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As far as bedding is concerned, ordinary household sheets, pillowcases, blankets, quilts etc. are usually too sensitive to be used for camping. They are also rather bulky. Instead of separate items of bedding, it is more practical to have a one-piece sleeping bag that will not suffer as a result of being trampled on or crammed into the car boot. It also provides the right kind of warmth because the way to ensure a comfortable night’s sleep is to have as much insulation underneath your body as on top of it. Neither an air mattress nor a thin campbed gives enough warmth by itself.

Hitting the right sack

The choice of sleeping bags available is very wide. Many of them are specially designed for lightweight camping and they can be rather expensive, but for car holidays the ordinary oblong quilt-type sleeping bags are perfectly adequate. For adults they come in two sizes, standard and king size, with approximate measurements of 183 x 84 cm (72 X 33 in) and 198 x 96 cm (78 x 38 in). There is also a junior size which is about 137 x 55 cm (54 X 21 in). In all cases the filling consists of a man-made fibre such as Terylene which is a good insulator even when compressed, and the weight of filling is traditionally quoted as ‘38 oz’ (1 kg) or ‘44 oz’ (1.25 kg). Unless a tog rating is also given, however, this weight is not a true guide to the bag’s insulating properties: because of the extra surface area, a king size bag is no warmer than a standard size bag.

For most adults, king size is a better buy because the extra length allows the bag to be wrapped more closely around the shoulders. Other points to consider when buying a sleeping bag are the type of material used for the lining (cotton is more comfortable than nylon); whether there is a gusset covering the zip (which helps to prevent cold spots); and whether the bag is washable (with dry cleaning, special care has to be taken to ensure that no poisonous fumes remain trapped in the fibre filling).

To complete the sleeping equipment, one or two spare blankets are helpful at chillier times of the year and a large beach towel can double as a sheet for covering a slippery nylon mattress. Pillows are usually improvised out of items of clothing — it is quite handy to fill a small cushion cover with clean socks and underwear and use that as a headrest. Alternatively, inflatable pillows can be bought but experienced campers tend to prefer dual-purpose items: a hot water bottle, for instance, makes quite an acceptable pillow when it is inflated with air or after it has warmed up a bed.

The package holiday mentioned earlier provided accommodation in a frame tent, and it is this type of tent which most families choose to own if they regularly go camping by car. With reasonable care, a good quality tent will last for many seasons, so it is certainly worth investing in one as soon as you have made up your mind that camping holidays suit you. For those who are uncertain at first whether to hire or buy, there are also a few hire companies which allow their clients to reach a decision after they come back from holiday: if you hire a tent from them in order to try it out, and then decide to buy it (or a new version of the same model) on your return, they will waive the hire charge and allow you to pay just the purchase price of the tent.

Frame tents are usually supplied in two large sacks, or valises, one containing the collapsible tubular frame and the other holding the outer canvas plus the inner sleeping compartments. There is also a smaller bag containing the tent pegs and guy lines. Together they make up a weight of between 25 and 45 kg (55-100 lb) for a typical four-person tent, which is far too much to carry on a walking holiday! For holidays other than by car there are different, lighter kinds of tent but frame tents are generally much more convenient to live in. They are easy to erect, tall enough to stand upright in and spacious enough to contain separate sleeping and living areas.

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