Camping Essentials for your first Camping Trip

Camping Essentials for your First Camping Trip. Last year we were very kindly gifted a tent, a Eurohike 600 Rydal. Which we love and have used a couple of times. Including taking Monkey to his first festival – The Big Family Festival. Which he really enjoyed and so did I. Although we haven’t ever been camping as a family of four. Last year Hubby stayed at home with Kipper. You see Hubby doesn’t do camping!

However, with three camping weekends planned for the summer, he’s going to have to learn pretty quickly. If you couple this fact with Kipper being 26 months and into everything I was a little worried about the romantic family camping experience I have in my head. It may turn into a camping nightmare.  To try and make it as painless as possible for him I have got much more organised this year.

Camping Essentials for your First Camping Trip

Although we are still very much novices in the camping department see is the camping equipment which will be coming with us.

Sleeping

Well, obviously our glorious tent, which has been put up in the garden and is airing nicely for its outing in a couple of weeks. Check out this post on the best large tents for family camping trips.

Airbeds

All of us need to try and get a good nights sleep as much as possible, which makes an airbed essential camping gear in my book. We have opted to take two doubles. Ideally Kipper would probably still just about be in a travel cot, but since we need to draw the line somewhere in the amount of stuff we are taking. He’s going to have to sleep with us on an airbed.

Sleeping Bags

Both boys will have their own Eurohike sleeping bag. Monkey opted for blue and Kipper red. I also have a large double sleeping bag and another single to cover all eventualities. Such as Kipper deciding to sleep in with me.

Lantern

With kiddies, it’s essential that we have a lantern in the tent. I opted for the Goal Zero Lighthouse 400 Lantern and Recharger from Tiso. Not only is it super bright it will also recharge devices. Ideal if you are a blogger like me! It’s meant to last for about 3 months before it needs recharging so we will see how it goes! Failing that it can be recharged by the USB port, linked to a solar panel or there’s a handle that will give light instantly. So you are never left in the dark

Carbon Monoxide Alarm

Something that I am really passionate about is a Carbon Monoxide Alarm. You have a tent to keep you dry and you have a sleeping bag to keep you warm. You need a CO alarm to keep you safe. Recently I was made aware of Project SHOUT. Project SHOUT was created after hearing Stacey Rodgers’ story and realising that so much more needs to be done to make people aware of both the life-threatening dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and also of the low-cost solution that could save lives. We will be taking a Carbon Monoxide Alarm with us. We also have one installed next to our oil fired central heating system. For under £20 you can protect yourself and your family especially while camping with gas stoves. The one we will be using is from FireAngel. I really can’t stress this enough.

Living & Cooking

This year we have added to the tent an additional tarp. Not only will it come in handy for storage, but I can also use the additional poles to prop up the door of the tent. Giving us much more outside space as well as providing additional shade for meal times etc. Although this does mean that we will need a large pitch.

With all the things we are taking I couldn’t live without our Micro Wagon. It was so useful last time for putting everything in and dragging it around the campsite and festival.

Foldable picnic table

Last time we went camping we survived without a table however it wasn’t ideal. Plus with a younger one running around I really wanted to make sure we could cook up high. That’s where our new Charles Bentley four-seater foldable picnic table comes it. Ideal for weekends away it folds flat with a space for the chairs on the inside. Its very clever and a good size. I was a little worried that it would be too big. After all, there is only so much room in the car!

But when it’s folded it only measures 60cm x 60cm so it’s perfect. The frame is made from hardy aluminium and the table is height adjustable. The three different heights work perfectly for the children. But it also means if we want to play cards when they have gone to bed we can make it adult height too! The top is made from coated MDF so it’s easy to clean, and the handle makes it easy to transport. Priced at £29.99 from Buydirect4U I think it’s a bargain and I am only wondering why we haven’t had one before. 

A camping stove

When it comes to camping stoves I have traditionally brought one of those £15 jobs. Each time we use it we go through tons of gas bottles and burn the bottom of the cheap pans out. So this time I decided if we were going to do it, we needed to do it properly. That’s where our Coleman Fyre Champion Double Burner Stove comes in. Not only is it windproof, it also claims to drastically reduce cooking and boiling time. I have attracted but the fact that it also comes with hot plates. Plus having the double burner will mean that we can boil a kettle as well as cook sausages for tea.

Cooking Utensils 

A new stove needs a new frying pan. Having spent a reasonable amount of money over the years on pans which last one camping trip. I decided not to opt for one of those all in one set for a bargain of £10. Instead, I opted for one good pan. The MSR Ceramic Flex Skillet from Tiso. Being non-stick it will be perfect for frying bacon and sausages. The handle cleverly folds in on itself which makes it easy to transport. I am hoping that I don’t manage to burn the bottom out of this one!

Enamel tableware

Keeping on the theme of quality instead of paper plates this year I will take a complete set of enamel tableware – plates, bowls and cups. They are a lovely blue colour and feel very robust. Which is just as well with little ones! Plus they are super easy to clean and really should last for a long time. Made by Highlander the whole set is available at Tiso. Purchased individually it also means there’s also lots of flexibility if you have a larger family or want to keep some spares.

Sporks

They also sell these great Sporks which is a spoon one and fork the other. One side of the fork is serrated and can be used as a knife. Monkey thinks they look a little funny. But they are super practical and much better than the throw away plastic ones we have used previously.

Stainless steel bottles

The last thing which is on our list is a set of stainless steel bottles from Klean Kanteen. Klean Kanteen is a brand that offers people a safe, healthy alternative to plastic drinking bottles. Klean Kanteen was introduced onto the market to give people a better option than plastic and lined aluminium bottles: a safe, healthy, lightweight, reusable bottle free of Bisphenol A (BPA) and other toxin substances. For the boys, we opted for Kids Classic 355ml Bottles with Sports Caps and for us a pair of Vacuum Insulated Classics. They will be super handy to ensure we keep our fluids up. Not only is the outside chip-resistant, but the vacuum ones can cope with both hot and cold drinks. The insulation will keep drinks cold for up to an amazing 90 hours!

So that’s our starter for ten. If you are a seasoned camper and think I have forgotten something then please do let me know in the comments below! What are your camping essentials for your first camping trip?

If you’ve liked this post please follow me on my social media channels:

Mudpie Fridays: YouTube | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Pinterest | LinkedIn

We were gifted  the items mentioned and photographed in this post for the purpose of this roundup – Camping Essentials for your first Camping Trip