What Will I Need When I Go Camping?
There are many factors that will contribute to whether or not your camping trip is a success. A major leveller in this is what you decide to take and perhaps just as importantly what you decide not to take. There is nothing more guaranteed to put a dampener on things than arriving at your wonderful isolated destination and discovering you have left an essential piece of equipment behind. Much of the fun of camping is roughing it and ‘doing without’ but there are still certain basic needs unless you are planning on a survivalist type experience.
This list is not designed to be a comprehensive inventory of all you will need when you go camping. It is a list of items for camping that are either extremely useful, multi-functional or are great for stop-gaps in the absence of other items. The list is perhaps more applicable to camping trips of a more self contained and adventurous nature rather than camp-site locations where there are more facilities to hand.
What Will I Need When I Go Camping?
Here are the top 9 items that you will need when you go camping:
1.) A suitable tent
Rather obvious in some ways but the ‘suitable’ is the important word here. Modern tents are incredibly varied in size, quality and price range. Again, unless you intend to be hard core trekking in the mountains you do not need a high end price tent with bells and whistles on. However, you do tend to get what you pay for with a tent and cheap varieties will be more prone to tears, bad construction that doesn’t allow for correct assembly and faults in the seams that mean they are not watertight.
You will need to consider space – you will want as much as possible to allow for the number of people inside plus storing of equipment, wet footwear and cooking facilities without going overboard.
You will need to consider durability – a tent’s durability is dictated by its design, the material it is made of and the design of zips and seams. Inappropriate choices here will mean at best a warped and damaged frame and at the worst a collapsed or even a sky-borne tent. Tents that allow proper wind resistance by design are a god-send.
You will need to consider ventilation and temperatures – if you are going camping in the height of summer you will need to choose a tent that allows airflow to prevent the tent becoming oven-like. Transversely if the air temperatures are going to be chilly you will need a tent that retains heat better.
You will need to consider weather-proofing – tent designs and quality will make a big difference here. Tents that incorporate an integral groundsheet are much better at keeping out damp and wet.
2.) Duct tape
The one piece of equipment that stays permanently in my rucksack no matter where I go in the world. Duct tape will get you out of many a difficulty. As a camping trip accessory it can temporarily mend tears in tents and mosquito nets or hold together frayed guy ropes or cracked poles. It can stop holes or cracks in water containers or be wrapped round these to prevent holes appearing in the first place. It can be used as a valuable addition to a first aid kit as a waterproof layer over a plaster or bandage or as a plaster itself with a piece of lint underneath.
3.) Swiss Army knife
Any multi-tool gadget will prove invaluable. It allows you to leave behind separate tools and utensils such as knives, scissors, bottle opener, tweezers, corkscrew and so on depending on which accessories your knife has. Whether you need to whittle a spare tent peg or get into a well earned bottle of beer this is one piece of equipment not to leave behind
4.) Head torch
A decent head torch can completely do away with the need for heavier torches. They allow you to keep both hands free at all time and can be bought with red LED options to maintain night vision.
5.) First aid kit
You can guarantee that if you take a well thought out first aid kit you won’t need it! The smallest of cuts and grazes can become problematic if you are ‘roughing it’ and when water availability is limited and cleanliness takes more of a back seat. Essentials include plasters, bandages, antiseptic wipes, painkillers and insect bite relief. Any other items can be geared to your own trip needs depending on trip location and associated hazards, length of trip and party numbers.
And don’t forget the duct tape!
6.) Insect repellent
Leaving this out of your essential list could turn your trip into a disaster. It may prove useful to have one or more of the following: cream or ointment to apply to your own skin, repellent candles or coils, insect spray for the tent area.
7.) Portable solar panel charger
These wonderful gadgets are small, weigh next to nothing and are surprisingly cheap to buy. They will take a charge even when the weather is cloudy and can be used for recharging batteries, powering up digital cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players and even hand held games consoles (if leaving these behind is an impossibility!)
8.) Water resistant matches
You may find yourself carrying these around unused on every single camping trip you make or you may find this emergency item comes into its own from the very beginning. They take up so little space and weight that it can’t hurt to include them. Not only are they a good accessory for lighting fires, stoves and lamps but they are an essential backup item for when all else has failed.
9.) Comfortable bedding
Again, this may seem obvious but after a few nights of broken and restless sleep you may well wish you had considered this more carefully. Bedding includes sleeping bags, sleeping surfaces, such as roll mats and closed cell mattresses and pillows.You need to be able to be cool when it is hot, warm if it is cold and adequately padded from stony ground or uneven lumps and bumps. There have been so many wonderful innovations in this area in recent years that it really is worth exploring your options fully.
This is in no way an exhaustive list. Different people have different priorities when they camp and the more you do it the more you will discover what these are for you. Surprisingly they are not always what you thought they would be when you started out.
Planning and forethought are essential for ensuring a successful camping trip. Once you are there, relaxing and enjoying your surroundings with everything you need is at hand, you will be glad that you spent a little time in your preparation.
Hope this article answered your query on what you need when you go camping. Please feel free to leave a comment about your camping experiences and if you think there is any other item that you want added to this list.
Article by Outofstress.com expert author ‘Deneice Arthurton’. © 2010 Outofstress.com. Do not reproduce.