It's not only Cubs that have slightly clueless friends when it comes to camping.
I went to Blackberry Wood the weekend before last so that Briar the dog could experience her first camp before sites got too busy (though I am hoping now people are allowed abroad again they won't be as bad as they've been the past couple of years). Briar doesn't do well with busy places (much like me as I get older). I asked two very lovely friends who were Briar-friendly.
I knew the nights would be cold and on the whatsapp chat outlined what I'd be bringing to keep warm (quite a lot of stuffs) and one friend agreed that she would also be bringing lots of stuffs.
The other one didn't comment and I was a bit concerned she'd be relying on the same setup that she used when I last camped with her during a heatwave (28L rucksack with summer sleeping bag, uninsulated mat, meshy inner tent etc) but didn't want to assume or patronise her so I didn't say anything more. Sure enough that was the setup she turned up with.
Apparently she spent a painful night freezing; she said her body was ok but her hands and feet were in agony. I said that was probably her body diverting her blood to her organs from her extremities to keep her alive
and said I wished she'd said something as I'd have done my best to help somehow (maybe a hot Nalgene bottle). She acknowledged she should have taken the cold night a bit more seriously and went home before the second night having written down the various bits of kit she needed to upgrade before another remotely cold camp (most of it). She is basically the opposite of me in that I assume everything will be awful, she assumed everything will be ok, probably somewhere in the middle would be healthiest.
It was however absolutely lovely at Blackberry Wood and I had a go at making a little very amateur video of 'Briar's first camp'
https://youtu.be/hICTJe1D4q4 which does not include the stuff about my friend nearly freezing to death but you can see her tent disappears halfway through
. I got a new Decathlon tent for the occasion which I ramble on about in what is probably a very boring way for someone who's not a tent geek, but I wanted a tent that wasn't a) the lovely Saunders that Butterfly sold me about 12 years ago and which is irreplaceable and a bit big for one person & dog or b) my ultralight and expensive Vaude that appears to be made of gossamer and possibly wouldn't have stood up too well to the dog (and also flaps a lot which I suspect she would also have hated).
In other news my sleeping bag was just about ok but had a few cold spots so it is currently on its holidays at a professional cleaner.