How To Streamline Your Camping Gear

20 February 2018

If you’re somebody who likes going camping fairly often, either with your family or even as a solo adventurer, you’ll likely have reached a point where lugging all your gear with you just feels like a chore.

But how essential are those creature comforts you’re so used to bringing with you each time? Is there any way you could streamline everything to make your camping trips not only simpler, but more enjoyable?

The answer is most definitely yes. So with that in mind, we’ve put together this little guide to help you get a handle on your camping equipment and up your game!

Identify Essential Equipment

The items that are truly essential to your camping trip are those that keep you sheltered, fed, safe, and a couple of tools. A good basic list is as follows:

• Tent
• Sleeping Bags
• Sleeping Pads
• Water Storage
• Food
• First Aid Kit
• Knife
• Phone & Portable Charger
• Torch
• Lighter/Matches
• A Stove (If you’re going to be cooking)

Luxury equipment such as airbeds, mini speakers, camping tables, and things to add ambiance such as fairy lights can all be left at home if you’re trying to keep things minimal, as can too many gadgets.

Use Dual-Purpose Equipment

Rather than buying equipment that is lighter or smaller than what you already have, try to think about which pieces of equipment can serve more than one purpose, especially things that you already own.

For example, a head torch may well be all you need for light. You can use it to see what you’re doing easily and conveniently. But also hang it up in your tent to use as a lamp, meaning you don’t need to bring a separate one.

You could also freeze bottles of water to use in your cool box rather than taking special cool packs. Then you will also have extra drinking water once they have melted.

Food

Foil packets are a great idea that can not only save space, but save you plenty of time too, so long as you’re bringing a cool box with you. You can find instructions on how to make these packets on the Art of Manliness blog here.

If you’re travelling truly light and won’t be able to refrigerate your food, tinned foods are a simple and space-saving solution, as well as dried meals that can be rehydrated. Fruit travels well and doesn’t need to be kept cool, and energy bars provide a great pick me up.

Tailor to the Occasion

The level of streamlining that will be required will, of course, depend on the occasion, and will be different if you are taking a car and a family of four to just a backpack and a few friends on foot!

We think this article from Outdoor Blueprint is super handy not only for explaining how to properly pack a backpack to ensure it’s streamlined, but also helps with the packing itself and selecting the right backpack for your body shape.

If you’re taking the car, these tips from Mental Floss could definitely help you out when it comes to packing your car up logically and efficiently.

Storing your equipment at home

Another way to make the whole camping experience even easier is to make sure you’re storing everything smartly while you’re at home. Keeping all of your equipment together saves you having to hunt for something vital when it’s time to set off.

Storing all of your equipment in stackable plastic boxes in the garage is one idea that we love, and having items specifically for camping, such as cutlery and plates that you keep in the box will mean you don’t need to run around looking for ones you can take in the kitchen on the morning of your trip.

We hope this has given you some inspiration for how you can make your next camping trip a lot more streamlined, and if you need some more packing tips why not check out our infographic here?