An early spring night camp
These days, family life and the nippers rightly take precedence over any flights of fancy or wanderlust nagging at the edges of my mind. As a result, I seldom find the time to bask in the beauty of our wonderful and unrivaled countryside. So, whenever life presents an opportunity for an overnight camp that fits the family routine, I grasp it with both hands!
An opportunity arose during the week following Easter Sunday. My brother and I had planned a wild camp for some time leading up to this week. Barring a “small” family health scare that forced us to change the date, everything went ahead swimmingly. My brother identified a section of woodland near his home turf for us to use—well away from anyone who might harbour the intent to ruin our blissful night of disconnection and rest.
After a short walk from my brother’s house, we made our way through brambles, vaulted and limboed under fallen trees (not easy when laden with gear), and navigated precarious twists and turns next to a river. Finally, we found our way to the designated ‘campsite’. We spent a short time setting up and pegging out the tent, filled it with our sleeping kit, and then settled down pre-dusk to bump our gums and put the world to rights.
Small comforts and hearty portions
I do not need many luxuries or comforts when camping. I can happily park my backside on the floor, or on any other surface able to support my rump. However, I do like options for my seating and dining arrangements. Some time ago, I invested in a small, lightweight camping stool and table to make cooking, eating, and relaxing a bit easier. Since I bought this cheap and cheerful kit on a whim while it was on offer through Amazon, it certainly didn’t dent the bank account too much!
Needless to say, a flat surface for cooking equipment and a stool to sit on make preparing and eating a little bit easier on muddy, cold, and wet surfaces. I was delighted to find that my little gas stove cooked through my very ample, juicy, and tasty beef burger in next to no time. This allowed me to enjoy a late tea before readying myself to bed down for the night. Once we refuelled and watched dusk set and night fall over our little camp, we hunkered down inside our seemingly safe and secure tent, ready to catch whatever sleep we could manage amongst the overnight chorus of wildlife.
A fitful night, pleasant morning, and a frustrating post camp discovery
Given how infrequently I get out to camp, the noises of the trees, animals, wind, and nature understandably kept me from settling down throughout the night. After waking up at semi-regular intervals, we finally began to stir at around 5am the following morning to the sound of the wind (though thankfully no rain). No issues arose at this point. After some waffling time between my brother and me, we broke down camp, swept the ground a few times to ensure we left no rubbish or equipment behind, and headed back to base to say our goodbyes and go our
separate ways.
I decided to leave the tent with my brother. Because he does not have kids, he has far more time and scope to head out on spur-of-the-moment camps. I never believed the tent possessed super high quality, nor did I think it particularly well-suited to wild camping; however, I did not expect my brother to inform me that it had pulled apart like a cheap rag after only two uses!
The tent in question is the 3 Second tent from Reactive Outdoor. I only paid £100 for it, and as mentioned above, I did not hold particularly lofty hopes for it over the long term. Even so, I certainly did not expect total failure on only our second outing. For context, every time we used the tent, we pitched it over a ground sheet to provide extra protection on the rougher ground. Furthermore, we never camped on exposed hilltops or other areas where high winds can cause the most damage.
Hard lessons learned
When my brother described the condition of the tent, it sounded as though we’d have been better placed camping on scrap paper and cloth. In places, hope and hail marys seemed to be the only things holding the floor and seams together. I had done some due diligence researching the tent prior to purchase. Trustpilot reviews indicated that Reactive Outdoor produced good quality equipment that would at least last a few years before hurling itself into the fires of Mount Doom. Subsequent research on various forums, however, paints a very different picture.
Suffice it to say, we were extremely lucky that it didn’t rain overnight. We’d have been better placed sleeping under tissue paper and praying to the gods for shelter than holding out any hope for this pitiful excuse of a tent to protect us from the elements.
I’ve learned a lesson from this escapade, however. Going forward, I will thoroughly research my camping kit before pulling the trigger on a purchase. I would advise anyone reading this who has any interest whatsoever in camping to learn from my mistake and do the same. Also, pre-kit checks are essential; on this occasion, I simply failed to check the tent before heading off into the woods—silly me. The information is out there, and Trustpilot clearly does not always reflect the true quality of a company’s products.
