Evening all, I have a bear late 4, front extension then all the usual camping paraphernalia that goes with. I have a Ford grand c-max, and a 300 litre roof box.
Summer 2014 myself, wife and 18 month old enjoyed camping as a new family, but the car was RAMMED full and had no more space left.
Now my wife is currently pregnant again, and we will be in a position maybe St the end of the summer to try camping as a foursome. My problem is I can't see how on earth we can take anything with us as the whole back seats will be babies.
How do others manage with a family? Any help greatly appreciated thanks :)
------------- Outwell Bear Lake 4
04-06 June 2011 - Oulton Park
------------- April Peak District Beech Croft Farm
May Peak District Duke of York
May Holland Delfse Hout
June Cotton Arms Nantwich
july/aug Cornwall Pentewan Sands
And quite a few local weekenders
Maybe a trailer, or start pairing down your stuff. You could try and make items serve two purposes instead of one, and you could probably cut your clothes down, share one bag with your wife rather than have a bag each for example.
You can't scrimp on bedding or tent but can you downsize on tables & chairs? do you fill the foot wells under the children? storing and transporting gear in plastic tubs helps with packing, can be used as low tables and even a washing up bowl, if you book at a site with laundry facilities you can take less clothes.
also things such as changing the buggy into one that packs up very very small will help, the baby will still be in a car seat so get one that it will fit when using as a buggy such as a quinny zapp they pack very very small, and fit in the foot well, a ready bed for the toddler, and use a plastic box that can be packed out to make it more comfier for the baby to sleep in, but can be filled with camping gear when in the car. something like the ones you use for under a bed would be the right sort of size, my daughter has the same car as you and the boot is huge, but you can put the baby on the front seat then mum and toddle sit on the back and put the extra seat down to give a bit of extra room for packing the longer items in. and use vaccume bags for anything and everything possible as they make a great difference in space not just for your bedding but your clothes too, use the air bed pump when coming home and only pack 2 days worth of food to take with you, buy the rest once set up
We used vectra 2008 with a Thule Atlantis 480 roof box for a BearLake 6 and all camping gear + one buggy to accommodate 2 adults and 2 toddlers (18 months + 2&half). Wouldn't have been able to use a car smaller.
I agree with trying to use items for duel purpose, also vac packs are really good use these for all our bedding.
I would also say don't just pack the car & think well thats it no more will go in ....try it several ways we had to do this i even took photos of each stage because all of our stuff only packs in 1 way we tried many so 1 way or no way.
We have a Ford Focus C max & there are 4 of us, 3 adults & 10 year old, we managed to get everything we need for a comfortable stay.
Thanks for all the ideas and feedback everyone. I would be interested in seeing any of your packing photos if you did not kind, I can't imagine in my head how we could do it better but it sure sounds like we could!
------------- Outwell Bear Lake 4
04-06 June 2011 - Oulton Park
Smax and 600 litre roof box for the 4 of us - also use soft bags avoid rigid boxes
Love our smax, best family car we've had by far
However, the more space you have the more you buy
You need to be ruthless about what you take - Last year the whole packing up all our stuff before and after has put me right off camping - especially the whole trying to fit everything back in the car - everything seems to expand while we're away!
I'm desperate for a trailer tent but we just don't have the cash so going to get ruthless
Car all packed the BBQ & washing bowl were just placed on top ...just because we could lol but were better packed when we actually went off camping.
In the boot of our focus c max is : Kitchen table with fold up back.
4 x umbrella type chairs, the awnings to our tent known as CA, EA, FW & RA so 4 canvas bags, box with coleman 6 in 1 table, 2 x suitcase stoves, plastic container for all kitchen utensils/plates/cups etc, small table for inside tent approx 60cmx40cm ( standing up on right hand side), 3m x 3.50m carpet for main pod ..fold out as flat as possible, large table 100x60 for eating & sitting at, 6 rubber mats for inside the awnings, Decathlon tarp, washing up bowl, bbq & utensils, 2x oil lamps the SE ( sleeping extension ) at the back of the bigger cream bag which is then our tent 3m pod.
On top of all that would then be our clothes in carrier bags as then can be laid flat.
Roof bag:
In here is our bedding consisting of 4x single quilts, 6x pillows, 2x single fleece mattress covers, 1 x double fleece mattress cover, 2x single fitted sheets, 1 x double fitted sheet, 4 x bath towels, 4x hand towels, 2x tea towels, 1 double height air bed, 2x single air beds, kids buoyancy aids ( if needed ), crocs, flip flops, pump for air beds. Along side is the windbreak & oil lamp hooks.
Under chairs & footwells,
EHU, RAC750 pump to inflate our tent, pressed log thingies (for use after our bbq ).
I then have the Khampa Kharzi upside down in the front footwell with me, packed with stuff...oil,washing up liquid, citronella candles gas for the suitcase stoves . If we are going for more that a couple of days we will have the maxi igloo cool box in the back middle seat with all food that is needed ..the dry/tin food would then be transferred to the plastic box in which the kitchen stuff travelled in. A cooler bag would do if just for 2 days.
Ok think thats it ....ta da lol.
It took a lot of packing & unpacking before it would all go ...but everything is needed so it had to fit.
Happy packing .
Maddie
P.s if you take a look at the Kasten Klub thread you can see most of our stuff in use to give you idea of the size of things .
I saw a couple walking Hadrians wall and they sent their gear by courier, You could send 80cm cubed with 25kg for a tenner. Ipost parcels seem to do the cheapest, You would need a co operative reception.
Go somewhere not too far and do two trips or price a taxi as i saw one family do.
I get my groceries delivered to site and you can include nappies, baby wipes and household stuff.
Forget the carpet. Instead of the footprint use a few polythene decorators dust mats from a cheap shop.
Microfibre towels pack small.
forget bowls buckets use heavy duty bin liners,
Get one of these for baby & toddler bath here
If you have hook up then maybe an alternative to double burner and gas cylinder like a small halogen oven.
Before we went down the trailer route, we bought a Thule load carrier and the Thule bag for it (not the box, thinking being its more difficult to store at home while the bag folds down into its delivery box).
To offset the cost, we also used the load carrier as a bike rack when at home, it takes four bikes easily (two adults and two kids).
There are downsides to a trailer, cost plus tow bar fit, storage, trying to reverse the thing :) but the big plus I think is that you have most of your kit preloaded ready to go. I try to just pack soft stuff in the car so that there is less risk of getting hurt in a bump by stuff flying about the cabin
I think the problem is the sheer size of the Bear. Completely worth it, but so different to a polyester tent that it makes packing a nightmare.
The 2 bags of our Bear Lake 6 nearly fill my boot on their own so I can sympathise.
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: Bear lake/large rent owners help
