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 Topic: Camping comfortably in summer
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Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
28/4/2017 at 7:29am
Location: West - North Yorkshire
Outfit: Swift Speedbird 490 Mondeo Estate
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Depending on the relative height above sea level, you may find that nights are cooler than you expect and it's wise to take suitable bedding to deal with a range of temperatures. In the Cevennes we have had nights in August when the temperature dropped below freezing!
If the weather is hot, then erect your tent in the shadiest area of the pitch, perhaps even erect a shade sail or similar over it, and leave all 'windows' open during the day and at night. Our tent has large areas where the windows have a 'net' under the clear perspex and we find leaving the perspex open cools things down considerably.
As far as chilling food, there are lots of ways from the simplest cool box with ice packs to a fridge/freezer on your pitch. Most French campsites offer a facility for freezing ice packs, and we used to find that large plastic bottles of water, some emptied out and then frozen, were just as good as the freezer packs you have to buy. Or if you have a hook up you can add a fan to keep cool, and a plug in fridge. You can buy three way fridges which work from a gas bottle, electric or on journeys from your cigarette lighter in the car. Again you will need to make sure it is kept out of full sun whilst on site.
Many campsites will hire a fridge or even a fridge/freezer which they bring to your pitch. Check out your site for details.
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28/4/2017 at 9:51am
Location: Dartford Kent
Outfit: VW T6 conversion
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Great advice from Val, as ever. Our first foray in a tent, having scaled down from a folding camper, was during a heatwave in the Rhône valley. We had to find shade in a nearby clump of trees, particularly during the 12.00-4.00 period. Mad dogs and Englishmen! Camping below the 45th Parallel means the sun is much more powerful than the North of England. Don't sunbathe; you'll still get a tan in the shade, and sunburn is lousy in a tent. Use the pool to cool.
Over the years we learned to adjust our food - there's a reason for the mediterranean diet! Try to avoid food that needs refrigeration; so using olive oil rather than milk and butter, and buying smaller quantities helps. Small boxes of UHT milk can be opened when needed. Black coffee, rather than tea (you're on holiday!) Fresh fruit and veg are better kept in a shady patch. Dried meat and sausage just needs cool, not chilling. And tins and packets provide useful staples. Eat out when you can - a salad and a glass of wine is usually cheap. Beer keeps OK in a fire bucket - and a bucket of water with a damp towel over it, in the shade, is as good as a cool box particularly of there's a breeze.
For sleeping, the problem I've found is airbeds - condensed perspiration gets cold; so a good woolen blanket under the sleeping bag is more absorbent than fleece, and dries out well in the day. Don't forget the spray-on mossy repellent, as you may find you're casting off the bedclothes. Spray on from about 7pm, as the beggars feed at night.
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28/4/2017 at 11:21am
Location: Northern Ireland
Outfit: Sterckeman Alize Concept CP480
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As well as the excellent advice, above ...
We took a table top fridge with us: this one, using it as storage space whilst traveling, and it allows for full size bottles, which many of the smaller one don't. Found it an absolute boon for cold drinks and food.
We bought a cheap gazebo to rig immediately in front of the tent to act as a large shaded porch ... made a terrific difference ... this sort of thing ... Argos or Amazon etc do various types from mid £30's to ridiculous!
As mentioned, above, air circulation is key to keeping interior of tent as cool as possible, as well as trying to keep out of direct sunlight ... but, ensure that sleeping areas are sealed by mesh windows/vents, and, zipped up entrances ... this will keep mozzies etc out of the sleeping area.
Depending on the area you are in, you may need anything from a duvet, to a sheet, to nothing at all, to sleep 'under' ... as Val says, temperatures can drop considerably at higher altitudes.
We also found that a food storage space, sealed from insects (especially ants!) was very useful ... we used both the hanging variety and the chunkier floor standing versions (the former pack down to almost nothing: like this.)
You might, also, find some sort of clothes dryer useful: like this
You will find that you'll rapidly adjust to a 'modus operandi' that suits yourselves: everyone has their own particular likes/dislikes ... but, you'll have a ball ... we went through quite a range of tents before switching to an FC then a caravan ... still, often, miss the 'true' camping with a tent.
Post last edited on 28/04/2017 11:30:12
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Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
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