<span class="highlight">Family</span> Camping

Depends a fair bit on what type of camping you're gonna do.
Is it winter months or warmer weather. Desert stuff or rain forrest stuff.

In my experience, buy the best (warmest rating) sleeping bag you can afford. Getting cold during the night really sucks the big one. Tents, I found are less important. They're just a means of keeping the bugs out and the frost off you.

Invest most of your $$$$ on setting up your sleeping arrangements. Especially with 3 little ones (same as me).

I just have a basic 6 person Omega Mountain Lesuire tent and use an additional ground sheet and fly. Had it for years, takes up bugger all space and was pretty cheap at the time.

Whereas sleeping gear, I have foam mattresses, and -10C sleeping bags with removable liners...easier to wash and cools things down in the warmer months.

Fab.

There are many many different types of tents available. The most popular at the moment are the dome tents. Lighter than canvas, and once you get use to it, easy to set up. Some with awnins and such, some with out. I would go for one that has, because if it rains, you still have some shelter out side of the sleeping area. I also found the double skin is more water proof.

Mostly it would all go to what you can afford, but remember you do get what you pay for.

Sleeping bags would depend on where you are going and when. A minus 10 bag for example, would bet a tad warm on Fraser Island, but in the Alpine not to bad in winter. I have several that I have collected depending on where i'm going.

we have 3 kids, go 2 tents, one for you guys and one for them, it adds the "cubby house" effect and they love it... also you can have yours bigger and keep the gear in it and theres just the bedding in it as you will find they will be in and out of it a zillion times before they finally go to sleep, one other tip, it is your choice but i recommend buying a double foam matteress and have all three on it, it wont go FLAT like an air bed and you can roll then up nice and tight....
You can get tents with 2 rooms and a kinda walkway between them, i still reckon just 2 sinple cheap tents work well and you can buy a cheap tarp to cover both of them if it is raining.... you dont have to spend a great deal if you are new at it a see how you like it first ......

We have just upgraded our tent to a Coleman 12 man. It is great, and wasn't hugely expensive. Our kids are 12 and 10, so wanted their own room. But if you have smaller kids who are happy to share then a smaller tent would be ok. The one we have is a dome style tent, which is very easy and quick to set up. And it has been good in bad weather. A bit of space, and waterproof.

We have also upgraded our airbeds to self inflatables. If you want to spend a bit, I can recommend them. Much better and more comfortable than airbeds, which tend to go down over a couple of nights no matter how high you pump them. They are more expensive though. Worth it in my view. If you have an comfortable bed you are more likely to enjoy yourself enough to do it again.

My husband and I tend to take sheets and blankets for our bed. That's just a personal preference thing. The kids have sleeping bags. We don't have the expensive fancy types, just ones from Big W. My kids don't tend to feel the cold though. Both my kids have slept outside in them, with their sleeping bag and a tarp, although they did wear warm pj's. And very occasionally they will use a polar fleece blanket with it (either inside or over the top). We find the multiple layers works best for us, rather than a single warm sleeping bag.

The most important thing to take along is a cruisy attitude. No point being stressed about it, or you won't enjoy it.

Lynda

When we started with three small children we bought one very large tent and later regretted it. The idea of two tents erected facing each other with awning space between would be better for comfort and storage and give flexibility as the children grow.
Very warm sleeping bags would, I think, be overkill to start with. That is another mistake we made and had uncomfortable nights in warmer weather until we bought lighter and cheaper bags and just threw in some old blankets when needed. You certainly want to avoid camping in cold weather until you have become more experienced - cold equals misery! You want to be sure everyone enjoys their first few trips before you try real pioneering! Foam or self inflating mattresses are better than inflatables - in our experience the blowups die at vital moments and you need a lot of patches.
Make sure you have a really good (reliable) gas stove and gas lamps. These are worth the money and last for years. Buy good equipment bit by bit as you go rather than cheap stuff that lets you down when you really need it. We still use some of our gear in our caravan after the children have long left home!
Just relax and enjoy it! That's what it is all about! Lynne

We had a large 2 dome nylon tent one bedroom and one screen room which was great for the four of us, Sportiva brand. One of the "T" shaped tents would be fine.
We found the bigger tent a godsend when the weather turns.
A poly tarp and few poles and ropes will give you a shade area outside that gets the kids from under your feet.
When it comes to gas stove but a three burner with toaster on one side.
You can cook a hot breakfast for the whole clan on it.
As the kids got older we kicked them in to a 4 man tent on stretchers.
We think that the strechers are the best for the kids, up off thee ground and dry. They had cheapish but thick sleeping bags that opened up to a blanket and no issues hot or cold.
The stretchers allow all the kids "stuff" to be stored under the cots in plastic tubs with lids.
They have put up with buckets of rain on the tent and they and their gear has remained dry.
Wife and I had a QS 4WD foam mattress which is great.
If the family sleeps well then all is good during the days otherwise PITA

Well here is my 2c

Matresses: Those big 4x4 type self inflating matresses with the foam inside them are very comfortable but very bulky, we purchased two doubles, one for us and one for the two kids, but they never roll up as small as they did when you first brought them. However we are currently sleeping on one at home full time that's how comfy it is. I would go for smaller ones like Thermarest, there is a similar brand that's cheaper as well. The good thing is that with foam inside it's warmer and won't ever go flat! Or you could go to Clark Rubber and just get some high density foam mattresses made up!

Tents: A can of works really. We brought a couple of 3 man hiking tents, one for us and one for the two kids. Ours are DMH Derwent. Easy and quick to put up with just two poles and a bunch of pegs.
DMH Derwent Link
But ultimately we will probably get a Pyramid style touring tent for us, having only 2 kids they would fit in as well if we don't want to set their tent up. For this if we go Aus made it will be very expensive like the Freedom or Southern Cross Touring tents are around $1000! On a budget we would look at OzTrail, Darche or Primus which are half the price or less.
You would look at a touring tent if you want something easy to put up and pull down, the downside of a canvas tent as such is the large size they pack up to and relatively heavy compared to your dome tents / hiking type tents
Touring Tent Example DHM Jardine
If you're just going for 1 week every 2nd school holidays in good weather etc then it's not that crucial.

Sleeping Bags: Take your pick really! For the kids we have a couple of Black Wolf branded ones, for us we have Roman branded ones, all rated to zero. The kids ones are actually warmer, more cottony on the inside where ours have a more nylon feeling inside which is colder to get into. If you plan on zipping them together for yourselves make sure they're not mummy shaped! Better still there is nothing wrong with taking a doona, it's what we're looking at changing to, because sleeping bags zipped together let too much draft in when it's cold! And just don't seem as warm used as "blanket style". Really your choice depends mainly on what temps you plan to sleep in and weather it matters if they're bulky. I'd look for something that can be washed too, particularly if your kids aren't night time trained and wear the pull ups, they can leak!

With the sleeping bags, add 5 degrees to what the label says.

In other words. if it says it is rated at ) degrees, it will be comfortable at an overnight low of +5.

I wouldn't spend too much on your first tent. The $150 Rays specials are ok except they are a pain to put up and take down. Which isn't too much of a problem till you go reasonably frequently. By that time you will have worked out what you want too.
Take the family to the tent shop and lie doen in it. Allow enough room to lie down with some room. The people reating for tents is a bit optimistic.