After continuously being told we are in the middle of a "credit crunch", it seems many people are shunning foreign climes and will be holidaying closer to home this year. Camping is certainly going to be a popular choice. It's fun, it's cheap and you don't just have a holiday, you get an experience. So whether you are shunning the Costas in favour of the Cotswolds or taking to sleeping in a field at a festival, here we have a rundown of the things you will need to make camping that bit more comfortable.

1. A Tent

It may seem obvious but this list has to start somewhere right? Well unless you want to literally sleep under the stars that is. However if you do want to stay warm and dry, we recommend the Coleman Exponent Phad . Available in either 2 man or 3 man capacity, the Exponent Phad is a lightweight tent, designed to be carried around. Both capacities are roomy and feature a main sleeping compartment and a porch area.

2. A Sleeping Bag/Some Sleeping Bags

We have tried camping without a sleeping bag and we have to say it's not a pleasant experience. The only people who sleep in tents without a sleeping bag are madmen and well perhaps those camping in tropical climes, but then it could be argued they are madmen. The Snugpak Travelpak Lite Sleeping Bag will stop you becoming a madman, whilst the ultra-lightweight high loft insulation will keep you nice and warm at night. We recommend more than one sleeping bag if there is a group of you going, as again from experience we know sharing sleeping bags involves elbows in faces, which put simply equals an uncomfortable night's sleep. If however you do want to double up, the Travelpak Lite features compatible zips so two sleeping bags can be zipped together

3. A Camping Stove

If you want mealtimes to consist of bags of crisps, packet sandwiches and trips to a dodgy van to buy burgers for a fiver a piece, then don't take a camping stove. If however you want to indulge in some fine campsite cookery, bring along a Jetboil. They weren't lying when they named the Jetboil , this beauty can boil water in only 90 seconds, using an ordinary camping gas cylinder. The Jetboil is impressively small and lightweight (425g without gas) so can be easily stored in a backpack pocket.

4. A Multitool

Multi-Tool is one of those things you don't know you need until you actually do need it! Ever tried opening a bottle with your teeth? How are you going to get rid of that painful splinter? What about opening the packaging of that food? All of these problems can be solved with Leatherman Squirt. Not too flashy and expensive, the Squirt is small and light enough to just keep in your pocket or attach to a keyring. The Squirt also features a ruler, nail file and 3 types of screwdriver, you never know when you might need this things.

5. A Mallet

So simple but so often forgotten. If you are at a festival, this is the thing that will make you a lot of friends and will ease your own frustration. Save yourself bashing tent pegs in with rocks, shoes and whatever else looks like a makeshift mallet and get yourself a real one that won't bend your pegs. You can get mallets everywhere but this Thatchreed one we sell, not only helps you bash the pegs in, it also helps you get them out with the handy hook on the handle.

6. Wet Wipes

Like the Swiss Army Knife of hygiene, this things have millions of uses. So they may have a picture of a baby on the front, but don't be put off they are not just for kids! Wash your hands with them, clean your shoes with them, use them as an alternative to toilet paper, have a full all-over body wash with them, we guarantee you will feel fresh and clean(er)

7. A torch

When it gets dark rooting round your tent can be a nightmare, finding your round the campsite is even worse and you don't have to trip over many guylines to realise you should have taken a torch. The Shakelight is perfect, it doesn't even need batteries, so no need to worry about them being dead, just give it a shake for literally a minute and you will 10,000 lux of LED light for up to an hour. Light goes out? Give it another shake, it's the simple things really isn't it?

8. Emergency Charger

If you can't bear to live without your electrical items, you need an emergency charger. Imagine if the batteries ran dead on your phone or your iPod, oh no it would be the end of the world. Well not quite, but that said it's a good idea to have some juice in your phone battery and it's always nice to have some tunes playing round the campsite, so for that reason the Powerchimp is a godsend. This little monkey puts up to 48 hours of power at your fingertips and all from a couple of AA batteries. Included with Powerchimp as an attachment for pretty much every phone and all iPods about.

9. A guitar

An absolute must for any campsite, remember we told you earlier that we once camped without a sleeping bag? Well it was because we couldn't carry everything and was faced with the dilemma, sleeping bag or guitar, guitar or sleeping bag? Of course guitar won. It doesn't matter what guitar it is, even if it is old, battered and out of tune it's ok, actually its better if its old, battered and out of tune! The guitar is a campside necessity, all you need is a couple of tunes, some willing backing singers and you can keep yourself entertained for hours.

10. Something to stop you getting soaked

If you are not planning on leaving these shores, there is no getting past the fact that this is Britain and it is going to rain. Don't let the rain stop you though, if you are at a festival you should remain rock and roll and shrug off the rain. Rain isn't going to hurt you wherever you are, all we would do is pull on a Montane Lite-Speed Jacket Lite-Speed Jacket and carry on camping. The Lite-Speed Jacket is perfect because it packs down smaller than an apple, remaining just as light and is shower and windproof. It comes in some pretty decent colours unlike binbags, which don't make good waterproofs.

You can find more information here: http://www.outdoorgb.com