Too cold for camping end of April?
Discussion
If you kit yourself out appropriately, it'll be fine.
We usually do our first camping trip of the year at the end of March (although not doing it this year for many reasons!)
End of April will be practically tropical in comparison!
As long as you have a decent tent (sewn in groundsheet makes a huge difference) decent sleeping bags, and appropriate clothing, you'll be fine. Kids will just find it a huge adventure.
We usually do our first camping trip of the year at the end of March (although not doing it this year for many reasons!)
End of April will be practically tropical in comparison!
As long as you have a decent tent (sewn in groundsheet makes a huge difference) decent sleeping bags, and appropriate clothing, you'll be fine. Kids will just find it a huge adventure.
I've camped in -25 in the Himalayas, and more normally and recently in March in Wales last year 
I've got softer as I've got older, but I've found this works best:
I've got softer as I've got older, but I've found this works best:
- If you have a decent sized tent you can get tent heaters which don't give off any gases (just google them, I think Colemans make them) - just need a decent sized tent so there's no risk of knocking it over or it touching anything
- An inflatable air mattress is more comfortable but you'll get cold on the side you're laying on, so I put a foam camping mattress (thin thing you roll up) on top. I learnt this lesson the hard way after camping at Mallory a few years ago early in the season and waking up with my teeth chattering - it made the single biggest difference to staying warm at night. If you're not taking an air mattress then have a look at Thermarest (part air, part foam).
- Decent sleeping bag with a silk liner, and if you're worried and space isn't an issue pop extra blankets in, although you probably won't need them
- I pack warm clothes to sleep in - especially things like a hat for my head which pokes out the sleeping bag
I will echo the opinion already expressed in several posts here. Camping in April has a great many variables. Are you on a sheltered site, or a clifftop? Very diferent experience any time of the year! In a nut shell I would say you need a much more expensive tent for this time of year..look at things like the hydrostatic head figure..the higher the better..also the warmest Mummy sleeping bags you can find..again expensive!..heaters..hot water bottles etc....
As a camping novice with children I would recomend staying in a guest house at that time of year purely because of the cost of the warm kit you would need would be a lot more...camping in the summer months is much warmer/drier and subsequently cheaper
As a camping novice with children I would recomend staying in a guest house at that time of year purely because of the cost of the warm kit you would need would be a lot more...camping in the summer months is much warmer/drier and subsequently cheaper
billzeebub said:
Are you on a sheltered site, or a clifftop? Very diferent experience any time of the year! In a nut shell I would say you need a much more expensive tent for this time of year..look at things like the hydrostatic head figure..the higher the better..also the warmest Mummy sleeping bags you can find..again expensive!..heaters..hot water bottles etc....
Whilst this isn't TentHeads: Camping Matters, if you are on a site that could potentially suffer from winds, then it is worth investing in decent tent pegs.http://www.deltagroundanchors.co.uk/
Worth every penny.
I pitch my tents using these, and we have camped in some extreme conditions, and whilst the tent will still blow about, it won't move.
One morning we got up after a night of gales (why do they always happen in the middle of the night?!) to find at least five tents flattened and ripped apart, and two in the next field keeping the cows company.......
We use airbeds rather than camping mats, and place fleece blankets (Ikea's finest!) underneath them - it is amazing what a difference something as simple as that can make.
Lemmonie, could you post the make and model of your tent? Can then give a genuine answer as to whether it is a tent fit for early season camping.
Edited by Meeja on Friday 11th March 17:57
Meeja said:
billzeebub said:
Are you on a sheltered site, or a clifftop? Very diferent experience any time of the year! In a nut shell I would say you need a much more expensive tent for this time of year..look at things like the hydrostatic head figure..the higher the better..also the warmest Mummy sleeping bags you can find..again expensive!..heaters..hot water bottles etc....
Whilst this isn't TentHeads: Camping Matters, if you are on a site that could potentially suffer from winds, then it is worth investing in decent tent pegs.http://www.deltagroundanchors.co.uk/
Worth every penny.
I pitch my tents using these, and we have camped in some extreme conditions, and whilst the tent will still blow about, it won't move.
One morning we got up after a night of gales (why do they always happen in the middle of the night?!) to find at least five tents flattened and ripped apart, and two in the next field keeping the cows company.......
We use airbeds rather than camping mats, and place fleece blankets (Ikea's finest!) underneath them - it is amazing what a difference something as simple as that can make.
Lemmonie, could you post the make and model of your tent? Can then give a genuine answer as to whether it is a tent fit for early season camping.
Edited by Meeja on Friday 11th March 17:57
Both look good.
Have camped in all weathers with our children and yes, it will be cold at the end of April.
Invested in a couple of decent child-sized sleeping bags a couple of years back which was worth every penny (about £40-45 each IIRC). Camping heaters are great for relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening but tent temperature will fall rapidly once they're turned off. Large tents retain almost no heat; compact tents are much better for this. If you plan for the bedroom area being almost as cold as outside you won't go far wrong.
It may sound unromantic but since we started camping with little ones we've had them sharing the bedroom area with us so this year I get the 4YO and my wife gets the 2YO (probably the last year we need to do this) - both children have a habit of ditching all bedclothes early in the night then waking up freezing. I still remember wrestling a screaming 2YO back into her sleeping bag at around 3am and holding her there until she warmed up and accepted it was a good idea. It's also much easier to manage toilet visits this way, although you may want to invest in night-time pull-ups from the outset as a backup.
Check out somewhere like ukcampsite.net for forums, site & kit recommendations etc.
Invested in a couple of decent child-sized sleeping bags a couple of years back which was worth every penny (about £40-45 each IIRC). Camping heaters are great for relaxing with a glass of wine in the evening but tent temperature will fall rapidly once they're turned off. Large tents retain almost no heat; compact tents are much better for this. If you plan for the bedroom area being almost as cold as outside you won't go far wrong.
It may sound unromantic but since we started camping with little ones we've had them sharing the bedroom area with us so this year I get the 4YO and my wife gets the 2YO (probably the last year we need to do this) - both children have a habit of ditching all bedclothes early in the night then waking up freezing. I still remember wrestling a screaming 2YO back into her sleeping bag at around 3am and holding her there until she warmed up and accepted it was a good idea. It's also much easier to manage toilet visits this way, although you may want to invest in night-time pull-ups from the outset as a backup.
Check out somewhere like ukcampsite.net for forums, site & kit recommendations etc.
I'll echo the comments above - the biggest difference for me was getting a decent sleeping bag - a very nice 4 season Snugpak off ebay. Before that I had quite a cheap Vango one, which was pretty poor.
Over the years we've also built up quite a collection of things to make life more comfortable - comfy chairs, large airbeds, electic air pump, kitchen stand, large gas hobs, wind breaks, large portable barbeque, heaters, tables, chairs, insulated cups, plastic wine glasses, collection of pots and pans, cutlery, a very large tent (we had a 6 berth when it was just the 2 of us), etc etc - all stored in 3 folding plastic boxes in the garage, so if we wanted to go camping we just got our clothes together and stuck the 3 boxes in the car. From making the decision to go camping we could be out of the door in 10 mins.
If you're going camping in the car you may as well squeeze in as many creature comforts in as humanly possible. We've got the Thermrests, 2kg 2 man tent, trangia stove, etc, etc which is great if you're going hiking. But if I'm in the car I'd much rather be on a king size airbed with a goose down duvet under me whilst in my 4 season sleeping bag.
Last year we took our kids camping round the Western Fjords of Iceland, they were 8 months and 24 months at the time. The pair of them loved it - we just had them thoroughly wrapped up in large eiderdown duvets, rather than sleeping bags. however, the 24hr sunlight did present some issues when trying to get them to sleep. We're currently searching for a new family tent and a dark sleeping area is a big consideration for us.
Over the years we've also built up quite a collection of things to make life more comfortable - comfy chairs, large airbeds, electic air pump, kitchen stand, large gas hobs, wind breaks, large portable barbeque, heaters, tables, chairs, insulated cups, plastic wine glasses, collection of pots and pans, cutlery, a very large tent (we had a 6 berth when it was just the 2 of us), etc etc - all stored in 3 folding plastic boxes in the garage, so if we wanted to go camping we just got our clothes together and stuck the 3 boxes in the car. From making the decision to go camping we could be out of the door in 10 mins.
If you're going camping in the car you may as well squeeze in as many creature comforts in as humanly possible. We've got the Thermrests, 2kg 2 man tent, trangia stove, etc, etc which is great if you're going hiking. But if I'm in the car I'd much rather be on a king size airbed with a goose down duvet under me whilst in my 4 season sleeping bag.
Last year we took our kids camping round the Western Fjords of Iceland, they were 8 months and 24 months at the time. The pair of them loved it - we just had them thoroughly wrapped up in large eiderdown duvets, rather than sleeping bags. however, the 24hr sunlight did present some issues when trying to get them to sleep. We're currently searching for a new family tent and a dark sleeping area is a big consideration for us.
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