Spending time outdoors going for an amazing adventure with your loved ones is a good way to have pleasant and memorable times with your camping essentials. However, without proper planning, your noble camping idea can turn into a nightmare and the worst experience. It all boils down to what you packed or didn’t pack when going camping.
Having the right camping essentials in your backpack makes all the difference. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your first experience or you are a seasonal camper or going with friends, when camping you need the right camping essentials.
It’s easy to forget important items like flashlights, first aid tools, or sleeping bags when you are caught up in the moment and expectation of going to have an amazing experience.
Sleeping Bag
You need something warm to rest in for the night or when the weather is not ideal for further outdoor ventures. While resting on a bed of moss sounds great, it can’t keep you warm when the sunsets. A drop in temperature at nightfall can leave you shivering from cold. Plus, the insects that are active during the night will not leave you alone.
Going camping without a sleeping bag can be a disaster and make you spend uncomfortable nights and be exposed to the worst conditions. Therefore, before you go camping with your loved ones, ensure you have packed your sleeping bags to ensure you have an amazing experience.
Tent
Slumbering under the stars is a telenovela fairy tale but that experience won’t last if weather conditions change for the worst. You need good backpacking tents that can keep you and your loved ones comfortable. The midnight deluge or a freak storm can leave you drenched or miserable and even at risk of hypothermia.
Having a tent shield from high winds, rain, and high humidity. You can invest in an affordable and accommodating tent. Ensure you pack the necessary accessories like ropes, rainfly, stakes, and tent poles to make your experience worth writing home about.
Water Filter and Canteen
Water is vital even on a camping trip. The last thing you want is to run out of water or be stuck in a place without a freshwater supply. Drinking from the pond, stream, or lake can result in illness because of bacteria, so carry enough water supply and a water filter for purifying the water you refill in the nearby lake, pond, or stream.
Fire Starter
In a camping site, there is always the need to light a fire to keep warm, warm your meal, roast something, etc. Therefore, you need the right tools that can start the fire quickly. You need matches, flint, a cigarette lighter, a windproof lighter, or a magnesium fire starter. If you choose matches, ensure it’s waterproof. You can pack two fire starters in case the other fails. Have some dry bark, a strip of newspaper, and a waterproof container.
First Aid Kit
As much as nobody desires a life-threatening injury, it’s better to have a first aid kit for such emergencies than to go camping without one. After a long day of camping or chasing a game, you can develop blisters, and get small scrapes and cuts which require the wound to be disinfected and bandaged.
Ensure your kit has bandages, antiseptic, scissors, painkillers, gauze, adhesives, soap, an emergency whistle, and a CPR mouth barrier. Toss in a bottle of insecticide and sunscreen.
Pocket Knife
Your pocket knife is your multipurpose tool as it can trim a rope, dice bait, fishing line, sausage, cheese, cut tangled vines, sharpen a stick, skin an animal, or tighten a screw among others. You need the knife for these things to be possible, and leaving it out of your camping essentials can leave you frustrated and helpless in some circumstances.
Navigating Tool
If you go hiking in a remote location, you need a navigating tool such as a compass, map, or GPS. The constant changes in the position of the sun make forest landmarks unreliable which can leave you disoriented. Unprepared campers have often wondered for days in the woods before finding their way back or getting rescued.
Getting lost in a wooded area with a dwindling water supply can be stressful. If you go with your loved ones, ensure they have a navigation tool on them at all times for safety.
Rain Jacket
You need some dry clothes for changing. Damp clothes are frustrating and dangerous if you are in a cooler climate area as you risk hypothermia. Besides, wet gear is always heavier and makes it uncomfortable to move with your backpack. Pick a lightweight waterproof jacket that can accommodate layers of clothing. It should cover the backpack or you can go for a rain bag to protect your backpack.
Lantern, Flashlight, or a Head Lamp
Starting a campfire sounds nice, but it can only be bright for six feet in all directions. You may have difficulty locating something in the tent unless you have a lantern, flashlight, or headlamp.
Invest in a portable, and battery-powered light source. Most campers prefer headlamps because of their hands-free functionality.
Eating Gear
Food is important. Pack some long shelf snacks and protein bars. Pack some cooking pots, a cooler, plates, and utensils for your meal preparation and eating.
You don’t want to be stuck holding a fish with no way of storing, cooking it, or serving your meal. Choose a pot made of titanium as it’s light and doesn’t add unnecessary weight to the backpack.
Pro tip: Consider investing in a few ready to eat meals (so called MREs) – these can be easily ordered online and are good for a quick meal replacement.
Going camping doesn’t require a big budget, you just have to be smart about what to invest in. You can try seasonal sales or buy second-hand gear. You can also borrow from friends or rent gear. You don’t need a huge list for camping.
Ensure these listed essentials are there for a safe and smooth camping experience. A windproof lighter has immense benefits as you won’t have difficulty making a campfire even on a windy day or night.
