Want some gear to go camping with my four year old and possibly girlfriend. I noticed this tent was on sale - do these air beds and this tent look big enough and enough to get started on? Probably don't need any other gear I guess
Camping equipment
- Thread starter Keitai
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It depends on what sort of camping you have in mind - how long for, back packing, or car, whether you intend camp cooking or dinning out all the time. That tent seems fine for a starter, but aside from the beds, you will need sleeping bags, light, stove and pans.
How many a tent will sleep, is very different from how many can be comfortable in it during the day, as the rain streams down.
How many a tent will sleep, is very different from how many can be comfortable in it during the day, as the rain streams down.
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Take sizes with a pinch of salt. My comfortable for two tent is a four man one
Oh - and summer sleeping bags can prove to be a bit too cool, even in summer when it turns chilly. A 3 season ones tend to be better.
It's for camping for a night or two initially I guess. Would like to cook but then you need a fridge etc I guess which is too much. It's for camping in a car or on my van. This tent is a five man one.
Wheres a good shop or site to look at other tents?
Probably this will be for me and son mostly and occasionally with girlfriend.
You can stand up so I guess cooking is possible. Its reduced to £130 as well.
Wheres a good shop or site to look at other tents?
Probably this will be for me and son mostly and occasionally with girlfriend.
You can stand up so I guess cooking is possible. Its reduced to £130 as well.
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I'll only buy it with that peg or it's 'no deal' .
Personally I would buy a ridge tent with fly sheet if it is just for one or two nights. Air beds are good but pumping them up takes time and effort. A good sleeping bag is almost as good as an air bed.
What ever tent you buy practise putting it up in the dark ( or blindfolded ) before you use it for real.
What ever tent you buy practise putting it up in the dark ( or blindfolded ) before you use it for real.
Good point. I have hiking mats which aren't bad and quick to assemble. https://www.facewest.co.uk/Thermare...MIzN2kiqOi4wIVq7vtCh0R_Q68EAAYAiAAEgImZ_D_BwE They apparently self inflate but I give a quick blow up.
Apparently that tent in pix doesn't take long to assemble. Why do u recommend a ridge tent?
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The modern tents with fibre poles are remarkably quick to put up these days.
Cooking doesn't have to involve taking along a fridge. Simple beans on toast and coffee taste good in the fresh air. You can buy full dried meals, which just need water to be added.
In my teens I would light weight back-pack camp. I toured Cornwall for several holidays, with all I needed in my rucksack.
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Good experience of ridge tents, the fly sheet acts almost like a cavity wall. Keeps rain and sun away from the skin of the tent.
Many happy times camping in ridges with scouts and friends. Later with the family on holiday trips our ridge was habitable in minutes. Bit short on headroom but that is not a problem when sleeping.
I did take some pleasure in seeing the boastful " we got the best equipment " people struggling to get their all singing all dancing tents erected.
But as Monroist saya, where you pitch your tent is most important
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If you do get a tent like that and if not already done so - mark the poles up for the holes they go into.
Use something like coloured insulation tape on the pole.
This makes it easier to get them right in the first place.
As above, practise before the event.
In the dark, the rain and wind, on a steep slope with ground you cannot get your pegs into. (Yeah - get some decent pegs, not the crappy ones that come with it).
If your going to cook inside then your stove should be nowhere near the edges of the tent, you whould also have adequate ventelation.
Outside is best - use a windbreak (in fact get 2)
I prefer the beds that have the W sprung steel legs to inflatables as they don't go down in the middle of the night. The more expensive and bigger to carry fold up ones are a luxory.
Google camping cooking and see what people are able to make when in a tent for inspiration.
Use something like coloured insulation tape on the pole.
This makes it easier to get them right in the first place.
As above, practise before the event.
In the dark, the rain and wind, on a steep slope with ground you cannot get your pegs into. (Yeah - get some decent pegs, not the crappy ones that come with it).
If your going to cook inside then your stove should be nowhere near the edges of the tent, you whould also have adequate ventelation.
Outside is best - use a windbreak (in fact get 2)
I prefer the beds that have the W sprung steel legs to inflatables as they don't go down in the middle of the night. The more expensive and bigger to carry fold up ones are a luxory.
Google camping cooking and see what people are able to make when in a tent for inspiration.
For speed of setting up and packing, you cannot beat those new ones with the poles sewn in a a loop, where you just release and throw them up in the air. Many tents these days are double skinned and yes I agree, double skinned are warmer, drier and cooler in hot weather when the sun is beating down.
My first tent was a ridge tent, wooden poles, no ridge pole, no built in ground sheet, used ties for the door, made from waxed canvas and single skinned.
When I first took the kids lightweight camping, I got an igloo style, fibre poles, double skinned, built in ground sheet and double skinned. I could have that erected in seconds in wet weather, no urgency need to peg it out, weight put in side would make it stay put. It was so much lighter and completely waterproof.
My first tent was a ridge tent, wooden poles, no ridge pole, no built in ground sheet, used ties for the door, made from waxed canvas and single skinned.
When I first took the kids lightweight camping, I got an igloo style, fibre poles, double skinned, built in ground sheet and double skinned. I could have that erected in seconds in wet weather, no urgency need to peg it out, weight put in side would make it stay put. It was so much lighter and completely waterproof.
Avoid steep slopes or in fact any slope, a slope means you will end up sliding in your sleep to one side of the tent - best avoided.