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Hi all,

We've been camping a few times now and I can't get over the amount of stuff we seem to take!  So I thought I'd ask all of you what equipment you all pack?

For example we have a 4 man dome tent - middle dome with two compartments opp each other to sleep 2 bodies in each side.

We have myself, hubby, 9yr old child, plus Labrador dog.  We have so much stuff that last year we didn't have room to breath, so this year we are thinking of taking our frame tent as well and connecting the two together, having the frame tent for eating/cooking/storage in and the dome for sleeping in.

Does anything think this is extreme?

We have the usual air beds, sleeping bags, 2 ring cooker/grill, cooker stand, pots, pans, cups, utensils, little gas light, table, chairs, clothes, food, dog stuff, porta potty.  But even typing it out here I know I'm missing so much cause if that's all we had in the tent - well I wouldn't be writing this!

What are we doing wrong?  Should we take an extra tent for all eating/cooking in? 

You may be wondering why we ate inside our little dome - well last year it rained for 2 out of our 4 days and every morning it was blinkin' cold, so there was no chance we were having breakfast outside!

I'll pop back tomorrow to see if anyone's replied!

Thanks in advance

Lisa

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Quote: Originally posted by Aquarian3 on 15/4/2007 so this year we are thinking of taking our frame tent as well and connecting the two together, having the frame tent for eating/cooking/storage in and the dome for sleeping in.

We'll be making our first camping trip end of May.  I tend to be cautious when packing & take everything but the kitchen sink so needless to say have accumulated everything I could get my hands on for camping!

We have a Shogun car & even tho it has a massive boot, I keep looking at all the 'stuff' and thinking no way is it going to fit!

As we're only travelling just over 2 hours away I've now decided we'll take my OHs car aswell & was happy with that til I read your post - hadn't thought about where we'll put everything when we get there!!

Still, the tent is massive (9 man tent for 5 of us) & with 2 car boots for storage surely we'll manage...

One thing I've noticed is that you have a 4 berth tent for 4 of you is pushing the limits, so to have space an area such as a day tent/Utility by be a suggestion (theres lots of threads on here about them)-  as Valk_Scot has already mentioned. Theres 4 of us 3 human / 1 dog and we're in a 6 berth for weekends, any longer and its a 7 birth frame tent.

You may be allowed a second tent on a pitch if the site charges you per person (we do this when on our annual holiday site as my mother has her own dome tent to sleep in), if the charge is per pitch you may been charged for 2 pitches.

Thank you - all of you - who replied and have given me so much good information and advice :)

I didn't realise that we were using too small a tent!  No wonder we're cramped LOL!

We'll get out our frame tent and see how much bigger it is compared to a gazebo, because our other option would be to purchase a gazebo with sides.  I'll also have a search here for idea's on day/utility tents as suggested!

Val - thanks for your brill list - I'll make sure that's saved and used this year!  I appreciate that you took the time to type all of that out for me :)

I have emailed the campsite re another tent/pitch and they replied with this:

Actually this is the one camping sin we don't do 9apart from cooking in the annexe- never LOL!) .  Somehow last year we got the Tahoma, 3 kids, and all our stuf fin the Proton!  As wella sthe tewo of us- we have The Knack?

Thsi year though we have upgraded to an Espace (needed one for the boys special needs, but OH thinks its for camping, me I'm after baby no. 4 LOL ) and it came with a roof box for an extra £20.  So no idea what we will acquire....

We always take to much with us clothes for all weathers walking boots shoes if we go for a meal etc.

Margaret

Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 16/4/2007

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1) Make a list. No, not a vague list ...

2) The aim is to reduce the list by 10%, .

3) Was that easy peasy? Then do it again! Take out the next 10%. Everyone can do 10% on the first pass, no problem. The next 10% is harder.

4)Okay, you can keep the rest. For now!

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We have a 4 man tent with plenty of space,check my gallery pic,there are two of us and my 8yr old daughter,but I still like more space especially if weather is not good,so we take a daytent as well which is mainly my kitchen and dining area and as it is 3m X 3m it takes up little space in the car,we have a corsa so are limited on available space but careful packing takes care of that.

The daytent also comes in handy as a gazebo but is much more stronger and weather proof to 3000hh.If you go camping with family as we do (we must be mad) everyone can stretch out whatever the elements throw at us.With experience comes the realisation of what you really need and what can be left behind.

Whatever you do enjoy it!

Quote: Originally posted by CamperConnor on 16/4/2007

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Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 16/4/2007

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1) Make a list. No, not a vague list ...

2) The aim is to reduce the list by 10%, .

3) Was that easy peasy? Then do it again! Take out the next 10%. Everyone can do 10% on the first pass, no problem. The next 10% is harder.

4)Okay, you can keep the rest. For now!

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Val, you aren't in corporate restructuring, by any chance! LOL

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We got out our frame tent earlier today and it measures 3ft x 3.5ft - not far off the dimensions of a gazebo!  So I've emailed the site to see if they'd allow our frame tent (without compartments) to be used as a gazebo - I hope they will allow it as this frame tent has soooooooooooooooooooo much room we could even take our 3 cats and swing them!

Thanks again for your posts - it's been quite a laugh reading some!

Lisa

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