I still consider myself new to the camping world. Before I met Patrick, I could count on one hand the amount of times I had camped. Camping became more frequent in my life when Patrick and I started traveling to national parks and forests and wanted a budget friendly way to sleep. Although it was an adjustment at first, I can now say, it’s one of my favorite ways to travel.

Since I’ve learned a lot from experience the last few years, I thought I’d share some camping essentials I’d recommend if you’re just starting out or if you’d like to camp more.

Camping Essentials

🏕 Tent: Having a tent is an obvious essential while camping! Although we’ve done our fair share of car camping, tent camping is more spacious and there’s better air ventilation. We recently invested in a new tent, REI base camp 4 and I’m so excited to test it out on our next camping trip.Before we were using the marmot limelight and loved it! Either are perfect options for first time campers. I’d recommend doing some research when picking a tent, it’s important to find a tent that will be durable and hold up during weather conditions.

🧊 Cooler for food storage : Having a cooler for your food is a must especially if you’re planning to camp. I’d recommend a basic cooler like this one for a weekend camping trip.

🍳 Cooking Prep: The convenience of cooking your own food while camping is so important! We love our Eureka stove, it’s perfect for cooking any meal and storing it easy! Having your own stove is also ideal if a campsite doesn’t have a stove top over the fire pit. We also use a pots and pan set from stanley and have enjoyed the easy set up of this equipment.

🛏 Sleep Prep: If you want something more than a sleeping bag while tent camping, I’d recommend a mattress! While camping we’ve tried an air mattress, a trifold mattress, and sleeping bags. For the last three years, we’ve been consistently using a full sized trifold mattress that fits well in our tent and car. We’ve learned throughout the years how essential proper sleep gear is while camping and it’s definitely worth the extra money! I’d recommend doing some research to determine what would be most comfortable for you.

🛋 Lounging: While camping, it’s also important to consider the gear you’ll use outside of your tent for relaxing. We love our camp chairs from Woods, they are so big and cozy, perfect for relaxing by a camp fire!

💧Water Jug: It’s important to have plenty of water while camping. We like to carry a water jug, especially during our longer trips. Most campgrounds and national parks also have water fill up spots which comes in handy if you have a big jug to fill up.

🔦 Lighting: Lighting is essential while camping, especially if you are camping during the fall and winter months when the sun goes down sooner. We like to have head lights, a lantern, and sometimes string lights to maximize our lighting if needed.

🩹 First aid kit: It’s always a good idea to have a first aid kit to prepared for any accidents.

Extra Things to Consider

These items are more of an investment and I’d recommend if you plan to camp often or for long periods of time. Although camping is meant to be minimalistic, I believe it’s still important to have some items that bring comfort and enhance the experience.

☎️ Satellite Phone: We always carry our garmin in reach mini while camping and hiking in more secluded areas. Typically most campgrounds have little to no service and it’s nice to have some security of reaching out for assistance if needed in an emergency or to reach out to people at home if needed.

🚽 Travel Toilet + Biodegradable waste bags: We invested in a travel toilet a couple years ago and it is amazing! It definitely comes in handy if the campground toilet is far away from our site or when we camp in primitive areas that don’t have any bathroom facilities. This travel toilet set up is so easy and you can purchase biodegradable waste bags and waste gel to ensure you are disposing properly. We also use a privacy tent at times if the campground is less secluded and we need to use the travel toilet.

🧊 Travel refrigerator: This cooler is great when traveling long distances or camping for long periods of time. No ice required and it has a refrigerator and freezer side. It does have to be plugged in but if you have the right equipment, it’s a nice investment piece to ensure proper food storage and care while camping.

🚰 Jet boil: This is convenient for quick food prep. The jet boil is able to boil water very quickly and definitely worth the extra money.

🚿 Rinse Kit: The rinse kit is great for showers if needed or for rinsing off dishes. Sometimes campgrounds have showers and dish stations, and sometimes not so we like having this as a backup solution for both.

🔌 Jackery: Another investment piece that may be necessary if traveling and camping long distances. This device charges our electronics and cooler throughout our entire trip. The battery lasts a decent amount but does have to charged up when running low. It can be recharged through a typical outlet or through solar panels which you can purchase on their website.

🔋 Jump start battery: This was a new purchase for us, for a long time we had been borrowing it from my sister, and although it’s an investment item, I consider it a necessity. There were a few times, our car battery died on us when camping out west and this was a relief to have this for a quick charge!