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I am looking for guidance for my first time!

I have the tent, sleeping bags etc. Any advice would be most welcome for this first-timer! We shall be myself, my husband and 7 year old daughter with a couple of other families. I really haven't a clue what I am doing and it was all my idea,,,,!

All hints and tips much appreciated!

Thank you

Hi there, What sort of advice are you after ? Things to take, campsites to visit etc.

Im sure you will get loads of tips on here.

And i am sure you will like it....lol.

Hi goldpilatesbabe, seems to me you have all you need for your first time!

All you need to do is get it up right, make sure it is tight and enjoy!

Try this selection of old threads here.  Tell us a bit more - what kind of campsite is it, do any of the other people you're going with have camping experience?

Have you practiced putting up your tent?  This is VERY important and will save you all sorts of potential grief.  If you have the space why don't you pitch it in your garden and have a night in it, you will get familiarised with your beds and sleeping bags etc and it will give some idea as to what to expect.

Clare

hello and welcome.

have you put the tent up to check you can do it, and that all the bits are there?

if your garden isn't big enough go to the park or playing fields and get it pitched.

If your friends are campers already , get them to show you how it goes up. but do try to have a practise before you go for real.

Most important thing is to be warm enough, specially at night. a fleece blanket on top of your airbed or mat will be very good at insulating you from cold air rising from the ground.

Put a warm fleece or jacket on BEFORE you start to feel chilly in the evenings,even if its a hot day the temp drops quijkly at night, and if you've had a couple of beers you don't notice as much. But  once you start feeling cold, its very hard to warm up, better to put an extra layer on before you start shivering.

i put the kids in pyjamas and wellies by about 7pm, the grass soon gets damp, even when its not raining, and a fleece on top, they play until they drop, and just crawl into bed exhausted. No need to bother them getting changed then. Don't expect kids to keep to normal bedtimes, Shower next morning, if you can catch them . They have been known to wear the pjs til dinner time, sometimes they're just too busy to wash and change, lots of kids on site the same though. On a weekend it wont hurt them just to have a wetwipe wash every day and a good scrub in the bath when they get home.

Take a bucket to wee in the tent at night, and empty it at the chemical toilet dispoasal point next day , theres a hose to wash the bucket out with too.

What else do you want to know? feel free to ask as many questions a s you like. someone here always knows the answer

Quote: Originally posted by mrs jubbly on 01/7/2008

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Try this selection of old threads here.  Tell us a bit more - what kind of campsite is it, do any of the other people you're going with have camping experience?

Have you practiced putting up your tent?  This is VERY important and will save you all sorts of potential grief.  If you have the space why don't you pitch it in your garden and have a night in it, you will get familiarised with your beds and sleeping bags etc and it will give some idea as to what to expect.

Clare

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Very good advise there Clare...this is what we did about 36 years ago...and it didn't half help...

Nannycatch 

Oh yeah , another thing, remembered from previous posts.

Don't pee in the bushes, don't empty your bucket there either. (YUK, someone lese will be sleeping next to that pong when you leave)

Don't empty dirty washing up water in the bushes, (flies and  rats, are not to be encouraged on campsites) There are usually washing up sinks provided.

turn the lights off first if you are lucky enough to have a bit of nookie in a tent.Sillouhettes  

Its also worth finding out if the camp site has a noise cut-off time/curfew - there's been some very interesting discussions about this recently.

I really must get a life

Clare

hey beefysmum

and there was me thinking you were just happy to be camping on the weekend ay it must of been those sillouhettes under the moonlight lol louisex

haahaa, you know i only had the kids for company.

see you in trivia.

Hi Goldpilatesbabe & welcome to the forum

If it's a list of other equipment you need, have a look here . You can take crockery, cutlery, saucepans & pillows from home. One important thing is to make sure you have a comfortable airbed, or self-inflating mat to sleep on - nothing worse than having a bad nights sleep. If you take an airbed, make sure you take a cheapy fleece blanket to put between the airbed & your sleeping bags.