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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 :-)

Julie

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!

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.

Hiya scoobybloo

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.

Happy Camping

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!!!!!