We have the Hi Gear Portable Toilet, which you can pick up from Go Outdoors for £15. With a 6 yr old son, it's a godsend when he wakes in the night needing a call of nature! We have a strict "only number ones" rule though! Cleaning wise, it's very easy and, as others have said, you can store stuff inside when loading the car up :)
I hadn't thought of the sun lotion.... Mind you we haven't had much need for it this year... Here's hoping August will be a scorcher though so I'm not pitching the tent in the rain
Quote: Originally posted by Hacksaw Bob on 05/6/2013
There's another checklist on here with plenty of suggestions (you won't need everything on every trip!).
We've got the Kampa khaki, think its been used once by our 5 year old. If you've got boys I'd just buy a bucket. The Kampa takes up quite a bit of room.
------------- 2013
Easter - Thorpe park tin tent
May bank - Saxdale
Whitsun - Nantcol
June - Studfold
July - Priests house, Barden's back garden ;-)
July- 4 vents Paris for euro Disney
Aug - Saxdale
Aug- high straggleton farm
Aug BH - Studfold
Sept - Stratford
Oct - Masons
NYE -saxdale (eeeek)
Having camped a lot as a child, I've recently rediscovered camping, this time with my own daughter in tow. Last summer we did the odd couple of nights quite locally, and this August we are off to the New Forest for 4 nights. Two months to go, but can't wait!!
Last year we pretty much camped au natural with a tent, BBQ, SIM's,torch, sleeping bags & not a great deal else!
This year we have our tent (Icarus 500), footprint, carpet, wind break, shelter, & todays purchase of some interlocking foam mats for outside the tent. We also have lanterns & cool box.
My question is, without EHU what is the best camping stove to get? Also, is there anything else we really NEED? There are onsite loo's but is a porta potty type thing advisable?
I'm getting a bit hooked on buying camping stuff now, so any help with either curbing my list OR helping me to justify buying more would be very much appreciated <img align="absmiddle" src="forum_images/smiley4.gif" width="17" alt="17">
Buying camping equipment is addictivie, more so nowadays with the internet.
We only camp au natural, hubby's not convinced about electric in tents. we've got a passive coolbox, sadly no longer in production but look out for one like the Coleman Xtreme Cooler, these if packed properly with ice 2l lemonade bottles of water frozen keep stuff cool for several days (check to see if your campsite has freezers available to use so you can freeze ice pack or another lemonade bottle of water). Ours is Kampa Evo Ice House, very simular but not as tall and we needed something that size to go in the boot of one of our classic cars. Also we freeze almost everything before we go- burgers, sausages, milk, pre-preapared chilli's as this helps to keep the cool box cool and buy the bags of ice from the supermarket.
We used to have one of the twin burner stoves, in fact we had 2 one from the Calor Gas shop and then replaced that with the Adli version with a grill. They are good, but do take up space. So we switched to the suitcase style ones (even with young kids) You never leave the stove unattended anyway and put on a firm table they are fine.
Lighting we use a mixture of Vango eye lights (brilliant in your sleeping pods), those little round LED lights (ours are Rolson ones with the magnetic spot & a hook) they also do a bigger one which is good. Solar fairy lights are a consideration, just don't do what I did on a Cub camp and not put the solar panel in the sun.
We do have a porta-potti, it sits in our shed never used. It takes up too much space in the car to be honest and we tend to camp near the loos anyway. Kampa do a toilet called a Kampa Khazi, which isn't as big as the traditional porta-potty more like a bucket with a loo seat. But to be honest a cheap builders bucket does the same job.
I've just bought a footprint and carpet for our tent having said we wouldn't and need some new plastic glasses, even after 20 years camping I'm still buying stuff!
I think it really depends what kind of person you are, how long your trips are (weekends, or fortnights?) and a host of other things. You will find what works for you best over time ...
Personally, I try to travel as light as possible, partly because of my health/disability; I am not physically able to spend hours putting up tents and messing about with different equipment, which other people may enjoy doing. Also, am on my own with my son, so no caveman-hunk to help! Partly also because most of our trips are short.
So I have downsized over the years e.g. one burner as cooker, micro-towels, small/light lamps, small, low table, special light saucepans only-for-camping. Basically everything, bar the tent, fits in a large box now! I don't bother with things like carpets and cupboards.
Re. toilets, I brought a bucket (with a lid) for years, but it took up a lot of space and I always worried it would fall over! Now I use special little wee containers, which I bought off Amazon, much smaller and lighter with screw-top lids for those night trips.
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: What else do we need?
