Some of you lovely readers might remember that we bought our first family sized tent last year (we already had one we used as a couple and another 1-man tent of my own) and this year we are going to make good use of it!
We will be off to Orkney in June for a friend’s wedding and will be camping there afterward, I can’t wait! I’m also hoping to get away before then for a weekend and another few long weekends in the summer. We’re fortunate that my husband gets to work in shifts, so although he has to work every second weekend, he has a 3 day weekend every other week. So we can easily get away for two nights without him taking any extra time off work.
Aside Orkney, I would love to visit Arran this year and then a few shorter trips around Argyll, Oban and Perthshire areas would be great (I made a list of amazing places to camp in the UK if you want some camping inspiration). We never know what the weather will really be like in Scotland, the forecast can change from town to town and it can still be cold overnight during the warmer months. Last August we had a horrible two nights sleep at Aviemore, we were too cold and uncomfortable in our sleeping bags and thin mats that we really had to rethink what we would do this year.
I was delighted when Skandika asked if I would like to review their sleeping bags and mats for camping and I know we will sleep so much better this year in our tent!
We received two double self-inflating mats that will be great to insulate against the cold ground, the first is the 10 cm thick Skandika Night Double Sleep Well Mat and the second is the Skandika Blue Night Superior at 5 cm thickness. Both are quite large when rolled up, but will hopefully fit in our car! We have rolled them out and tried lying on them in the house and they feel fantastic, but the real test will be when we take them camping with us. Whatever the result I’m sure they will be much better than our old roll mats!!
We still haven’t quite decided on sleeping arrangements in the tent. Mr O will have his own sleeping bag and so will my husband, but as little Mr A still breastfeeds to sleep (and throughout the night) we have to think how best we would sleep beside each other. We received two Aberdeen sleeping bags, which are incredibly cosy and can comfortably cope with temperatures between 12-2 degrees Celsius. They have a lovely flannel tartan lining, which makes it feel extra warm inside and the best thing is that one has a left zip and the other a right zip, so we can zip them together to make a double sleeping bag.
This is great for couples wanting to share, but would also be great for cosleeping (providing you have an arm around your little one to stop them wriggling too far down).
These bags are meant for my husband and I, as we also have the Sorgenfresser for Mr A, but we can decide at the time whether Mr A sleeps better in the same sleeping bag as me.
To zip the two sleeping bags together you first need to completely unzip the sleeping bags ad then swap the zips around so that the top two zips are together and the bottom too. It’s a little fiddly, but easy enough to do.
Our 4 year olds sleeping bag is the Skandika Vegas Junior in blue, which looks great with a bright orange lining and rolls up nice and small. It should keep him comfortably warm between 13-3 degrees, but we’ll take a blanket to go over him too, just in case it gets a bit cooler. He likes to just take it out inside the house to snuggle up in and shuffle round the house, so it certainly seems to have his seal of approval!
Little Mr A (2 years old) has the Sorgenfresser ‘Worry Eater’ in orange, with a cute little pocket and design. Apparently the pocket is for your little one to write down any worries and put it in the mouth/pocket, then all their worries are gone and they can get a good nights sleep. He loves it already and if he gets cold (it should be comfortable down between 13-3 degrees Celsius) we can always add a blanket on top. It’s still a bit long on him, so I will either fold the bottom under or tie it part way down so he can’t slide too far down the sleeping bag.
I can’t wait to try them out properly, we love getting out camping and hope the boys love it just as much!
Do you enjoy camping with your kids? What are your top camping tips?
J x
*I received these mats and sleeping bags for the purpose of this review, however all opinions are my own.
Emma T says
I need to get another new sleeping bag for me because last year I found it too narrow and I couldn’t turn round inside it which is annoying. I’ll probably pass on that sleep bag to N (he was using my brother’s old childhood one which was fine for summer.
We had roll out selt inflating mats too – I think I need to double layer mine because we don’t have room to take an air bed, but I had back ache last year. I think it’s a sign of getting old though – I remember as kids just sleeping on those foam mats with no problem – N kept falling off his last year but was so fast asleep he never noticed.
Sarah Stockley (@kipperscurtains) says
These look so good. We will be camping in May and I have just received our tents but we really could do with some mats and sleeping bags too. I will have to check out their website. Enjoy your camping, I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time. Sarah x
Plutonium Sox says
We go camping every year, this will be the first one we haven’t been in a long time because I don’t think I’ll manage the kids and dogs in a tent with my husband unable to help. We will miss it and hope to be able to go again next year. On the plus side we’ll be staying in a gorgeous cottage in Perthshire in May which will be a good alternative.
Nat.x