Here at Building Our Own Nashville we attend many music festivals but often stay in hotels to avoid the discomforts of camping. What can I say? I like my comforts. I don’t enjoy sleeping on the ground and don’t particularly enjoy being cramped up in what they say is a six man tent but really it’s a two man isn’t it? ( this is of course personal snobbery as our current six man tent is tiny!)

I also want to be able to stand up and not go flying head first into the side of the tent whilst badly attempting to put on my clothes of a morning. Condensation is another issue for me!!! As an asthmatic, it’s a nightmare!

As I have mentioned above, due to not being a keen camper (have you guessed that yet?), we have stayed in hotels at every festival and we go to a fair amount each year. This has become rather costly and has got to the point that it’s just no longer financially viable for us to do so. It’s also a bit of a pain having to go back to the car and drive to the hotel after a long day and evening of festivities. One of us can’t drink then and half the time the kids are so tired that we leave earlier than planned so it would be nice to just walk a few minutes to sleep!

Most weekend festival tickets include camping so we have been spending money in hotels where in theory we could’ve just camped for free. I have explored so many options over the years and have often admired bell tents at festivals that are offered as part of the glamping package. The cost for these packages are often very high and cost way more than a hotel! So, with that in mind, I decided to start researching the best way for us to do DIY Glamping and cut out a large portion of those costs.

For it to get to the level I want it to, as in being almost to the same standards as what Glamping packages have to offer, I knew it would likely take a few years. However, we have done pretty well so far and have made a great start.

First off we looked at Bell Tents! This was a must for us! We spent a massive amount of time looking at various companies that sold them trying to find the best and most affordable one for us!

Bell Tent Sussex actually rang us up and gave us so much detail over the phone! They asked our budget, what we wanted, how many were going to be in the tent and answered all the ridiculous amount of questions that I had! One thing that was very important to me was the fact that sleeping in a regular tent often sets off my asthma, especially with the condensation in the morning! We were advised to go for one that was 100% Cotton Canvas. Given that there are four of us in the family, 5m was also advised. The Bell Tent recommended specifications are as follows:

• 100% Cotton Canvas 285gsm & 540gsm PVC Flooring
• Packing Size 1m x 30cm x 30cm
• 36kg pack weight
• Floor space needed 7m
• Full double mesh mosquito door
• Extra thick and robust ropes with reinforced pegs for extra support
• High-quality waterproof material
• Access points for electrical appliances, such as phone chargers, with EHU sections
• Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) lined bags and pegs for canvas tents
• Mould, water, and rot repellant for all weathers
• A-frame loaded with springs at 22mm
• Additional lighting options provided by a pole hook
• The entire sidewall can be rolled up on hot sunny days

I wanted a tent that I could comfortably stand up in and have plenty of space! This is exactly what we got! We could walk in without bending down and had plenty of space for two double mattresses, a table and some chairs.

With it we purchased the Poly Propylene Mat Grey – Fire Retardant. It was between that and the Coir Mat. The Coir Mat does look nicer in photos but is more expensive and looked like it may be more difficult to clean! We have kids, something is bound to spill!!! These carpets just add to that extra comfort and make it more cosy and more pretty!! Please see our full review of our tent from Bell Tent Sussex here

Another really great Bell Tent company we looked at was Glawning. They are so helpful and often have some really good deals on. These tents come with pre-installed Stove Holes which not many bell tents do so is really good to have should your campsite/festival allow you to bring along a stove!

These bell tents can still be used to attach to your van with their connecting canopies with side door

The tents are; 200gsm, waterproof, mildew resistant polycotton.
They have aluminium poles reducing it’s weight to 29kg in total for the 5m. The zip in groundsheet is black and made from 420D Oxford fabric (waterproof, PU coating).

There are ventilation flaps fitted with white bugmesh all round the glawning that can be unzipped from the inside.

Elasticcord in all the poles makes putting up the glawning a breeze. The A frame is slightly inset, away from the doors. There is 40gsm white bugmesh on both doors and windows to keep any unwanted critters out.

Polyester reflective ropes are easy to see in the dark.

You get: Glawning Bell Tent, 12 tent stakes, 12 x pin pegs, 1 x rain caps, 1 x a-frame, central pole, guy ropes, zipped-in groundsheet, and a massive water resistant carry bag!

Packed-up size: 115x32x34cm/29kg (5m)

4m/5m Glawning Bell Tent spec:

Overall Weight: 27kg/29kg
Packed Size(in delivery box): 115 x 34 x 34cm
Pitching Time: 10 minutes
Minimum Pitch Size: 8 x 6 m/ 9 x 7m
Canvas: 200gsm, polycotton, waterproof, mildew resistant
Groundsheet: black 420D Oxford fabric (waterproof, PU coating)
Poles: black, aluminium
Fire Compatible: YES (stove hole precut with fireproof square & Velcro flap)

With a history of bad backs after camping, we decided we wanted to really go for the full glamping style and get a mattress as close to a real bed as possible. After a lot of research (and considering cost factors) we stumbled across Yawn! Immediately it was the photo that attracted us. A self inflating mattress with a headboard that is the height of a regular bed? What’s not to love? Surely this was going to be an extremely expensive product? We were incredibly surprised to find it retailed at £89.99 which really isn’t that bad at all! After using it, it’s definitely a fantastic investment and we regret not getting it before our first week of camping/DIY Glamping.

The Yawn King Mattress is from high street tv – See it here. This mattress is self inflated and you can use a battery operated pump if you don’t have an electric hook up on camping trips.

As previously stated, our aim was to make our experience as close to Glamping packages as possible! A lot of glamping packages include a proper bed which of course is very attractive but if you are doing DIY Glamping, then you don’t particularly want to pack up a proper bed frame and mattress that take up all the room in your car and are incredibly difficult to transport. Yawn Air Bed is one of the closest things we could find to that real bed experience for glamping and we LOVE IT! Check out our full review here.

We also now have a Yawn sofa bed which is really convenient for extra comfortable seating in your tent and a bonus to double it as an extra bed! This is perfect for the kids to sleep on. We will be taking it out camping for the first time this year and will update asap. Have a look at the sofa bed here

Next up is our Thermarest LuxuryMap Sleeping Pad and our ZLite foam pad for underneath the mattress.

This sleeping pad is very comfortable, especially with the foam pad underneath. It will make such a difference when camping as the uneven ground can hurt backs. This one is a single and it prices at £165 and the foam pad at £55 but if you are a regular camper then I think it’s worth it! I don’t think they do doubles but putting two of these together with a sheet to cover it should work out quite nicely! It’s Self-inflating foam with three inches of extra comfort thanks to targeted pressure mapping so it’s a little more comfortable but it’s still relatively light and easy to carry. It’s 7.6cm thick.

It offers generous comfort while the premium foam protects campers from the cold with a 6.0 R-value rating. The soft stretch-knit face fabric offers a luxury sleep surface. The extra-comfy self-inflating pad features the easy-to-use TwinLock valve, allowing the pad to inflate three times faster and deflate five times faster. Like all Therm-a-Rest pads, the LuxuryMap is made in market to ensure quality and minimize environmental impact. The pad includes a go-anywhere stuff sack.

My 7 year old just used this on his Cubs camping trip and was incredibly comfortable, so much so that he wanted to stay another night. He said it also kept him warmer than sleeping on a camping mat!

Comfort is everything!!! I know I have and will mention that many times in this article and usually I would take my own duvet camping to be as comfortable and snug as possible. So far, sleeping bags haven’t quite done it for me. So, we opted for a Voited blanket. Ours is a 4-in-1 insulated & water-resistant indoor/outdoor warm blanket which is advertised in their website for van life, camping, travel & home. This is incredibly comfortable and we even use it relaxing at home on the sofa. This was really handy of the cold winter that we have had! It’s really pretty to look at and just so snug!!! It’s large so can easily be used for two people. It’s called a 4 in 1 as can be used as a blanket, a pillow, a sleeping bag and a robe!

It is made from; Recycled Ripstop on one side & luxurious CloudTouch® fleece on the other. Durable. Stain-Resistant. Machine Washable.

Made from Recycled Plastic Bottles, the CloudTouch® Outdoor PillowBlanket™ is the most comfortable and luxurious outdoor blanket you will ever find. The CloudTouch® blanket is a high-loft, soft, and fluffy brushed knit fabric made out of 100% recycled polyester fabric. It feels like real sheep’s wool but is much lighter in weight, less bulky, and has faster drying abilities.

Our PillowBlanket™ is made with Ripstop REPREVE® fabric (that’s made from recycled plastic bottles), so it’s eco-conscious as well as tough.

Voited may seem costly but it’s likely you won’t find a warmer, more comfortable product that is easily packaged for camping and hiking. However, they do have an outlet on their website where products are around half price and well worth checking out! Look here.

Another very very important reason that I despise camping is the toilets!!! I need my own! What can I say? I’m a massive snob!!!

Again, after a lot of research, we got a Popaloo toilet. This is not a chemical portaloo! No worries of chemicals and constant cleaning!

As their product description states: “The Popaloo toilet is a unique compact and highly portable toilet that uses a dry powder waste gelling system within a Bio Degradable bag. The powder in each bag has the capacity to gel 2.5 to 3.0 litres of fluid or solid waste. When packed away the Popaloo is just 420 mm square and 90 mm high, if you turn a credit card on it’s side that will show you exactly what it packs away to … when assembled it builds in less than 20 seconds to normal UK loo seat height of 430 mm …so it is all familiar territory and extremely stable and comfortable. The Popaloo is supplied with 10 Eco powder waste bags,Bio degradable toilet tissue, Bio Degradable refreshing towels all in a handy carry case. The Popaloo toilet components weigh just 4.28 Kg and has been weight tested to 175 Kg.”

I mean it isn’t a pleasant topic is it? But it is a topic many of us worry about when camping. How do you review a toilet??!! Well without going into too much detail, we will attempt to.

It’s the height of a regular toilet. That means you won’t be squatting down too low or sitting up too high! It’s made to feel and look like your toilet at home and doesn’t make you feel too much that you’re having a wee in the middle of a field somewhere. We do recommend getting a separate tent for this. (We will talk about that more below! )The popaloo is very light weight and easy to transport in a carry bag that comes with it! It doesn’t take too much space either so no, you won’t be bringing a fully set up toilet across the fields in front of everyone, nobody will know!! It’s easy to assemble and easy to disassemble. The disposable bags are compostable, with no odour or danger of leakage.

It’s a game changer for us, especially with the kids. No one wants to pitch their tent close to the toilet facilities and have that awful stench all weekend but also no one wants to trek all the way to them in the dark, especially with kids!!!! Who else has tripped over the guy ropes of other peoples tents, gone flying and almost landed on top of someone else’s tent scaring them? It also enables our children to get up safely in the middle of the night and go to the toilet with ease. It also means I personally don’t have to worry about blocked toilets, queues, and bad aroma. The fact I don’t have to worry about chemicals or disposing the contents into a regular toilet or elsewhere makes a difference. I feel like I am disposing of my kids nappy bags instead. It’s very easy to use with straight forward directions. The biodegradable bags contain a blend of minerals which gel both fluid and solid waste. Each bag has the capacity to gel 2.5 to 3.0 Litres of fluid into gel. Once used you can dispose of the bag in a normal waste bin or with the land owners permission bury them, the bag and its contents will all return to nature.

When the popaloo was first designed, the target audience was camping families and festival goers and since then they could never in their wildest dreams have imagined they would be used as the field toilet for the French Army. That their tents and toilets would be at the bottom of half the offshore wind turbines around the UK coastline and that regional Fire and Rescue organisations in Kent, Cambridge, Buckinghamshire and Cornwall would have them on most of their vehicles. They have even supplied their products to the Star Wars production company, and as they say on their website “if they are good enough for Darth Vader… may the Popaloo be with you!”

When you purchase a Popaloo toilet the only ongoing costs are the powder bags which are available in packs of 10 or 50, they also offer a 25% discount on the PB10 packs when you sign up for a “Repeat Pooscription” further details elsewhere on the website.

They are also a company that likes to give back so they donate a proceed of every sale to Toilet Twinning a UK based charity who provide toilets to some the world’s poorest communities, we have twinned over 75 toilets so far.

The all important toilet tent. I mean you don’t want to pee in your bedroom do you? Or watch anyone else in the family go potty whilst you’re trying to sleep!! Popaloo also sell a tent that can double up as a shower tent as well as a toilet one!

They come in sizes medium and large. There is barely any price difference in the two sizes so large is for us! The pop up utility, toilet and shower tent has a detachable base, four guy rope fixings, four ground fixings, velcro roof support fixing and hook system, internal mesh pocket, eight tent pegs that all come in a handy carry case. It does have a mesh window which can be covered up which is good news! Nightmare if someone peeks in!!!

We plan on getting a portable shower next! Why not? I don’t want to smell all weekend! This is a DIY Glamping article after all so forgive us if our list gets more and more ridiculous!

Another thing that has become extremely important to me and again, especially since having kids and no longer knowing what sleep is is TEA and COFFEE!!!! This seems to be almost non-existent at festivals. At some festivals I have seen only one vendor and that queue is about a mile long every morning!

We found a very lovely company, a small family run business called Kelly Kettle. This is a very nice addition to our DIY Glamping lifestyle to be. We have the Scout Kettle. As the name hints, these kettles are used for many Scout, Cubs etc camping weekends. They are so useful, lightweight and easy to use and I simply love ours.

All you need to do is add some sticks, pine cones etc into the provided base so there is no need for fuel and it keeps costs down! When you’re camping, things such as sticks and pine cones should be easy to come by! As it is 1.2 ltr it should provide about 6 cups of tea (unless you have one of those sports direct sized mugs like I do then one or two haha).

Sit the water filled kettle (obviously you have to provide the water) on the base (filled with the sticks etc) and light away. This one comes with a whistle to let you know when it is done! The aluminium Scout Kettle is 1.2 litres. It’s suitable for Camping, Scouts, Car Camping, Fun Family Picnics, Bushcraft, Fishing, Emergency Preparedness, Off-Grid Survival, etc. This is also helpful for power cuts if you are desperate for a cup of tea like I would be!

There is so much to add to this which makes it even more exciting and it all pretty much stacks up together so makes for light and easy transportation. What more can you want? I mean I would carry a cauldron if it meant getting a cup of tea whilst camping so this is really good news for me!

You can cook small amounts of food over the chimney (using the pot on the support) as the kettle boils.

We also have the hobo stove and the cook set! Together they cost less than £30 whilst the kettle itself (the Scout Kettle) is £56.95. You can get bundles but I don’t think they include the stove or cups for tea. The price is so worth it! Watch the video above to see how easily everything fits together.

The stove just fits into the kettle base and then any pot or saucepan should fit on it but as states above, we bought the cook set to have it all matching and we wanted to support this wonderful small business! If you are a regular camper or even just attend one festival a year as campers then I think this is definitely worth it!!

Please note: The Kettle has been designed to boil water extremely fast in all weather conditions using very little fuel. When filled with water, the Kelly Kettle should always be carried upright to avoid any spillage/leakage from the water spout or chimney top.

We simply love our Kelly Kettle and it’s such a great way to teach the kids to boil water and cook food safely under supervision. The children really enjoyed cooking food especially and even managed to toast some marshmallows and make s’mores which was a massive highlight for them!

Next up is the Wacaco Portable Coffee Maker
PIPAMOKA. Now I love a nice cup of coffee. I am fine with just a run of the mill instant coffee but I do like to treat myself to a nice ground coffee in the Cafetière from time to time. I have stated above that coffee vendors are in short supply at festivals and the ones they have, have ridiculous queues. This is basically a portable cafetière. It’s easy to use and is also a travel mug. You won’t need paper filters which is fantastic and it’s easy to clean with the little brush provided. As we have the Kelly Kettle we can choose to have instant coffee too which will be cheaper and quicker but of a camping morning, I wouldn’t mind something a little nicer like a freshly brewed coffee to make the day a little bit brighter. This is quite pricey at £41.90 so it really depends on the individual if it is worth it! I personally really like it! The instructions are straightforward and with good results. You obviously have to provide your own ground coffee. As it keeps the heat, this is great to chill about festival grounds in the morning.

As the website states;

Pipamoka brewing technics set it apart from other devices. Its patented construction, paired with its innovative twisting mechanism, generates vacuum pressure inside the mug. This negative pressure generates a suction force that draws hot water downwards through the coffee grounds. The coffee is then brewed directly into the insulated thermal mug, in which it will stay hot for hours. Pipamoka’s new coffee-making method makes a clean, full-flavored cup of coffee in about two minutes.

Pipamoka uses a permanent micro-filter mesh (no need for paper filters) in order to let the precious natural oils present in the ground pass into the cup, contributing to richer flavors. The brew ratio is similar to standard drip or infusion methods, close to 1:15 (1 g of coffee ground for 15 mL of water). We recommend using a medium to medium-coarse grind for optimal brewing performance.

NOTICE: Pipamoka does not heat up water so this where our Kelly Kettle comes in handy!

This is great even just for long journeys! It keeps warm for hours so can last entire journey.

There are other Wacaco portable products like the portable espresso machine that I wouldn’t mind trying.

Last but certainly not least is our beloved Solo Stove. We first saw these at The Long Road Festival. Solo Stove were one of the sponsors of the festival and were heavily featured across the festival site for attendees use as well as having a stall to buy your very own! Now, many festivals and camping sites may not allow to bring your own fire pit so please check! This stove however is just as fun at home in the garden for a nice evening outside, whatever the time of year!

We have the Bonfire 2.0. It’s huge and beautiful!!! It sits beautifully in a portable bag which makes it very easy for transportation. With it, we have a few accessories such as the bonfire stand which is a must. The stand gives you the power to use your fire pit on most heat sensitive surfaces. Use the stand to enjoy your fire pit on your deck, grass, and other turf. However, NEVER leave your fire pit unattended. Even with the stand, please ensure your surfaces can handle high temperatures! Make sure you check out the fire pit bundles as many include the stand and you may find you are saving money buying a bundle rather than individually or opting to buy it later as a separate item!

It also comes with a new removable Ash Pan.
You don’t need a special tool to clean your fire pit. Bonfire’s new, removable ash pan rests under the removable base plate, catching all that fine ash in one place. Just lift the base plate to remove the ash pan, clean out its contents, and that’s it!

More info on the bonfire here

The fact that it is smokeless too really makes a difference! As an asthmatic, I always struggled with bonfires/fire pits and it also makes me feel safer about having the kids near it! The lack of smoke also means the neighbours don’t get annoyed and if using in the summer whilst your washing is out, then they don’t get smelly!

We also have the roasting sticks. These are perfect for toasting marshmallows and making smores. They are nice and sturdy and long enough so that you don’t risk burning your hand, we even found it safe for the kids to use under supervision. The prongs allow for the marshmallows to sit on each prong firmly and as it is so long, just sit back and relax until the marshmallows are to your gooiness likeness. 

Length: 36 in | 91.5 cm
Weight: 3.75 lbs | 1.7 kg
Materials: Stainless Steel

We have done a full review on it here

All in all, with money spent, we figure we will make that back after two or three festivals from the money we would have saved from hotels.

Spending these last few months gathering all of these items has made me excited for camping for the first time in decades. It is easily going to become a hobby! The more we add, the more it will feel special and like we are actually glamping!!! I swore I would never camp again, so I really really hope that this all works out well!

Do you camp or glamp? What are your must have comforts?