Is it worth buying camping gear?

Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it's up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in Saturday's paper. This week's question Our oldest child is starting school, so we'll be holidaying outside term time. We're thinking of buying some camping equipment for cheap trips away. What works best with two small kids? What do we buy/avoid? Has anyone got any better ideas – would youth hostels mean more sleep? What are your thoughts?