11 Camping Essentials

If the weather decides to play ball I would like to make this a summer of camping, I have only managed one trip so far with a large group of family but Camp Bestival is coming up soon and I’d love to make some plans to camp with friends too.

After you have been camping a few times you start to create a mental list of the things you NEED and then the things that you want ..if you have room in the car!

1. Starting with The Tent:

Well it would be a bit problematic if you forgot the tent yes? We have been trying out two tents – one is a traditional technical tent from Olpro and the other a Vango Inflatable tent. You can find the review for the Olpro tent here and the inflatable tent review will be live in a few weeks. When considering a tent I say look at the size of not just the bedrooms but also the living areas as British weather is ..well not great. You need a good space that you can sit in with a book or to play a game or enjoy your supper – DON’T be tempted to cook inside your tent though.

2. Airbeds:

Once considered a luxury I definitely view this as an essential and would never camp without one or a camped. They add an element of comfort and if placed over a blanket or underlay they stop the cold ground from seeping into your bones during the night!

3. Bedding:

All of the bedding. Woah it can get cold in the UK even on summer nights. Last year at Camp Bestival I was frozen. Any extra bedding we took was used on the girls as they shivered away and I pulled my youngest into bed with me just to try to absorb her heat. Never again – take more than you need. Thin layers of bedding are useful for the mornings when it inevitably turns into an oven and a fleecy or heavy blanket to pop over the top is great – a warm blanket is also nice to wrap around your shoulders as you enjoy some wine outside your tent at night.

4. BBQ/Cooking Stove:

You can’t quite beat the feeling of eating outdoors, birds tweeting, bees buzzing around and everything just tastes better.

5. Food & Drink:

I am still a bit of a foodie even when camping. I see no reason why you can’t cook a good meal around a campfire or stove. I love to make frittatas, pasta dishes or some pre made gnocchi when camping. Filling meals. I always take a loaf of bread and peanut butter for easy lunches for the girls and frozen bacon or sausages to last us a few days. On that note.. tinfoil is your friend – less washing up means much more to enjoy the trip.

Marinated chicken thighs are also a fave here, good for the first night of camping when you can marinate at home and keep cool until the evening:

6.Wet Wipes & Anti Bac:

Sticky hands, tent spillages or just the general messiness of camping. Muddy feet. Anti Bac gel for when you haven’t got the energy for the 30th trip of the day to the toilets to wash your childrens hands. Also great for using after going into festival toilets which even at the best of festivals can be a little grim.

7.Torch, lamp, candles:

For obvious reasons, it can seem blacker than blacker when you are in the middle of a field unless it’s particularly clear and starry. So used to street lights and being able to pop a light on whenever you want you need a ready supply of the above. Handy for midnight bathroom trips or if you are convinced you hear a large animal nearby.. or is that just me?? It is nearly always the person in the next tent snoring.

8. First Aid Kit, Insect Repellent:

Cuts and scrapes are a given with children and all of the midges in the world came out on our last trip. They seem to love me in particular.

9. A back up power charger:

Whilst lots of campsites now have electric hook up pitches, festivals generally do not. I always take a back up charger such as this Juice Weekender. I am a bit of a social media addict and I really don’t like to be non contactable

10.  Some kind of board game or cards:

Just for fun and to pass the time.

11. Books:

I wake up really early when camping, as soon as the morning light starts to stream through so I always have a book on hand for that early morning laze in bed.

Can you think of any other camping essentials??

• The products mentioned in this post were gifted for the purpose of a review.