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Quote: Originally posted by rainfollowsus on 31/7/2013

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Hi 'Tiacat'

I really hope your bout of illness hasn't put you off camping and you are feeling better.

I agree with the others with the losing the shower/toilet and opting for a site with these facilities. We have a 'bog in a bag' for the kids night-time
wee wee's.

I noticed that you mentioned that you didn't feel you had enough time to be organised, and I can sympathise.

What I tend to do, is on the return of a holiday, I get EVERYTHING out, clean what needs to be cleaned and then pack it away. I put all of our chairs/airbeds and other big items into one of those massive 'dot cotton' style laundry bags. That way they stay clean in the garage. I then have one of those large storage boxes with a lid and in there I put all of our clean crockery and cutlery and other kitchen utensils. Those pots that store inside each other are great and we keep our clean plates in a large plastic cake box as opposed to a washing up bowl. Serves the same purpose, but it has a lid to keep the dishes clean once they are washed.
Then when it comes to holiday time, the only thing I have to really sort out is our clothes.

We also have a 'kit bag' which is always stocked with tools, scissors, batteries, torches, carabina clips, bungees, cable ties etc. Really handy to have things like that in one place.

I still feel like we take half the house with us, but they are a few things that help me to stay sane whilst organising our annual camping trip.

Take Care :-)

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Quote: Originally posted by honeybell on 31/7/2013

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I wonder about the carpet you describe, I imagine a proper carpet, even if thin, is fairly bulky and not the easiest thing to pack.

Have a look on Marshalls Leisure website, they have a Coleman Fremont 8 tent carpet for £20 at the moment. Its 408 by 370cm so a pretty good fit for a 4m bell. I adapted a carpet for my smaller 3m bell, I just cut up to the middle (stopping where the pole would be) and finished the raw edges with a cotton tape. You could easily put a bit of velcro on to hold the edges together, I've not got round to this yet, I just have this bit under my bed.

I'm working on something similar for my bigger 5m bell.

Your first time is a big learning curve, you'll set up much quicker next time, enjoy, it's a great life

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Just a note on your stove, firstly always check your site some won't allow fires of any sort even contained also have you thought of burning peat blocks such as these http://www.logsdirect.co.uk/Peat-Briquette-Smokeless-Fuel-Product-45.aspx I burn them in my open stove. But get them from a local coal merchant. It depends which stove you have though as they really need air from below unlike wood.

Starting out camping is always a bit of trial and error, keep taking all your kit and making a note of things you  use, categorise them as essential and desirable, also whilst away write down things you would find useful. Over time you will have refined your kit, to everything you need.

We have managed that but it has taken us many years, but everything is all packed in boxes ready to go depending upon the type of trip we are going on. the only crossover between our camping kit and our day to day belongings are our clothes and bedding, everything else is dedicated to camping and is always ready to go. The dog even has her own camping kit.

Yep you have the idea, a grate so air can get in below the fuel, you need this for peat or coal, but not necessary for wood, just put your wood in the bottom of the stove(will probably help with the consumption). Decent hardwood logs will be worth the extra cost, maybe your supplier might sell you the small bits cheap.

You are probably right about the peat blocks and the environment, but the extraction of peat was never the problem, the taking up of the land for other purposes was really the problem. I probably only burn a few kilos a year as i only use it with the open fire as we like the smell in the tent, most times we have the fire we use the enclosed burner and I am a builder so have acces to a ready supply of offcuts etc.

Practice with the stove, you will get used to roaring it up when you want to boil the kettle etc, but shutting it down so it is just ticking over at other times, I have re-read your original post and you say you have the water heater, is it a frontier you have. If so you will only want that ticking over in the tent, I had one and got rid of it , it was too big and kicked out too much heat for a 5m tent.

As you say you are not likely to be summer campers you will love the stove especially if you camp into the real winter.

Just one thing consider getting a carbon monoxide alarm, we have one which we cable tie to the centre pole, you never know even with a sealed flue.

Quote: Originally posted by tiacat on 01/8/2013

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Quote: Originally posted by rainfollowsus on 31/7/2013Hi 'Tiacat'

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I really hope your bout of illness hasn't put you off camping and you are feeling better.

I agree with the others with the losing the shower/toilet and opting for a site with these facilities. We have a 'bog in a bag' for the kids night-time
wee wee's.

I noticed that you mentioned that you didn't feel you had enough time to be organised, and I can sympathise.

What I tend to do, is on the return of a holiday, I get EVERYTHING out, clean what needs to be cleaned and then pack it away. I put all of our chairs/airbeds and other big items into one of those massive 'dot cotton' style laundry bags. That way they stay clean in the garage. I then have one of those large storage boxes with a lid and in there I put all of our clean crockery and cutlery and other kitchen utensils. Those pots that store inside each other are great and we keep our clean plates in a large plastic cake box as opposed to a washing up bowl. Serves the same purpose, but it has a lid to keep the dishes clean once they are washed.
Then when it comes to holiday time, the only thing I have to really sort out is our clothes.

We also have a 'kit bag' which is always stocked with tools, scissors, batteries, torches, carabina clips, bungees, cable ties etc. Really handy to have things like that in one place.

I still feel like we take half the house with us, but they are a few things that help me to stay sane whilst organising our annual camping trip.

Take Care :-)

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No, not at all, I have identified my next site already. I will be taking the loo and shower with me but we think that by much better organisation and packing skills we may have enough room for the things we missed. We have everything already organised in the house, its now stored under a bed whereas it was all in the loft. It wasnt the time needed at the house end, it was because we only took half a day off work and it took about 2 hours in boiling sun to work out how to put the roof box on the roof rack. this took far longer than we had anticipated and so then we were rush rush rush when packing the car, rush rush rush when at the campsite when we should have been relaxing and neither of us like the heat. so we wont make those mistakes again. I am generally very organised, we have everything all together, we have a 'kitchen' bag with our cutlery and our 2 plates(!) and we have a kit bag with pegs, mallet, small tools, clips etc etc.

So next time, full day off on the day we leave, leisurely packing up of car and sitting at the campsite before even setting up. unless its raining of course.

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My wood burner is made from a 7kg gas bottle and easily heats my 5m Helsport kongsvold, infact my open fire is only a bit bigger than acatering sized bean tin and that does the trick.

The only thing with a small volume stove is keeping it running all night, thats where the peat helps, shut it right down and just let it tick over

Quote: Originally posted by tiacat on 31/7/2013

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yes, that was our plan but I never got the chance this trip. I'll try again next time. Have you got the stove fan, I suppose you dont really need it in the 4m?

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