Right so we have bought the tent, now some other questions I'm afraid.

[Overrun]

Any recommendations for stoves?

Is there any way you can secure the tent door at night to stop a waking child wandering off (not likely I know, but a worry nethertheless).

I have seen people say that they put a ground sheet down underneath their tent if they have a SIG, so it doesn't get too dirty.

How to do you find one big enough, and presumably you need to secure it with tent pegs otherwise it would ruck.

[Lucycat]

oooh a new tent! Which one did you go for?

Stove wise, we have the Camping Gaz one with the grill but tbh the grill is only really up to warming naan bread, it takes ages to cook things like sausages. Two rings is fine, get some of those pot stands so you can take your pasta off the heat without being tempted to put it on the grass and burn the grass! You'll also need a gas bottle / adapter hose jobby too.
The again we have a briefcase style one for weekends which is a single ring and uses little gas bottles and is fine too.

Keep children in by leaving their bedroom zip at the top of the compartment where they can't reach it.

and yes you can get huge pieces of cheapo tarp from B&Q to put under your sig, but we've not got one as we have a zig (zip in groundsheet) that can be hosed down separately when we get home.

phew, that was a long one...anything else?

[Overrun]

Thank you LucyCat. We went for the kyham ontario 8 in the end, we did consider the Horizon 8 Gelert, but it was slightly smaller but same price.

I will look in b&q so thanks for that tip. I have been looking at those sort of double burners, and have been told that the grills not up to much on most of them. What about one of those flat toaster cages? How do they work?

I find all the gas bottles really confusing too. What type are the best? Maybe we will base our cooker on what gas bottles it takes!

There is so much to learn

[Lucycat]

This cooker on ebay is a good deal. You will need a gas cylinder and regulator too,we use a 907 and there are some here but most - for obvious reasons are collection only.

I have heard of them being available on Freecycle too.

[Annortherner]

I have been camping with my 4 kids for years, since my separation usually as the only grown up. I have found that the kids adapt to it really well and love not having to be washed each day. Little ones don't tend to wander as the fresh air knocks em out! Try borrowing the kit you need, I know I am happy to lend mine out as long as it's replaced if damaged. Great, cheap fun!

[Overrun]

Thank you for your responses. I might try and borrow a cooker first time, but we don't know that many people who camp

The ebay one, looks like a great bargain though

[Annortherner]

Try Tesco first, their Camping Gaz is £33. If you are in London you can borrow mine pet x

[Overrun]

Thats kind Annortherner, but we are in South Wales alas.
Its the gas bottle prizes that make me a bit gobsmacked. I just can't get my head round which one, refillable, size, type of gas. What sort of hose, something beginning with "R".

Regulators - what do they do?

[Annortherner]

The hose is what attaches the cooker to the gas, it depends how much cooking you are going to do on how much gas you use. the camp shop should tell you how much you'll use. I was born in llanelli, you near there?

[Overrun]

We are in Cardiff I moved back from London about 4 years ago, don't miss it Do you ever think of coming back?

Thanks for the information.

I like cooking and think for me I would enjoy doing some basic cooking, and don't want to need to always camp at sites that have restuarants near by or on them

[Overrun]

bumpity bump

[dustyeastar]

The gas bottles are quite expensive to buy but after that you just pay for the gas. Any decent camping shop would be able to help you with which bottle and regulator you need.

We don't bother with an extra groundsheet either. Too much hassle.

We also leave the zip high up to stop escapees

We have a camping gaz cooker with a 907 gas bottle. Like lucycat we find the grill a bit crap. The toaster cage thing goes over the gas ring. It works better than the grill but its still a pain tbh.

We're getting a Cadac this year and will do all our cooking on that. Its a shame you're so far away or you could have had our old cooker My sister has a small portable gas BBQ and just uses that.

[Expelliarmum]

Re; escapologist children.
We attached a bell (the sort that Noddy sports on his headgear) to the zip puller so no-one can get out of (or in to) the tent without us hearing them!
As for stoves, we use a couple of Trangias as they take up no room at all and they are the most reliable stove known to man! (ok, my man anyway!)
I tend to go for the lightweight well-made kit. I can get all the camping stuff for 4 of us into the boot of a Focus!

[Peachy]

We use the camping gaz party grill, which is very much like Dusty's cadac- we have managed on a single burner for a week though (5 of us) and it wasn't that ahrd tbh. Freecycle often is a good source of the stoves.

We have a footprint (groundsheet under SIG), came as an optional extra on tent- well worth it I would say. hang on... ypu have same tent as us..... so you can buy one from Khyam then, perfect fit, no problems!

The bell idea for the tent is good, but it all depends on tent height- ours is about 2m, so the LO can't reach anyway to undo the zips.

[Peachy]

Or- here's an idea- if you're goping out when we're not, borrow our footprint- we're in caerleon pmsl! let you know if you like it or not.

[Overrun]

Oh Peachy that is extremely kind, so thats what a footprint is. More to learn. I don't think we can afford to buy the footprint after just paying out for the tent and other stuff.
So far I have aquired, bought or borrowed:

2 adult fold up chairs, 3 childs fold up chairs
Fold up table
cheap washing up bowl
3 junior coleman sleeping bags (very cheap on Amazon, don't know how good they will be) An extra picnic rug as some one said they are good to insulate pods
3 fleece blankets for the dcs, a big fleece blanket for us
Tent
Self inflating double mattress for us
roll mats for them
one lamp
pop up double canvas baskets

So we are getting there

[dustyeastar]

I'd get another lamp/torch tbh overrun. You'll need it for toilet trips etc. And you need a bucket with a lid!!!!

[Overrun]

yep my plan is to get another one at least, and lol at bucket with a lid. Still a few things to get for sure

[chocolatemummy]

we have recently bought a trailer tent, really excited about going away with it. Luckily it has two double beds with matresses, We havent got a cooker yet, I was wondering about using one he smaller gas BBQ as the are pretty good? any comments?
We went ot our local Go Outdoors which was great, loads of stuff

[dustyeastar]

My sister does this CM. The only downside is she find it takes ages to boil a kettle. You could always get one of the little portable single burners for that though. You can get them for about £10.

[Overrun]

Am toying with the idea of being extravagant and buying a footprint, but if not, will certainly take you up on your kind offer Peachy

But where did you get your footprint, I have looked every where. On the kyham site, but not footprint for kyham ontario 8, wierd [shokc]

[mrspnut]

I too have a cadac and I would recommend them to anyone.

I use that and also take a single burner that fits onto a small campinggaz bottle for an extra.
With these two I can easily produce a full cooked breakfast and coffee in no time as all.