How Much Gear Should You Take Camping?
When you first start out on your journey of discovery exploring the camping world, one topic seems to dominate every decision you make — gear. More specifically, how much gear and what weight of stuff you should take camping.
When you start reading through comments on posts and forums it can seem like some people are doing it right and others are doing it wrong, it’s hard to know what items you should be bringing and what items are not suitable to bring on your camping trip. Some people get quite evangelical about their gear based solely on the amount of grams it adds to their pack weight.
I myself have had people levelling criticism at some of my YouTube videos saying that the amount of stuff I bring on a weekend camping trip is too much, that it is somehow wrong.
In this post I want to attack that concept head on, and tell you exactly what is the right amount of gear that you should take camping. But before we do this we need to define what we mean by camping. People tend to define things in terms of their own perceived reality. When people think of camping they draw on their own experiences and apply those to others. The truth is however that camping is one of the most diverse hobbies there is. In fact camping is so diverse that it lead to the adoption of a new word to describe some types of more glamorous camping; Glamping!
The best way I can describe the breadth of variance in different types of camping is to think of it as a scale. At one of the scale is your ultra lightweight survivalist that takes the absolute minimal of man-made products and relies on the land to provide natural tools to survive, cook and sleep. At the other end of the scale is the elaborate glamper who almost replicates their own house out in the forest bringing almost every gadget, tool and furniture you can think of. Between these two points there are many different types of camping that will involve more or less gear.
Some people, especially those on the lighter end of the scale can come across as rather religious about pack weights and gear and often ridicule or criticise people who lean more towards the glamping end of the scale. They somehow think that their way is a more pure form of camping.
Let’s get this straight now. There is no correct point in this scale that is somehow “proper camping” that is superior to others. Camping is a personal experience, it’s about getting out in nature and enjoying a relaxing hobby your way. You need to think about why you want to go camping and what you hope to get our of it to decide where you fit in this scale.
Peoples reasons for camping are equally varied. Someone who wants to be at one with nature and live off the land is camping for very different reasons for someone who wants to rip their children away from their video games and enjoy some quality family time in the woods. Someone who wants to hike across a three day trail is going to camp differently from someone who wants to escape the city and chill out on their own gazing at a campfire and contemplating life. It’s all different, it’s all varied, but more importantly, it’s all camping.
So before you start obsessing over what gear you should be taking, you should first decide why you are camping and what you want to get out of it. Don’t let others influence this, it’s something that only you can discover. The only true form of camping is what rewards you.
I personally do several types of camping. On solo trips I take my car and a small tent with a tarp. But I still like to eat well when I’m camping so I take a lot more cooking gear than a lot of weekend campers would. When I take my small child with me I use a much more spacious tent with a generous living area as I find it easier to relax when he has more indoor space. It’s what suits me, I would probably describe myself somewhere between a heavyweight camper and a lightweight glamper depending on the situation. But the most important thing is that I do what gives me the most reward.
Don’t get me wrong, choosing the right gear is an essential part of camping, but the way you make those choices is going to be closely tied to where you fit on the scale. An ultra light backpacker and a glamper with a 4×4 are both going to need to make important decisions with regards to their gear, but what influences those decisions is going to be very different.
If you fall within the lighter end of the scale, from survivalist to backpacker then weight is going to be one of the most important factors when determining what gear to bring. Fitting your life into a small backpack that can be worn for hours on end can be extremely difficult. But for people who enjoy this kind of camping, the challenge of achieving this is part of the adventure. Packing their backpacks becomes a religious activity with every gram of weight accounted for. Non essentials are always left at home. That may sound like hell for a family with three kids, but remember, there is no correct form of camping, only what’s right for you.
If you are at the mid range of the scale then you likely have a car and are not tied quite so strictly to weight restrictions. Here you can be a lot more liberal with the amount of stuff you bring, but you can’t just go all-in and bring the whole house. Cars are still restricted by space and load weights.
You’ll probably need to think about being clever with what you bring. Planning what type of cooking you will be doing is one important factor in choosing the right gear. Should you bring that semi portable back yard barbecue that you can grill on but will take up half the space in your car? Or should you opt for a camping cookware system like the excellent Cobb Premier BBQ to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner using one grill?
Tent choices also get more varied as you move up the scale. As weight becomes less of an issue you need to think about how many people are going camping, what is the weather likely to bring and the terrain you are camping at.
The main point is that while weight is the determining factor at the lighter end of the camping scale, as you move up to ‘heavier’ camping then practicality and size is more important.
When selecting your gear you should dive down into the specifics and assess each camping activity separately, as everyone has different preferences and priorities.
- Weather
- Terrain
- Cooking
- Sleeping
The key takeaway from this article is that if you are asking what kind of gear should you take camping, you are asking the wrong question and no blog article will be able to answer that. Once you’ve decided on what type of camping suits you, then you can start basing your gear selection around that. I can, and will, write very detailed articles on recommended gear for different camping situations.
What type of camper or glamper are you? Where do you fit on the gear scale? Leave comments below we’d love to know.