Hiking, Camping & Outdoors

If you’re planning on taking a camping trip this year, one way to ensure you have a fantastic, worry free time is by making a camping checklist.

Creating a checklist of items you’ll need on your camping trip can be crucial to making sure your vacation is fun, relaxing and enjoyable because without it you could forget something extremely important. In fact, if you don’t make a camping checklist you may find yourself unable to go camping at all, because forgetting something vital might mean you have to turn back and go home instead.

There are many free camping checklists online which can be printed out and used for getting your own camping gear ready for the trip. You may want to add your own personal touches to the list though, since not every camping trip is exactly the same.

Your camping checklist will vary based on whether you’re camping alone or with family, taking pets with you or not, using standard campgrounds or remote camping sites, and whether you’re beach camping, forest camping, or camping in dry desert areas. You’ll also need to adjust your checklist based on how long your camping trip will be, and whether you’ll be doing strenuous backpacking and hiking as part of the trip too.

When you’re hiking and backpacking during your camping trip, you’ll need to make sure you pack your gear as lightly as possible. Even the tiniest additions to your pack will add small amounts of weight, and that weight really adds up when you have to haul it on your back for 10-20 miles.

If you’re camping next to your car, RV, or camp trailer of course though, you’ll be able to add more conveniences to your camping checklist since you’ll have more room to store everything, and you won’t have to worry about manually carrying everything long distances. Camping in an RV or trailer also means you may not need to bring a camping tent too, but this is usually a fun part of the adventure for the kids to experience.

A good camping checklist includes:

• Shelter - If you’re camping in an RV or trailer then this isn’t a problem, otherwise you may want to make sure you bring along a tent. Camping under the stars is great fun too, but you should still have some basic shelter on your checklist just in case you encounter bad weather.
  
• Sleeping Gear - Some type of blankets or bedrolls is best to have on any type of camping trip. The most popular type of sleeping gear for camping of course is sleeping bags. If you don’t have these though, be sure to bring extra blankets and bedding particularly if you’ll be in the mountains where it may get quite chilly at night.
  
• Food - How much food you bring on your camping trip and what kind you bring will depend a lot on how long the trip is expected to last. If you’re only going camping overnight then you could get by with easy stuffy such as beef jerky and dry snacks. If you plan to be camping for many days or weeks though, you’ll want to create a comprehensive and detailed section for food on your camping checklist.
  
• Cooking & Eating Supplies - When most people go camping they intend to cook over an open fire. Unfortunately if they don’t list essential items on their camping checklist before packing they may forget some important pieces to this section. Camping outdoors requires basic cooking gear such as pots, pans, long handled forks and spatulas, extra heavy duty pot holders and so on. You also usually need a manual can opener and a variety of other bits and pieces. So be sure to list these completely on your camping checklist so you won’t forget anything important.
  
• Clothing - How much and what types of clothes you add to your camping checklist will depend on several things, just like the food section did. If you’re camping in the mountains you may need more warm clothing for example, and if you’re camping for a month you’ll need more than you will for a few days. Adjust your camping checklist to fit your particular camping trip plans.
  

There are of course many other things you’ll want or need to bring on your camping trip, but this list and others around the web should be a good place to get started. Make your own camping checklist today and you’ll be that much happier with your camping trip tomorrow.