were four sleeping compartments, each big enough for two adults or three kids, plus a huge awning and a 6' deep porch - the thing was as big as the biggest caravans, but the trailer itself was smaller than my parents current caravan (which is only just big enough for them and their two border terriers).

They're great if you have a family but they do have most of the disadvantages of caravans: they're heavy when fully laden, need regular servicing, and need to be stored. They're easier to tow since they're not affected by high winds as much on the road. They do need to be set up, and that can require some physical strength as the tow-bar is usually located at what becomes the "back" of the tent, forcing you to drag it into position manually if the plot backs onto a fence or hedge. You also need to re-erect them to let them dry out if they're damp when packed away.

One big advantage that you don't get with caravans or all but the largest frame tents is the internal volume of the awning, especially on the very biggest trailer tents. Sometimes it's just a luxury, but occasionally it can be really useful having the extra space. My family usually went camping with two others - six adults, seven kids and a variable number of dogs, sharing two trailer tents (the other much smaller than ours) and two or three frame tents. Since my family's tent was huge compared to the others, we would often put up the smaller tents inside ours if it was raining, and then walk them out to where we wanted to pitch them. We could also do the same in reverse.

There were also occasions when the extra space meant we could shelter our friends when one of the other tents was found to have a leak.

 

[Vossy1]

Thanks for the feedback guys :thumb: Reason for not wanting a caravan, only place to put it in the back garden is in front of the kitchen window, no way :lol: whereas a trailer tent wouldn't be visible. I also have the ability to store in my garage where a caravan wouldn't fit.
We'd never considered a trailer tent until a neighbour bought one last week. I know there are massive differences in putting up times, but was quite pleasantly surprised by some, like the Camp-let (skip to about 2 mins in)
Towing speeds are bothering me for longer journeys to europe :hmm: