My Obsessive Camping Page

Thought I'd best put all my camping stuff together so it's a) easy to find and b) easy to avoid

I'm probably lying, some camping stuff will crop up on the main home page

Links you should visit >>>

The one where I do Wild Camping

Post about a Summer #Twentup meeting 

A post where I painted Barry! a once tatty tent, now glorious ;-)

 The one where I love camping

My (never complete) list of camping essentials  

Tent

Beds - we take inflatables as they are comfiest - but after some puncture issues we take camp beds too as backup!

Sleeping bags, the proper expensive warm sort, trust me on this one.

Spare covers/duvets/throws/ blankets - a random assortment for cold evenings/nights (a duvet UNDER your sleeping bag is advised as a lot of the cold is from the ground not the air, even when you have a camp bed!)

Chairs

A Waterproof rug for lounging on

Folding Table

Penknife - with can and bottle openers!

Torches

Lantern

Cooking equipment (UPDATE!! DH bought me a  STORM KETTLE, for Christmas!!! YAY!)

• Tin opener and Bottle opener!!
• Melamine plates, cups, bowls etc
• Knives, forks, spoons, spatula, wooden spoon, Penknife (makes you feel all 'mountain man' as you slice the cheese)
• frying pan, saucepan
• stove - with spare gas cans
• food - all sorts of lovely things from pot noodles to fresh eggs and bacon....stir fry noodles etc Canned stuff is great as no fridge needed and heats fast, canned hot dogs, chilli, macaroni cheese etc. Beer, wine, Tins of ready mixed Pims or G&T (perfect for 'no glass' sites and festivals) cartons of juice for the kid(s) cold snacks, biscuits, fruit
• Kettle - mine whistles!
• Camp toaster - love love love this!
• Water container

Small flexi trug/tub-great for washing or washing up - easy to carry (handles! Only a couple of pounds each in Asda/Tesco, we take a couple) , cloths, pegs, washing up liquid. 

Wet Wipes

Hand sanitiser gel
Suntan Cream/Lotion

Toilet roll

Clothes including coats and shoes! Crocs for wet days.More jumpers than you think you will need, and woolly hats - don't be afraid to wear a hat at night if it's chilly)

Toys, frisbee, ball, books to read, wordsearches, (quiz books and joke books are good for kids on wet days and fun for beer swilling adults of an evening) DS (not often!) MP3 player, phone(and spare power pack)

Solar powered fairy lights, get some fabulous bargains on ebay
Bunting, make your own or buy some - there is bunting for every taste - even pirate bunting for the boys (and the less girly girls)

Flag pole and fabulous flag/windsock. Essential for a festival - fun for a campsite, handy landmark for the kids. I use SkyBlue Leisure but also try Ebay for bargains.

Towels, washing bits and bobs, hairbrush, soap, toothbrush, shampoo (we take Lush solid shampoo - so no spills!)
Bin bag roll, great for rubbish (obviously) but also good for wet clothes/shoes or for sitting on, or for keeping things dry if the tent drips! 

We also take a Ploo (or ShitBox) as an optional extra and have invested in SheeWees and bags for next festival. We have not used either - they are 'just in case of emergency' ;-)

And now, onto..... My tent(s).

I have liked camping since I was small but didn't camp for years. Recently the whim struck and as my daughter was (then) about 8 I thought it a good time to start again. Hubby, not so keen, decided to let it be a 'girl's hobby' and stay well clear!

I obtained a tent via the generosity of my local Freecycle Group and we were off!!

But as any camper knows, camp equipment just 'needs' to be bought....

gradually we added, beds, sleeping bags (first time out we had bed rolls and a duvet!) a small cooker, a table, some chairs, pots and pans, a Swiss army pen knife, etc etc

But lovely as the tent (named Nigel Nylon, above)) was, it wasn't perfect, and I kept seeing other cooler tents when we camped, I had tent envy!!! (dun dun Duu-uu-uu-n!!!)

So I investigated the tent I loved, it was (it transpired) a Dutch Pyramid Style, in canvas, specifically the Cabanon Guadeloupe. Sadly this costs over £500 new, so I resigned myself to envy and then..............Ebay!

I managed to get a bargain! In fact due to obsessive tent lust and wild bidding I got 2 bargains. And I now own a Cabanon Guadeloupe (well he's technically a Pyramide IV but looks like pretty much the same tent without the sun canopy, and with a different inner) (£50 +p&p), and a Bari 3, (£20) , which have been named Wilfrid, and Barry respectively.

Below is (for the geeks and new guadeloupe/pyramide owners) a step by step photo guide to Wilfrid's erection (snigger).

First 'the body  tent in the bag'

Which needs unpacking

Then the outer needs to be laid flat into a rough square and the corners pegged down.

Crawling inside the tent with the centre pole and pulling it into position gives an instant 'morning glory' effect!

Adding the two front poles and the pole that supports above the door and the tent is almost done! Just a few guy lines to peg down and tighten.

The inner (sleeping areas with sewn in ground sheet) is easy to put in, it just needs to be spread out....

and then suspended from the centre pole and hooked to the edge hooks around the inside of the tent.

And you are pretty much done! (20 minutes on a calm sunny day - longer in the rain I should imagine!)

Just add a couple of seats and some beer, jobs a good'n

(can't see the beer? In the hands of the camera woman probably!)

and so Barry doesn't feel ignored

 

Here he is in the back garden, with Wilfrid in the background

The Guardian Newspaper's Travel Section on Camping - a great resource (click)