Camping In Comfort: Who Really Needs a Hotel?

Camping comes in many forms. From sleeping under the stars, with just a sleeping bag and a roll-mat for comfort, to a fully equipped, state-of-the-art motorhome with every extra you could imagine. As holidaying abroad is less likely this summer, more of us are looking closer to home for a break and, as a result, camping is seeing a boom in popularity.

At CALIBRE, we tend not to be what you might call natural campers. While we love the great outdoors and spending time in nature, it’s a rooftop bar, a comprehensive cocktail menu and five-star comfort that’s much more our go-to habitat.

Despite that, we decided to give camping a try, but with a difference. We swallowed our preconceptions and sought to find the finest equipment to allow us to enjoy a high level of comfort and luxury, while still feeling that we had fully embraced camping.

The experience had to be effortless and comfortable — there’s no room here for cheap tents that need hours of assembly yet still let the wind and rain in. And, as we headed to Wales to put our selection to the test, wind and rain were an ever-present threat.

Camping in Comfort: Accommodation

Our living accommodation was made up of two parts — a roof-mounted TentBox Classic and a Dometic Hub inflatable activity shelter.

The TentBox Classic was mounted atop a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, a rugged off-roader with a beefy engine and barn door aerodynamics. The addition of a sleek roof box-contained tent proved insignificant to the vehicle, but you don’t need a bulky 4×4 vehicle to carry the TentBox. Designed to fit most cars (with the obvious exception of convertibles), if you can fit a set of roof bars, you can fit a TentBox.

Simply release the clips on the front and rear edges of the TentBox, and, almost as if magic is involved, the top rises on hydraulic stays and creates a box-shaped tent. A ladder allows you to easily climb up and into the tent, which is handy when the roof of a Jeep Wrangler is nearly two metres high. Those doors are secured by zips, along with panels over two other openings. These let plenty of air and light through and are protected by a mesh screen if you don’t want to be joined by countless bugs or be voyeured by your camping neighbours.

A comfortable integrated mattress, side pockets to store essentials like a phone, watch and glasses, and a roof-mounted cargo net for larger items add some practicality and comfort to the TentBox. Anything even slightly heavy weighs down the cargo net though, leaving it perilously close to your snoozing head and creating a slightly claustrophobic sensation. Leave the big stuff outside.

Sadly, that goes for people, too. Given the limited dimensions of the TentBox Classic, it’s a bit of a squeeze for two. You’ll need to embrace spooning. If one of you is somewhat more substantial than the other or likes to sleep in a sprawling star shape, it’s a box definitely made for one. Overall, though, the space is cleverly used and comfortable to sleep in.

Packing up is almost as easy as setting up; zip the doors tight and pull the roof down using the attached straps. This can take a bit of strength but can be done single-handedly, although it did involve climbing up onto the Jeep’s bonnet. The whole process takes just a few minutes, but if the fabric straps used to secure the collapsed box in place are wet, they can be quite fiddly to attach. And it rains in Wales. A lot.

The remainder of our camp was made up of the Dometic Hub — an inflatable activity shelter to which you can add attachments to suit your requirements. Our main hub had a sleeping annexe, a mesh panel for fresh air, and two window panels for easy viewing in either direction. The result is a fully enclosed living area and secure sleeping space large enough for a double-width mattress.

A tunnel to connect the Hub to an SUV is also available, creating a drive-away awning, but the unusual side-hinged rear door, roof-hinged rear window and door-mounted spare wheel of the Jeep meant this was less practical for our needs.

Nightmare memories of a mess of poles, fabric and tangled guy ropes come to the fore when thinking of pitching a tent. The Dometic Hub banishes those thoughts forever. Each element of the hub is contained in its own zip-sided bag, which opens out completely for easy access and repacking. Attach the plug of the included 12v electric pump to the power point in the Jeep, and attach the hose end to the connection point of the Hub, flick the power switch and sit back. That’s all you need to do, and within a couple of minutes, the Hub was completely inflated. Surprisingly for something made of fabric and held up by nothing but air, it was strong, sturdy and solid.

If you happen to be pitching the hub in windy conditions — perhaps you’re in North Wales in July — it would be prudent to lay out the base first and peg it in place. Chasing an inflated hub across a field tends to detract from the overall experience.

Once caught, all of the additional panels and the annexes zip quickly and easily into place, so the entire setup took no more than 10 minutes from start to finish. It really couldn’t be easier, with almost zero effort required.

The guide straps at each corner of the hub are easy to use and, fortunately, substantial; a storm blew in with winds of 30mph and far stronger gusts, accompanied by driving rain, but the lightweight Hub barely flinched.

The Dometic Hub is extremely versatile and has a multitude of applications, from a simple open-sided shelter or private changing room to a weatherproof living area or even a family tent. The additional panels allow for innovative and creative combinations to suit your own needs, but we do wish there was a panel with a simple door. Still, if we’re quibbling about a lack of an optional extra, that shows just how capable and usable the Hub is.

Camping in Comfort: Bedding

The TentBox has its own integrated mattress, so all that was needed was a sleeping bag. We used the Easy Camp Moon Double sleeping bag, which provided plenty of warmth and comfort, despite the gale-force winds and torrential rain.

A neat touch is a covered section at the top of each zip to tuck the slider into, ensuring there were no hard, cold bits of metal exposed to the skin. Unpleasant zip-related surprises during the night are a thing of the past. If you’re not a fan of a sleeping bag, it can be unzipped and opened out to create a duvet instead.

The single-layer construction provides 2–3 season protection, making it a great choice for most recreational campers, us included. Arctic winters may be beyond it, but you’ll be fine through most conditions that the UK can throw at you.

For a little extra warmth and comfort, both while sleeping and sitting out in the late evening, we had a Robens Icefall Quilt. Lightweight and windproof, not to mention warm, it comes with a carry bag, and the highly compressible materials mean that it is extremely compact — great for putting into a rucksack when walking or hiking, just in case.

The sleeping annexe of the Dometic Hub needed a mattress, so we tried out a Robens Sunstone Double 80 mattress. This particular mattress is designed for those who value a little extra comfort over the need for being compact and lightweight, but when you’ve got a Jeep Wrangler to throw all your kit into, size doesn’t matter too much.

An impressive valve system means there’s no need for the mattress to be filled with foam. It self-inflates easily, but you can top it up if you want something a little firmer. Once it’s full, you’ll be resting 8cm off the ground, with enough insulation to ensure warmth whatever the conditions — at least in the UK. It’s rated for temperatures down to -30c, so a damp Welsh field didn’t stretch it too far.

The cell structure inside the mattress offered excellent support all through the night, evenly distributing weight around. The soft, stretchy fabric on the top was warm and comfortable to sleep on, too, which is pretty essential for a mattress.

Usefully, it’s quick and easy to deflate and repack, with Velcro packing straps helpfully allowing you to do half a job and then just pull the straps tight to force out any remaining air. It all helps make camp life as effortless as possible.

Camping in Comfort: Creature Comforts

With the basics of sleep and shelter taken care of, thoughts move to comfort and food. We had a few different seating options to try out. Firstly, to add a little colour to our camp, we had the Helinox Sunset Chair and Chair One, both in a wonderful tie-dye pattern. Impressively lightweight, the larger Sunset Chair folds down into a package less than 47cm long that weighs just under 1.5kg.

Our second chair option was the Robens Observer, in a more sedate granite grey. Like its more colourful rival, the Observer is both lightweight and compact, with a weight of just 1255g, but a fraction larger, with a packed length of 48cm.

Both chairs have a similar elasticated aluminium pole construction, which is easy (and magical) to construct. Let go of the poles and the chair pretty much constructs itself, the poles being pulled by elastic into the right shape, with just a bit of guidance needed occasionally to ensure each pole connects properly with the next. On first setting them up, it’s like a scene from Transformers, as what seemed like a small pile of poles almost instantaneously became a chair frame, ready to relax into.

The Helinox Chair One is the smallest of the bunch, with a slightly lower seating position and a shorter back, but it’s still a comfortable place to spend some time, and the smaller size makes it a great option to take out and about.

The Helinox Sunset Chair and Robens Observer both have the higher back and similar bucket seat, giving that little bit more support for relaxing. Both chairs share many similarities, but also have a couple of distinct differences; the Observer has a small padded headrest built into the back, but the Sunset has a Velcro patch that allows you to attach the carry bag, which can fold up to create a small cushion. This is a nice touch, taking care of the question of what to do with the bag, but it does need stuffing with a spare jumper or similar.

Robens has also given some thought to the bag, with a couple of well-placed tabs that can slide over the frame (before you’ve attached the chair top), giving you a handy storage pocket.

There is a difference in the maximum weight allowance for the chairs, too. Both varieties of the Helinox chairs have a maximum allowance of 145kg, but the Robens chair comes in at a lower maximum of just 120kg.

Arguably, the biggest problem to solve was just how to keep the wine and the bacon chilled while in the middle of a field. Those with campervans can install a fridge, but that’s not so easy if you’re using your day-to-day transport. The answer was the Dometic CFX3 35. This 32-litre portable unit, powered by a compressor, can be used as either a refrigerator or a deep freeze, with temperatures as low as -22 degrees.

The CFX3 can be powered from the mains or, if you’re out and about, it can be connected to your vehicle via its regular 9-volt power outlet. Thanks to the battery protection system built into the CFX3, it can detect if the vehicle’s battery is suffering and will reduce or cease the power draw accordingly — it won’t leave you stranded on a mountainside just because you needed your Chablis chilled correctly.

The CFX3 has an impressive seal that helps to maintain the desired temperature, helping to ensure minimal power consumption, but it does need quite a click to engage. The colour display lets you keep an eye on the unit’s temperature without having to crack the seal, further helping conserve power. You can also monitor and adjust the temperature via WiFi or Bluetooth, if that’s something you feel the need for.

The CXF3 35 is robust and rugged, with plenty of space for your food and drink essentials. Whether you’re camping with the family, on a picnic at the beach or just having a BBQ in the garden, this bit of kit could definitely have a place. It weighs in at a shade under 21kg, which is not an unreasonable weight for a fridge unit. Spring-loaded handles on each end make manoeuvring it easier, and a doddle between two people.

You will doubtless be familiar with the adage that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. As we were embarking on a camping trip in North Wales in early June, we decided that there was a need for something extra to ensure we stayed warm, whatever the weather had in store — our plans didn’t involve being anywhere difficult, so life-saving levels of clothing weren’t required. As the evening chill arrived, the Snuggy came out to keep it at bay. The oversized, sherpa wool-lined hoodie won’t win any fashion contests but did a great job at keeping out cooler air, and could provide just enough coverage for your early morning ablutions.

Cooking took place on a compact unit, the Cadac 2-Cook 2 Pro Deluxe. Running from a small gas bottle, the twin burners could heat directly or could be covered by the supplied hot plates or griddles. Bacon, burgers and bangers were easy to cook with good flame control making it easy to get the right temperature. All the parts were impressively easy to clean, and the whole unit packs up into a briefcase-sized (ish) carry case. A Helinox Storage Box kept utensils and tools more organised. The 46cm long and 17cm wide fabric box isn’t huge, but it was a useful size. With both velcro patches and clips to seal the lid, once packed up, it could be quite literally thrown into the back of the Jeep without the contents spilling out.

As barbecue fans, we’d have liked to have tried the Weber Traveler, but couldn’t get hold of one before we left. Next time…

Camping in Comfort: Product Information

Thanks to the Bryn Gloch Caravan & Camping Park, Snowdonia, for being able to accommodate us at ridiculously short notice.

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CALIBRE Editorial

At CALIBRE, we have a team of talented writers, but we also collaborate with freelancers and other professionals to offer captivating and informative stories. When that writer doesn’t have a profile, we’ll use this placeholder and provide a byline in the copy where possible.

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