A Friend has Invited You to Come Backpacking- A Primer On Camping
Suppose some friends have invited you on a backpacking trip. Perhaps you’ve never really been camping before, but you have decided that now is the time to try your hand at spending a few nights in the Great Outdoors.
There are people who have successfully grabbed a few handy things and started off on multi-day backpacking trips. Look up Grandma Gatewood, who was the first woman to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail— she just up and left. While such a thing is possible, it might not be advisable for most of us city- or suburban-bred folk.
Here are a couple of questions you’ll need to ask your friends. First, how experienced are they at backpacking? How well do they know the area you’ll be hiking in? How well-known is the area among the outdoor community, and how far is it from civilization?
Next, there are the practical aspects of the hike. How far will you be expected to hike each day? How flat or hilly is the terrain? Is the path expected to be rocky or flat or muddy? How many days will you be out? Are there any wild animals that you will need to take special precautions in regard to?
Here’s a key item— did anybody check the weather forecast?
Then there are your own personal abilities. Are you healthy and in good physical condition? Do you have any significant medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes, which might not stop you from hiking but which you will need to carry medication for? If you are allergic to anything you might encounter, will you pack an Epi-pen?
Do you have appropriate footwear? Clothing?
As far as the weight of your pack goes, in general, the rule is this; you can either be comfortable on the trail, or you can be comfortable in camp, or you can spend a lot of money on super-light equipment and be comfortable both places. If you require a soft and warm place to sleep, with a pillow and tent that will keep the small critters out, unless you spend a lot of money you are going to have a heavy pack. If you can get by sleeping on a cut-down foam pad under a tarp, you can cut your pack weight considerably.
Trail comfort is important, but if you aren’t comfortable enough at night you won’t sleep well, and if your hike is longer than a few days that can wear on you greatly. Determine your minimum sleep comfort level, figure out your budget, and get the best equipment you can afford which fits that criteria.
There are any number of videos on YouTube which will educate you about the “ultralight” hiking approach, or the “survivalist” approach. Those are very different, and will require different equipment. Both can be anywhere from expensive to VERY expensive.
Then there’s the “stick your toe in the water” approach. Cheap stuff from Wal-mart and Amazon, and food from the grocery store. This can work— sometimes. Basically, the times that approach can work is if the weather holds out, which is never guaranteed. If it starts to rain hard for hours on end, in a cheap tent all bets are off.
For your first backpacking excursion, the main consideration is the terrain and how far you will be expected to hike. For my wife’s first backpacking trip, I kept to a 9-mile hike along the shore of Lake Michigan, short and flat. One day hiking in, two days at the site, and one day hiking back. Her backpack was from a surplus store, decent quality and not too expensive. The tent was a classic Kelty Timberline model that cost a little over $100 in 1992.
HOW FAR CAN YOU GO?
Don’t start out trying to go long distances in your first days on the trail. While you might be able to work your way up to 20 miles a day on a multi-week hike, it’s best to start out with six to 8 miles a day for the first week, then add a couple miles a day the next week. After that your “trail legs” will kick in, and longer distances should be possible. But as a beginner, don’t start out trying to make record times.
PACK WEIGHT— PLATEAUS AND THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL’S BACK
The weight you’ll be carrying will be a major consideration. With no pack, over flat even terrain, the average healthy beginner might be able to walk 20 miles in a day without seriously over-exerting themselves (notice I did not use the word “comfortably”). Then take off a half-mile for every pound of weight you’re carrying. Subtract another 10% for each 1000 feet of elevation change (count all ups and downs, not just overall change).
Rocky terrain and mud? Subtract more distance. This is what you should count on making for the first few days.
There’s also the “straw that broke the camel’s back” syndrome. Put 12 pounds on someone’s back, and it’s almost as if they had no weight at all. Put three more pounds on, and the difference might be very substantial. There’s often another big jump in effort between 25 and 30 pounds. For all hikers there are “plateaus” where between two particular weights the difference in comfort and how far one can hike is minimal, but once the upper weights are exceeded the effort becomes quite a bit greater. The only way to find out what your “plateaus” are is to test them.
However, because you will get stronger and lose body weight, the more you hike the more you’ll be able to carry for longer distances, and your “plateaus” will change, in a good way.
In general, in the very beginning, if you’re a healthy male carrying 25 pounds of pack over easy terrain, assume your maximum daily distance will be 10 miles, with a “comfortable” daily distance of six. For females, a comparable weight would be 15 pounds. If you’re overweight, you’ll need to add those extra pounds to your pack weight. If you haven’t been putting in the hours doing physical conditioning, cut that maximum daily distance down by a third, so about 7 miles. In an emergency, if nothing else goes wrong, you might be able to do considerably more distance, but if you try to do that in the beginning your body won’t like it.
Eventually, after they get their “trail legs,” most decent backpackers should be able to do 15-20-mile days over reasonable terrain. That usually happens after about ten days or so of serious hiking. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that the reader is a rank beginner, and a practical distance will be much less.
If you’re going backpacking for more than a few days, you’ll need to work out your distances between resupply stops, so that you have enough food and supplies to get where you need to go. But that’s a Catch-22. If you need an extra day to traverse a long section because of the weight of the food, you’ll need to carry even more food, which might slow you down even more.
BACKPACKS— If you’re a beginner, and you don’t want to spend much money, you can go for used packs or less expensive models. Just understand that backpacks aren’t “one size fits all.” You’ll need to get a pack that fits your back properly. If it’s too short, it will pull down on your shoulders and give you back problems, if it’s too tall, it won’t be stable. Definitely get one with a waist belt that is comfortable for you.
One big concern with cheap packs is that the buckles don’t hold very well at all, and the straps start loosening up, destroying the fit and comfort. They are also more likely to fall apart after a few hundred miles or less. Maybe look for used name-brand packs on-line. In terms of volume, on some short backpacking trips where other people will be carrying some of the equipment (like communal stoves, first-aid kit, and splitting up the poles and fabric portions of a two-person tent between two people) you might be able to get away with 50 liters, but most likely you’ll need something in the 60-70-liter range.
NOTE— Ultralight backpackers are moving away from packs with waist belts, but you are talking about people who will spend $600 on a 20-ounce one-person tent and another $600 on a sixteen-ounce pack, both made out of high-tech cuban fiber. Their “base weight” (all equipment minus food and water) is as low as seven pounds, and they are super-experienced hikers who have honed their kits down after years of hiking thousands of miles. These people will hike 30 miles a day for weeks on end. For a beginner who is going under ten miles a day on even terrain, a nice 2-3-pound pack with a padded waist belt will do fine.
Do training hikes with your pack, at full weight, for as far a distance as you can. A pack that does fine at 15 pounds for six miles can turn into a torture machine at 25 pounds for 10 miles. Note that the same can be said about footwear.
CLOTHING— Fashion is secondary on a backpacking trip. Jeans are an ABSOLUTE NO-NO. They are heavy, and when they get wet they stay wet. You need synthetic pants that are tough and dry quickly. I’ve found that Craghoppers are practical pants that are a little heavy for backpacking, but not overly so, and they’re good for daily wear when I’m not hiking. Get the model with the zip-off legs so you can wade through streams if you need to. If you decide to do a lot more backpacking, you can spend more money on high-tech pants and clothing.
Don’t take excess clothing! Take the bare minimum amount of underwear you think you can get away with (usually two pairs), one pair of pants, one shirt, a wool t-shirt, in the summer maybe a synthetic t-shirt, and two pairs of wool socks. If you expect colder weather, take a puffy down jacket and a lightweight shell. For a shell I prefer the Outdoor Research Helium jacket, but you can go cheaper if you don’t mind a few extra ounces and reduced performance. Other cold weather gear includes a wool cap and long underwear.
DO NOT BRING THINGS YOU WILL NOT NEED OR USE. For example, survivalists usually feel they need hatchets and saws, backpackers will not. Most backpackers only take small knives, if that.
TENT— This is where it gets really tricky. Some people get away with just a tarp. That’s not me. I like to keep out the creepy-crawlies. If you’re going with an experienced camper, that person should have a tent. Usually on a two-person backpacking trip where a couple uses a single, two-person tent, one person will carry the poles and the other will carry the fabric parts.
There are some cheap tents available on Amazon, but you pays your money and you take your chances. Go on YouTube and look up some suggestions by Homemade Wanderlust and Darwin on the Trail, they have some reviews of both cheap tents and ultra-expensive ones. But understand that if the weather gets really bad, in a cheap tent all bets are off. Some reviewers suggest bringing along a tarp to put over the tent, which adds weight and bother. But a $20 tent with a $7 tarp is a pretty cheap shelter. The tent keeps out the bugs and snakes and mice, and the tarp keeps off the rain. You’ll need to string the tarp up somehow, usually using paracord strung between two trees or hiking staffs.
Some things about tents that beginners usually don’t realize— A good tent has to do more than keep the rain off of you and smaller critters from coming in. It also has to keep condensation from forming on the inside (you perspire far more than you think at night) and have enough ventilation so that you don’t overheat and feel like you’re suffocating. As well, it needs to hold up for any number of nights of use. For cold weather a tent with little ventilation may be OK, but if it’s over 65 degrees a tent with bad ventilation can be stifling.
SLEEPING PADS— There are some allegedly decent inflatable sleeping pads on Amazon for cheap, but again, it’s “buyer beware.” I personally find that sleeping pads are absolutely essential, and most other hikers agree. The zig-zag foam pads are inexpensive and light, but cumbersome and provide minimal cushioning. Foam pads can be had for under $30, but be prepared to spend $50 on a decent inflatable pad, and over $100 on a good light one. Beware leaks on used, borrowed or cheap sleeping pads, and test them extensively before you take them out.
SLEEPING BAGS— Note that sleeping bags have temperature ratings. Those ratings may or may not apply to you— or anybody else, for that matter. I’m a cold sleeper with super-low metabolism, and so I will need a bag that’s rated at least ten degrees lower than whatever temperature I’m expecting to encounter. Also know that often the temperature rating on a sleeping bag is the “survival” rating, which means you can be shivering cold but probably still survive. Look for the “comfort” rating.
Remember this— inside of a house, the temperature stays around 70 degrees nearly all the time. Even at 60 degrees there will be a big effect on how cold you are.
For backpacking, you can forget about the cotton bags you used for sleepovers when you were a kid. They are heavy, don’t provide much insulation, and are a horror when wet. Below 60 degrees you’ll need at least a bag filled with synthetic insulation inside of a lightweight shell. If you are going in summer, you can get away with a less-expensive “three season.” A lot of the time, in summer, the problem is staying cool, unless you are going high up in altitude. If I’m going backpacking on Assateague Island in August, I’ll just bring a lightweight blanket, and usually it stays under me. For Dolly Sods Wilderness, even in the summer I’ll take something that’s good down to 40 degrees, as it can get cold at any time of year there.
If you’re super-good friends with whoever you’re going camping with, and you’ll be sleeping in the same tent during cold weather, you can get away with some lightweight three-season bags and a lightweight puffy blanket, like an underquilt for a hammock. You can put the blanket over both of you on really cold nights, and bump the rating of your sleeping bag down another 10-20 degrees.
Down bags are really light and really expensive. Synthetic bags are usually a pound or more heavier (for the good-quality ones) and 2/3-3/4 of the price for the same temperature rating. Down does not work well when wet, synthetic only works a little bit better.
STOVES— Here, you can go amazingly cheap and effective. For less than $15 I got a stove that screws onto the top of a gas cartridge, and it weights about an ounce! It works just fine, and the only problem is that it’s so doggone tiny that it’s easy to lose, both in your pack and at the campsite. The plastic container for it is about as big as a phone charger.
COOKING UTENSILS AND POTS, PANS, ETC. Minimalists insist that you really don’t need much, just a spork and a 16-ounce pot. Several types of sets are available from REI, Amazon, and even Wal-Mart and Target. I recommend REI as a resource on this, take a look at the ratings. A big steel mug from the grocery store might work, as long as it is single-walled. On short-distance hikes, I will bring along a lightweight non-stick frying pan to cook my dehydrated eggs, which I consider a vital part of my psychological and physical health. I get sneers from minimalists, then they drool when they see my breakfast.
FOOD— There are lots of approaches to backpacking food. For short, low-mileage backpacking trips, you might not need to get special backpacking food, though it will make things easier. For breakfast I like the Ova Easy dehydrated eggs. They will last a long time if un-opened, and after opening you can just roll the top of the package up and stick it in a zipper-lock sandwich bag, and the contents will stay fresh for at least a day or two. Get salt and pepper shakers from the picnic aisle in the grocery store, and you’ve got a fine breakfast that will keep you going all morning.
Bread usually doesn’t work on a backpacking trip, it gets squished. For starch, one popular regimen is oatmeal for breakfast, pasta for dinner, and trail mix for lunch. NOTE— Shoving substantial amounts of trail mix into your digestive system during a physically stressful activity (like backpacking) can result in gastric distress, unless you’re used to it. Eat a couple of handfuls of trail mix a day for several days before you leave.
One thing I find essential, and is often overlooked, is cooking oil. It helps make for much faster clean up of the cooking pans. You’ll need a tough, well-sealed bottle to carry it in, to make sure it doesn’t leak all over the place. I prefer tiny Nalgene bottles for this.
Ramen noodles are a high-calorie food that you just stick in boiling water and then pour on a flavoring packet. If you don’t mind it getting crushed in your pack, some people find that it works well on the trail.
See my video on MCT oil, the miracle emergency lifesaving fluid.
WATER— Water is a very important consideration. There will be no way to carry enough water with you to last from the beginning of the trip to the end, it would be just too heavy. There are usually decent supplies of water on most hiking trails, from streams to springs (exception— Assateague Island, where in the wilderness campgrounds there is no fresh water available at all).
There are many ways to filter water and/or purify it, too many to go into here. Lifestraw, for example, is simple and not all that expensive, then there are bleach pills and many other brands of filters. Just be aware that you will need to strategize your water supply, and study up on how to do it. Most backpackers have moved to cheap, lightweight bottles that mate up with purification systems, as opposed to the heavier Nalgene bottles.
The Grayl Ultrapress system is very nice, just scoop up water from a decent source into the outer shell and push the filter part down into the shell, and you have drinkable water. Fast, reliable, and convenient. You can bring along another container, and in a couple of minutes you’ll have enough water to supply yourself on the trail for a number of miles. It’s very quick and very convenient, but it’s expensive, nearly $100 for their cheap system and twice as much for their titanium model.
Drip-filtering, on the other hand, takes time. If you plan to pick up water during the middle of the day, you’ll need a system that can drip from your “dirty” container to your “clean” container as you walk, or you’ll be sitting around waiting for 20 minutes at your water stop. Some people wait until setting up camp and filter all their water for the next day.
FOOTWEAR— Many hikers have switched from hiking boots to trail runners, depending on the terrain and how much weight they are carrying. If you need extra ankle support, or the terrain is expected to be rough, perhaps stick with boots of some sort. But the trail runners are lighter and enable ultralight hikers to cover more miles in a day.
Some hikers will carry sports sandals for traversing streams, some just wade through the water and expect their footwear to dry as they walk.
Most long-distance hikers will bring along some soft slippers for wearing at camp, to give their feet a rest and protect them from rocks and sticks. I like Ember Mocs for this, they aren’t cheap but you can use them at home year-round.
Do not try to hike in cotton socks. Get lightweight wool, and use a synthetic liner sock in colder weather. Sock technology for hiking could take up an entire chapter, too much to go into here, but it’s hard to go wrong with comfortable name-brand wool socks from REI.
NAVIGATION— One way or another, you’re going to need some sort of navigation system. There are three approaches to this issue.
The first is to go with someone who knows the trail well. There are numerous pitfalls to this method, among them being the fact that human memory is fallible, some people are on the bad end of the Dunning-Kreuger spectrum (they think they are more competent than they actually are), and that terrain and trails can change over time
The second is to take along a good map. One benefit of this method is that a paper map never has a dead battery. The pitfalls are that the map will not give you an active reading of where you are, and like the previous method, trails can change between the time the map is published and the time you go there. They are also cumbersome.
The third method is to bring along a GPS unit, or an app on your phone that can serve the same function. The benefit is that the GPS signal can give you an active reading of your position. The pitfalls are potential dead batteries and/or loss of signal.
Many emergency satellite radios have built-in GPS. The newer iPhones have satellite emergency communications capability built-in.
I’m fairly good at reading maps, so often that is the method I usually use, along with a backup hiking app on my phone.
OVERALL BEGINNER STRATEGY— For your first outing, perhaps stick with a simple, short, out-and-back hike. If you’re doing a point-to-point hike, you’ll need to carefully consider how many miles you need to make in a day, where you’ll be able to camp, and how you can re-supply water and food. As well, you’ll need to figure out how you’ll get back to wherever you left your car, or back home.
Get maps or a GPS unit and learn how to navigate.
Use the Santa Clause Method— make a list and check it twice. You don’t want to forget critical items, like jackets or food. It’s happened.
Coordinate with your fellow hikers. If one person in the group is supposed to bring the stove, for example, and a different person has the first aid kit, double-check that those people actually have those things before you hit the trail. Meet a day or two before you leave and lay everything out, check it off, then pack it.
Make sure everyone understands where you are going and how far you are expected to hike each day. If you are hiking point-to-point, you’ll need to figure out how you’ll get back. Are you going to leave one car at the end of the trail, and then drive back to the start? Will a spouse or friend be picking you up? If there’s no cell service (an extremely common situation on hiking trails), how will you coordinate? Does everyone in the group have the contact information for the pick-up person?
Will non-hiking friends and family be keeping track of you on your trek? It’s a good idea to give all the safety contact info to everyone in the group.
Food strategy—My food strategy is simple. Dehydrated eggs with cut-up jerky for breakfast, trail mix and snacks during the day, tuna in foil packets for lunch, pasta or commercial dehydrated backpacking meals for dinner, and meat sticks and peanuts for extra calories if needed. If I stay out a week I can count on losing a few pounds. I also take along vitamins, supplements, medications, the usual stuff I take at home.
OVERALL WEIGHT OF THE PACK— With cheap equipment, you won’t be able to get your pack weight down to the level that the serious backpackers can. Your base weight (all equipment including the pack, but minus the food and water) will probably be about 12-20 pounds for a summer hike, and you can add two pounds per day of food. The amount of water you carry will depend on where you can re-fill your bottles, but will on average be about a pound (two pounds when you fill up, less and less as you drink it).
CHAIRS, TABLES, ETC. Really? You plan to lug all that crap over ten freaking miles a day? There are a few lightweight chairs available, but most hikers just carry a small pad to sit on. Some hikers swear that having the one-pound Helinox chair (I have the REI knock-off, which has better back support) to sit on instead of the ground rests their body enough that they can hike extra miles, but it’s incredibly expensive.
HIKING POLES/WALKING STICKS— Some people swear by them, some don’t. Ultra-light hikers usually need to use them as tent poles. I’ll use them at Dolly Sods to check the brush for rattlesnakes. On Assateague Island I sometimes use cheap tarp poles for hiking staffs, and use them to set up a tarp. For most hiking on hard surfaces, I like to bring a pair.
HAT— Get one. I like Tilley hats, but a baseball-type cap with a flap on the back to keep the sun off your neck also works. If you use a baseball cap, don’t forget to put sunscreen on your ears.
OTHER EQUIPMENT— Lighters, paracord, ground cloth, flashlight (see below), pillows (inflatable), battery packs to charge phones with, bear repellant, bug repellant, toilet paper, sunblock, repair kits for tent and sleeping pad, belt, small towel, bandana, blister kit, first aid kit, toothbrush and floss, and other sundry needs. You can try burying your poop with a stick or dig a hole with your own hands, but many backpackers wouldn’t go out without a super-lightweight alloy or plastic trowel, which saves time and the skin on your fingers. See my complete backpacking list for the particulars.
For a complete rundown on the first aid kit, see the article on the SABFAK.
LIGHTS, BATTERIES, CHARGING— There are numerous approaches to the powering of flashlights and the re-charging of cell phones, etc. One thing nearly all sources agree on is that if you are constantly on-the-move, solar cells are pretty useless. I’ve had good success with them in a basecamp situation, though. Big rechargeable power packs add a LOT of weight to your pack, and single-use batteries have the same issues.
For my flashlight, I have several headlamps (see my article on flashlights here). I used to be a big proponent of headlamps that take AAA batteries, and I still use those, but lately the rechargeable ones have gotten really good and much lighter. I’m not so much concerned with a powerful beam as I am with long run time, and all the ones I have can be turned down to render many hours of light. Some have a built-in red lamp that will help preserve night vision. After helping another party with an emergency, I’ve had to hike out of a wilderness area in Idaho at night. Mountain lions and moose and bears, oh my! If you need to hike six or eight hours through the dark to get to safety, having your headlamp fail on a moonless night is not an option. I carried a tiny flashlight as a backup, and I’ve needed it to change the batteries on my headlamp.
If I’m taking along a headlamp that uses rechargeable batteries, I’ll bring two extra sets of them as long-lasting as I can find. Some people swear by the inexpensive ones from Ikea, which do well in tests. In general, Powerex batteries and chargers are excellent, and also Panasonic Eneloop. The rechargeable headlamps can be recharged from a power pack or a small USB charger.
I throw as big a portable power pack/USB charger in my pack as I think I can handle, weight-wise. Keep in mind that on many hiking trails there is no cell service. This will cause your phone battery to wear down at a faster rate, because it is constantly sending out maximum-power pulses to see if it can find a tower. Many hikers will keep their phones turned off until they reach a high spot, or places where they know they can find a signal, so they can make the battery power last.
Overall, the main trick is to conserve battery power. If I keep my headlamp turned down as low as possible while still being able to see, my battery sets will last five to seven nights of average use. Beyond what I anticipate needing, I’ll pack one extra set for emergencies. Keep your phone turned off unless you need to use it. If you must have it available to shoot photographs and video, then turn off the radio function or put it into “airplane” mode. Otherwise it will use up power by sending a signal every few minutes to see if it can find a cell. If it doesn’t find one on the first pulse, it ramps up to full power and tries again. So if you’re in a no-service area, your cell phone will keep sending out full-power pulses all day long, unless it’s turned off or in airplane mode.
For rechargeable power packs, I have two from Goal Zero, as they mate up with the solar cell set I use when I’m car camping. However, because they are ruggedized and water-resistant they are heavier than most other packs of the same capacity rating. If you’re careful you can do with lighter-weight power packs.
SATELLITE EMERGENCY PHONES— Expensive, but good peace of mind. You can rent them, but I usually borrow one from my neighbor. If you go often, maybe think of getting one. Unless going to a really remote area, most hikers don’t bother. The newer iPhone have a satellite emergency communications feature built-in.
TEST— Always test your equipment as much as you can before you go out. Put everything in your pack, and take a short hike with it. Then set up your tent, put down your pad, lay out your sleeping bag, and lay down on it. Cook a meal on your stove. If possible, spend the night in your back yard, and try not to go into the house except for using the bathroom. Make notes of what you might need and what you can do without.
If you’re going backpacking for the first time, that should cover your basics. If you decide to get serious, check out the resources I mentioned earlier.
OTHER TYPES OF TENT CAMPING
OVERVIEW— There are other types of tent camping, the most usual being “car camping,” where you drive into a campsite, park, and set up a tent. Then there’s survivalist camping, where you set up a camp at a particular spot and practice living off the land. Sometimes survivalist camping can involve hunting, but usually not. Then there’s the hunting/fishing camp, which is similar to survivalist camping but not as primitive. Again, the camp is often set up in the same place for multiple days, and pack horses or mules might be employed. Some hunting tents used by professional guides can be as big as cabins, and have wood-burning stoves inside!
There’s RV camping, which is practiced by heathens, but they are heathens who sleep very comfortably.
CAR CAMPING— In order to make sure I’m mentally prepared, I think of car camping as a less-severe form of backpacking. The main difference is that weight isn’t much of an issue, the tents are much bigger, and often cots are involved (far more comfortable than sleeping on the ground). The main similarity is that, usually, it’s best to be as self-sufficient as possible. Yes, there are often stores at campgrounds or nearby, where food and other necessities are available, but it’s always a good idea to come prepared.
The main way I start to plan a car camping trip is by laying out the menus for all the meals. I use up the most perishable items first, then go down the line. One main difference from backpacking is that it is possible to bring bread along. Bring lunch meat, cheese, and tomatoes, and you’ve got lunch taken care of.
Even if you have a good cooler, ice won’t last nearly as long as you think it will. You’ll have to replenish it once a day. Get a case of water bottles, empty a little out of each one to allow for ice expansion, and stick them in the freezer the night before you leave on your trip. They won’t leak and make a wet mess inside the cooler, and you can drink the water when it thaws.
I like to bring along a full camp kitchen, which I got from Bass Pro Shops. Similar ones are available from REI. It’s basically a fold-up table with an inset sink and a rack to hold paper towels and utensils. Get a collapsable three-gallon water jug with a tap, and you’ve got a great dishwashing station.
Another thing I consider indispensable is a tarp. You can go low-tech and get a simple plastic tarp for less than $20 at a hardware store, or spend some bucks and get one of the free-standing awnings that come with a bug net. In between are the lightweight camping tarps with catenary cuts that keep the edges from flapping, like the Kelty Noah’s Tarp. If you find yourself holed up at camp through a day or two of rain, you’ll be glad you brought one. If you get the cheap hardware store tarp, I don’t recommend skimping on support poles. Buy some nice ones from REI, or Green Elephant brand from Amazon. While it’s possible to find handy trees to string a tarp between, don’t count on it.
Like with backpacking, cheap car camping tents are OK in decent weather, but if the weather turns bad you might be sorry. When the kids were young I got a big, cheap tent from Wal-Mart that blew down during an Assateague Island thunderstorm. When I had more money I spent about $250 on a good car camping tent on sale from REI, which has withstood many hard blows.
I also spent another $150 for the associated “garage,” which acts as an additional tarp/vestibule that connects to the tent. I set the tent up so the garage is right next to the tarp, which makes for a really nice “compound.” If it’s raining I can go from the tent to the picnic table without getting wet. In an emergency the garage can shelter up to four additional campers, although it has no floor.
I usually take a backpacking stove along as a back-up when car-camping, but for years my main stove has been a good-size Coleman model with thee burners. It uses propane, and when it’s not being used on camping trips it does constant duty on my back porch making dinners in the warmer months. Lately, however, I’ve moved to a pair of Gas One single-burner stoves that run on propane cans that look like regular aerosol spray cans. They are built tough and pack down to half the size of the Coleman. I’ll use my backpacking stove to boil water and the Gas Ones to do the main cooking. Note that the cold-weather performance of vaporous gas (propane/butane) stoves is not as good as those that use liquid fuel like camping gas or kerosine.
I’ll bring along more clothes when car camping, especially bathing suits and such, but again, I try to stick with quick-drying material. Also, I use camping towels, as they are more likely to dry between uses. At Assateague Island, between the breeze and the sun, regular cotton terrycloth towels will dry, but at Deep Creek Lake, in the Appalachian woods, wet cotton will not dry. At all. Trust me.
I have a whole treatise that goes into much more detail on car camping (link here), and the addenda to my list includes car camping items.
SURVIVALIST CAMPING
Survivalist camping can be a means of testing yourself and your skills. Some people will carry nothing but some rough food, an axe, and a knife, which they will use to build shelter and make weapons to take fish or small game. They make fire from flint and tinder, and shelter from small logs and brush. They cook meals on a hot, flat rock or a spit. Some survivalists are not so primitive, and they will perhaps carry a hammock and tarp and a stove. Others are testing their “bug out” skills and equipment, in preparation for if civilization breaks down, and will have a fully-outfitted kit. All such types of survivalist camping take preparation, skill, and study. If invited on such a trip, make sure your host is very experienced. You might also want to do a psych evaluation on them before you commit.
PRO TIPS
BACKPACKING AND GENERAL TENT CAMPING
*Your ground cloth should be slightly smaller than your tent. If it’s too big, any rain that falls on the extended edges will run under your tent.
*When choosing a camp site, LOOK UP! Make sure there are no loose or dead limbs above you, or loose rocks if you are near a cliff. You don’t want heavy things falling down on you when you are sleeping in your tent.
*Avoid setting up your tent in water channels that will fill up when it rains.
*If you are backpacking, lay out your sleeping bag as soon as you make camp, to give it time to loft up before bedtime.
*Check to see if you need permits, and get them before you leave.
*If you’re hiking through bear country, take along bear spray. At night put your deodorant and toothpaste into your bear bag along with your food (see “How to Hang a Bear Bag” here). To keep food smells off of your tent, don’t cook upwind of it. Many people are going to a “dinner a mile before camp and breakfast a mile on the way” system, so they aren’t cooking near the camp at all.
*On really frigid nights, keep your batteries with you in your sleeping bag to keep them from getting too cold to work.
*On a cool morning, start hiking with less clothing than you need to keep you warm when you are still. It only takes a few minutes of vigorous hiking to build up a lot of heat.
*Get your water directly from where it comes out of the earth, if you can. You wouldn’t believe how often animals die right next to streams just upstream from mountain paths.
*Set up the tent at home before you leave. If it’s a new tent, you’ll want to learn how to set it up. If you’ve had the tent for a while, you’ll want to make sure all the pieces are there.
*Many tents come without seam sealant. Make sure the seams of your tent are sealed.
*DEET (bug repellant) MELTS MOST TYPES OF TENT FABRIC. It can also melt sleeping bag fabric. Don’t spill deet inside or on your tent, and wipe it off of your body as best you can before getting into your sleeping bag.
*Treat your clothes with permethrin, which kills ticks and other insects. Some people will even treat their sleeping bag, but this is controversial. Be careful to follow all safety rules with the product.
*Cold air can be a problem in both low places and high places. Cold air can settle overnight into valleys and vales, and high hilltops can be exposed to wind and cold. Choose a site that’s not too high and not too low.
*Make sure the area is flat. If you have to sleep on an incline, put your head higher than your feet.
*Keep the tent openings zipped closed while you set it up, so bugs can’t get in.
*Put in the stakes at about a 45-degree angle, tilted away from the tent or tarp.
CAR CAMPING PRO TIPS
*Bring a light rug for use inside the tent, to keep the floor from getting worn.
*Work hard to keep the dirt out of your tent. Bring a mat for use outside the tent door. Take your shoes off when you go in the tent. Bring a whisk broom and dust pan to clean it often.
*A four-person tent is very crowded with four people in it, but it’s very comfortable for two people.
*If you’re camping with kids, consider getting a small cheap tent just for them. If it rains and the kids’ tent leaks, they can move back in with the folks.
*Research the campground to make sure you have all you need. Most “developed” campgrounds will have water and toilet facilities with showers, but some only have outhouses and no water (i.e. the Red Creek car camping area at Dolly Sods).
*Bring ear plugs and a sleeping mask. I was once situated between two parties of an extended family that decided it was fiesta time up until midnight, and I was glad I’d brought them.
*Always bring a tarp when you’re car camping. It can save the trip.
*Bring a radio or means of connecting with the internet and keep up with the news, especially the weather.