I've been looking at lots of new tents in the last month and I can't believe the cost of tents that look like they have no prospect of lasting more than 10-15 pitches. Even some of the technical tents I've looked at have had issues with the stitching in the demo models.
To get any sort of quality you have to pay far too much. Some of the £400+ tents I've seen have made me wonder if I'd be better with just a couple of cleverly pitched tarps for the warmer months.
The last time I seriously looked at tents was in the 1990s, the current batch of mid-range tents look like kids' back-yard tents of the 90s in terms of quality. Or is that just misplaced nostalgia distorting my memory?
Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 17/5/2013
Based on my own experience in the past few years: camping during school holidays usually meant bad weather.
Therefore, another reason to avoid camping during the school holidays.
DK
I think you meant to put "camping on family sites during school holidays usually meant bad weather.", DK.
Adult sites are likely to remain warm, bright and calm!!
Quote: Originally posted by Mucker1884 on 17/5/2013
Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 17/5/2013Based on my own experience in the past few years: camping during school holidays usually meant bad weather.
Therefore, another reason to avoid camping during the school holidays.
DK
I think you meant to put "camping on family sites during school holidays usually meant bad weather.", DK.
Adult sites are likely to remain warm, bright and calm!!
I believe I need to try an adult site during school holidays in order to determine if that is true at least once!
DK
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When our kids were small, all of our holidays were camping holidays. If the weather was wet, we put their wellies and raincoats on and let them out. They came back soaked, muddy, red-faced, smiling and hungry! A quick change of clothes and a 'sponge down' and they were ready to eat, then fell asleep. We initially used to use a smallish tent, but then got a bigger one with two bedrooms and a decent living area we could stand up in, and a full sown-in ground sheet, that made a HUGE difference if we were confined to the tent by weather. It had a big door that doubled as a canopy (with extra poles and guys) and we could cook under that (unless it was a storm). We usually spent some part of the day away from the site, in the open if the weather was OK or find somewhere indoors if it was just too bad to be out. We were only washed out once, in a big unpredicted storm, the tent came down and the site flooded. In terms of picking a site, we always try to get a quite one with good toilet/shower/washing facilities, and ideally a bit of space between the pitches. We have returned to camping now that the kids have long flown the nest and the costs are noticeable relatively higher, unbelieveably so in some cases. For me though, the choice is not between camping and a cheap hotel (I do use hotels more than camping but that's for different reasons) because when I go camping it's to go camping! I love the tent, the life in the outdoors, the cooking/BBQing and eating outdoors, or simply sitting reading outside the tent or playing a game of scrabble or boules. I'm sure it appeals to something in our genes from prehistoric times when life was a lot simpler! As a returnee/newbie to 'modern' camping it's interesting (and sad) to read that some devotees of camping have been so put off by the terrible weather of the past few years (and it HAS been terrible) and the rising cost of camping. This has been a very interesting thread to read ....
Quote: Originally posted by Mike313 on 17/5/2013
... I'm sure it appeals to something in our genes from prehistoric times when life was a lot simpler!..]
I think there's some truth in that. Mrs G refers to it as "playing house", much as she did when a girl. What I did was sit in the middle of two buffets laid flat leg to leg, and pretend I was Stirling Moss, but that's another story.
Welcome to UKCS Mike.
------------- Mike
My advice is worth no more than the price paid for it
I have the same misgivings as the OP. A number of things have made me re-think our camping hols. Unreliable camping buddies, a teenager who longer wants to go with the oldies for more than a few nights and GCSE's this year coupled with some pretty horrendous weather over the last 2 years have dampened my enthusiasm somewhat.
I am not sure that me and OH will enjoy camping by ourselves (we don't usually spend too much time together as he's an HGV driver) We have a big 6 berth folding camper that we don't need any more and it's a lot of money to have tied up in something that will just sit on the drive.
I have booked a break in the Canaries in July for some guaranteed sun (although I have just read on a forum that someone out there just now has only had half an hour of sun in the last 3 days and their plastic rain ponchos are being eyed enviously by other holidaymakers- unbelievable)
I plan to sell the big camper and buy a smaller (cheaper) one and hopefully we can get away for some short breaks but it won't matter too much if we don't. We can't really do spur of the moment as OH especially has to book days off in advance so we will have to see how it works.
One or two more horrendous summers and I reckon that will break the back of the camping industry. Who knows this might be looked back on as the golden era of camping as we are spoilt for choice with equipment and tents.
We've only been camping a year and we've upscaled our equipment exponentially in that time. We now have a packed say to go trailer, just need to add clothes, food and chuck the tent in the boot. That sorts our 3 days plus camping. I need to organise a weekend set up, the decide the weather is fine Friday lunch and go . My very nature doesn't allow for not planning weeks in advance though!
Someone said to me a couple a months ago, get as many nights in as you can because that way by 2017 you'll have your price per night down to 3 star hotel level not 5 star all inclusive you're currently on.
We camp to get our 5 year old away from the tv, get her walking, she loves being outside especially if we're camping with friends with kids. I certainly wouldn't call it cheap though
------------- 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)
My viewpoint is that i think it all depends on the type of camping that you do, We quite often (if not always) camp with other families or friends and love the social aspect of it.
I can understand that if we were alone as a family and the weather was pants and we ended up holed up in a tent for a week, we'd be pretty negative about the whole situation...... However!, we HAVE been in that situation with a group of friends, last Whitsun in Wales was pretty much a (literal) wash-out but everyone piled into our tent and we still had a great time!, chatting, listening to music, good food and drink, there's not really much else I need from a holiday, for me it's all about the break from normality and it doesn't really matter if we are inside with the heater on or outside catching some sun.
Of course good weather is a bonus but not the be all and end all IMO, after all, your'e on holiday, if your'e stuck in the tent for a couple of hours because of a downpour, grab 40 winks.... you wouldn't if you were working so why not to pass the time??....
I guess with all the modern gear, luxury tentage, hook ups and gadgets, the one thing us campers cannot control is the weather! I think you need to take the rough with the smooth and enjoy the fact that you are not at work and have a bit of chill time doing nothing.
My advice would be to book more trips, that way there is a better chance of getting great weather rather than hoping that the one 2 week holiday in the summer is going to be sunny and dry.
We went camping 9 times last year and it only rained during 3 of those breaks, We've been away three times this year already and it hasn't rained once.....YET!
I have been camping for over 20 years and my kids started camping when they were very small. The kids are now teenagers and I am certain that the weather is changing, especially during the main school holiday. We definitely camp less now than we did 3 or 4 years ago.
For me the ideal scenario is a main holiday doing something different (dryer) and lots of short breaks in the tent. This year though money is tight and a holiday cottage in August is going to cost us £500+ when we can camp for £150. There is no option really.
My hubby works outdoors and the weather bothers him far more than it does me. Getting wet and cold on your holiday is no fun when thats what you have to put up with during your working week!
Premier Inns arent really an option for families for longer than a weekend. The cost of eating out for every meal is horrendous and as someone else said being cooped up in one small room is not much fun.
I dont know where the future of camping lies but if we continue to have really poor summers I can see people just doing it as a weekend activity and waiting until the weather is fine. How many sites will be able to continue if they are empty half of the summer though?
The other week my SIL and I were checking out availability on a site we have used for the last 3yrs for our main holiday in August...
Owner always recommended booking as early as possible and after looking at his availability chart and finding June/July/Aug fully booked even as early as March we always took his advice..
Going elsewhere this year...But decided to have a look at the chart 3 weeks ago (end of April) June nearly full but spaces...Same for July but a bit more room....August...Green across the board indicating no one had booked for the whole of August???
Now...could have been an oversight on the part of the owner maybe forgot to update the chart...But believe me this owner is Very particular about his charts and who is on what pitch on his site....
Could this be an indication of a wee down turn for this particular site?....Not exactly going to the wall...But suffering none the less!!!
I'm off to check again and see if there's any change
Jelboy.
------------- Campers of the storm,Into this world are born
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Future of camping
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