Camping - semi Lotus related

[cla5h]

Never been in a tent in my life, but now quite fancy the idea of being able to get up on a summy summer Saturday, flinging some camping gear in the boot, and heading off up North.

What's the basic kit that a camper (and his wife) are likely to need, can anyone recommend any particular ranges that are compact enough to fit in a Lotus, and what should I be looking to pay (as little as poss.)

[bertieduff]

Forget camp sites unless your good lady insists IMHO- far more fun finding a nice little spot where no-one will bother you if you light a fire/play music etc, and it's free!

Midgie repellent should be high up the list

2p

[Skyenet]

Not quite sure where to start

The following site includes lots of uesful information and advice, list some of the most popular equipment (many with reviews) and where to get some of the best deals.

http://www.buachaille.com/

General you get what you pay for but more expensive equipment always sells quite well if you ever decide camping is not the way to go.

For two people often worth looking at 2-3 man tents if you want a bit extra storage room. Weight and size of packed tent often relate to price. The smaller lighter the more expensive. You want a tent that is easy to put up (remember you might be putting it up in the rain of a force ten gale). I have found Vango tents realy good and for camping on the motorbike I recently bought a lightweight Coleman tent. When Skye and I camped around Europe in 2005 we actually just used a cheap 2 man dome tent because it didn't take much room up and the weather was good. Other wise we would have taken our more substantial Vango 350.

All my sleeping bags are Snugpacs suitable for varying conditions. Plenty other makes about its just I have found them good quality and they pack up small. You will need some sort of mat to sleep on. Cheapest are roll mats around £5 -£10. Best bet are self inflating mats. The main manufacturer is Thermarest and one of their mats will cost about £40odd pound. There are other makers and theirs are often cheaper, though maybe not as small packed.

You can get cheap gas burner stoves for about £10 which is fine for seeing if camping is for you. If it is then you can spend loads on stoves. I use a coleman stove which uses petrol so no need to carry spare gas canisters. Same with cooking stuff. Just use stuff out of the house until you see if you want to buy the lighterweight camping stuff.

and if camping in Scotland then midgy repellent is a must. Avon Skin So Soft is one of the best repellents about

[ExigeKen]

One Man

Tent and sleeping bag, jeans, t-shirt and shorts.

One man and his wife

Tent, two sleeping bags, hair dryers, make up bag, hair straightners, shoes, mirror, hair brushes, dresses, skirts, ............ etc Money to book into hotel when it rains

Seriously there are loads of small fold away two man tents available for well under £100 go along to any of the outdoor shops and check what is on special offer. You can get sleeping bags that fold away in a tiny bag, and a small stove. As you say it depends upon how much you want to spend.

[MacK]

Time for my photo again



2 tents, 2 sleeping bags, 2 sleeping mats (self inflating) disposable barbque, stove, food, drinks and changes of clothes each for 2 nights.

Agree with what Ian said above.

A good place to try for supplies is http://www.highlander1.com/ reasonable quality, reasonably cheap with a factory shop in Livingston.

[bertieduff]

Lol @ Ken's comments

Mack, that effort deserves a medal..

[Skyenet]

any of the outdoor shops and check what is on special offer.

In Glasgow you have got Tiso's Outdoor Experience situated at the top of North Hanover Street (parallel to Buchanan Street) opposite Douglas Park BMW garage.

http://www.tiso.com/uk_shops/glasgowoutdoorexperience

Costwold World also have tents and equipment in their store at West End Shopping Park, Crow Road, Partick, Glasgow. G11 7RY

http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/

ADVENTURE1 UK 38 DUNDAS ST, GLASGOW, UKG1 2AQ-is good for camping gear and sleeping bags. I expect they do tents as well. They are just up the flight of stairs from the taxi rank at Queen Street station.


http://www.adventure1.co.uk/

In Sauchiehall Street you have Nevisport, Blacks and Millets

http://www.nevisport.com/store.asp?StoreID=5

http://www.blacks.co.uk/blacks.storefront/

http://www.millets.co.uk/millets.storef ... fault.aspx

and not far from those you have Outdoor World in New City Road right beside the M8 motorway. They tend to stock a cheaper range of gear. In fact if I am looking for camping stuff I sometimes park there and have a look around then walk over to Sauchihall Street to view the other 3 shops.

That lot will keep you busy

[EliseR]

Enoy it, camping is excellent fun. I camped up the pentlands a month or two ago, ended up lieing in the comfiest bed of heather watching the sun come up over the city early doors. Can't beat it.

Gary.

[graeme]

Camping is fab! You'll love it!

Most of it is pretty simple. Go to Blacks or any camping shop and buy the smallest of everything

I would advise on spending a bit to get Thermarests. They fold up really small if you get the lite version

http://www.thermarest.com/product_detai ... D=42&cID=1

and thus fit nicely in an Elise. Top product.

For sleeping bags, go to Blacks and get the ones which scrunch up to the smallest size. 2 of these fit nicely on top of the pax footrest and are fine for summer use.

Those are really just space saving tips. The most important thing I've learned the hard and expensive way is that all tents are not created equal.

Get something roughly the same shape as this:

http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/review/rev ... 7664194380

The key point to note here is that there is a sleeping space and a separate porch bit. That porch bit can make or break a holiday if you get rained on. You can still cook in it (carefully) if it really rains. Also, the side-located doors mean, unless it's raining from both directions, you can still have at least one door open in a shower, so you can still shelter if it rains without feeling like you're closed off from the world. When viewing tents, ask yourself if you could have a door open if it rained. If the door is sloped, the answer is no. Walk away. You'll be thankful you spent a bit extra if you get a rainy weekend. Also, it's easy to put your shoes on in the porch bit in the middle of the night when nature calls - not so with no-porch designs.
Also note semi-geodesic design (i.e. the poles cross over for extra stability). It's really rare to find a side-door, porchy, semi-geodesic design like that one, so happy hunting!
There are lots of little practical reasons we discovered why this tent shape is the best, most of which would take too many words to explain, so just trust me! If you do nothing else, buy a tent that shape. We've changed tents 3 times based on learning the lessons above, but are now happy. It won't take many nights of use (versus hotel / B&B) to pay for itself!

Other top tips are mostly stuff we've built up over the years, starting with cheaper kit, discovering design flaws and getting "what have they got" envy on campsites.

MSR dragonfly stove (awesome!) :
http://www.msrcorp.com/stoves/dragonfly.asp

Microfibre towels (they pack up really small and dry really fast).

http://www.roamingfox.co.uk/Lifeventure ... 16441.html

Also, Fd recently introduced me to compression sacks:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/SUMMIT-Sn240-Co ... 985&sr=8-1

for which I shall be eternally grateful.

And of course, no SE camper should ever be without these:

http://www.rei.com/product/634314

[simon]

Mack, that effort deserves a medal..

For what? Half filling the boot? You can easily get a week's worth of stuff in so 2 nights is a piece of piss

And that's with space in the boot for the roof

some more tips:

1. Tent goes behind the seats (a 3 man tent will easily fit)
2. sleeping bag(s) can be tied above the pax footrest (assuming you have one)
3. cheapo inflatable mats pack smaller than the cheapo foam ones (I got some from Asda for about a tenner each)
4. Like John's pic, pack small amounts into lots of bags, much easier to jam stuff in that way

[GregR]

oooh, camping. Waking up in a tent soaking wet with condensation, having had a dreadful night's kip trying to roll over and discovering you can't, you're in a tent, leaving your shoes/walking boots outside so they're filled with sh!te, mix liberally withthe smell of you & another person in a sweaty tent all night. Mmm, fun!

I think I'm passed it...

Spend £50 and wake up in a nice double bed and have someone else cook your breakfast for you. Far less likely to die on the drive home from sleep depravation too

[graeme]

Greg, why not just post "I am a bit of a girl".

[ExigeKen]

Greg, why not just post "I am a bit of a girl".

Depends which bit

[steve_weegie]

Spend £50 and wake up in a nice double bed and have someone else cook your breakfast for you.

NOTHING tastes as good as a bacon buttie cooked on a petrol burner at 7am!

[BiggestNizzy]

NOTHING tastes as good as a bacon buttie someone else has cooked on a petrol burner at 7am!