Never been camping, what are the essentials?

I've seen the camping thread and I really want to start; getting away from it all sounds so refreshing. I do not even know where to begin on what I need to have a successful trip. Please comment and post pictures on what you all have and bring to your trips, pictures would be great too.

 

First you have to decide what kind of camping, and how long you will be out. Do you want to truly rough it, or do you like having some of the amenities? Will it be just you? Wife/gf? Kids? All of these are BIG factors in deciding what to bring.

Basic things to consider. You will need:
Food
water
a place to sleep
lighting
"waste management"
safety/emergency kit

 

We go camping at least 3-4 times a year and I have a list (which ins't on me at the time), but I'll see what I can remember from it...the main thing to do is go through your daily routine in your head and bring ANYTHING you use on a daily basis and ALWAYS prepare for the worst. Countless times, I've been camping with folks who didn't prepare for rain and stuff like that. Anyway, here's what I take:

portable propane stove
5-6 propane cannisters
any cooking utensil you can think of
sugar, milk, and other coffee supplies
stove-top coffee pitcher
fire wood (get a pile up and when you think it's enough, double it...you WILL run out)
tin foil
trash bags
axe & shovel
first aid kit
plenty of blankets. It gets cold at 4am!
put a tarp under the tent to prevent morning dew in the tent
put a tarp over the tent to prevent getting soaked. The tarps that come with tents suck
plenty of food
gun (never know if the dudes from Deliverance are gonna show up)
lantern with plenty of gas
back up lantern
flashlight with batteries and back up batteries
At least 5 gallons of water (keep in mind dish-washing, drinking, etc.)
beer
fishing stuff
chairs
duct tape (Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will go wrong)
knife/multitool
table
hammer
most importantly: lighter, backup lighter, back up for your backup lighter

 

If you have never camped before, I suggest you go to a national or state park with developed campgrounds on a day trip. You can tell the ranger that you want to drive around to look at the camp sites. You can get an idea on what people bring, (bbq grille, firewood, etc.) Check out the bathrooms! The main thing that non outdoorsy people dislike about camping is the bathroom. Likewise for the showers. Then if you really think you like to try camping, then book a campsite reservation and go buy your gear (Costco and Walmart stuff are fine, no need to go overboard and go shop for everything at REI). If you forget something, you can always buy supplies and stuff at the campground store.

One important thing that will help is organize your stuff in large Rubbermaid containers, specially the food. If not, the animals will have a party at your camp site.

once you've camped a few times in developed campground, then you can decide if you want to try wilderness camping, backpacking, etc.


have fun camping!

 

Knowledge.

Get as much of it as you can. Then you can make the rest of it easy.

Enjoy!

 

Good list! Don't forget toilet paper.

 

Toilet paper...........fire

 

Hotel reservations

 

Ahhh yes, I forgot toilet paper. We just started really "roughing it" a few years ago. The spot we camp is on a river, so we've just started taking nothing but bare essentials and side dishes and rely on the fish we catch to eat. The longest we've ever gone was 2 days and nights, but it definitely makes you hone in on creativity, rationing, and a little redneck ingenuity.

 

yuppie

 

Off spray

 

Nylon rope.... tie it between trees to hang towels or a wet sleeping bag should it rain.

 

He's from Scottsdale, so he can't help it

 

Enough trash bags to carry out more than what you carried in.

 

Just don't over think it. The obvious essentials are food, water, shelter. After that, it's how you want to prepare food (bbq, fire, etc), drinks (beer), and anything that would help in an emergency (first aid kit, gun, knife, fire starter, etc). You'll need lighting, whether propane or LED as well as good flashlight. It's dark out there at night.

I seem to always take too much water and food and it makes it more work to unload after the trip, but it's better to have too much than not enough.

Don't forget the tarp like mentioned above, lawn chairs, firewood, or an axe/chainsaw if you're going to cut your own (axe is a must either way).

 

Huggies baby wipes....

 

Water
Tent
Food
Fire Source
A good knife

Tent, water, food optional depending on skill level. Make sure to purify any locally sourced water.

 

I load up the biggest ice chest I can find with:

sandwich meat, hot-dogs, cheese, bean dip, soda, beer, and anything we can pre-make at home like breakfast burritos, milk, juice (for kids especially), more bottled water than I could dream of us drinking, eggs, and ice!

Rubbermaid container of things like paper-towels, tp, chips, bread, buns, silverware, paper-plates, snacky-stuff

tent, tarp, sleeping bags, air-mattress' if not pads, plenty of clothes for 40 deg all the way to 100 deg weather, pillows for the others (I just use my jacket), dog-food, dog bowls, dog, and a camp-stove.

this is my cooker and I love it, I have the bbq and the griddle for it. awesome and packable. the coleman portable briefcase stoves are quite the ticket too!

 

Ha! My kids are yuppies.

 

Or...

Gun.

With that you can get:
Tent
Food
Fire Source
and A good knife