Camping

[verreauxi]

Watch and learn:

 

[ClausThomsen]

Lots to consider. If you are "car camping" where you drive your car to the campsite then set up a tent nearby, then I would opt for more space and thicker air matresses (which will add weight). If you are planning on hiking with your gear (tent, food, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, etc.,) then I would put more a premium on getting lightweight gear.

I think the biggest initial decision you would want to make. We do both, so I've managed to acquire light-weight stuff as well as more spacious/heavier gear. But this stuff can get costly.

We'll be car camping. Mrs CT likes to go for a walk out in the country but not to the extent of being loaded like a pack mule.

As @verreauxi stated, your first question is near vehicle or not. If not you're looking at lightweight synthetic gear from somewhere unlike GoOutdoors.
Secondly, as mentioned above, drying, you'll need to dry and air your kit as soon as you get back. Have room to dry a 5m cotton bell tent over a few rainy days, plenty of muscle and a big car ? Go for it, and treat the Mrs to the glamping phenomenon.

Thirdly, what sort of experience are you after, and how many will be going ?

I like synthetic or polycotton tipi's. Can be light (Kifaru/Seek Outside/Nortent) through to Tenttipi (roughly half the weight of a bell tent). These are quick to erect, can be spacious, can come with jacks for woodstoves, optional floors/inners. And these things can shed extreme weather in exposed areas too - wind/rain/snow.

Gardens big enough if the weathers decent but otherwise we'd probably be able to dry it in the house but would have to get a bit creative involving hanging, a fan and towel drying.

Which kind of ties in with the question about what experience we're after. Somewhere the two of us can just get up and go to spend a couple of days just relaxing away from work and family when we want a bit of time to ourselves. Definitely won't need something 'big' as it's just the two of us going for 2-3 days at a time when various commitments, and the weather, allow it.

 

[chrismpw]

@chrismpw we have a battery power complaint.

On second thoughts, put the key in the barrel, and get on the motorway, head out of the window, floor it. Almost as good as the real thing.

Power a hair dryer from a 12v battery? You'd need a 2kW inverter for starters, and that would drain a standard car battery pdq, plus the inverter would be bigger than most glove boxes.

It might not surprise you to know, however, that I happen to have cobbled together an enormous lithium battery for camping, that could run a hair dryer for a good 2 hours solid. Im bald as a coot, mind.

 

[Rita_Poon]

pretty damn quickly.

 

[Taifi gorm]

Me and Mrs CT are considering buying a tent and getting into the dogging camping life. Figured I'd ask the wise people of GOT before I go and waste a load of dough in Go Outdoors.

Any advice or recommendations for first timers?
Are these new fangled air-tent things any good?
What's a good set-up in terms of air mattress / ground mat etc?
Should I find a Bernard Bresslaw-esque mate to ensure a trip full of bawdy and farcical comedic situations?

Car camping and wild camping are different beasts but always be aware of your environment don't pitch into a wind tunnel are where water can flow. After that anything else is manageable.
Consider weight, temperature etc
Practice pitching your tent and herself helping to put it away.
(But most honestly women are awful with tents, poles etc can be weak, parts missing)
Cooking equipment practice. Keep it simple. Remember it will need fuel when considering weight.
Spare laces, a wee stick lighter is more reliable than matches, responsible fire use, footwear and foot care.
Hammocks are fun.
If it's a mates first time warn him about the dangerous animals as it gets dark. Especially if you are in separate tents/hammocks.

Spent a few weeks in Greenland with this 1kg tent and only a sleeping bag so I may also be slightly blasé.

 

[tommye]

Never go with your missus, as the lack of a makeup table and access to a hairdryer will eventually lead to you choosing to sleep in the car for some peace and quiet

Kurt has gone bald now mate so doesn't need any of that nonsense anymore

 

[Rita_Poon]

If it's a mates first time warn him about the dangerous animals as it gets dark.

Go on....

 

[Littlesue]

All I ever ask of a camp site, is a tap, a place to deposit turds and a commensurate low price. The more they add, the less it feels like camping. Getting rare.

I need a plug for hair dryer, hot brush and iron too

 

[Taifi gorm]

Go on....

"You hear that"
Cautious "Aye"
"That's a red tailed grizzly/puma etc, lucky you hearing that, most people never do"
Nervous "Are they dangerous"
"Wouldn't think so, sheep, cattle, a long time since I heard about anything with people, oh badgers, foxes etc. You ever see how vicious badgers are"

Maybe throw in a fake paw print.

 

[Rita_Poon]

"You hear that"
Cautious "Aye"
"That's a red tailed grizzly/puma etc, lucky you hearing that, most people never do"
Nervous "Are they dangerous"
"Wouldn't think so, sheep, cattle, a long time since I heard about anything with people, oh badgers, foxes etc. You ever see how vicious badgers are"

Maybe throw in a fake paw print.

If you can get me a red tailed grizzly puma, have I got some museum money for you!

 

[Taifi gorm]

If you can get me a red tailed grizzly puma, have I got some museum money for you!

':The second object in the gallery isn't actually a unicorn horn at all. Instead, it is a narwhal tusk: the extremely long tooth of a type of whale that lives in the Arctic Ocean near Greenland, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. As you may have guessed by now, many people in the Middle Ages believed that narwhal tusks were actually unicorn horns. Narwhal were hunted in the waters of Northern Europe; their horns were particularly prized by rulers in Scotland and Denmark. Hunters in the North American Arctic likely included ancestors of today’s Inuit people. Traders sold supposed "unicorn horns" to wealthy European clients for large sums of money. Such long, spiraling narwhal tusks belonged to kings, queens, and princes, and were sometimes part of a church’s collection of precious objects.'
'On the death of Lorenzo de Medici in 1492, his "unicorn horn" was valued at 6,000 florins. Queen Elizabeth paid 10,000 pounds for one, the value of a castle, and another forms part of the Royal Sceptre. In 1615 a narwhal horn was used for the sceptre in the Austrian Crown Jewels.'

The Scots already played that game

 

[Rita_Poon]

':The second object in the gallery isn't actually a unicorn horn at all. Instead, it is a narwhal tusk: the extremely long tooth of a type of whale that lives in the Arctic Ocean near Greenland, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. As you may have guessed by now, many people in the Middle Ages believed that narwhal tusks were actually unicorn horns. Narwhal were hunted in the waters of Northern Europe; their horns were particularly prized by rulers in Scotland and Denmark. Hunters in the North American Arctic likely included ancestors of today’s Inuit people. Traders sold supposed "unicorn horns" to wealthy European clients for large sums of money. Such long, spiraling narwhal tusks belonged to kings, queens, and princes, and were sometimes part of a church’s collection of precious objects.'
'On the death of Lorenzo de Medici in 1492, his "unicorn horn" was valued at 6,000 florins. Queen Elizabeth paid 10,000 pounds for one, the value of a castle, and another forms part of the Royal Sceptre. In 1615 a narwhal horn was used for the sceptre in the Austrian Crown Jewels.'

The Scots already played that game

Did prince andrew have the horn by any chance?

 

[Taifi gorm]

Did prince andrew have the horn by any chance?

Shavings helped cure his excessive sweating.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Shavings helped cure his excessive sweating.

no one likes their income reduced...

 

[Gwladys St. Glory]

Me and Mrs CT are considering buying a tent and getting into the dogging camping life. Figured I'd ask the wise people of GOT before I go and waste a load of dough in Go Outdoors.

Any advice or recommendations for first timers?
Are these new fangled air-tent things any good?
What's a good set-up in terms of air mattress / ground mat etc?
Should I find a Bernard Bresslaw-esque mate to ensure a trip full of bawdy and farcical comedic situations?

Your best item (potentially), you may already have; the wife. Go lightly at first and find out how many different ways she'll drive you nuts. From cooking, to using the restroom etc. they're all different but have equal potential to ruin a good trip from all the cryarsing and nitpicking. After a while you may figure out the hotel route is less hassle.

Good luck