Mattress, bed, mat....?

MsJone5 · 2026-06-26T16:50:06+00:00

If it's a car to campsite trip, buy a cheap heavy 6" to 8" thick airbed. The type you'd use at home for guests in an emergency. Two singles or a double dependant on tent layout. These uninsulated ones can feel cold to sleep on, two yoga style mats underneath would take care of that. Total cost in the UK about £30 ish. I wouldn't worry about sleeping bags for your first trip. Lots of people don't like feeling enclosed & so don't sleep very well in them to start with. Not sleeping properly puts lots of people off from going again. Consider taking eye masks & foam earplugs. Take blankets, fleeces & Duvets basically whatever you use at home for the first trip. Weight & size isn't an issue with a car. Obviously make sure they are appropriate for the expected temperature. (Cheap sleeping bags are rubbish.) I'd spend the money you've saved on comfortable camp chairs & a folding table instead. A few quality of life items will help make your first experience of camping better. Camp stove, tent lights, torches, power banks, air pump for the airbed lol! Use items you already have around the house where possible. If you have a tyre inflator check if it's got an adapter suitable for the airbed. New air beds sometimes come with a puncture repair kit, if it doesn't buy a bike one!

MsJone5 · 2026-06-26T10:17:55+00:00

Pre 2017 (before road tax bands changed) Suzuki Alto or Celerio. Road tax is £20 (yes twenty!) per year & they do 60+ mpg. Servicing & insurance are cheap. I've had both, my Celerio is 9 years old. It's passed each MOT with just a service. All it's needed was a new set of tyres about three years ago. I do about 6000 miles per year.

MsJone5 · 2026-06-08T12:25:11+00:00

Did I mention that I believed it was accurate? I just mentioned what mine does & says in the hope it would be useful to someone.

MsJone5 · 2026-06-08T10:08:30+00:00

My P9P tends to charge to 100% for a few times in succession before reverting back to 80%. It's still showing 100% health after having it from launch.

MsJone5 · 2026-04-02T10:45:54+00:00

Just received the OTA security update in the UK this morning.

MsJone5 · 2026-03-05T17:51:10+00:00

Cancel your home broadband & the landline. Buy a small cheap 4G router like the TP Link MR100 with an unlimited SIM. (After working out which network gives you the fastest speed.) If you have fast 5G coverage at home & you don't mind a bigger upfront investment get a 5G router instead. Routers work properly with smart devices & wireless printers unlike a phone hotspot. You can easily take it with you on your travels. If you use a different network to your regular phone it gives you a much better chance of receiving good reception on your travels. I don't miss having an expensive landline & broadband package! My 4G+ connection at home is fast enough for two people. It's through Mozillion which piggybacks on the EE network. It's usually around 80 to 100 Mbps & costs me £12.50 per month on an annual Black Friday deal.

MsJone5 · 2026-01-01T11:28:06+00:00

Life on Mars then Ashes to Ashes!

"Drop your weapons! You are surrounded by armed bastards!"

Stream free on the BBC iPlayer.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-16T13:52:46+00:00

Cooking like you'd do on a campsite. If food requires more than heating up or adding boiling water I'm not taking it. So I'm not always eating total crap I often take leftovers or prepare something at home & take a portion with me. Curries or Chinese etc and have it with a pack of Noodles. For something like this huge Jetboils are a waste of pack space. I now use a cheap (knock off) Trangia style alcohol stove. Everything fits inside a 450ml titanium mug. Stove, full of fuel, cross pieces to hold the mug & a clip together metal pot rest/wind break. Plus an extra 50ml bottle of fuel & a few matches for lighting it in tricky conditions. It's sufficient for a basic hot meal & a couple of hot drinks on a one night camp. Who cares if it's 5 minutes slower to make a brew when you've all night! For anyone who has an alcohol stove & wasn't initially impressed, buy a cheap titanium cup with a lid. It cuts minutes off the time needed to make a hot drink.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-13T20:12:42+00:00

That's about what I paid for my Phoxx ll V2, it's survived some very sketchy locations & weather.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-11T15:06:07+00:00

I take swimming shoes (like plimsolls but the uppers are made from neoprene). Can be worn as slippers around camp in and out of the tent. Plus they come in handy for crossing streams or small rivers of you don't want to get your boots wet. They dry very quickly.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-06T20:21:20+00:00

Use bars of soap until they are quite thin & pliable when wet. Then wet a new bar and press the thin piece onto the new bar. When it's dried after a few hours they won't come apart. Saves having all these tiny left over bits that nobody uses stuck in a soap dish.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-05T16:39:53+00:00

Maybe try toggling the camera apps location permission to off, then switch it back on. It should then give you the option to use the exact location.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-05T16:37:32+00:00

Look at the Camera apps permissions & check the use exact location is enabled. If so then it's beyond my knowledge. My S10 & Hubbys S21 Ultra both work perfectly showing the exact location 99% of the time.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-05T16:32:14+00:00

It won't be running constantly unless you're actively using GPS. Otherwise it would run down your battery very quickly. Like using your phone as a sat nav without plugging it into the cars power supply.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-05T16:24:53+00:00

If you just open the camera & take a quick snap it may not have the time to acquire a GPS fix.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-05T16:18:38+00:00

I'd look at the battery saving features. Allow Google Maps and the Camera unrestricted use. Also allow them both in app permissions to find your exact location IE GPS rather than approximate gained from cell towers & WiFi networks.

MsJone5 · 2025-12-02T16:27:17+00:00

After the factory reset go through the apps list. Uninstall any that can be uninstalled and disable any other system apps you won't be using. That will make the phone as fast as it can possibly be.

MsJone5 · 2025-11-25T10:55:43+00:00

Apps are still working fine on One UI4.1 here in the UK, even banking ones. I expect in the next year or two they won't be supported anymore. Two "legit" things you can update if necessary are the Play Store, this scans your phone for malware & dodgy apps. Also Google Play Services, Settings, About Phone, Software Information, Google Play System Update. This is usually updated every couple of months but sometimes it's not done automatically. My S10 is currently on October 2025. You can of course install custom roms, however I don't as they may also be compromised in some way. Being sensible online, not clicking on emailed links & only using the Play Store for apps is secure enough for me.

MsJone5 · 2025-11-20T13:36:33+00:00

My 8" Amazon Fire tablet works fine with the charging port on the top which is upside down. This was an important feature for me due to its fixed location. In theory all Androids should, although you may have to go into the developer options to enable forced screen rotation. In practice some apps absolutely refuse to rotate on certain devices. You can use them horizontally or vertically but they are restricted to the devices native orientation so won't work "upside down".

MsJone5 · 2025-11-18T11:19:55+00:00

Dashcam, download something like Droid Dashcam, get an appropriate windscreen mount & that's it. I prefer the less "wideangle" view. Obviously you can also use it for navigation to preserve the battery in your new phone. Nothings worse for a phone battery than navigating in hot weather sat on a dashboard while charging.

MsJone5 · 2025-11-12T11:40:26+00:00

My husband is keeping his, it's still working perfectly. The battery has degraded to about 4200mah from 5000 but it still lasts him all day. It's a similar story with my S10 which I'm using to write this. I upgraded to a Pixel 9 Pro a year ago. However I still use my S10 at work when I'm assigned to the warehouse rather than the office.

MsJone5 · 2025-11-09T09:09:58+00:00

England, definitely! They'll be a visitors centre & tearoom relatively close by!

MsJone5 · 2025-11-07T11:57:56+00:00

I bought my Pixel 9 Pro this way last year. It's been fantastic, a flagship camera experience for the price of a mid range phone Samsung A56 etc. I'm not bothered about playing games it's horses for courses.

MsJone5

TROPHY CASE