"Don't camp on that field there". from another camper, as site owner not around.
IT looked a lovely flat well-drained empty space, but followed his advise and pitched in the same field as everyone else.
Know-all newby arrived and completely disregarded helpful camper. setting up his brand new Halfords kit in the gorgeous field. Then set up his HI-Fi with speakers ?? and started smugly making a cuppa on his new Argos, cooker !
Only that evening. to find that the hedge was down between two fields and the bullocks were able to get through the gap. And trash the lot !!
Boy how we all laughed, 'newby camper' who had verbaly abused and sneered at nearly everybody. saw these great hairy beasts and legged itinto his car ! leaving behind all his recently aquired kit.
Don't try to set up hungry and tired - have a break when you arrive and something to eat/drink
Allow lots of time to pack up
Remember mornings fly by, one minute its dawn, by the time you've got sorted out and cooked breakfast its 11am
The weather - be flexible - remember, man plans and God laughs.
------------- Pally
The pen is mightier than the sword - but only if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp...
my OH lost our car key on a site in France, lucky for us a Dutch guy found it in the bottom of the swimming pool,he'd put it in his swim shorts pocket- didn't do it again!
A few years ago, after getting a cheap, last minute holiday to one of the Spanish Islands, we flew from Edinburgh Airport.
While on holiday I found a safe place to "hide" my car keys, for use on return.
When we flew back into Edinburgh I tried to find my keys ..... looked everywhere, in every suitcase and bag pocket we could think of. After half an hour of searching I was about to phone my dad to drive up from County Durham with my spare set of keys when we found them ......... I had put them inside a pair of shoes (inside the case) I had packed but never worn while we were away.
Rather than buy a ton of stuff, go for a couple of weekend trips and you will soon get a feel for the things that you need/want. That having been said...
1. Wellies are a godsend for avoiding wet feet in the rain, or early morning.
2. A paraffin storm/hurricane lantern costs less than a tenner and creates a lovely atmosphere (outside the tent) - particularly if there are no campfires allowed.
3. A tent you can stand up in makes a vast difference to comfort, especially if it is raining.
4. There is nothing wrong with shameless plagiarism, talk to other people you meet and you will pick up all sorts of useful ideas.
Fllece blanket or something fir underneath your air bed.
a good light, and if it's cold a thermal hat to sleep in , this was a god send last week whennit dropped below minus
------------- Please be patient new to all this camping stuff
Feb mains farm
March - mains farm
April - c
May
June solway view
July glastonbury
August mains farm
1. Clothes pegs come in handy for all sorts of things. Obviously pegging up clothes, holding food packets closed, holding up those little bits of paper some sites give you to stick on your window that don't stick...
2. Carrier bags come in really handy too.
3. Layers are definitely the best way to keep warm, that and don't keep still (unless you're trying to sleep of course)
When we started I went to the library and got out a book on camping, by Squadron Leader somebody. Apart from all the usual scouting stuff about how to light fires etc, one piece has stuck. When you come back from a trip, sort your kit into three piles - stuff you used everyday, stuff you used occasionally, stuff you didn't use. Discard the last two piles on the next trip.
The amount of camping toot one amasses is truly amazing. When we sold a trailer tent recently, I realised the fuel used to tow the extra stuff we'd been carrying was probably solely responsible for global warming.
And three layers below worth one above - corrugated cardboard is great.