My camping emergency kit

I took up camping way back in 2004, and for the first few years, the most we needed in the way of emergency kit was a newspaper to stick in the doorway and a dustpan and brush for removing excess sand.

In more recent years though, I’ve experienced split poles, torn tents, and leaks. And gradually, I’ve put together my camping emergency kit.

It all lives in a clip lock lunch box, £1 from poundland. Bargain eh?

Seamgrip Seam Sealant is something you might expect to see in a tent repair kit. Ideal for the time your host’s kitten decides to mountain climb up your tent wall, leaving little tracks as he goes. Or for the seam that didn’t quite get sealed in the factory – it does happen. I keep the actual tent repair kit in here too, with the patch, the extra guy rope, and the strange short bits of elastic that I’ve never figured out a purpose for. (There are no tent poles that short. Seriously.)

Then I’ve got an eyelet kit. Honestly. Because once someone tripped over a guy rope and ripped the eyelet out, and I had an unstable tent for a week in the wind. It happens.

Duck Original Cloth Tape. Good for slightly larger tears in tents, and also for temporary repairs to cracked fibre glass poles. (Be careful with them, they are sharp. Very very sharp. Must add tweezers.) I’m told Tenacious Tape Fabric and Seam Repair is very good too, but I’ve not actually used it myself.

That strange hooky thing? (It came with a circle loom actually.) I’ve used it a couple of times when replacing a section of tent pole. (The spare sections don’t fit in the clip box, but I assure you I’ve got a spare section in the tent bag.) Also, when I got replacement elastic I got a special bit of wire with a hook on it that works well for threading as well, but again, it doesn’t fit in the box.

And the nappy? Yes, that lives in the box. We had a miniature flood a couple of years back during a summer storm, and in desperation I flattened out a disposable nappy in the puddle. Water gone in moments, brilliant. So yes, I pack a nappy. I have some high absorption cloths as well, but they are just standard camping equipment for mopping up after muddy wellies and so on, this is the serious stuff.

So, there you go, my tried and tested camping emergency kit. I should add it to my camping list really shouldn’t I?

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