First time camping. What do I need. (Silverstone F1)

[48Valves]

Hi,

My lovely wife has got a family 3 Day ticket for the F1 next year. Kids will be 6 & 8. Shes also booked camping in the family bit of Woodlands with no electricity.

Whilst all this is very good. The only bit of camping equipment I own, is a £13 2 man tent in the garden that the kids play in.

Whilst I could borrow a tent and other equipment needed, the wife has said she would like to buy a tent and associated stuff to do more camping in the future.

She then started to show me a Tesco 6 man tent that was £59! Discussions were stopped at that point.

What is a reasonable tent? I was thinking of an inflatable tent to make setting up and packing away as simple as possible.

So what else do I need for the experience to be remotely enjoyable and as stress free as possible?

thanks

[ColinM50]

Good luck to you esp if the weather turns wet. Don't think you're going to get a decent tent and all the add-on stuff you need within that budget. And then as a first tme camper you'll have quite a learning curve and with all the distractions IMHO it has the makings of a real disaster.

Have you thought of hiring a caravan or better still a motorhome? Looking at this website they CLAIM £80 a day but I don't believe that for the dates you want it, but might be worth a call?

http://www.ambermotorhomes.co.uk/

[Quickmoose]

A good 5 man tent
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-52-family-tent-...
A double inflatable mattress + double sleeping bag
2 single inflatable mattresses + 2 sleeping bags
(Decathlon seem a great place to get it all in one hit)
4 pillows
4 camping chairs
2 battery powered LED lights
travel rug
a bin bag
some baby wipes
toothbrush
toothpaste
weather relevant clothes/shoes + 1 full set left dry in the car
Phone/phone chargers

That'll get ya started...

[48Valves]

I looked at camper vans but they were expensive for the dates.

The budget will be significantlying more and we'll be doing a few trips before.

[SpeckledJim]

You have the luxury of time, so set up a local search for camping kit on eBay.

Camping stuff rarely gets used much, and lots of job-lots of dead-fad camping kit gets listed at a fraction of the new price.

For a couple of hundred quid you can amass a very respectable set of camping clobber.

Buy a few job lots, keep what you like, and re-list what you don't.

ETA: the very minimum you need for a family of 4 is a 7-8 man tent.

"My tent is too spacious."

Said no camper, ever. Especially one who took his kids with him.

[LordHaveMurci]

SpeckledJim said:

You have the luxury of time, so set up a local search for camping kit on eBay.

Camping stuff rarely gets used much, and lots of job-lots of dead-fad camping kit gets listed at a fraction of the new price.

For a couple of hundred quid you can amass a very respectable set of camping clobber.

Buy a few job lots, keep what you like, and re-list what you don't.

This is good advice.

You'll need a 6-8 man tent ideally, a double SIM (self inflating mat) & 2 x singles - air beds are complete rubbish.

Our kids use sleeping bags, my OH & I use a double duvet, you'll also need pillows.

A decent LED light (seen people on here use 12v LED strips run off a car battery),, headtorches are very useful.

A gas hob/stove with a few basic pans/kettle/utensils, table & some chairs.

We take a BBQ, not an essential but nice to have.

Flip flops or similar for walking around, a big pot in case you or kids need to pee in the night.

[CypSIdders]

Well I've got a "6 man" tent, it's comfortable for 2 people plus equipment!
Take any reference to the number of people a tent can accomodate with a pinch of salt!

Go to somewhere that has the tents set up, in store, you'll get an idea of what you're buying!
Get a tent you can stand up in, crawling around in the cold, dark and damp is not fun!

Take the essentials, as mentioned above, plus a cheap stove, to at least make some hot drinks, rather than paying the "Event" prices.

Camped at the MotoGP before, although in the noisy area, great fun, although you are packed in like sardines!
Get there early, and get a decent amount of space to set up camp!

[BoRED S2upid]

Another with a berghaus 4 man inflatable tent or at least 50% ownership of it, think it was £500 ish and I'm informed that's it's great.

[ATG]

How rigid are the inflatable tents? Are they OK when the wind picks up?

[Quickmoose]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-756310-inflatable-ten...

Really good tents these...

[GAjon]

For Silverstone and the likes a waterproof pop up gazebo with sides is worth taking, if you have space. Gives you somewhere to set up for cooking, eating and sitting around even if the weathers bad.
Make sure you tie it down well though they get blown over easily and you won't be around for many hours in the day during the event.
I also took a gas bbq, and a calor gas heater, essential for the British summer.

Make sure you don't use any gas or flame equipment in a tent and even be careful in a gazebo.

[48Valves]

Thanks guys. Lots of hood ideas.

The decathlon tents look ideal and aren't too expensive.

[Rosscow]

Now is a superb time to get camping bargains on eBay. That would be my first port of call.

[48Valves]

Rosscow said:

Now is a superb time to get camping bargains on eBay. That would be my first port of call.

I've been looking on eBay. I presumed that I should get a job lot of gear for a bargin over the winter.

[LordHaveMurci]

48Valves said:

Rosscow said:

Now is a superb time to get camping bargains on eBay. That would be my first port of call.

I've been looking on eBay. I presumed that I should get a job lot of gear for a bargin over the winter.

Probably better off building a list then setting up saved searches on the Bay & Gumtree etc for the items on your wish list to come up.

May even find some end of season bargains brand new, especially using discount codes & websites etc (we get 15% from Cotswold Outdoor for example).

[Rosscow]

Personally I'd go for a quality used tent over a cheaper new inflatable.

Something like this will be good:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vango-Maritsa-500-tent-n...

[Rosscow]

Or this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vango-500-DLX-Zambezi-Te...

[Quickmoose]

No substitute for higher quality .

But from personal experience the inflatable range from Decathlon, or at least the 3 man I bought, is very well made indeed, and the fact that you can erect the thing single handedly in under a minute or two is a bonus, especially if the weather isn't playing ball...

Also...just an idea to kick about.... at 6 & 8 (or 7 & 9 by the time you get going) get two tents, adults and kids or his and hers...

[48Valves]

Quickmoose said:

No substitute for higher quality .

But from personal experience the inflatable range from Decathlon, or at least the 3 man I bought, is very well made indeed, and the fact that you can erect the thing single handedly in under a minute or two is a bonus, especially if the weather isn't playing ball...

Also...just an idea to kick about.... at 6 & 8 (or 7 & 9 by the time you get going) get two tents, adults and kids or his and hers...

I did suggest a tent for them them and one for me

I'll be going for an air tent. I'm not keen on the idea of camping as it is, so I need to make it as easy as possible to get set up.

I do like the idea of buying new gadgets though.

[CoolCurly]

Id pop into Go Outdoors and check out some of the deals that they will start to have being end of season. They are usually errected up and you can see what the area is like inside. Find one you like the look of and take it home. Practise a couple of times in the garden when its dry putting it up, and taking it down/packing it away before you head off out.

Silverstone is well late in the sunny tent friendly time of year and if your planning to do more than 1 or 2 trips (you'll get hooked specially with kids) then there are a few things that you'll need but some more that others.

AirBeds - you can get stupid cheap at Go Outdoors all year round. However after mine went down a few times I reinvested in a better one.
Camping Cooker - Took a gas BBQ the first time single hob with a gas canister - it was great for boiling the kettle for the tea, or doing a load of sausages but anything outside of that you were done. So look at a foldable camping stove. More you spend, the longer it should last.
Sleeping Bags. Get thick ones as even in the summer sometimes the nights get cold - you can always use them as blanket/douvet rather then getting into it. Warm Kids sleep better.
Light - get a couple of good camping lights for the tent and grab some Solar LED lights for the outside (makes finding the tent easier when walking back as drunk as a skunk in the evening.
Chairs - you'll need a good camping chair - something not too heavy but something you can sit on during the relaxing times. For the F1 if you get one that folds into a bag even better as its much cheaper than the Grandstand seats at Silverstone! :-)
Table - good to eat your food from in the evenings but not 100% needed if only doing it once.
Folding Cupboard - something to keep the "stuff" in to keep the tent tidy.
Mallet - to thump the pegs into the grass

You can spend a little, or you can spent alot. I always suggest starting slow with the essentials and then if you get the bug add to it with more or better.

Caravan and Camping show is at the NEC next month and the accessories area is amazing.

I started with a tent, and now on the second caravan! Proper Family time when your all outside. Enjoy mate!!!