| Camping Advice 13:09 - Jun 21 with 3567 views | DubaiR |
Looking for some wisdom and advice from the good people here.
Always been more of a proper holiday kinda person and that will continue. But I have just ordered a pop up 4 berth tent as thought would be great on the odd weekend to get the kids in the car and head somewhere to pitch up.
Booked our first 3 night park up and pitch break in July.
As a complete novive what do you recommend? What are the essentials I should look at getting beforehand etc?
Thanks in advance |  | | |  |
| Camping Advice on 16:17 - Jun 21 with 1199 views | MrSheen |
| Camping Advice on 16:06 - Jun 21 by DubaiR |
Tom, Selected a camp site on the devon coast, 70 quid for 3 nights pitch your own tent but has washing up facilities, shower and toilet. It's right on the beach so could be a great natural escape, could be a disaster...time will tell |
Woolly hat for sleeping in.
If you have a fire pit, pitch your tent in the direction that appears upwind of it. Embers can come down and burn a hole in the tent roof (in my experience!). |  | | |
| Camping Advice on 16:23 - Jun 21 with 1195 views | Mick_S |
| Camping Advice on 16:14 - Jun 21 by stowmarketrange |
As konk says,try it out in your garden first.There’s nothing more stressful than trying to put up a new tent when you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing,especially if it’s raining or you got stuck in traffic and it’s getting dark.And your camping neighbours will be sitting in their loungers laughing at your feeble attempt at pitching it.
Also it gets a little nippy at night so it’s better to have extra bedding if you need it rather than freeze because you haven’t.And air the bedding during the day or you might find it a little damp when you use it at night.
Good luck. |
We used to put our tent up on the kids’ trampoline. Saved a fortune. My dog loved it. [Post edited 21 Jun 2021 16:24]
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| Did I ever mention that I was in Minder? |
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| Camping Advice on 16:57 - Jun 21 with 1154 views | Sharpy36 |
As at time of writing this we`re only allowed to do the Falklands war island tour, why not book up to that along with all your new camping gear and get the full experience and spend a few nights under the stars up in Goose green. Then on your return dig a big hole and bury the lot and go on a proper holiday. |  |
| 'You didn't know that was wrong, but now you do. If you do it again, I'll know you are doing it on purpose.' |
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| Camping Advice on 17:26 - Jun 21 with 1119 views | ted_hendrix |
I've crashed out in tents in Western Germany, Norway, Libya and bloody Salisbury Plain and the bastard Brecon Beacons.
I can confirm that I cant recommend crashing out in a bleeding tent.
Makes no difference how near the beach is tent life is shyte. |  |
| My Father had a profound influence on me, he was a lunatic. |
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| Camping Advice on 17:48 - Jun 21 with 1096 views | Konk |
| Camping Advice on 17:26 - Jun 21 by ted_hendrix |
I've crashed out in tents in Western Germany, Norway, Libya and bloody Salisbury Plain and the bastard Brecon Beacons.
I can confirm that I cant recommend crashing out in a bleeding tent.
Makes no difference how near the beach is tent life is shyte. |
I hated camping as a kid because tents were s hit at keeping the weather out - you either got soaked or boiled. We didn’t have built-in groundsheets, and they were single skin. Ground mats were about as much use as kipping on a crisp packet. Sleeping bags were rubbish, facilities were rubbish and the bogs were poking by about 3 hours into your stay. Completely different experience these days if you have decent equipment, a car to ferry creature-comforts from home, and a good campsite. Throw in a nice pub within walking distance and I love camping with friends. |  |
| Fulham FC: It's the taking part that counts |
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| Camping Advice on 18:20 - Jun 21 with 1071 views | Dixie_CT |
Hire a camper van 🚠|  | | |
| Camping Advice on 18:38 - Jun 21 with 1053 views | R_from_afar |
| Camping Advice on 16:14 - Jun 21 by stowmarketrange |
As konk says,try it out in your garden first.There’s nothing more stressful than trying to put up a new tent when you haven’t got a clue what you’re doing,especially if it’s raining or you got stuck in traffic and it’s getting dark.And your camping neighbours will be sitting in their loungers laughing at your feeble attempt at pitching it.
Also it gets a little nippy at night so it’s better to have extra bedding if you need it rather than freeze because you haven’t.And air the bedding during the day or you might find it a little damp when you use it at night.
Good luck. |
"And your camping neighbours will be sitting in their loungers laughing at your feeble attempt at pitching it".
Oh yes! Years ago, three mates and I went camping to Cornwall. We travelled in two separate groups for some reason I can't recall, with me and one mate arriving, with the tent, the day before the other two. The only problem was that the tent that us two in the advanced guard were trying to put up was a) second hand and did not come with any instructions b) belonged to one of the lads arriving the following day. Net net: We hadn't a clue how to put that tent up and it took ages.
When we finally sussed it, our neighbours gave us a rousing but sarcastic round of applause grrrrr 
I had a bit of a 'mare at the start of one cycle camping trip in the Massif Central in France. After cycling over several passes in the rain, we arrived at the campsite soaking wet at around 9pm. The campsite shower block was utterly grim and neither of us could face washing in it. The next day was also wet and involved lots of serious uphill sections so we were really looking forward to crashing out at the next campsite and having a hot shower. We reached the village the campsite was in but were struggling to find it so we asked a passer-by. He directed us down a rough track to what looked like a recreation ground. There was one caravan (which looked abandoned), a chilly, wind-blasted shower block which had no external doors (!) and absolutely nothing else. No people, no tents, no other facilities. Great. So we pitched the tent, went to bed unwashed and made the best of it.
Upon leaving the village the next morning, we started grinding up a long hill only to spot a large, modern campsite with tents, a shop, and people. We checked the Michelin guide again and to our horror discovered that the village actually had two campsites, the fly-blown God forsaken place we had stayed and the four star place in front of us. We were not amused but made up for it that evening by heading to a very luxurious campsite with modern facilities where we were finally able to get hot showers and have a big slap-up meal, with plenty of wine  |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| Camping Advice on 18:39 - Jun 21 with 1052 views | hantssi |
| Camping Advice on 14:40 - Jun 21 by Juzzie |
If you do have to go outside in the pouring rain to do something (hammering in tent pegs, chasing down blown away fly-sheets etc) wear as little as possible, swimming trunks mainly. I know it seems counter intuitive (unless it's freezing cold) but when you get back in the tent you just dry yourself off and change your trunks.
if you wear coats, galoshes, boots etc you're just getting them soaked and bringing them back into the tent with you. |
Juzzie, that’s actually very good advice, used to do the same when I was younger, it’s far easier to dry yourself than clothes! |  | | |
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| Camping Advice on 19:47 - Jun 21 with 1003 views | WokingR |
It depends what age your kids are as they’ll either think it’s the coolest adventure or they’ll hate you and never talk to you again.
Most people try it once but there’s a reason people don’t go back again. |  | | |
| Camping Advice on 20:01 - Jun 21 with 985 views | distortR |
| Camping Advice on 18:39 - Jun 21 by hantssi |
Juzzie, that’s actually very good advice, used to do the same when I was younger, it’s far easier to dry yourself than clothes! |
i'd go further then Juzzie - why wear swimming trunks?
Yeah, you get fined but that is more then made up for by being banned from all camp sites in the area. | | | |
| Camping Advice on 23:57 - Jun 21 with 910 views | SimonJames |
Essentials include "a sense of humour". So to get you started...
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| 100% of people who drink water will die. |
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| Camping Advice on 10:35 - Jun 22 with 821 views | BklynRanger |
| Camping Advice on 16:06 - Jun 21 by DubaiR |
Tom, Selected a camp site on the devon coast, 70 quid for 3 nights pitch your own tent but has washing up facilities, shower and toilet. It's right on the beach so could be a great natural escape, could be a disaster...time will tell |
One positive about camping near a beach is you usually get a good amount of white noise from the sea. Always worth thinking about. Sounds like you've made a good start on it all anyway, Dubai. I've yet to crack camping in this country since coming back tbh. Konk's post about doing it with friends and having a pub nearby is spot on though.
When you're doing your testing in the garden you might want to look at setting up a tarp at the entrance to the tent - basically whatever the best way is to create a decent sized porch to sit under. I did about 2 weeks of research on that before going to Iceland in August - pure lockdown boredom stuff - bought pneumatic poles, screw-in pegs, para cord, all of that.
In the end the poles didn't fit in the suitcase and the weather was great the whole time (which was a shock to everyone including the locals) but the planning was good fun. |  | | |
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