Message Forums

Hello,welcome to the forum!

Can't help as far as pitching the tent as have no experience of it.But am sure someone will be along soon to help with that.

Hints and tips...beds and bedding first,if you don't get a decent sleep it can ruin your holiday. Airbeds,campbeds or self inflating mats...Airbeds need to be insulated,something between the floor and the bed(cardboard or picnic blanket) then insulated between it and you...fleece blanket or something of that sort..Campbeds(our choice) with a self inflating mat or fleece ontop....Self inflating mats.as thick as you can afford,..decent sleeping bags/duvets pillows(when you get your tent,measure the bedroom pods to see what will fit)

Somewhere on this site there is a "list" am sure someone will post the link,..its an extensive list,some of which you will probably not need,

Lighting,loads of choice,Layers of clothing,A carpet makes a difference underfoot

Chairs,bottle of wine,firebit or portable bbq,

Sure there used to be a checklist on here to use which will give you an idea of what to take.

Depending on how long you are going for the essentials like something to sleep on and in, lighting, something to cook on (either a single stove or double with gas bottle), chairs, table, picnic set for cutlery, crockery, plates, cups etc, cooking utensils, extra blankets/duvet, pans, cool box, TENT! extra tent pegs......the list is endless once you get the bug!!! oh and dont forget the wine, beer and juice for any little ones!!!

I usually bring along a meal that i have had in the freezer and so by time it gets to our first evening its thawed out so just a case of heating it through and serving.  Or you can just take along the old faithful tinned stuff and make a decent meal that way!!

Loads of advice on here, try the search button too!

Enjoy!

Just remember it can get very cold at night, even in May (we had 3C on our first trip in May last year and were woefully underprepared - and a lot more than 5 minutes from home)

All the advice you'll ever need is on here, but the most important bit is to have fun!

Jane

Three tips from me

1-A bit late as you've already got your tent but something you might want to bear in mind if you upgrade in the future, always go 2 berths more than you need ie for 4 of you get a 6 birth tent.

2-You WILL have arguments while pitching, just agree that any arguments are over once the tent is up

3-Don't let one bad trip put you off, one day of sunshine will help you forget a whole week of wind and rain

My tip...use Netweather for an accurate forecast, especially wind gusts, anything in amber or red is a no no!!  We lost our fist tent due to *red* winds, on our first outing.

You put in the location of where you want and it breaks down the day/night weather, it's our bible now.

You cant get a Diablo up very quickly, inner first is a bit of a pain in the a**e to be honest.

We have a Diablo 900Xp and find it takes  about 15 minutes to get the inner up and pegged with four of us doing it. 

If it does rain while you are putting the inner up, make sure you have the outer handy to slide over quickly and hang on till the rain stops.

We did put ours up in the rain once and it didnt take too long to dry out inside once we had mopped up most of the water!

We did find the 900 a bit on the large side and due to the dome there are no flat walls to put anything against so cupboards etc take up more room than they normally would. Saying that i love our Diablo but will only use it when there is no rain forecast as we dont have the room in the garden to get it up and dry it out.

We now have a Nevada M and Canopy so we can get it dry at home  if we have to pack away wet.