Tent Sniffing for Beginners

For a long time I have searched for the perfect comfy night's sleep when camping. As I'm in my 50s the simple thin foam mat favoured by my teen is just not enough for my older bones. So while a yoga mat may do for the young, for the more discerning sleeper something comfier is required. I have tried camp beds like these but found them to actually feel quite hard and uncomfortable. Then I moved on to the old staple, the supermarket inflatable . For years that's what I have used. I soon learned that sharing a double with someone is a nightmare - the heavier person will bounce the lighter around at every movement! So if you use them, use singles. The plus points are that they are deep and comfy. The negatives are that they are bulky, need a pump to inflate, and once you get a slow leak, each night is a slow descent to the ground.    After my trusty inflatable finally gave up, I searched around for other options. Lately at festivals I've been travelling light ...

Every blogger that does festivals has blogged about what to take. I've done it myself because it's a thing that newbies, festival virgins, the uninitiated, always ask. But the more I think about the planet, the irony of banning plastic straws but taking wet wipes in your festival kit, the more I thought I needed to 'eco up' my game. Now festival going is never going to be all holy. You'll have to buy stuff, and travel(I'm trying the coach to Boomtown this year!). But here are some ideas to make it a little more environmentally conscious, a little more eco friendly, a tiny bit better for the planet we not only profess to love, but actually live on. You'll need a tent , try not to buy cheap to bin later. It's tempting, you might even kid yourself that 'the homeless' will use it or it will be recycled into clothes . In reality very few tents that are binned are reused, most end up in landfill. If you don't want to buy a tent to reuse year...

Hi all, I expect you are wondering what a tent has to blog about. Well I have some exciting times you know - I travel to all sorts of exotic places (ok ok the Isle of Wight is the only time I have travelled 'overseas'  but still...) and I attend lots of festivals each year, I don't get a wristband but that's OK as I don't have any wrists. To introduce myself, I am Wilfred. I am a canvas Cabanon tent, a Dutch pyramid style, slightly retro and very storm resistant. In 2015 I had the equivalent of a tent tattoo , and was painted with a fun Japanese design. I'm well used, well loved and unique. This year I went to The Byline Festival and had a lovely time in a nice grassy field with well spaced tents. There were lots of new tents there who told me that their owners had never even taken them out of the bag before! I felt a true 'old hand' with my merry bunting and flags, my extra tarpaulin and my solar lights. The festival itself seemed very genteel....

Over on Facebook today I saw a post sharing a truly frightening story of a young girl getting her hair caught in a pool filter while on holiday, and subsequently nearly drowning. She lost chunks of hair and had to be treated in hospital, she was lucky to survive this terrifying experience. I have read about pool filters and the dangers of them before, and whether at home or abroad it's easy to forget safety when we are on holiday and having fun. When DD was younger she had waist length hair and because wet waist length hair is a pain when you are trying to swim, we bought her a swimming hat. While she initially hated it and thought it looked a bit silly, she soon realised the benefits, no wet hair all over your face as you surface, no tangles after swimming (or at least a lot fewer than when it's loose) and even slightly better speed when swimming as there is less drag! When we holidayed in Spain there were signs all around the pool telling guests to wear a swimming hat...

I admit I toyed with Enid Blyton style titles for this blogpost. Five Go Camping with a Mooncup. Secret Seven and the Mystery of the Perfect Sanitary Protection. Third Form at Mooncup towers.. yeah I know, I'm losing the plot. But! The mooncup is the perfect sanitary protection for the female traveller. The mooncup has many benefits. If you need to deal with monthly bleeds, then you will no doubt be aware of  some of the options around. They are mostly disposable like tampons made of cotton or rayon/cotton mix or sanitary towels made of paper and chemical gels, etc. There are also reusable towels, but these, while very enviromentally friendly, are a pain to wash and dry when travelling, especially if you are camping and it's raining. Note : Menstruation does not attract bears according to science The mooncup is an environmentally friendly option, not adding to landfil, and it's a cheaper option, needing only a single purchase. It's internal sanitary pr...

Today's top tips are around festival essentials and are from Rhian who blogs over at Rhian Westbury . The first time I camped at a festival was Reading Festival in 2008 and since then I’ve done over 30 of them which is crazy considering I was never a fan of camping as a kid. There’s something about being relaxed and chilled with your friends knowing you’re going to be listening to a whole load of music that makes camping feel that bit more acceptable. Over the years’ I have made do with items which probably weren’t right for me, but also discovered some gems for camping at a festival so here’s some essentials you need. A double skinned tent This might seem like an obvious one, course you’ll need a tent when camping, but a double skinned one is what is important. UK festivals are notoriously unpredictable with their weather so you need as much protection as possible from the elements. These kinds of tents don’t have to be expensive but it’s worth while if you’re not sleeping in...

Camping with kids. You all know that I take DD with me, and though she is now 17 we've been camping as a couple (of crazed fools?) since she was 7. But not only did we start when DD was already old enough to be useful (!) I also only had to cope with one child. Today's guest post is from Amy who blogs over at Eps and Amy  who camped with two, and who started with a babe in arms! Here's her experience and advice. Camping with children, the good, the bad and the ugly! I have two children, now aged 5 and 8, and we first attempted camping when the eldest was just 9 months old. I bought a special camping travel cot and we get her used to taking naps in it a for a few weeks before we went. Unfortunately, once we got to the campsite trying to get her to go to sleep in daylight (tents are very see-through) and with a lot of noise going on around. In the end we gave up and had to take Bethany home. Not one to give up, we tried again when Bethany was around 2 years old. That ...

It's been quiet here lately as it's winter and only the bravest of us are still out camping (well, the brave and those with heating in their tent or caravan) So I thought I'd ask a few people to share some of their camping tales and advice. First off is Karen from over at Excuse This Honesty blog. And she has some excellent festival top tips, I'm not ashamed to say that the last one taught me something, it's genius and I'll be trying it out in future when I camp in summer! Photo Copyright: wavebreakmediamicro / 123RF Stock Photo Karen's Festival Camping Tips Having attended several festivals over the past 10 years, I can safely say none of them have been the same when it comes to camping. Some years have given us conditions which have been wonderful to set up camp in – others … well, not so good. The first thing I learned is to take an extra bag of tent pegs . No matter what I do, there's always going to be a tent peg that miraculously gets ea...

When I started camping my tent arrived with a small bag of tent pegs. They were standard looking things, like a straight skewer with a bent over top. And I went camping and they held the guy lines OK and nothing fell down. I did bend a couple of the pegs when I hit a rock under the soil surface, but I tossed those away and replaced them with a pack from the pound shop. After all, a tent peg is a tent peg, it's just a thin bit of metal..or it is!?

Some time ago I ranted a tad about behaviour at festivals. It is not difficult to have fun at a festival and ensure that everyone else has fun too. Sadly it's easy to ruin someone's day too. I have a couple of extra things to rant about after last years festival experiences. Trolleys. The first time I attended a festival no one (no really, no one) had a trolley, not the sort with 4 wheels that you use to transport all your stuff and later, your kids, anyway. As festivals became popular and more and more families attended trolley hire became a thing and then people moved onto buying their own (quickly realising that if you attend a few festivals the purchase pays for itself in the saving of hiring fees) I bought a trolley too after Camp Bestival and it's long walks from the car park via umpteen hills. But using a trolley in a crowded area is an art and you need to be polite, you do not have the right of way based on how many small people are in the trolley or how man...

So each day brings us closer to the day we can get the tent out and I can't help but think there is bound to be something we need to buy as soon as we check our camping gear. I don't know about your kit but I'm sure mine either falls apart or is stolen by leprechauns over the winter. I always find missing tent pegs, a guy line oddly too short, or missing rolls of duck tape. Assuming you struggle with the same pain I'm going to run a giveaway for a £10 Amazon voucher - enabling you to buy a tin of reproofer, some insect spray or a new hat - whatever you feel your camping kit needs. Enter using the RaffleCopter thingy below. UK only. Ends 27th March 2016 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well it's late but I'm sneaking in a Tuesday tip! I apologise for the lack of posts - I've been under canvas and enjoying myself (so I'm not *that* sorry) at various festivals - posts about them to come! But Today's Tuesday Tip is all about positioning. When pitching a tent there are obvious things to try for such as a flat level area (at a festival this is often not possible and at Camp Bestival we camped on the side of a hill - ensuring we slept with the foot of our beds down the hill), I also favour not camping in a gully if there is even a chance of rain (or the chance of a leaking portable toilet at a festival!) yet not on the very top of a hill either as that can be a windy spot and there is always the thought of storms and lightning... On a hill Trees are another thing to steer safe of , try to pitch in the lee of a hedge or trees but not so close they can be blown on top of you or a stray branch could fall and damage the tent or you! At Wilder...

A mini list (with links to more detail where necessary) of the actual vital stuff you need to know. First off. While Camp Bestival is a music festival that is far from all it is. It was begun as a spin off of Bestival as a cross between a Holiday Camp, and a festival . They even have their very own Blue Coats! Of course this means there is loads to do, plenty of comedy, films in the tent cinema, shows, circus acts, craft areas etc for children from as young as babies to teens. There is also a teen Den , just for those 13 - 17 to hang out. Perfect for the festival goers of tomorrow to get a feel for festival life away from their parents. As the main festival site is a castle they also have a jousting area this year ( NEW! ) there will be displays by Wild Warriors of the Cossack !  Also this year Dick and Dom are back with their zany sense of humor and fun. On the last night there is a spectacular fireworks finale. Camp site . It is hilly. You will probably need a troll...

Sometimes sleeping in a tent can't be tricky, both at festivals, where it can be extremely noisy at night, or in a campsite with crying babies (not yours!) or lowing cows, assorted wildlife screeching or rowdy tent neighbours. Nighttime needs to be peaceful and if it's not then a set of soft earplugs are your friend! Do not use earplugs if you have children that may need you in the night, obviously, you need to hear them, but you don't need to hear the man in the next tent snoring like a dying hippo (this actually happened at Glastonbury and I've never been so grateful for earplugs). So assuming you can safely be deaf overnight earplugs are excellent. I favour the soft ones that are disposable, you squeeze them and insert them and they expand into the ear canal, deadening all sound, they are great. The second thing that can cause lack of sleep is at the other end of the day. Canvas (and nylon) can be pretty poor at keeping light out on a bright sunny morning, so i...

Once upon a time I went camping, I thought I'd packed everything. I had food, tins of beans, soup, noodles, sachets of sauce, a block of cheese, bread. I had beer, wine, all the essentials. I arrived at the campsite. Pitched my lovely tent. Sat for a while in my camp chair to rest and take stock. Then I realised a beer would be nice. I took a bottle from the cooler and...yikes! No bottle opener! Panic...then the decision to move to wine and seek the bottle opener later...but wait..no corkscrew! Lordy this day was going from bad to worse! I made a cup of tea and decided to have some bread and cheese...but what's this? only plastic cutlery? Nothing to slice with? Grrr I shall have to warm a can of beans and ...NO CAN OPENER!!! That's it! This has gone far enough! This camping lark will be a disaster unless someone has a device that can open beer, wine bottles, cans, slice cheese.. and so ladies and gentlemen of the camping world may I present...the Swiss Army knife(aka ...

One of the things that used to terrify me when I first went to festivals was how close the tents were pitched to each other. Having joined the Camping and Caravanning Club I was all about the 6 metre rule (it's ridiculous really! 6feet would be more sensible) and of course a car between the tents too - all as a fire precaution, no one wants a fire sweeping across a campsite. Festival camping is much snugger - often tents practically touch! or at the very least are one a guy rope length apart. So fire safety in the tent, always important, becomes even more so! I have never seen a fire at a campsite or a festival, by the way, so don't get all panicked. With some basic common sense we can all stay safe. Why not involve the kids early in understanding fire safety when camping? At Camp Bestival the Disney Fire and Rescue team were on hand to help! With lots of fun and games and advice. And everyone loves a firefighter!! So here are some top tips and some fun activity sheets f...

I have been to a few festivals this summer (as always) and I have been muttering under my breath on occasion as people seem to forget their manners totally when in a field. Yes I think you should be able to let your hair down and relax. Yes I think children should be allowed to be children. yes having a few drinks is fun, but there are limits! So here are my top festival etiquette tips/rants about bad behaviour: Rubbish . There are bins, if there are no bins near your tent use a rubbish bag. There is no excuse. I don't care if you are 17 and it's your first festival, I don't care if you are on the litter team and will clean it all later anyway, I don't care if your kid did it, I don't care if you forgot bin bags! (ask someone, loads of campers bring a roll or two) There is no excuse! You are on someone's land. There may be animals there next week. Litter clean up is expensive. At the least you are adding to the ticket price and at worst the land owner m...

Most festivals have shops. Camp Bestival is no exception. While you knew you would be able to buy beer, wine, cocktails, pies and fish and chips did you also know you could buy ice cream, smoothies, pancakes, sweets? pay for fairground ride? Of course you did! and plasters? suncream? eggs? bacon? spare gas for the stove? camp beds? TENTS?! Camping chairs? Cups? Plates? OK maybe you guessed those.. But what about clothes, both new and upcycled, what about fancy dress? tails? flower garlands? balloons? toys? Bubbles? more clothes? hats? sunglasses? Books? By now (should that be Buy now?) you will be staring into the depths of your almost empty wallet in a panic! But do not panic! Many shops take plastic in payment thanks to the wonders of modern wireless technology, and if they don't Camp Bestival has cash machines handily available to enable you to cheerfully spend your last penny! Hurray! (or not...maybe don't tell the children)