I found this site in 2005 looking for campsites and hit upon this forum. At that stage I didn't have a clue about the intricacies of tent buying and started to get a bit scared, so I joined and posted a request for help. Someone (a still reveered member on here) recommended the Gelert Cadiz 5 as a good starter tent to see if we took to it. It cost about £50 from Halfords at the time and on our first trip we took sleeping gear and a coolbox (nonEHU), we absolutely loved it and couldn't understand why we'd never thought of it before.
So thank you UKCS, you've been pivotal in quite a life changing experience for us. We've become something of 'glampers' since and in some ways I wish I could go back to those early innocent trips.
Just remembered before my parents got me my little tent I used to camp in the garden shed pmsl!! My dad put a bit of carpet on the floor and we would get in our sleeping bags- happy as larry! He even rigged up an extension cable so we could watch our little black and white portable telly (with only 3 channels) it had a clip on coloured screen which was supposed to make it look like watching colour tv but mostly it made everything green lol
An old canvas ridge tent with wooden poles & tie-up door for my Duke of Edinburgh Silver award back in 1969. Next time I went camping in 1971, I bought a second-hand orange & blue frame tent for £30 from Jacksons of Old Arley. The following year I paid £25 to have an extension added to it. Next came a beautiful OBI Grand Lux tent in 1976 which cost £135, second-hand from Jacksons. Used this one until 1982 when divorce (& the fact that I couldn't drive) ended my camping holidays.
Camped again with hubby No.2 in 2004 with a new Sunncamp Vario 6, but after one 5-day holiday we sold that (it was just too noisy), and bought our first Cabanon, plus a Sunncamp APS for weekends. Since then, 3 more Cabanons, a Raclet QT, Robens LemonGrey, Vango Equinox, Basecamp Montreal, Eurohike Backpacker, and an orange Lichfield Viper. Really must NOT buy any more tents now, otherwise we'll end up living in one of them on the lawn because the house is too full of tents for us to fit in there
In the late 60s with a 12x9' frame tent from Headquarter and General Supplies (long out of business, but I'm sure many people have fond memories of that shop). That tent weighed a ton and the waterproofing was abysmal, but it lasted forever and my sister in the UK was using up till about 5 years ago. I believe she passed it on to my nephew who has used it since.
Many years ago I went camping with some friends but have no idea what sort of tent it was.
When we decided to have a go at camping, we launched in with a Khyam Galaxy 600 which sat in its bag for a year while we plucked up courage to go away. One week on a campsite was enough to get us hooked. We have now added the Montana 6 with extension, although we still use the Galaxy for weekends as it's quicker to put up.
I am now looking for a little tent for me and the dog so we can escape on our own when daughter and grandson are busy elsewhere.
It feels like I need to buy a bigger house for the tents and camping gear but I am so glad we tried it. We've had some brilliant holidays even when it has poured with rain. The last time we hired a cottage it cost £600 for a week. We have had loads of holidays and weekends away which we could not have afforded at those prices.
I should also have said thank you to all those people who encouraged us when we first started and who have given loads of help on here since then. Without this site we would probably never have got going.
Had an old canvas ridge tent that me and a friend used to take fishing/camping..used an old plastic table cover for a ground sheet and hairy/scratchy old army blankets to sleep in...My 1st camping trip with the family...was in an ancient frame tent that looked like Moses used it on his wanderings through the desert..Mucky Yucky brown thing with golden tassles hanging off it...Looked like it should have had a camel standing beside it to add to the ambance... no fridge...no leccy...milk and eggs etc kept in a bucket of cold water out the back..used our cases (yep 1st camping trip and we packed cases??) to rest our heads on at night...but we had a brill time that got us(some of the family) hooked...So much so that eldest daughter is off camping this weekend for a week...She is staying at a large country house(now a private school) with bed rooms/ lounges/common rooms/sports facilities etc...She and her friends heard that there was a feild for camping in that was a bit cheaper than the rooms...so being hard up students..they have opted for the feild...should be an interesting week with over 200 kids/young adults running around!!!
Jelboy.
------------- Campers of the storm,Into this world are born
first went camping when I was 6 months old, 5 of us in my mum and dad's old orange frame tent. Remember the trips as I got older, we had a mini van with my brother, sister and all the camping gear in the back, mum and dad in the front and me sat in the passenger side footwell!!
Stayed with mum and dad in various tents, trailer tents and caravans over the years. First tent I had of my own was a 5 man litchfield ridge tent I got as a 21st birthday present, couldn't stand up in it but it had a small porch on the front and was just right for me and my then girlfriend.
I started camping with the scouts in 1959 using Blacks Icelandic ridge tents, bell tents and a marquee that we bought from Headquarters & General Supplies. We also had some "lightweight" Bukta Hawk and Bukta Kestrel ridge tents.
For cooking in the marquee during bad weather we had couple of Calor gas rings, ultra modern in those days, but normally all cooking was done over the fire.
Started out in 1971 in the blue ridge tent in my gallery. Continued to use that until last year. This year we used the orange frame tent in my gallery. I think its about 20 years old itself, don't know cos it came from a boot sale.
I love all tents and keep acquiring more whenever I can.
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 did you start out in?
