Good day and welcome, Today on OTN Overland we are discussing some essentials your going to want to make sure you have on your next camping trip. The things you need for camping rather it is in the summer or in the winter, in a local camp spot or out in the wild.
Know Where Your Going
Have a general plan on where you are going, and do your research before your next trip, and make sure to check the weather of the area your headed to. Making sure to let a friend or family member know when you are going and when you are returning. Lots can happen when your out on the trail and if you are solo camping it is good to make sure someone knows where you are at.
It is also a great idea to have a way of communicating, service out in the wild can run out pretty fast. It’s a good idea to have a phone booster or even something like a Radio, Garmin or Zolio that we found work awesome.
Kitchen Necessities
What are you going to cook with? Bringing a camp stove or grill is the best option for plan A. We curently bring both, as we use the stove for making coffee, tea, and heating up water for doing dishes. Camp grills are great for cooking most our food on. just wrap you spuds in some tinfoil with spices and wallah.
Your fuel source for the stove should be full or have a spare. We’ve gone hours out to camp to find out that are propane connecters or the propane we had was not good and none of our cookware would stay lit. Luckily we had a spare 5lb propane bottle and single 1lb bottle to save the whole trip. So bringing a spare is never a bad idea.
Cooking and eating utensils are a must. Eating off a gingerale box isn’t the best when you forget all you dishes at home. We have a little bag with all our utensils and cooking utensils. We keep just a couple plates and bowls in the camper with two mugs for tea and for coffee.
Plan B for cooking would be cooking over the fire, we have a cooking grate that can be placed over the fire or some hot embers and then we usually wrap what were cooking in tinfoil depending on what it is.
Sleep Essentials
Where and what your going to sleep in is super important. If you are sleeping in a tent or a camper set up your going to want to make sure it is rated for the weather your going to be in. We have gone on camping trips, what felt like summer on the way in but when we woke up to 6″ of snow was a shocker. Luckily are roof top tent and are sleeping bags were rated for the cold weather we were caught in. So make sure your set up is good for the weather conditions.
After a hard day on the trail or relaxing day at camp, a goodnight sleep is of most importance. When its come to sleeping bags there are so many option out there, so research is key. We personally use a two person sleeping bag but we also have two single sleeping bags that are rated for much colder than our two person one is. Dont forget a pillow!! I’ve gone many trips and forgot a pillow, seems like a simple thing but tossing and turning on my backpack or on a sweater I would have slept allot better with a good camping pillow.
We hungry
When packing for food i suggest packing lots of quick easy snack and three good meals a day. Always bring extra food cause maybe when your at camp you’ll want to expand your vacation and stay another night. Make sure to have lots of water and couple gingys (pop) for nice evening drink.
Clothing
Clothing, bring a variety and spares. I always bring extras, recommend having rain gear always. Nothing worse than being wet and cold and not being able to enjoy it. lots of socks are a good choice in case your feet get wet. Spare shoes also a good idea. Even in the summer its good to bring a coat, it sure can cool off at night.
Thats it?
Now you should have a pretty general idea on what we recomend and what we do. Make a plan on where to go, tell a friend or family member. Check the conditions of where you are going. Make sure you have all our sleep gear and proper shelter. Lots of food and snack as well as water. All the proper clothing as well. The kitchen essentials to make amazing dinner and breakfast and you should be good to go.
Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions please leave them in the comments below.
OTN Overland