Camping

I'd say pretty much always go for Decathlon at sub £50-100 prices. I bought the previous iteration of their Forclaz trekking mat in 2015 and it's still going strong after many years and camps.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/search?Ntt=sleeping+mat

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Not used this since 2019, had forgot how easy it is to put up compared to other big tents we'd had over the years, so roomy too.

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https://www.campsites.co.uk/search/adult-only-campsites-in-dorset/bridport/dorset-nectar-cider-farm-orchard-campsite

Tent only, adult only... cider farm and bar! I mean... what's not to love about that combination.

Bookmarked!!!

Note that it is a pop-up! They only do camping as they wait for the apples to be ready to harvest. So they only operate a short season.

Did a one night camp with my son this weekend.
Dusted out my 20 year old Coleman Epsilon backpacking tent.

Re proofed it with NikWax and seam sealed the whole thing.
Not too sure what the problem was, but we were DAMP.
It could have been condensation, but the tent material felt full saturated. It was a misty morning.
Could the damp air have permeated the tent?

It might also be that the bathtub ground sheet needed re proofing too, and that the moisture was coming up from under us.

It might have just been condensation of two people in an old tent

Either way...
Tempted to try again. Re seal everything with Fabrisil silicone based gear, rather than the water based Nik Wax stuff... try to bring a 20 year tent back into life.

or...

Just treat myself to a new backpacking tent. Doesn't need to be pro grade.
Just enough to throw in a backpack or the boot for a minimal camp with one kid.

Anyone got any experience of the Vango Caringorm?

I camped with a kid in a brand new Oex Jackal this summer, and that was damp inside, even during the heatwave

is it.... kids?

Two people in a small tent at this time of year can cause condensation. Are there any vents in the inner tent?

Not too sure what the problem was, but we were DAMP.

I have an aranet4... this is an accurate CO2 monitor with temp and relative humidity sensors too.

I use it in my office to tell me when to open the window. I noticed that when I felt sluggish in my office wasn't always after eating, some research said it was CO2. This works out, when CO2 in the office goes above 750ppm (parts per million) my brain slows down.

Anyhoo... I took it camping.

Or rather, I took it driving and camping.

I wanted to know if tiredness in the car was due to high CO2 and too little fresh air... answer = YES! So now I can use the aranet4 as an alarm to open window or blast the fans before I get tired on long journeys.

And camping, well I was merely curious as to what the temperature might be in the tent, how well it holds a temperature.

Camping with an aranet4 was wild.

These numbers from 10pm through to 6am in Southern England.

1. The temperature inside the tent held steady at 17'c in the tent... it got down to 12'c outside.
   
2. CO2 spiked at 3,350ppm, but averaged 2,500ppm... it is about 415ppm outside constantly in fresh air... and I have never seen it higher then 1,000ppm indoors before.
   
3. Relative humidity was about 87% in the tent... weather apps reported only 67% outside.
   
   

Basically... blew my mind.

The tent is phenomenally good at holding temperature, but achieves that by largely holding onto all of the air inside the tent (despite all air vents being open... lack of wind in the right direction?).

Side effect of it being so good at holding the air and temp... the tent also held all of the CO2 exhaled and all of the moisture exhaled.

If the air vents were closed, if the humidity that night was worse... I can well imagine a damp inside of the tent.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/13/dartmoor-estate-landowner-alexander-darwall-court-case-right-to-camp

This is some bullshit.

Looking for a kid and dog friendly campsite recommendation please, within 60 miles of North London.
The last couple of years we’ve really got into it as a fam although the list of gear is getting ridiculous.

I wonder if this is why people always seem to sleep so well and so deeply when camping - they're basically breathing way too much CO2!

bit further north than you want, but this place is amazing https://www.derbyshirehills.co.uk/

Also a recommendation for anyone looking for peak district campsites

https://www.townfarmcamping.co.uk/

nice scenery and riding.

Thanks, my sister is in Buxton and we actually camped at a place called Beltonville Farm which is only a couple of miles from your suggestion, stunning hills. We’re due another visit so I’ll bear it in mind.

@el_presidente

nice scenery and riding…

Sure is, which is why we moved to a house five minutes down the road from there in Tring :) Thanks anyway!

One I’ll recommend is the Old Dairy Farm near Cropredy (Banbury)

We're in the market for a big family tent, nothing basecamp style, but it will get used alot. Show me the fancy canvas shit as well as the regular Outwell giants. What are folk using as a kitchen as I don't want to crouch over a trangia ha ha

I quite like Soulpad but their website is down for maintenance so I can't provide a link. Loads of space, tough tents and good customer services when I've needed them. You can add room dividers if you want.

Decathlon are good value. Probably don't last as long as some heavy canvas but I haven't had mine long enough yet.

What are folk using as a kitchen

I use one of these but it's probably more than you want for one family: https://www.bctshop.co.uk/products/mess-tent

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/folding-camping-kitchen-unit/_/R-p-6329

I hate being that air tent cunt on the campsite but it really has been such an upgrade from our last tent in terms of quality and faff. Saying that we bought out of season during the sales, I’m not sure there are bargains at the moment.
We also have the portable kitchen unit thing that @mustardbeak linked. It’s very useful.

I've a large, lightly used Vango family tent I can sell you if interested. Also with the internal carpet.

It's not an air tent, old fashioned pole action...

old fashioned pole action...

Filth!

Cabanon if you want a family heirloom 😂 but you might need a trailer to transport it.

Got a 5m bell tent that I never use available if you want 'second hand cheap' fancy canvas shit. It's one of the original Bell Tent Company ones and is huge/heavy/great in all weather. Could probably use a clean and the string on the inner pole is broken (doesn't affect the structure, it's just the elasticated string bit that keeps the different sections together in storage). Would price accordingly.