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Camping Holidays: Picking A Tent

There are various shapes of tent available, with some of the most common being dome, tunnel, ridge and frame.

Dome tents are excellent in windy conditions and are easy to put up. They frequently come with collapsible poles held together with an elastic string, which thread through sleeves in the fabric of the tent. This makes the tent extremely compact if this is a consideration. For this reason they are a good choice for cyclists and hikers. Bear in mind that if you are going to be camping in bad weather the roof support in a dome tent can collapse in heavy rain or snow (and also, of course, bear in mind that waterproof trousers and ladies waterproof jackets are a must!). The Geodesic tent is similar but has a slightly different shape.

Tunnel tents (or hoop tents) are very sturdy, despite their light weight, and popular with mountaineers. As the name suggests they are built with a single or multiple hoop structure, often with two entrances. Sometimes there is an extra pole in the middle to prevent the walls from sagging. They make an ideal spare room for kids to sleep in if you do not have enough room in your main tent.

Ridge tents are the traditional triangular shape and are probably the quickest and easiest of tents to put up. They provide plenty of headroom, are pretty sturdy but are not great in windy conditions as the sides are unsupported.

Frame tents provide spacious accommodation, often with separate sleeping and living rooms. They also provide good headroom but are quite heavy, having a steel frame, which makes them unsuitable for anyone without a car.

You may think that tent colour is immaterial but bear in mind that light colours will let in more daylight (good on a dull day, less so when you are awake at dawn) and reflect away more heat if you are lucky enough to get good weather on your trip. Dark colours may let you have a lie-in but absorb more heat which can make for an uncomfortable experience.

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How To Pick The Perfect Tent

With so much to buy when planning your camping trip, including shoes from the walking boots sale, rugs, chairs, and sleeping bags, it’s vital that you get the tent right. Tents come with all sorts of “rooms”: bedrooms, porches and canopies. Is it worth paying extra for these or are they just a waste of space?

Unless you are car-less and trying to save precious weight and space, it is well worth opting for a tent with separate rooms for sleeping in. You may well see tents advertised as having bedrooms that sleep four but bear in mind that this is based on the number of narrow camping mats that can be squeezed in rather than an air bed or camp bed, when you are doing your calculations. You may prefer not to be bang up close to your restless toddler, in which case choose a tent with more than one bedroom. Some tents have bedrooms side by side which may be ideal for stumbling next door to soothe a young child who wakes up in the night but less so if you have older children with you and want some privacy.

If you like the feeling of space around you, you may find being stuck inside a tent in the rain a claustrophobic experience. This is where tents with canopies come into their own. Even in the rain the door can be left open making it far more attractive to sit in the tent playing cards. Canopies can also be a boon if you plan doing any cooking in your tent. Obviously care has to be taken in case of fires but the rain need not prevent you from rustling up a meal if you have a canopy.

Porches can be very useful if you have the family Labrador with you. There are few things worse than seeing your clean possessions being leapt upon by Barnaby after he has been swimming in the sea. Porches are also useful places to store muddy walking boots and pushchairs.

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Card Games to Play While Camping

Technology is rampant and we’ve accepted it as a part of our daily lives. We need to use our computers to work and our televisions and games consoles to relax, but it can all get a bit much. The great thing about camping trips is being at one with nature. You can lie back on your camping mats, forget the rest of the world exists and get away from the rat race. However, how do we entertain ourselves when it is just ourselves? A great way to do this is to treat a pack of cards as one of the most important camping accessories on your list while packing for your trip, and try out a few new card games you have never played before. Here are a few good ones:

1. Spoons
Spoons is a fast-paced game that is bound to get the blood pumping and the hands twitching as the mayhem can unfold at any time. To play the game, you must have at least three players and a number of spoons one fewer than the amount of players. Why the extra player? You will find out.
To set the game up, the spoons are placed in the centre of the circle of players with the handles pointing outwards. It can be played with one deck of cards but it is a lot faster and more action-packing with two decks. The dealer distributes four cards to each player and lays the rest of the cards next to themselves to draw from. The objective of the game is to get four of a kind. Once a player has four of a kind, they are allowed to grab a spoon from the middle. As soon as this player reaches for the spoon, everyone is allowed to take a spoon. The player left without the spoon is eliminated or designated a letter. For every player that goes out, a spoon must be removed.
To play the game, the dealer takes the top card from the remainder of the pack and chooses whether they want to keep it. If not, they discard it next to the adjacent player but if they keep it then they must discard another. The next player then picks up the discarded card and makes the same choice. As soon as the dealer has discarded their first card, they take another from the pack and goes through the same process. This continues until someone gets four of a kind and reaches for the spoon. You will find this to be very frantic and extremely fun.
2. Liar
Liar is a game of deception where you must be on your wits as you cannot trust anyone. It can make or break friendships and reveal the true nature of people… or is it just a card game? The game can be played with at least three players. To set up the game, you require a standard pack of cards. You can use more than one pack if you want but remember to adjust your game accordingly. The jokers can also be included to make it more interesting. The cards are shuffled and circulated until they have all been dealt. The objective of the game is to get rid of all your cards with the last player to do so being eliminated. To get rid of your cards, you place a number of cards in the middle of the table and announce what they are. To do so legally, the cards must be the same number/picture (e.g. “3 Kings”) but you do not have to play legally… To play the game, the first person to be dealt to plays first. They put down the cards and make their announcement. Before the next player goes, the rest of the players have the opportunity to question the integrity of the first player’s move. If anyone thinks that the claim was a lie then they are allowed to say “liar”. At this point, the cards must be revealed. If the claim was true then the accuser must pick up all the cards in the middle but if the accusation is true then the liar must collect all the cards. This continues around the circle until one player still has cards. You must use all your wit and detective skills to play this game well.
3. Chase The Ace
Chase the ace is a game of luck and risk as you assess your own safety with your hand and can be played with three or more players. The game is pretty simple to set up; you require a standard 52 card pack and assign each player an equal amount of lives. The number of lives is up to you but is usually three. The objective of the game is to be the last remaining player with any lives which you lose by holding the lowest card at the end of each round (aces low). To play the game, each person is dealt a single card. The first person to be dealt to plays first and has the choice of keeping their card or exchanging it with the next player if they feel they will receive a better card. The next player has to oblige to this request unless they are holding a king. If they are holding a king then they reveal it to the players. This goes around the circle until it is the dealer’s turn, who has the option of keeping their card or exchanging it with the top card from the deck. If the card is a king then the dealer must keep their original card. At this point the players reveal their cards to each other and the player with the lowest card loses a life. If two or more players have the same lowest card then they can either both lose a life or a suit value can be assigned before the game (e.g. spades are better than clubs etc). You will regret some decisions and rejoice in other decisions but it all comes down to how much you are willing to risk.
4. 52 Pickup
Simple enough: drop your cards and pick them up… it’s not as fun as it sounds!

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