If a friend of mine was thinking about taking up camping, I'd lend them our older tent and other kit for a weekend so they could try it out without spending anything on equipment.
A lot of people find that things they'd never even considered mean that it's not for them - insects, trek to the lavs/showers, hearing every noise (one of my friends spent two nights absolutely terrified of every sound and says she will never sleep under canvas again, not even if her house was destroyed in an earthquake - it had never occurred to her that there might be a sound insulation issue!), cooking outside in the rain and so on.
I'd be peed off if I wasted even £100 on kit for something I only did once.
I friend who has never camped before until last sunday, bought the 4 man tent starter pack from argos for 89.99. The tent withheld the gail force winds we had the first night, which i was surprised about. The got 2 regatte double airbeds, which seemed fine. 2 single and 1 double regatta sleeping bags, which was alot thicker than the cheapie tesco's ones. They also got a light, which didnt work, and a suit case stove.
I didnt think much of the tent tbh, but thats only cos i dont like vis a vis tents, and i like to be able to stand up too. But the main thing is they enjoyed themselves, and even if they didnt, they still can use the airbeds and bags when they have friends stayiing over, and if there is a power cut they have a stove to boil a kettle and a light to be able to see. So if you work out what all that would normally cost, then the tent is only a few quid.
There are lots of discussions on here about things you could take from home rather than buying new - own cooking pots, old plates you may not mind breaking (or just cheap plastic picnic sets), duvets and blankets.
Borrowing is a good idea, as lots of people have tents tucked away in their lofts even if they aren;t always camping (or on this forum on a daily basis ).
I would lend one of our tents to a friend if they wanted to try it out - though probably with a contract for them to report any accidental damage and repair if necessary (contribute to cost of new tent if not), they must dry it to bone dry before returning and within 2 days of using it, clean all the mud off etc etc.
lots of good and useful advice here, and I think used camp gear is so cheap these days it does make a lot of sense if you are on a tight budget and have a rough idea what you are looking for - you get cheap and quality
Gumtree can be great, ebay only good if it is local so you can see stuff and/or avoid postage
curious to know what thoughts/views the new campers have about their needs:
How many people need to fit in the tent and how will it be moved about (assume car, but how much space?).
Is this a try it to see if we like it (in which case borrow some kit) or is it the plan to have a few weekends away on the cheap or . . .
Near self sufficient at really basic sites, spot of luxury on organised site (which could cost near same as your first set up) - affects extra kit rather than tent choice
Exposed coastal sites ? Out of season camping (much quieter in November) - will influence tent choice
Is it just going camping or do you like 'an experience' or nice gear? (we are what you might call 'retro canvas' campers, we have friends who wild camp)
We learnt best by looking at displays/gear and talking to people who use it (even wandering through nearby campsites). Then thinking about what sort of camping we wanted before just buying something to get started (first tent was a £20 nylon 3 man ridge) and going from there
Best kit we ever bought were decent self inflating mats but in truth nearly all our gear is still useful as we knew why we were choosing it
I have a little RiverDome 4 man tent from Argos, for garden camping, and last year it stood up very well to torrental rain, and strong winds. It was up for over a week as it was too wet to take it down. But would not like to say that all Argos tents would be that good. It is a hard call - because if the stuff is poor quality it could spoil your friends enjoyment - but if the quality is not bad, then it could be the ideal first step to see if she likes camping> We were lucky because our stuff came in a starter pack from a local camping shop - and although we replaced the tent the following season that is because it was too small. In our innocense we saw 4 people/four man tent. what we had not considered was a living area - something we found out was a must have, one very wet weekend. Being stuck with two young kids, unable to move without falling over each other, while it was sheeting it down was not fun. I now tell people who are considering buying a tent, to make sure that it has somewhere to sit it the weatehr is bad.
The regatta range in argos doesn't seem so bad, better than the halfords range anyway. We've seen loads of those and i wouldn't even want to get changed in one of those the material is so flimsy and you can more or less she right thru.
Go outdoors have offers on from time to time their 2.99 sleeping bags are crap, the airbeds are alright when cheap (we use self inflating mats now) so even if you went to a well know camping store such as them you could still end up buying tat.
I don't think i'd have a problem with the regatta range but we camp from April and finish usually in October so it personally wouldn't suit us, but from what i've seen on the sites they seem decent enough and anyone thats starting off camping learns and builds their stash up as they go along.
------------- "Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring -- it was peace."
--Milan Kundera
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Quality v Cost
).
