Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3328 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-02
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
"The Happy Campers" is an inspirational and practical guide to 'happy camping'. Packed full of practical tips and brilliant ideas from where to go and how to find a good campsite to how to set up your camp and build a campfire, this book will also show you the magic of camping. It is filled with chapters on delicious recipes that have been invented collected and cooked over years of camping, how to entertain yourselves at camp, the wild world around us and even some soulful moments like a star gazer map to help you identify those constellations and a meteor shower calendar to spot a falling star. Shunning the survival techniques and hi-tec equipment that camping has become all to well known for this book takes a more spontaneous, relaxed and eco approach. Whatever your level of camping expertise, this inspiring book will accompany you from coffee table to wilderness on your own unforgettable journeys. This beautifully produced, informative book will be the camping book for the ever increasing hordes who love sleeping under canvas.

Customer Reviews

Disspointing
Just a word of caution for those convinced by all the enthusiastic reviews here (like I was). This book makes a nice read and would be a good addition to the coffee table, but can hardly be useful for any camping trip which lasts longer than a weekend.
Even though I very much agree with the philosophy of 'comfortable' camping, the advice in this book is not really practical. Just an example: replacing the sleeping bags with pillows, duvets and the rest as the book suggests will not only fill up your car boot to the brim, but will also turn into a nightmare if you get water into your tent. Unless, of course, you are on a weekend trip and can just turn around and drive home.
Similarly the recipes (which are great on their own) do not really differ from what you may find in a 'normal' cookbook and certainly assume that you always have access to fresh ingredients and a suitable place to store them, not to mention the unlimited fuel and cooking equipment. Once again, great for a weekend-long picnic, but not really practical for a week of driving around Scotland.

All in all, it's a nice book, but don't get mislead by the reviews: it's great to take on a picnic, but is useless for a longer trip.

Exactly what it says
I can't understand some of the negative comments; have they actually read the book? And no, I do not know the authors... If you want an instruction manual, this isn't for you. If you want to impress your mountaineering mates or dream of being an outdoor instructor, this might not be for you either. I've always been the "Roughty toughty" type of camper with just my backpack and a lightweight tent filled with the absolute minimum i.e. uncomfortable, stoical camping. This book is for the majority of campers who will drive to a campsite and who don't feel the need to prove a point or endure camping. The authors' enthusiasm is infectious and the book is filled with happiness, joy and - believe it or not - fun!!!

However, the book is more than style over substance.The photographs are cool, Lomu snaps (not trendy, stylized, and anybody who knows anything about Lomu photography knows that they are the simplest and most primitive photographs).

There are real great tips, advice and information in here and anybody who has done a lot of camping - will know that these women really know what they're talking about.

It gets 4 stars from me because I don't like books padded out with recipes, but that's just a personal thing and I can see that they would be lovely and some people will enjoy following them.

It's such an inspiring book that we went and ordered a new, comfortable tent, designed for grown ups who are allowed to smile!

A book to convert the unconvertable!
I have turned my nose up at camping for years having holidayed in a van with running water etc...but this book changed all that! We camped happily last year and I'm looking forward to doing it again having realised that it doesn't have to be minimal! If you try nothing else make the chocolate brownies which can be enjoyed under canvas or equally as well in your living room!
A great book, lots of ideas and energy.
Well done girls.