All our favourite camping buys tried and tested for festivals and family holidays – starting from just 15p
Plus, one of the UK's best campsites has safari lodges, pet pigs and secret waterfalls
CAMP OUT All our favourite camping buys tried and tested for festivals and family holidays – starting from just 15p
FESTIVAL and camping season is here and with that, so is the frantic rush to find items that make it that little bit easier.
Whether crawling around in a cramped festival tent or away with the family in a holiday park, as much as we may love camping there are some things about it that can be a nightmare.
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Camping and festival season have returned
Credit: AP
Here are The Sun's travel team's top recs for camping this summer.
Collapsible items
With a limited amount of storage space in caravans and tents, making sure your kitchen equipment is as space-saving as possible is an essential.
Look for collapsible items to stack and save space.
This Outwell kettle, £39.99, is also collapsible to just 4.5cm despite holding 1.5litres when expanded.
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Ikea does a great collapsible washing up bowl for just £5.
The Pepprig bowl collapses flat and features a hole to hang from pegs.
And when it comes to cooking up a storm, a stacking nest of pans is essential.
Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
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Camping pans
The BeGrit Camping Pans is a four-piece stackable stainless steel set that includes a frying pan, two pots, plate and spoon in a storage bag.
From £17.99 on Amazon or for a more sophisticated set that covers all bases for a family, Decathlon sell the Quechua Stainless Steel Non-Stick Camping Cookset for £49.99.
UK's Premier Scottish Caravan Site: Camping & Glamping Gold Standard
With a whopping 25 items suitable for a family of four you get a big pot and frying pan and within is stored a sieve drainer, plates, cups and cutlery.
Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
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15p Plates
You don't want to waste weight - or risk breakages - by using standard crockery in a caravan.
Invest in some melamine plates, cups and bowls but for me, I want to make things easy when it comes to washing up.
A nice big pack of disposable, biodegradable and compostable plates costs around £7 for 50 from Amazon and are perfect for most meals and avoid the need to use lots of water or make several trips to the block to wash up.
Lisa Minot, Head of Travel
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A nice big pack of disposable, biodegradable and compostable plates costs around £7 for 50 from Amazon
Credit: Amazon
ReadyBed
For £27.50 from Argos, ReadyBed is an air mattress and sleeping bag rolled into one, which saves on space and weight when you're packing – pivotal when you've got kids or you're lugging heaps of gear across a festival site.
What I personally love is that there's no risk of rolling off the airbed as you're fully zipped in.
It's got a built-in pillow and the sleeping bag element/cover can be removed and chucked in the washing machine.
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Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
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ReadyBed has a built-in pillow and the sleeping bag element/cover can be removed and chucked in the washing machine
Credit: Argos
Magic mirror
This bit of kit is my most cherished camping item.
It's a foldable mirror made up of four glass squares that unravel into a full-length travel mirror.
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Costing £45, it comes with a tie at the top so that it can be looped around a tent pole.
The best feature is how compact it is, folding into a flat square – just be wary as a lot of festivals don't allow glass.
Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
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Magic Mirror is a foldable mirror made up of four glass squares
Credit: Magic Mirror
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Vango Micro Steel Chair
You can probably find cheaper camping chairs out there, but this £24.99 chair is great for packing light (it weighs just 1.5kg) and if you're tight for space.
Unlike some traditional camping chairs, you'll have to construct it, a bit like a tent, but that takes about 30 seconds.
The steel frame of the chair relies on a tent-pole like structure which means it's easily collapsible and can be shoved in a teeny bag along with the canvas-material chair.
Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
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This camping chair takes less than a minute to construct
Credit: Outdoor World
Vango Square Water Carrier
Water carriers are so cheap but so useful, especially at a festival where the toilet facilities may not be anything more than a hole in the ground.
This one for £7.99, folds into practically nothing and comes with a nifty tap feature that will give you running water at the twist of a nozzle.
Fill it up every day from the campsites water station and use it to wash your hands, brush your teeth, drink from etc.
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Sophie Swietochowski, Assistant Travel Editor
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A water carrier is super useful for when the toilets and taps are far from your tent
Credit: Outdoor World
Loop earplugs
As much as I enjoy a festival or two, I do need my beauty sleep otherwise I can be pretty unpleasant to be around.
So when it comes to going to bed, I won't go without my Loop earplugs.
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These handy little gadgets block out almost everything, muffling all background noise and thumping bass.
They might be the most I've ever spent on earplugs, but they're well worth it.
Loop earplugs cost from £19.95.
Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
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These handy little gadgets block out almost everything
Credit: Loop earplugs
FreshWipes
We all know that as the days go on at festivals, one thing that gets worse (aside from the hangover) is people's hygiene - and I don't like to be one of those people.
So what I bring is FreshWipes, the OceanFresh scent does the trick and is biodegradable too.
FreshWipes cost £5.99 per pack.
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Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
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FreshWipes keep you fresh and are biodegradable too
Credit: Fresh Wipes
Face and body cooling spray
With the hot and sticky weather we have been experiencing lately, being able to cool down is not the easiest unless you drench yourself in water.
Whilst chugging water can help to keep you hydrated, sometime it just feels like your skin is about to burn off.
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This is where a face and body cooling spray comes in.
For years I have sworn by Superdrug's own brand 'Face & Body Cooling Spray 200ml' costing just £5.
And this bottle will last you the whole summer.
I use it over makeup on my face for a cooldown spritz and down my arms too - it really helps to take the edge off of the heat.
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I also recently discovered their Vitamin E Mist, which comes in a small 50ml bottle for £2.50.
If struggling on space, definitely grab one of these and it is even in Superdrug's '3 for 2' offer, so you can pick up some other travel minis too.
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
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One cooling spray bottle will last you the whole summer
Credit: Superdrug
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Solar Buddies Sunscreen Applicator
Now this one may be weird to people - essentially a bottle for sun cream, despite sun cream already coming in a bottle.
But if you are like me, the price of sun cream irks you each year the season gets warmer and sunnier.
And if you are anything like me, the bog standard sunscreen is no good.
With oily skin, a hate for tackiness and a dislike for the smell, I make sure the sunscreen I get suits me.
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And to cut costs, I will often purchase the biggest bottle available.
However, with this, it is hard to carry around the sun cream.
This is where the Solar Buddies Applicator comes in.
The small and compact applicator can be filled with any sunscreen of your choosing and costs just £6.38 from Boots.
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Despite the product specifically being designed for use by children, it is suitable for anyone who wants to carry a smaller bottle of sunscreen around with them without the risk of the bottle lid pinging off in your bag.
It is also 100ml so suitable for hand luggage!
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
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Solar Buddies Sunscreen Applicator is 100ml so suitable for hand luggage
Credit: Boots
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Luna Daily The Everywhere Spray-to-Wipe Fragrance Free 30ml
Whilst this little product is rather steep in price for £8, I don't go away without it.
As an 'everywhere spray', Luna Daily is perfect for festival camping when you feeling grabby after using a questionably-clean portaloo or after crawling around in and out of your tent.
The spray-to-wipe product can be used anywhere - including 'down there' - helping you to feel a bit cleaner whilst in a not-so-clean environment.
It is completely fragrance free and includes thermal water, prebiotic lactic acid and inulin and Vitamins C, E and F to protect your skin - essentially no nasties.
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One bottle is the equivalent of 100 wipes and it can be kept in the fridge for added cooling effects.
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
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This spray-to-wipe product can be used anywhere - including 'down there'
Credit: Boots
SPF 30 Lip Balm on a carabineer
As an avid hiker and camper during my teenage years, you would not find me without a lip balk attached to a belt loop on my hip.
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Just a basic SPF 30 lip balm with moisturising coconut in helped against the harsh elements of sun and wind whilst adventuring.
The carabineer attached just adds convenience as you can attach it yourself as I did, the zip or side of a bag or even keys or a water bottle.
They can be picked up at most outdoors shops like Trespass or Go Outdoors for a couple of quid.
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
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The carabineer attached to this lip balm adds convenience
Credit: Trespass
Ikea lamp
There are so many different camping lamps out there - from wind-up ones to battery operated.
And they also can widely range in price.
Ikea has just released a lamp which I cannot wait to get my hands on.
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The small table lamp which is battery-operated and donut-shaped looks stylish whilst also being practical.
It has a rope loop on it to hand in your tent, but also due to its flat bottom it can sit on a table easily - meaning you can move it between your campsite dinner setup to the roof of your tent, giving you light wherever you go.
If wanting something smaller, the classic lightbulb shaped lamps on caribineers are also great and can be picked up for under a fiver.
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
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This small table lamp which is battery-operated and donut-shaped looks stylish whilst also being practical
Credit: IKEA
Soft running bottles
Whilst not the cheapest at £9.99 each from Decathlon, soft running bottles are great space savers.
They can be rolled up to the size of a fist and are easy to shove in the remaining room in a pack camping back.
For festivals, they are even better - as often to get into the main arena, your water bottle needs to be empty - and these can just fit in your pocket to be filled once in the area.
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Even when full, they can still slide into a pocket, which means you won't be carrying around a clunky bottle.
Cyann Fielding, Travel Reporter
15 Soft bottles can be can be rolled up to the size of a fistCredit: Decathlon
These are the UK's best campsites with flawless 10/10 reviews, honesty shops & even resident deer.
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Plus, one of the UK's best campsites has safari lodges, pet pigs and secret waterfalls.
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