15 Camping Essentials You Can’t Forget

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Collin and I are in Montana for a week-long camping trip. We are camping for most of the time while we are gone, and then staying in an Airbnb for one night at the end of the trip. We learned about the important of compromising when it comes to camping trips early on in our marriage. 😉

This is my list of camping essentials that you cannot forget that I learned pretty quickly into all of this.

• I can’t even begin to tell you how much more I enjoy camping because of my sleeping pad. Collin has this one and I have this one. They tuck right into our two-person sleeping bag.
  • The two person sleeping bag is the BEST camping invention ever. I get cold super easily, especially when we are camping. This makes camping much better for me.
• Kyte Pack — This is the one that I have, and it’s the perfect size (and color because that is important to me too). These packs put the weight on your hips to make it more comfortable to carry around.

• Patagonia Sweatshirt— I practically live in this sweater. It’s great for the evenings or mornings especially when it’s chillier. Collin has a Mountain Hardware fleece that he takes every where.
• Camping Stove — This one is a backpacking stove, so it’s small and lightweight. Typically we build a fire at night and cook over the fire, and then we will use the camping stove in the mornings to boil water for coffee or oatmeal if we aren’t building a fire. It makes for a lot less time and work. On our Glacier trip, there have been many fire restrictions once we passed into Montana due to the wildfires, so we are thankful for the stove!
• Collin said that his favorite camping must-have is his camping saw (for fire wood), fleece jacket, and a comfy sleeping pad. 

• This is not a physical thing per se, but it is essential that you “download” the map of where you will be on Google maps app on your phone. You may not have cell phone service the whole time, so when the maps of the area are downloaded, then you can use google maps just like normal, even without service. Here are instructions on how to do that.
• Bananagrams or a deck of cards— Especially for when it’s rainy or you are waiting for food to be finished.
• French press— We will pre-grind up our coffee before leaving and then just boil water over the fire or camping stove to make a french press of coffee. If you are turning your nose up at that, you could bring a chemex or fancy camping pour over method, this is just much easier. We will often just bring instant coffee mixes if we’re packing light. I don’t love instant coffee, but when I’m camping I can live with below average coffee.
• Wash Tub— We use the tub to store our kitchen supplies and then to wash dishes in after dinner. This is essential if you are in bear country, where there are a lot of rules for how to wash your dishes and then dispose of the dishwater.
• Water bottles — I am a Klean Canteen person. Collin also brought an even larger gallon-sized water jug on our trip to Glacier to cut down on trips to the water faucet.
• Make sure that if you are camping anywhere out west and plan to be hiking, you bring bear spray. It’s basically just a giant pepper spray. It is also a lot cheaper on Amazon than anywhere you’d find it in person, so this is something to get ahead of time.
• Dry shampoo— This is my favorite store bought one, but it’s also super easy to make your own! Mix corn starch and lavender essential oil (if you have brown hair, add plenty of cocoa powder). Apply with a a makeup brush, or put in a cleaned spice shaker.

• When we are camping, I live in leggings. I really love my Girlfriend Collective pair, but I just stopped by Plato’s Closet (consignment shop) last week and picked up two great new pairs of leggings for $8 each.
• The same day that I was hopping around consignment shops for camping clothes, I found these amazing hiking boots in my size for $30.  *praise hands emoji* I had been looking for months and months for a pair that fit me every time we went to thrift stores or second hand shops. This was my first pair of hiking boots and they took some time to break in, but I was really thankful for the extra ankle support on difficult hikes.

What are some other camping must-haves that I am missing?!

Thinking of traveling soon and staying in an Airbnb?! Use my link for $40 off your first trip here. 

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