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 Topic: Growing as a camper.
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23/2/2012 at 3:28pm
Location: London
Outfit: Vango Orchy 500 Avior x2 x3
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Joined: 29/9/2009 Silver Member 
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Anyone else get this feeling?
I took up camping about 5 or 6 years ago when a couple of regular camping friends of mine were off on a trip and twisted my arm. So I went out and bought a tent, a sleeping bag and a matt, packed a bag and I was off. I didn't do too bad with my choice of tent (Wynnster Shrike 4) but I was totally naive about everything else. It was "summer" so I bought a single season sleeping bag, and my rubber mat left lots to be desired.
Nevertheless, my friends pointed out the errors of my ways, I picked up a new sleeping bag on the first day and thanks to being with experienced campers, thoroughly enjoyed myself and picked up the camping bug.
Not too long after that I picked up a Vango Orchy 500 and went camping about twice a year - my first trip just with my wife was fun but challenging. I was inexperienced at keeping food chilled without electric, using gas lanterns and stoves, portable BBQ's and pitching tents...I always wondered how others made camping look so easy.
Fast forward a few years and I'm now nearing the end of a "camp every month for 12 months" self-imposed challenge, I've got 3 different tents for different camping scenarios, I've done 3 solo trips including one winter trip in up to -11C recently, and I'm planning a solo wild camp for the spring.
I know that learning what to buy and getting the right equipment is vital to furthering ones camping ambitions - but have any of you looked back at the "old you" and actually been quite proud of how far you've come?
So I guess I'd say to any newbie reading this - if you've picked up the camping bug, then keep doing your research and keep camping - it just gets better and better, and you may surprise yourself in a few years :)
OK, so Im feeling nostalgic 
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23/2/2012 at 3:45pm
Location: Near Drabingdon
Outfit: Coleman Weathermastr & Vango Delta 300
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I wish I could afford to camp every month, but it's something I generally aim towards in the summer months.
For many others on this forum and my self it is quite an obsession. I am glad to hear you are on your third tent already I've got three: Small, medium and large, yet I am still after a fourth.
I don't know what I am more obsessed with; camping itself or equipment. There is always a new gadget around the corner that I "need". Camping hasn't been a cheap hobby for me, what with fridges, tables, chairs, cookers, new estate car, roofbox, roof bars...the list is endless! 
Glad to hear you are enjoying it. Most people on here are pretty passionate about their hobby. You are amongst people who won't think you are weird if you are excited about a new tent or cooker etc.  I think we're all as potty as each other.
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Ploppy son of Ploppy.
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23/2/2012 at 10:24pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC
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I started camping late in life at 41 six years ago with my late partner who retired from the army a few years before we met.
The first trip's set up was basic, and we did not have EHU, as it was only a short trip as part of a car rally.
We then added some furniture, including a gazebo that nearly blew away in the wind and threatened to take the tent with it. Not smart!
I then bought a new tent, the Khyam Excelsior XL, so that we have living space without the need to use a gazebo etc...
We had a few good trips in the Excelsior XL before his sudden death in Nov 08.
I decided to keep his dog as my own, and to continue camping on my own with the dog, as I had most of the gear already.
I needed a new tent that I could pitch on my own, hence the Khyam Freelander, a smaller and lighter tent than the Excelsior XL that had the excellent Rapidex Quick Erect system.
I also had to adjust my gear list and bought dedicated camping gear to save on space, and invested on a roof box.
The Khyam Freelander served me well for 3 good seasons, until it was damaged in high winds last September 2011.
I now have a canvas Hypercamp Escala 4 which is a great tent. However, it is bulkier, which means I would need to invest on a tow bar in order to carry a larger load. I am in the process of saving up for a trailer.
Since camping on my own in 2009, I had camped in the winter 3 times and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
The gear list now still has items from the first camping trip 6 years ago such as tables and chairs. However, it has taken me 6 years to find the right stove that can be used throughout the year (a Coleman Dual Fuel 2-burner stove).
The gear list now is completely different to the one for the first trip.
I have learnt a heck of a lot from UKCS forums about all things camping related, and am still learning every day.
Looking back, I have come a long way from a townie who was not too keen on the great outdoors, to someone who camps throughout the year and lives in Crocs!
I have many happy camping memories from the past 6 years, and hope to have many more in the years to come.
Happy camping everyone!
DK
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As you did, we started out the very same way and without the help and advice from our camping friends, UKCS and fellow campers on site we may very well have given up long before now. I am so glad that we stuck it out - even if it has cost us an arm and a leg over the years!! All part of the learning curve and lots of fun!! 
