The first erect their ultra-lightweight tent within minutes before dashing up the nearest mountain; the latter can usually be found some hours later sobbing into a deflated air bed, cradling a plastic cup of cheap wine, and mumbling something about shower tokens.

However, despite the almost guaranteed certainty of insect bites, forgotten pieces of vital equipment and trench foot, it seems more and more of us are taking to the great outdoors.

While once we looked forward to two weeks on sun-soaked foreign shores, now a fortnight in a soggy field miles from the nearest home comforts has suddenly become fashionable.

The move under canvas has been blamed on the credit crunch, but our growing love affair with gas stoves and temperamental showerblocks began some time before shopping bills and mortgages went through the roof.

"Last year was phenomenal in terms of new campers and it's a trend we expect to continue," says Ruth Walmsley of the not-for-profit Camping and Caravanning Club.

"We've noticed that the types of people using our club sites has changed – mostly it used to be over-60s who would go camping, but now the vast majority are in their late 40s, joining to get their families on camping holidays."

As a result of this surge in interest, the Camping and Caravanning Club has opened 11 new sites in the past three years and more sites are in
the pipeline.

Major retailers, such as Tesco Direct, have also reported increased interest in camping, with sales of equipment such as sleeping bags, picnic hampers, torches and stoves up 40 per cent this year. And caravanning – once considered a holiday from hell that only interested the old or the unambitious – is now one of the top 10 subject and equipment searches on eBay.co.uk

With campsites charging about £5 for a tent or £15 a night for a caravan, it's probably no surprise that so many more Britons are eager to camp: a two-week holiday in Malaga could cost a family of four up to £3,000 for travel, accommodation and transfers.

By contrast, camping in Devon would set the same family back about £17 per night – a total of £242, plus travel costs, for two weeks.

The man who should be thanked or perhaps blamed for the trend is Jonathan Knight, the travel writer behind Cool Camping, the unashamedly middle-class guide to the country's best campsites. The concept was born three years ago after Knight and a group of friends spent a weekend camping in South Wales.

Like most camping-related decisions, alcohol was involved, and while relaxing in the warmth of the nearest country pub he decided to embark on a mission to compile a list of prime sites, based on views, facilities and whether or not the sausages on sale at the local shop
were organic.

"When I got home I went to a bookshop, but all the camping books were aimed at caravanners and consisted of thousands of directory-style listings," he says. "Not one book sorted the wheat from the chaff. And there was certainly a lot of chaff.

"We wanted to produce something which actually tells campers what they want to know. What are the downsides as well as the upsides? Where's the nearest decent pub? What is there to do if it rains? Really stuff to make planning a camping weekend easy and fun."

Armed with his guide, there has been a noticeable rise in designer cool bags and state-of-the-art sleeping bags popping up at previously unfashionable locations across the country. However, while purists would scoff at the notion of paying £25 for a quick-drying towel and wind-up lanterns, Knight believes camping is good for
the soul.

"The popularity is because more and more people are living in towns and cities, many without a garden or outdoor space and camping offers
them an antidote to urban life," he says.

"It's so different from the old soggy tent scenario and it's introduced camping to a whole new audience. If you go out and see all different kinds of people camping happily side by side and people who appreciate the great outdoors must surely be happy for others to get the bug too."