Post your camping / gear lists!
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
SLOwag said:
Excellent point and definitely an item to consider and include if necessary. I almost never camp in areas that see a lot of campers, and the infrequent times when I do, there are usually pit toilets. I have yet to go on a trip where I am camping in a zone that requires (whether morally or legally) human waste to be packed out, but I know it will inevitably happen, and I will getting a PETT or similar so I will be prepared when the time comes. (The Rubicon trail or rafting the Grand Canyon would be examples). For the majority of my camping (which is usually always remote), I bury solid waste and always pack out the paper.
Scott Brady
Founder
j_nigrelli
Adventurer
camping? lists
this really is more stuff than i even own!
sometimes i forget how much i have simplified my life...
this really is more stuff than i even own!
sometimes i forget how much i have simplified my life...
BigAl
Expedition Leader
These lists are great, I read one that said "brush", I'm thinking does he mean tooth brush, wisk broom, what??? Then I realized that having a buzz cut and loosing hair for the past 15 years, that I don't own a comb or brush anymore
I love the check list idea, keep them coming
I love the check list idea, keep them coming
Christophe Noel
Expedition Leader
Maybe it is the alpinist in me, but I carry the bare bones minimum. I started off climbing big mountains expedition style years ago. After a couple seasons climbing with Euro-alpinists on their quick assault type ascents, I realized you can do amazing things with a small (yet carefully selected) collection of gear.
I apply that to all my adventures. No matter how much stuff I used to bring, there would always be a moment when I'd think, "...wish I would have brought...."
I apply that to all my adventures. No matter how much stuff I used to bring, there would always be a moment when I'd think, "...wish I would have brought...."
7wt
Expedition Leader
I get a little scared when I read these list like I am not taking enough or something. Just about everything I need fits in a small action packer I call the weekend in a box. It holds my tent, my pots, two MSR stoves (one white gas and the other a canister along with a canister and two white gas bottles). All the food I take goes in a cooler or a small backpack for dry stuff and that's it. I can easily get three days on what I take, I can add another cooler and another action packer filled with food and I could stretch it out fo a couple of weeks.
Bongo Boy
Observer
This is pretty cool. It's fun to go through these lists--I see an awful lot of stuff that I just 'leave to memory'...an increasingly dangerous practice as I get older.
It would be interesting to include how you tailor your lists to the kind of camping you do. That is, what the major non-eating, non-sleeping activities are, and the duration. We do mostly light car-camping with hiking during the day, biking to be introduced this summer. By 'light' I mean we're faced with black bear in the camp site, but we're also within 10 minutes of a pit toilet and within 30 minutes of a Starbucks. I bring 12 gal of water and seldom use more than 4 for drinking AND washing dishes, etc. We do 2 nights, 3 days, generally...so everything we take easily fits in one cooler and whatever packs in around in the back of the jeep.
Hiking requires only a few pints of water, which I can carry for both of us in a Camelback type unit. If we were doing biking or fishing, the list needs to get tweaked. We've never combined camping with off-roading, so Mike's list with tool kit, etc., opened my eyes a bit. I usually think one or the other.
I like sausage. This is the only point of contention in 'outfitting' ourselves for a 3-day excursion...how much sausage is appropriate. My spouse brutally points out that I've lost 30 lbs of unecessary mass, largely thru the reduction of sausage and alcohol intake, and I reluctantly concede the fight. I've found camping has become more attractive by bringing far less food and...beverages...and more water. Gosh gettin' old sucks.
The biggies for these micro-excursions are:
2 20L jerry cans of water
1 set of pots & skillet, camping style crap
1 set of the usual utensils, with wine opener
1 set of plates, bowls, cups
6 (or so) handi-wipe type reusable cloth towels
1 roll paper towels
2-3 butane lighters
1 bag charcoal
1 box of Baby Wipes--indispensible, possibly 2nd only to the water
1 bottle of sun screen (usually more like 3 bottles)
1 zip-lok full of single serving coffee and tea bags
2-3 small propane bottles (have never used more than 1)
1 Coleman propane camp stove
1 bag marshmallows (I hate them, but they're important)
1 bottle of eco-friendly detergent (dishes)
1 mondo flashlight for in the tent (spouse gets spooked by noises)
1 spelunking-type headlamp for in the tent (I like to read at night)
1 mondo lamp for the dinner table (I use LED battery now vs propane)
2 camp chairs (2nd only to the Baby Wipes)
1 Queen-sized inflatable air matress
2 big-ass double-wide rectangular sleeping bags (we don't do 'mummy')
1 high-speed internet connection (just kidding)
1 cooler full of food and ice
It would be interesting to include how you tailor your lists to the kind of camping you do. That is, what the major non-eating, non-sleeping activities are, and the duration. We do mostly light car-camping with hiking during the day, biking to be introduced this summer. By 'light' I mean we're faced with black bear in the camp site, but we're also within 10 minutes of a pit toilet and within 30 minutes of a Starbucks. I bring 12 gal of water and seldom use more than 4 for drinking AND washing dishes, etc. We do 2 nights, 3 days, generally...so everything we take easily fits in one cooler and whatever packs in around in the back of the jeep.
Hiking requires only a few pints of water, which I can carry for both of us in a Camelback type unit. If we were doing biking or fishing, the list needs to get tweaked. We've never combined camping with off-roading, so Mike's list with tool kit, etc., opened my eyes a bit. I usually think one or the other.
I like sausage. This is the only point of contention in 'outfitting' ourselves for a 3-day excursion...how much sausage is appropriate. My spouse brutally points out that I've lost 30 lbs of unecessary mass, largely thru the reduction of sausage and alcohol intake, and I reluctantly concede the fight. I've found camping has become more attractive by bringing far less food and...beverages...and more water. Gosh gettin' old sucks.
The biggies for these micro-excursions are:
2 20L jerry cans of water
1 set of pots & skillet, camping style crap
1 set of the usual utensils, with wine opener
1 set of plates, bowls, cups
6 (or so) handi-wipe type reusable cloth towels
1 roll paper towels
2-3 butane lighters
1 bag charcoal
1 box of Baby Wipes--indispensible, possibly 2nd only to the water
1 bottle of sun screen (usually more like 3 bottles)
1 zip-lok full of single serving coffee and tea bags
2-3 small propane bottles (have never used more than 1)
1 Coleman propane camp stove
1 bag marshmallows (I hate them, but they're important)
1 bottle of eco-friendly detergent (dishes)
1 mondo flashlight for in the tent (spouse gets spooked by noises)
1 spelunking-type headlamp for in the tent (I like to read at night)
1 mondo lamp for the dinner table (I use LED battery now vs propane)
2 camp chairs (2nd only to the Baby Wipes)
1 Queen-sized inflatable air matress
2 big-ass double-wide rectangular sleeping bags (we don't do 'mummy')
1 high-speed internet connection (just kidding)
1 cooler full of food and ice
Last edited:
Bongo Boy
Observer
New on my list of equipment, although this should probably be in the category of tools: one laminated instruction sheet, extra large print, for tying 12 common knots.
I think among the most frustrating of my Basic Holes in Knowledge is how to tie, from memory, a few basic knots. Until I'm able to think through how the knot works and can remember how to tie it, a cheat sheet would be right up there with matches in terms of utility.
I think among the most frustrating of my Basic Holes in Knowledge is how to tie, from memory, a few basic knots. Until I'm able to think through how the knot works and can remember how to tie it, a cheat sheet would be right up there with matches in terms of utility.
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
7wt said:
Keep in mind that some of the lists (like mine) are not a list of everything taken on a given trip (geez, that would kill me!
). They are comprehensive so they can be tailored from a local weekender trip, to a month-long stint out of a backpack in Thailand, or a 3-month overland trip through Mexico. You just cross off the sections/items that don't apply. I have just found that with the comprehensive list, I usually don't miss anything.
Green Ganesha
Adventurer
Bongo Boy said:
I just picked this up at REI. $5, 12 knots, compact, water-proof.
http://www.rei.com/product/681260
ntsqd
Heretic Car Camper
My mother has a rule for her backpacking list. She has it on graph paper since it WAY pre-dates Excel. If something on the list doesn't make 3 trips, deliberately, then it gets lined-out on the list. If it gets then taken on two successive trips the line-out gets erased.BajaTaco said:Keep in mind that some of the lists (like mine) are not a list of everything taken on a given trip (geez, that would kill me!
Christophe Noel
Expedition Leader
Holy cow....some of you guys take the kichen sink!!!
We just spent a week in Colorado hiking, mountain biking, camping and exploring the off roads and everything we had fit in the back seat of our Discovery. Bikes on the roof. Dog in the back.
I hate excessive gear management. Probably from my days as a backcountry guide managing gear for 8 other people.
Here's to hoping some of you guys are close to me when I forget my bread maker and DVD player!
We just spent a week in Colorado hiking, mountain biking, camping and exploring the off roads and everything we had fit in the back seat of our Discovery. Bikes on the roof. Dog in the back.
I hate excessive gear management. Probably from my days as a backcountry guide managing gear for 8 other people.
Here's to hoping some of you guys are close to me when I forget my bread maker and DVD player!