I have just come back from my very 1st camping trip and it was that good I just had to share :-)
I simply loved it & no other break away/holiday to date has come close to how relaxed I now feel..We quite simply parked the car and walked everywhere and in the evening we sat n talked and ate & drunk and played games.. we quite simply enjoyed the quality time you never seem to make time for at home.. We also had no electric which brilliant. Although I do have a couple of other camping questions you maybe able to help me with before we go again, our new blow up bed kept going down slightly so when you laid on it you both rolled to the middle and by the middle of the night it was really apparent, its a HiGear one, new and not too cheap either, how often you need to re inflate them in an ideal world, is this normal ?
Also our camping gaz stove/cooker was not a lot of cop, which is the best to go for as this was our was a friends and its quite old now, the grill was a right waste of space and done nothing and the 2 x hot plates were not too controlable, even on low they seem to be racing away and burning most things so this will need to be replaced before we go again
I'm so fired up I can't wait to go again, shame we only went for 2 days as a trial run really..
Thank you so so much for all you help before I went, happy camping :-)
Hi
soooooo glad you enjoyed yourself
our airbeds are the cheap tesco's ones and have held out well i do pump air in them every other day just as a top up
And we use the gelert suitcase stoves and they work well also
the range of cookers is huge and like anything else it depends how much you want to spend
Get a double chambered Coleman Double Comfort airbed. Each side blows up seperately so none of the dreadred roll-together.
Airbeds do deflate slightly at night. You blow them up during the day, usually, then you stick them on a cold groundsheet and it gets colder during the night. Cold air contracts remember? The only thing that helps a little is to top them up at bedtime and stick some insullation under them. Insullation on top as well btw, but that's to keep you away from the cold airbed!
Most camping stove grills are a waste of space so nothing new there. Cooking on a camp stove in general is different from a domestic stove..,they're less powerful and less controllable. Using thin based camping pans helps with the lack of power but then again it means you burn things more. Campingaz are a good brand name and their stoves are as good as anyones so my advice is to keep it and try to get used to it. You did use a 3-side windshield of some sort, yes? Saves on gas and cooking time.
Really pleased to hear we have another camping addict joining the fold!!
Airbeds do have a tendancy to have the "roll together" effect unless you buy the ones that have 2 seperate chambers (think it's a Coleman?) and they will occassionally need a few puffs of air in them to keep them at your desired firmness. We have the ones from Lidl and recently spent 3 nights away - dond't need to add any air to them but probably would have topped them up if we'd been staying any longer.
Cooker choice is varied and down to personal taste and budget. We have a great Sunflair one which we were given when we first started camping - it is great but agree the grill is next to useless! We also have a suitcase stove which I got from Towsure and this is fantastic!
Our camping gaz quick beds, lasted about 3 or 4 days this last time. We did have gelert beds and I had to pump them up every day. So one by one we have swapped over! We insulate the bedroom floor which has made a huge difference.
Cooker, we have a camping gaz one, and to be honest its the thin pans that make stuff burn quick. But its part of camping, making do, we have an ehu, so we have a toaster now :) lols, but when we used the grill on the cooker, it was a very slow process.....
Hi so glad you had a nice time, that is why I totally love camping, when we are at home my husband always has something else to do, DIY< piano, work etc camping we actually spend time together and with our 3 kids.
This year we have opted for 2 single camp beds and boy has it changed our lives.......we don't have roll at the same time now!
Glad you had a great time. As already said most cookers are the same, a windshield will help and toaster like this onesolves the useless grill problem . Don't go for the pyramid style toaster they are no good. This one makes perfect toast in about 10 seconds. Place the toaster on the hob, gauze side down, place bread on top of the grid , not in the middle, and have tongs ready to turn bread as it cooks very fast.
I have one of the stoves that takes the gas cannisters, you usually get the cannisters for a pound each in places like B&M Bargains or poundland etc especially at the beginning of the summer.
I find it just as usable as a gas ring at my own home, as long as there's a bit of shelter. I made pancakes yesterday morning!
I use cheap ikea frying pans at 99p each, they're thinner on the bottom and also I find the value range pots and pans from supermarkets conduct the heat more effectively than heavy pans.
Hi glad you had a good time, we are on our second season and seem to enjoy it more each time. Bang on with your assessment of your time away, we spend a lot of time walking, eating and drinking also.
We have an Intex Queen size air bed which we find (we both have bad backs) brilliant. However, I had to top up the air on day two, but after that no problems for the rest of the week. As mentioned above cold air shrinks, last year we were very cold but after following tips from contributors on this site, this time we put down a camping blanket first (foil side down), then the Intex, followed by a fleece blanket, then a fitted sheet, we had no prblems with the cold it compared well with our kingsize bed at home.
Last season we had (and still have) and Aldi special camping stove, two burners and a grill. The grill on this unit wasn't that bad, unfortunately it does not fold down and we are short on space so we bought a Kampa Alfresco which was on offer for £29.99 (we have seen the same unit with a different name for more and for less), the two burners are fine but the grill is next to useless. We have electric hook up so was able to get round the problem (toast) by buying a toaster from B&M Bargains for £9.99, we use a Weber Go Anywhere BBQ for stuff other than toast, worked for us well.
Hi scoobybloo, it's really great to hear how much you loved your first camping trip. Good news indeed
Personally, I think airbeds are a mixed blessing. I had a lilo-style one once and since then I've tried one or two others. I've also got a self-inflating foam-filled mat but I rarely use it. After trying various alternatives, I have gone back to plain foam camping mats (I use two to give a little extra insulation and padding). If you like a firm bed, they are fine.
I can't really offer any advice on cookers. I only take a single burner (the type that screws directly onto the top of a 907 gas bottle) which is fine to boil the kettle. I also take a little aluminium saucepan (beans, soup, etc) and - though not always - take a light teflon-coated frying pan (eggs, bacon, etc).
I hope you have many more really enjoyable camping trips in future.
We use a Coleman Comfort. We love it. We tend to top it up after a few days.
We cook on a Campingaz Chef and are happy with the rings on it. The grill isn't great but we now have a Travel Cadac. lso when we have a EHU we take a kettle and toaster to save the gas.
Hiya, so sorry for the delay in replying but I have had no connection until about 30 mins ago (BT issues) and to say I was excited to see how many replies I had from you all is an understatement, wow, thank you so so much..
I have so much fantastic advice already re beds and cookers, I think I have learnt that yep, 90% of air beds do go down and need topping up so thats not so bad but I could help the situation by insulating it on the floor next time so thats what I'll try next and see if that improves it before I change it to something else and the cooker I already have is the same almost as 90% of you use, the Campingaz 2 burner stove with a US grill, lol.. Although this one is really old so maybe it just needs replacing..
I did make my other half laugh when I pulled his leg and said I was getting one of these http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/kampa-roast-master-double-hob-and-oven-p-2460.html?zenid=6e4731147cd62a5938d58dccafc3cb8d I'm really not but his face was a picture to start with... I actually did buy a Cadac BBQ that we also used this time, that was simply brilliant.. And as for the bug bats thingy me jigs, oh my word I have never had so much fun, it really should be an olympic sport. I said to hubby I am going to get another and we can have a tally to see how many mozzies we can get in the evenings..
Oh i wish I could just get back off again, I can't stop thinking about my next camping trip, I may even be able to sneak one in in September :) I have one planned for next year, possibly two.. We are booked for Silverstone F1 in July and are also going to book up for Goodwood Festival of Speed and where you would normally only do the one day we are going for the entire event, YAY!!!!!
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: Well pleased although I do have questions
