camping first time

[billzeebub]

I think the main thing to get right with first time camping (especially with the family) is facilities. Go for a campsite that has plentiful clean washrooms, a decent shop and things to do within walking distances. A good shop will stock all the things that you forgot about before you left home. Clean, hot and numerous showers will be the defining factor for me when heading camping. Without such facilities a couple of days will be most people's breaking point! With these I could quite happily stay all summer..

..if you subsequently decide that you like camping and would actually like a more back-to-basics experience then you know for next time. If you go somewhere basic first time out it is highly unlikely you will ever go to any campsite again if you dislike the no-frills site. Also, the first couple of times you go camping it works out quite expensive, but as you amass more equipment (folding chairs, tables, stoves, cooking utensils, windbreaks, cool boxes) it gets cheaper every time you go..

..these days I like camping trips more than almost any other holiday, worth persevering with

[TaRD]

I think this place might do, I've not been but heard very good things about it.

http://www.shellisland.co.uk/

[Nobby Diesel]

SlidingSideways said:

Wind up ones are a better bet, eliminates the possibility of the battery running out just as they need it.

A good point.
I guess I really meant, an electric lantern, as opposed to gas.

[Agoogy]

Nobby Diesel said:

A good point.
I guess I really meant, an electric lantern, as opposed to gas.

LED lanterns last for hours'n'hours'n'hours....
rechargeable AA's
solar powered charger, for the batteries, DS, phone and ipod
(plus in car charger for when you go the day's outings)

[Odie]

TaRD said:

I think this place might do, I've not been but heard very good things about it.

http://www.shellisland.co.uk/

Ive been to shell island, i thought it was too open, id rather camp in a forest.

[Porkbrain]

Bill said:

And the part of camping I love most is cooking outdoors, so take a portable BBQ

And, not wishing to put a downer on it, if you do as first-timers then don't take it inside the tent 'just to warm it up a bit', several people have died this year already from the fumes.

As other posters have said you'll be able to bodge or buy stuff you find that you need locally, keeping warm and dry is the key to happiness, wet and cold = misery

I really enjoyed camping most weekends for many years - now that I'm old and grey a motorhome is much kinder to old bones.

[BoRED S2upid]

My advice is to get drunk you will sleep much better.

[blugnu]

The one thing that revolutionised camping for us was the realisation that you don't have to use sleeping bags if you're going to the campsite in the car. An air bed with your normal bedding on is a glorious thing. Sleeping bags are godawful contraptions that always get twisted.

[condor]

MrB1obby said:

SlidingSideways said:

Not too much though. Getting up to use the toilet at 4am is no fun when it involves first getting out of a warm sleeping bag to get dressed in the cold, and then a 5 minute walk each way in the rain.
I've switched to wine, same effect, less volume

That is about the WORST thing about camping, I might try wine next time!

You could always use the washing up bowl as a makeshift potty

[mad4amanda]

I find these are the best bed mats ever!
Ihve the earlier models known as the fat Airic they now have different names:
http://www.alpkit.com/sleeping-mats/sleepzone1
well worth the investment soft and warm.

[Bill]

Porkbrain said:

And, not wishing to put a downer on it....several people have died this year already from the fumes.

Quite

[GAjon]

Posted this before re tent camping, take a woolie hats or similar to wear in bed so you can keep your head warm whilst in bed without having to put your head under the bag/duvet/covers or whatever you decide to sleep in.

[miniman]

SlidingSideways said:

Not too much though. Getting up to use the toilet at 4am is no fun when it involves first getting out of a warm sleeping bag to get dressed in the cold, and then a 5 minute walk each way in the rain.
I've switched to wine, same effect, less volume

Just go, man!



Aaahhhh that's really warm.

[Xerstead]

Also take a bunch of plactic bags/bin liners. Very usefull to sit on and stay dry or shove wet clothing in.

[durbster]

mad4amanda said:

I find these are the best bed mats ever!
Ihve the earlier models known as the fat Airic they now have different names:
http://www.alpkit.com/sleeping-mats/sleepzone1
well worth the investment soft and warm.

I'd second that. Me and the wife lived in a tent for a year and found self-inflating mattresses far better than airbeds. They're more comfortable, much warmer, take up less room (in the tent and in the car) and are a lot easier to inflate - undo tap, throw on floor.

Flip-flops are an essential camping accessory (or at least some kind of footwear you can slip on and off quickly). A couple of empty plastic bags and some kitchen roll is always useful for something too.

[condor]

I've bought a solar-pwered shower to try out. You can get them for less than a fiver - still waiting for some sun so I can try it out.

[Agoogy]

condor said:

I've bought a solar-pwered shower to try out. You can get them for less than a fiver - still waiting for some sun so I can try it out.

is that one of those black bags with a watering can nozzle on it?
hmmm....yeah...'not all that' I'm afraid.... I bet they're great on the equator during the summer season...but elsewhere....babywipes all the way.

[condor]

That's the one I'm hoping the water might get hot enough to wash my hair

[Nobby Diesel]

Stove or kelly kettle, heat some water, put it in the bag.
Done.

I would suggest that a site with a good set of amenities is the way to go though.

[condor]

I'd agree re the amenities - however, where I'm camping for FoS there's a portaloo and a cold water outside tap...and I'm there 6 days.