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camping

(77 Posts)
DINNNO Sat 20-Apr-19 01:08:14

feeling like a bit of a night owl - are there any other night owls out there at this hour?

I've been camping before and it was dreadful. The tent was trying to fly away with me in it and the pegs holding the tent down were being ripped out of the ground. I immediately grabbed my belongings and ran out of the tent into a bathroom-building nearby and watched the tent fly off into the distance with no desire to go and catch it as I had a fear of getting wrapped up in it and flying off with it.

After the incident i developed a fear for tents.

Sadly, in a few days time I'm scheduled to go on a camping trip with a few relatives that know just as little as holding a tent down as I do. I asked them how they plan to stop the wind from having it fly off and they said they'll peg it down. I did the same with my tent that ended up flying off so don't think that this time it will be any different.

On the trip, the tent will have to be large as there are more than one of us. 9, so a huge tent will be used. We can't control the weather and it changes all the time and we don't have the energy to continuously be moving a tent around.

I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for holding a tent down in windy weather without moving it every time the wind changes direction or speed?

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:02:36

Are you for real??

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:04:41

Your posts get more and more bizarre........

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:06:41

After the incident I developed a fear for tents ... I also have a fear of tents after euro camping ??

janeainsworth Sat 20-Apr-19 03:06:48

Well DINNO I’m in Florida just now on a boat and this morning we got a tornado warning on our phones. Fortunately it missed us but we still had very strong winds.

I’m sure if you peg your tent down properly you’ll be fine. I gather the weather is lovely in the U.K. this weekend.
Relax and enjoy your weekend!

janeainsworth Sat 20-Apr-19 03:11:04

grin poppyred you’ve reminded me of a time we took 3DCs and went with Canvas Holidays to SW France in 1995.
One night there was torrential rain and when we woke up the next day, the tent was still fastened down but water had got in under the sewn-in groundsheet and it was like trying to walk on a water bed?

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:15:44

We went to France in August one year when they had a heatwave and I had to sleep with my head outside the tent as it was so hot! Never slept in a tent since ..

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:28:22

Jealous of you being in Florida janeainsworth, my favourite holiday destination! My sister is there at the moment on Anna Maria island.

janeainsworth Sat 20-Apr-19 03:33:27

We shall be down there in a few weeks poppyred.
We are at Carrabelle on the Panhandle and it’s actually a bit chilly at the moment!

Poppyred Sat 20-Apr-19 03:39:40

Enjoy!

Bellanonna Sat 20-Apr-19 03:42:55

I loved Eurocamping poppyred, wish I could still do it. What did you not like about it? My only real problem was hearing mice scuttling about round the edge, but they couldn’t get inside. Happy days.
9 sounds rather a lot for one tent, OP. It would need to be huge. confused

LullyDully Sat 20-Apr-19 07:58:21

My problem was needing the loo in the night!

When we do Eurocamp now we go in a mobile home. A month of peace in France in May...very nice. This year we aren't going because of Brexit.

aggie Sat 20-Apr-19 08:06:22

The image of trying to move a tent because of the change in the prevailing wind has me chuckling

kittylester Sat 20-Apr-19 08:28:10

We were on a Canvas Holiday in Austria where the tents were pitched among trees in the side of a hill.

While we were out one day it poured with rain and the top of the hill slipped in the back of our tent and out the front leaving a 2" thick layer of mud.

After our first holiday with CH we always paid extra for a loo tent!

Auntieflo Sat 20-Apr-19 08:41:30

I’ve camped with the guides, waaaay back. Loved the outside cooked breakfasts, but not the walk in the dark to the latrines, with wellies on the wrong feet!
Then, when the children were quite small, we borrowed a tent and went to Wales one Easter. It wasn’t a success. DH was as much a novice as me. The weather was sunny, but cold, and after trying to sleep in ‘jamas, ended up putting all our clothes back on to warm up a bit.
Never attempted again.

Sara65 Sat 20-Apr-19 08:41:37

Some people lead extraordinarily lives! Why would you even think about embarking on this trip Dinnno? Sounds like a nightmare to me!

Anniebach Sat 20-Apr-19 08:48:32

9 in a tent ?

phoenix Sat 20-Apr-19 09:01:51

I would have thought that there's little chance of a tent with 9 people in it getting blown away! grin

Are you taking the dog (breed still not known) as well?

harrigran Sat 20-Apr-19 09:23:22

Nightmare holiday, camping. The last time I went camping I cried all night, mind I was just six weeks old. Mother ensured the family never camped again grin

Gonegirl Sat 20-Apr-19 09:25:59

Add extra guy ropes? Use sturdy pegs, hammered well down?

Bellanonna Sat 20-Apr-19 09:43:30

Could you leave the rest of the party to their 9-man tent and find a B and B close by? You could enjoy the fun during the day. Have they actually bought this huge tent already? If they have I’m sure some of them must be experienced campers and know what they’re doing? Are you staying on an official campsite as your large accommodation must take up more than one pitch space. When is the planned holiday? The weather is probably going to be ok if it’s this summer. ? ⛺️

Elegran Sat 20-Apr-19 09:46:44

I didn't know you could get tents that hold NINE, are you planning to take turns lying down? For nine people take at least three tents, buy extra-long tent pegs and learn how to put them in at the right angle. At the same time learn all the other ways of camping out successfully. 24 essential camping tricks

Oh wait! Did you mean the other kind of camping? The kind that Danny la Rue and co did so well? NINE of you? If you are part of a Ladyboys-type stage act, surely you could afford a hotel?

Gonegirl Sat 20-Apr-19 09:49:41

Of course you can get tents to house nine. You do realise don't you, that tents have 'inners'. ie separate sleeping 'rooms'.

Elegran Sat 20-Apr-19 10:02:42

Gonegirl I have slept in many a tent, so I know quite a bit about them, unlike the OP, who, if she is not exaggerating heavily to improve her story, is in for a disastrous trip along with eight other camping virgins.
.
Do you have no sense of humour or awareness of absurdity at all?

Anniebach Sat 20-Apr-19 10:07:13

I often camped with my Scout Cubs, the thought of 9 of them in the same tent , no thank you .

Surely 3 tents would be a better choice.