Yep! another new camper

[Laurie]

Hi,
Just bought a new tent. We're cutting back this year and have decided to get back to nature (well, a little bit) and country pub bar meals.

I'm a graphic designer and my other halve is a nursery nurse. Obviously we are new to camping and are still looking at equipment, so my first post will be asking for advice on essential equipment.

Laurie & Jenny

[Boris]

Hi Laurie and welcome to the forum.

We tend to travel light (Mainly because we don't have much room in the car) so it's

Tent (Need this)
Hammer
Sleeping Bags
Air Beds / Roll mats
Credit Card

Well not quite We also take something to sit on, a small suitcase type stove to make tea and coffees and a fry-up for breakfast. Lights to read by and towels, toiletries and clothes.

Like you we tend to eat in pubs at night.

We also take spare guy line cord and some gaffer tape just in case

If heading to the highlands of Scotland don't forget the Deet for the midgies.

I'm sure there is more byt it escapes me just now. We always forget something but we just make do. It's all part of the fun.

Out of interest what tent did you buy and where do you fancy camping about?

[Laurie]

Hi Boris

We've just bought a Vango Tigra 400. There's Jenny and myself and the two whippets. We are thinking of visiting a reasonable local site next weekend 'Golden Square' in Helmsley as a test run.

We need more equipment though. We have, the tent, sleeping bags and a cool box. No cooking gear or table yet. There's probably more we need.

Laurie

[Boris]

Hi Boris

We've just bought a Vango Tigra 400. There's Jenny and myself and the two whippets. We are thinking of visiting a reasonable local site next weekend 'Golden Square' in Helmsley as a test run.

We need more equipment though. We have, the tent, sleeping bags and a cool box. No cooking gear or table yet. There's probably more we need.

Laurie

We don't have a table as most sites we visit have nearby picnic tables that you can use or even move around if you want. We do have a cupboard and that has a worktop that we can use to prepare food before cooking. Cooking wise we use one of these suitcase stoves that cost a tenner or so. See What stove do you have? for other options.

Do get something to sleep on. Sleeping on the ground is for the hardy and its cold and for me leads to a miserable nights sleep. A double airbed is cheap and will make all the difference.

The Tigris is a good tent. You have chosen well there.

[DaveS]

We are thinking of visiting a reasonable local site next weekend 'Golden Square' in Helmsley as a test run.

Good idea.

[Jenna]

hi Laurie & Jenny.

Thing I would say is before you spend any money go visit a campsite and have a walk round, decide what sort of camping is for you and then chat with the campers that have that sort of gear... ( and obviously with us here too!), Camping is like buying a car.. do i buy a hatchback, estate, or maybe a rag top.. ahhh but do i want petrol or diesel or maybe lpg... until you narrow down what you want you will be chasing your tail!!!

I am very much in the keep it simple camp, invest in a decent sleeping bag and a good mat (remember you can use two mats on top of each other!) as nothing is worse than a bad nights sleep. I never like to rely on pubs so a stove is as essential to me as the mat and bag!

Been camping off and on for 20+ years and cant say i have ever bought a larder/cupboard thingy but I did invest in some action-packer cases many years ago which i cant recommend enough, they are suitcases, chairs, tables, chuck in a cool pack and they work as a short term fridge etc etc they also mean you can pack a lot more into the car as you can stack the cases!

Another great item is a bladder water bag (especially if your dogs get through water like ours!) I use a 10 litre bag which can fold down to the size of a big box of matches when empty, it also sort of molds itself to fit in gaps when its filled up unlike the equivelent five 2 litre water bottles!

action packer cases..
ortlieb water bag...

[Laurie]

Hi

First off, thanks for all the advice, it was really helpful.

Our first weekend away was pretty successful. As Jenny was working I had to organise and load the car. I was still waiting for the gas and stove, thankfully they arrived about a hour before setting off.

It was an extremely windy evening when I was attempting to pitch the tent and to make matters worse the ground was full of stones. Most of the pegs had multiple attempts and lots were bend but after a couple of hours I managed it. Should have been 20mins.

We started filling the tent with the equipment - and guess what - I forgot the chairs! We had a good time though and everyting worked well.

We are off again in July for 4 nights this time.

Laurie

[DaveS]

Excellent

At least it was only the chairs you forgot. Our extended family is full of tales of what was left behind when camping.

My mat was left behind a few months back when we went away, then before that sleeping bags were forgotten, then air beds!
Brains like a sieve!
Need a list. Oh we've got one.... but still forget things.