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Family camping in the garden

Are you and the kids bored of lockdown life? Have a mini-Outdoor Adventure camping trip, just a wee hop, skip and jump from your own back door.

Camping in the back garden (or front garden, or balcony or under the stairs) can be a lot of fun and a great way to break up the monotony of home life at the moment. We might not be able to go far, but we can still have a camping experience to rival the best of them! When the weather is good and the skies are clear and bright, a night camping at home will give the whole family a taste of the things to come when movement restrictions end and we gain back the freedom we once enjoyed. You can think of it’s the ultimate staycation and a perfect way to check all your camping equipment for the wonderful outdoor adventures that lie ahead.

What you will need:

Tents
Sleeping Bags (or duvets)
Fire Pit
Goodies to roast, toast and munch on
Torches or head sets for the ghost stories and the stumblings in the dark
Buckets of enthusiasm and a determination to have the craic together!

The classic pop up tents are perfect for nights in the garden campsite and we have special offers on a whole range of tents in a variety of prices to suit all needs on our website. But this may well be the time to splurge our on a deluxe tent like the Vango Tent range. These tents are super easy to erect, durable and comfortable and they could provide an extra outdoor room for the family, even when you are not all sleeping al fresco. An investment tent such as these is a joy to behold. They almost put themselves up and are so classy that you may never go back in the house again!

Sleeping bags are never wasted in a house full of kids. Even when not snuggled up in the great wilderness of your urban garden, the comfy sleeping bag has been a mainstay of every Saturday morning chilling on the couch watching cartoons and eating cereal. Buy a good brand that does both this luxury past time and then comes into its own when you and yours can finally get out to the big wide world, to camp once again. If you haven’t camped in a while (since your days of crazy music festivals and mad long hikes), then you should consider air mattresses or sleeping mats for your older and more fragile bones!

Fire Pits are fantastic for making the evening glow with the warmth of outdoor fun and the best place to toast marshmallows, squash them between biscuits and declare Smores to be the greatest outdoor food ever! Again, the investment in a good fire pit is a great addition to outdoor living both for home and away that will pay back in the days and night ahead

There isn’t a child in the world that doesn’t love a good torch or head torch. Rechargeable torches make good sense when little folk forget to turn them off or use them constantly for hiding under beds and finding insects in the hedges. We stock a fantastic extensive range of torches for all uses. Even when not camping at home, a young child can spend daylight hours exploring the world with a torch, and who knows you might even get a quick cup of undisturbed tea while they are distracted.

There are lots of reasons for taking the tent to the garden at the moment. We all agree that it might break the potential tedium of lockdown life. It’s also a good way to check your equipment in advance of all those camping holidays that we will eventually enjoy again. For the little people who have never camped before, the positives about introducing them to the ‘wilderness’ so close to home are multi-fold. The magic of waking up in a tent, with the sun light filtering through and the sound of birdsong is the same whether you are a million miles away or just a few feet from your own shower, TV or fridge. If you need something, the house is just a shout away!

The special experience of gathering around the lit fire pit to chat and watch the shooting stars is no less wonderful when you don’t have to drive miles to enjoy it.

The Covid-19 pandemic might have put a stop to our gallop, but we have learnt to enjoy the small things. Make some wonderful memories in your own home camp site and enjoy your outdoor adventures no matter how the world is turning!

Family Camping

Your quick guide to getting your family camping adventures started.

Now, more than ever, we want to encourage our children to spend time outdoors appreciating nature and enjoying life in the wild. To feel the dewy morning grass beneath bare toes, to hear the dawn chorus in the wilderness and to lie under a starlit sky and wonder at the beauty of this wide world.

A family camping trip is the perfect place to make great memories and enjoy happy times together. But before you pack the car with the marshmallows, the sleeping bags and the spare socks, take some time to prepare your camping expedition and be sure that they will be epic adventures and not miserable disasters!

Here is our quick guide to camping en-famile. Whether you have babies, toddlers, wobblers, petulant teenagers or reluctant spouses… or all of the above… follow our easy steps to making time in the wilderness a wonderful family experience.

Planning

Perhaps in your youth you grabbed a two-man tent, a bag of cans and a few tins of beans and headed to festivals. Fun weekend family camping is the anti-thesis of this scenario. But don’t worry, it is still fun. Family fun. Especially if you have remembered the essential toilet rolls, battery power packs, milk etc.

Take time to research where you might like to camp. Decide first if you are going completely off-road, or if you would like to have amenities, a toilet/ showers and a chip shop nearby. There are plenty of family- friendly campsites to cater to all requirements. From beach to mountain, from lakes to rivers, Ireland offers a wonderful selection of picturesque places to set up tent for the night. It is up to yourselves to decide if you want to go it alone, or have civilisation on hand.

The Best Campsites in Ireland All Recommended by Parents

Food and Essentials

Lists are your friend here. Make a list of meals and snacks for while you are camping and shop accordingly. Include all the needful items such as toilet rolls and water. Over time, you will get smarter at knowing what works and what doesn’t for your own clan. Appetites are usually better in the great outdoors so make sure you bring plenty of food to bulk up on. At Outdoor Adventure Store we stock a range of exciting instant meals. The gourmet, Wayfarer range are long dated and easily prepared so work as a great standby for hungry mouths. Some stalwart campers learn all kinds of hacks for camping. They bring pre-cooked frozen stews to thaw in time for dinner. They break all their eggs into a plastic bottle at home for easy carrying and easy scrambling. See some Camping hacks here

Equipment

Stoves and Fires: You may have romantic ideas about a roaring campfire but reality often brings nasty weather, damp wood or a camping site that does not permit such luxuries as open flame (If you really want this experience, then include it at your planning stage.) The likelihood is that you won’t cook for the whole tribe on an open fire and there are many other options available. Trangia’s are lightweight fast and reliable storm-proof stove systems used by outdoor people all over the world. A Trangia burner is an ingenious original product that is well worth investing in. You can purchase a storm-proof stove system that comprises of a kettle, two windshields that fit together, a burner, a couple of non- stick pans, a non-stick combined lid/fry pan, and a pan grip-handle to make most meal times easy for you. Most importantly, it’s a safe way to heat food for your family.

Tents: A family size tent with a canopy is the ideal solution for all families heading into the wilds. The canopy is a godsend when the sun in blasting down on wee bare arms, or when the rain showers halt outdoor play for a while. It is also a welcome space for chatting parents to escape in the evening, as the tired-out tots snore away the days adventures. An investment in a state of the art family tent is exactly that! An investment, which compares favourably in monetary value to every other type of accommodation out there and will allow you to enjoy the outdoors together for many years to come. Do not be tempted to squash two or four children into one man or two-man tents. It may seem like a good idea, but those shoulders sticking out may cause the tent to touch the fly sheets and this can cause damp, not to mention the claustrophobe inside can lead to arguments. Tents come in all shapes and sizes and even if you need to borrow an extra one for the teens, it is worth it for all to be comfortable. You are making happy memories here after all! Check out the air beam tents with fibreglass poles and ample room for everyone from Granny to the dog. Orava 600xl Tent.Don’t forget to pack extra tent pegs. Like socks in a washing machine, tent pegs have a tendency to disappear.

Sleeping Bags: Choose a sleeping bag for the weather, the season and the type of camping you plan to do. Like duvets, sleeping bags have tog ratings, making it easy to pick the most suitable bag. A simple child’s sleeping bag is relatively inexpensive and they pay for themselves quickly. Not only will they be used in your family camping excursions, but they will be hauled out for sleep overs and dragged in front of the telly on those lazy Saturday mornings. Double sleeping bags are readily available, so there is no need to go back to the days of zipping two singles together. Unless you think that is romantic, in which case, off you go and no complaining when there is a zip like indentation on your back in the morning!

Torches and Headtorches: A good hand torch or headtorch is indispensable for camping with the brood. The torch is absolutely essential when searching for bugs under hedges at dusk, or when finding the loo in the middle of the night and seeking out that one favourite teddy in a dark tent. See our guide to head torches here: Brighten up your world with a head torch! Make sure you have plenty of batteries or a trusty power pack for recharging. Galaxy rechargeable Lantern

Extras. Folding chairs are comfortable after a day of hiking in the hills. Hammocks are fun. Footballs and Frisbees find a new lease of life in the outdoors.

But camping is about getting away from it all. It is about letting the world drift away for a while and enjoying a simpler time in nature, as a family. If you can manage to get your teenager off sending snapchat’s long enough to Instagram the happiness being outdoors brings you, you will be instilling in them a love of the wild and a respect for nature.

Happy Camping!

Eating well on the trail – Gourmet Campfire food

A tin of baked beans heated over the portable stove at the end of a day’s hiking could be the best meal of your life. The silence. Surrounded by nature. That well deserved dinner will taste better than anything a fine restaurant has to offer. No ambiance can top it. No piped music and linen napkin can compare with the hot enamel plate and humble offerings in the wild.

But, you don’t have to eat boring campfire food. With just a little forethought and a bit of preparation, you can have hearty healthy meals on the trail.

Try something fresh and tasty like BBQ chicken in foil packs. Pack frozen chicken strips with diced veg of your choice and marinate in barbeque sauce in a zip lock bag. Secure it carefully in your pack to avoid spillages. When the fire or the stove is heated nicely toss the ingredients together in tin foil cupped to make a nice vessel or in your mess tin and place on the heat. Twenty minutes later and you should be licking your fingers. Add to this rice or noodles but if you feel like being that extra bit healthy add some couscous with the bonus that it cooks faster too.

Fresh Bread… Yes. It is very doable… dough able even (sorry!). Check out these simple instructions from some outback wilderness heads who really seem to like their food. It’s quiet a satisfying process at the end of the trail, as it involves fire, stones and an old pot. There is the wonderful smell of the baking and the indulgence of warm bread around a blazing campfire. Could outdoor life get any better?

It’s not all about savoury foods after a hike. Your energy levels are low and you’re craving something sweet for a little pick me up. Try this healthy banana sweet treat.

Bake your banana: Slit your banana lengthwise, but do not peel. Stuff in some goodies like dark chocolate and nuts. Turn the foil from the BBQ chicken over and use the other side to grill these bad boys and simply dig in and eat with a spoon.

To truly transform the way you eat in the wilderness it is wise to invest in a food dehydrator. If you simply double the amounts when making chilli, stews and bolognaise, you can freeze dry half for your future campfire suppers. Readymade backpacking meals are often light on the veggies and heavy on the starch. When making your own meals, you can get that balance right. There is also the advantage of eating food without preservatives. For some great advice on food dehydration and really decent backpacking recipes check out: backpackingchef.com or aforkinthetrail.com

Of course, if you fancy a good meal but don’t want to spend half your trip cooking because, let’s be honest, we do enough of that at home, then opt for the Wayfayrer pre-cooked ready to eat meals. These are the perfect camping companion. Perhaps you would rather concentrate on the experience of the trail itself and not be bothered with too much fussy cooking. You can choose from a vast menu that will sustain you throughout the whole day, from breakfast right through to dessert; All Day Breakfast Meals, Chicken Tikka with Rice or Sticky Toffee Pudding Dessert, among others. The temptation to take the easy way out is perfectly understandable and delicious. These high-quality trail meals give you all the energy you need, are dang tasty and come in sealed individual pouches. Heat and eat or even eat them cold. Wayfayrer meals have been tried and tested at the ends of the earth and are the top choice for the military, adventurers and expedition teams. In case you are asking, there are no artificial flavourings, colours or preservatives just tasty flavours. Shop on OAS.ie to get your favourites.

Food on the camping and hiking trail is not just about keeping up the energy levels. Its not just about filling yourself up. For even as the great outdoors feeds the soul, so too, a variety of delicious, gourmet camp food feeds the body. Mix it up and ditch the trail mix for something more delicious. Our experienced staff at Outdoor Adventure Stores will be only too happy to assist you in finding the best food in store for your next adventure.

Bon Appetit and Happy Trails .