Happy Campers

[kmount]

Excellent, that's wonderful news

 

I seen on the tv the other night a deal I think at Halfords for a silly big tent, airbeds, sleeping bags, torches etc that all packs up in a holdall.

 

Might be a bit much for you and your wife, but worth a look

[kmount]

Oh here it is, £89.99.

[Hightower]

Been looking at this one:

 

Buy Regatta 5 Person Tunnel Tent. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .

 

Already bought an airbed and light as brothers popped and got smashed (respectively). Were also told by our camping neighbours that getting a pitch with electric on is a lifesaver, especially on the longer trips.

[rad]

I seen on the tv the other night a deal I think at Halfords for a silly big tent, airbeds, sleeping bags, torches etc that all packs up in a holdall.

 

Glad she enjoyed it also.

 

FYI the Halfords camping is not worth the money. The tents are not made of good quality waterproofing so the usual downpour we get in this country would make the tent useless. (please don't take offence, just offering my 2p to Halfords kit)

I also switch over the ukcampsite.co.uk as I camp for about 3 weeks each year, the site has a tent guide so you can gain info and see pictures of peoples tents.

 

Its worth looking on Go Outdoors or megaoutdoor store for tent ideas. I have built up a load of kit and I have 2 tents, one is a massive 6 man (Vango Diablo 600) the other a three man Vango 350 somthing mountain tent.

 

As for a tent, it depends on budget and what you are after. As for EHU (electri hook up) only if you want to run you tv, fridge, fan, heater, light etc. I have use of a gas fridge they are brilliant.

[Simcfc73]

Hated my experience, sorry. Will never go camping again. I am a light sleeper and I got about 2 hours sleep on Firday night and about 4 on Saturday night.

 

I quite liked the camp experience but give me a proper bed any day of the week.

[alan-d]

When selecting the electric hookup don't go for the cheap ones on fleabay, most sites only have between 10 - 16 amp supply so one with a built in cut-off could save you from tripping half the campsite and reduce the risk of burning the tent down.

 

On tents look for a hydrostatic head of 3000 which will keep you dry in most conditions.

[Hightower]

So does the head of 2000 in my link above mean that it's rubbish? I don't want to spend too much on the first tent so would it not cut it?

 

I was having a look at the hook-ups and noticed you can get them with/without the trips built in. The difference in price (by about £50) tells me that I should probably go for the more expensive one in this situation.

[alan-d]

A head of 2000 would cope with heavy showers but you may see some leakage after a prolonged outburst over 5 hours or so. I'm talking heavy rain here not the drizzly stuff. I had a tent with a head of 3000 and was camped about 10 miles from Boscastle during the flooding incident, in the main we stayed dry, just the odd drip around a seam and zip, a tent next to us with a head of 2000 was dripping all over the place. This was extreme weather I admit but it happens in this country, it's what makes camping fun isn't it?

[Hightower]

So it's definately worth the little extra investment to go to a 3000 if we are planning so spend a week here and a week there?

[Hightower]

Been offered a 1980's Pennine Pulman Trailer Tent for a good price. What do people think about these?

[Hightower]

Well, it has a stove/fridge/heater, and sleeps 6 although been told 4 comfortably. It also comes with a full awning, and the only problem it has apparently is a problem with a zip, but she's going to get more details of that. She's going to send me some photo's tonight and if all looks okay I'll take a look at it.

 

The car has a towbar already, but as I passed my test in 2002 (after 1997) do I have to take an additional test to pull the trailer tent? I have pulled a caravan before but later found out that I don't have the required letters to do this.

 

How would a trailer tent - particularly this model - function with harsh weather, as alan-d said a 3000 head would be best. Should a trailer tent be capable of the job in hand?

[sippo]

Just do what top gear did last night...

[alan-d]

Well, it has a stove/fridge/heater, and sleeps 6 although been told 4 comfortably. It also comes with a full awning, and the only problem it has apparently is a problem with a zip, but she's going to get more details of that. She's going to send me some photo's tonight and if all looks okay I'll take a look at it.

 

The car has a towbar already, but as I passed my test in 2002 (after 1997) do I have to take an additional test to pull the trailer tent? I have pulled a caravan before but later found out that I don't have the required letters to do this.

 

How would a trailer tent - particularly this model - function with harsh weather, as alan-d said a 3000 head would be best. Should a trailer tent be capable of the job in hand?

 

You should be able to pull a TT on your licence - it goes by weight, you can check on the dvla website once you know the weight of the TT.

[Hightower]

Can I ask how much?

If the stove/fridge and heater works, that's worth a few hundred.

 

They want £250 for it. Getting some photo's tonight, and then will have a look. It has 3 mains sockets with RCB, fridge (3-way), stove (2 rings and grill), and a little heater. It also comes with full awning (did I say that already?!). Reckon I could get it for £200 though, which is what I'd pay for a new tent alone so should be a good starter as won't need to worry about getting a stove, coolbox etc etc.

 

Also, our house is not massive so may be better than a tent as wasn't sure where we would store all that gear. However, a trailer tent poses a problem. See attached image:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7776[/ATTACH]

 

As you can see from the badly drawn picture, I live in a terrace of four houses. I haven't drawn the other details but you can see my garden has three trees (thanks to paints spray brush!) in the middle. The only gate is a garden gate size and is at the house end of the garden which is accessed via the light gray shared path. The gate at the end of the shared path is again a normal size and is not big enough for a trailer tent to fit down.

 

The dark gray on the left is a footpath that is about 8 foot wide. The garden has a 6-foot fence all the way around. Now the dilemna is how to get the TT onto the garden when not in use. The obvious is to turn the end fence panels (next to the dark grey) into a gate. No problem, but then the TT is stored behind the trees so we can't see it from the house, and I don't like the idea that I can't keep an eye on it from my house.

 

The next option is to do the gate thing and then cut the trees down, but we like the privacy they provide.

 

This, is a bit of a pickle!

[alan-d]

Once upon a time you could get wheels that fit on and enable you to move a TT on its end or side. No idea of the cost or even if you can do it with a Pulman, I'll have a look when I get a minute.

[plexer]

The driving licence you need to tow a caravan or trailer : Directgov - Motoring

 

Ben

[Hightower]

The driving licence you need to tow a caravan or trailer : Directgov - Motoring

 

Ben

 

My licence has B, B1, f, k, p - so the way I read it is I can pull a trailer not heavier than 750kgs. Does this look correct? If so, if the TT weighs 500kgs then I can pull it?

[Simcfc73]

Just do what top gear did last night...

 

I watched that and agreed with everything Clarkson said... even our lass said so.

[plexer]

My licence has B, B1, f, k, p - so the way I read it is I can pull a trailer not heavier than 750kgs. Does this look correct? If so, if the TT weighs 500kgs then I can pull it?

 

Yes I believe that is correct.

 

Ben

[Hightower]

I don't know what went wrong for your weekend @Simcfc73: but this is what we did on ours and it was great!

 

Sat

11:00 - Pulled up at site, checked in, got passes etc, went to pitch

11:10 - Put tent up, not enough pegs (thanks to brother) so nipped to onsite shop to buy some)

11:25 - Tent up, car emptied (everything in tent) and started blowing up newly purchased airbed with wife had removed from packaging - had a built in foot pump which was handy

11:35 - Pumping for 10 minutes and nothing happening. Legs aching, look at wife who is still holding the plug in her hand! Shout, laugh, put in plug and blow up.

11:40 - Taking some doing, but the neighbour realises what we are attempting to do and kindly loans us her electric pump.

11:40:32 - Airbed up.

11: 41 - Tent zipped up, jump in car and head to Keswick

12:10 - Land at Keswick, and do some shopping. Found walking shoes reduced from £50 to £20. Bargain. Get to check out and shoes are in fact £10 now - bigger bargain. Fish and chips and head back to site.

14:30 - back at site, chill out for 30 mins

15:00 - time to test new shoes. head for walk - 6 miles.

17:00 - Chill out for 30 minutes at tent

17:30 - Washed, dressed, and head out in car for some food. Find a little pub in the middle of nowhere and decide that'll do nicely

19:00 - meal finished, head back to site, ditch car at pitch and walk down to onsite pub.

20:00 - Couple of beers, absolutely burnt out so head back to tent. Drink bottle of wine sat outside watching the world go round.

22:00 - Time for bed as knackered. Drift straight off

 

Sun

08:00 - Wake up - WOW, 10 hours! (and i'm a VERY light sleeper)

09:30 - Ready, bags packed and in the car. Start to take tent down.

09:35 - tent down, bagged, and in car. Head for breaky

10:30 - Breaky was lovely, head to brough castle for a look around

11:00 - Start to head home

12:00 - Decide to go to High Force for a little driving break

14:00 - Get home, ready to chill out with TV

 

We did so much in less than 24 hours, and it was tiring but I also felt so relaxed.

[alan-d]

My licence has B, B1, f, k, p - so the way I read it is I can pull a trailer not heavier than 750kgs. Does this look correct? If so, if the TT weighs 500kgs then I can pull it?

 

Correct.

 

Also - when camping, there is no need to log tasks, you are not at work - relax

[Hightower]

Also - when camping, there is no need to log tasks, you are not at work - relax

 

It was my first trip! I have yet to master the "you're on holiday, relax" mode. Everything is serious - like how it only took me 1hr30 to do the walk yet it took the wife 2hr05. She wasn't happy when she finally got back, but I think that's just because I won!

[alan-d]

It was my first trip! I have yet to master the "you're on holiday, relax" mode. Everything is serious - like how it only took me 1hr30 to do the walk yet it took the wife 2hr05. She wasn't happy when she finally got back, but I think that's just because I won!

 

We did a 9.5 mile walk yesterday in 2.5 hours - wife not amused

[truslack]

I do a fair bit of camping - generally enjoy it and get a decent nights sleep whatever the weather.

 

I'm heading off up to the lakes, then on to scotland this summer with my bike and sidecar. I'll be taking a solo tent, a tarp (to rig as a basha), bivvy bag and hammock. The tent stays packed in a sidepouch on my bergen (it's tiny) and whilst it only has a hydrostatic head of 1500mm, I have yet to have it leak - even in gales with extremely heavy rain. I prefer just bivvying though - especially when roughing it in woods.

[soveryapt]

Have you been to these?

 

I've used Park Foot and Waterside before now .. they're both good campsites .. and there's a few others up there too ..

 

The Waterside House have boat hire and various things like that and there is plenty to do in the area (I love it there, even got married up there!) ..