The Camping Forum

[Ali0229]

Hi there,

We've decided to take the plunge into camping, with our first break planned soon, the only slight obstacle is the lack of equipment. We are a family of four and completely new to camping. Looking through the helpful information on this website it seems Outwell are the best tent brand to go for.

Ideally we would like a tent we can sit up, has some decent living space and is not too difficult to erect. We went to our local tent store yesterday to have a look and we're completely lost with the choice. The Outwell Montanta 6 and Oakland XL were part of the shortlist. We looked at the Carolina L but were put off by the smaller living area - perhaps we overestimate how much living area is needed.

We plan to purchase from Outdoor World Direct as they appear to have some really nice deals

Any help or advice would be appreciated

The budget is £600 pounds or so for items to get us started

Many thanks

[livsnana]

Hi and welcome to the forum, I am fairly new here to. I am ordering my tent from outdoor world direct tomorrow, they have an offer of 15% off for members of this forum. I have received endless invaluable advice from everyone on here.

I have bought some great Melamine plates and cups etc from ASDA, all the supermarket picnic and camping stuff is on sale.

Sarah

[Admin]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum.

Do you have anything already? such as sleeping bags etc. etc. or is that 600 for everything all in?


Outwell are a popular brand especially on these boards.. however other manufactures should not be ignored.. many have some excellent tents that may just match your needs better.

some questions that may better help us advise you.

What age's are the children?
how long do you plan on camping? i.e. weekends only? or 1 week, 2 week trips or both?
size of car? trailer? roof box?
electric hook up required?

If you have any other questions then please do ask!!

Thanks

Andy

[Ali0229]

Thank you for the helpful replies. I hope we haven't rushed into this, however, we have ordered a Vango Tigris 600, at a very reasonable price from Outdoor World Direct. The reviews online for this tent all seemed to be good. Our children are young, both under 5 and we have mid-size saloon car with no roof box or trailer although we may need to invest in one I guess. Budget of £600 is all in, and we have no existing equipment. We have ordered the following:

Tent, carpet and footprint
Sleeping bags
Gas burner & regulator
Power lead
Airbeds with battery pump
Chair and table set
Water can
Cooler
Pan set
Torch and lanterns

Anything else needed for mainly weekend breaks?

[Rob-merlin1973]

Hi
Welcome to the forum and happy new tent

If you go to the downloads section (in the blue bar above) there is a camping checklist you can download and then custamise to your own needs before printing off.
The stuff on there should give you a good idea of what you should need

Any questions just ask

[OutdoorWorldDirect]

Hi, Welcome to the forum and thanks for ordering from us by the way!

I'll make sure your order leaves us today for tomorrow delivery. The Tigris 600 is a great choice, especially if you are a first time camper as it is relatively simple to put up and provides lots of space. Make sure you check everything is good with the tent before you go away, so have a trial pitch in the garden if you can so you are prepared for the real thing.
The instructions for the tent are sewn into the bag and there should be a pitching DVD in the tent somewhere aswell. Thats always worth a watch.

Otherwise have a great holiday!

Cheers

David

[Wayne]

I 100% agree with David, the Tig is a great tent. I have a Tigris 800.

As David says get to know your tent and pitch it in the back garden or somewhere local. Look at the DVD first or this link on how best to erect.

You list:

You mention airbeds, but you don't have mats listed. I would buy some foam mats to put under the airbeds to insulate from the ground or if it drops cold your gonna know about it, maybe not in July or August, but other months you will.
I also take an extra light weight blanket for everyone, just the cheap ones.

[Wayne]

And a warm welcome to the forum