Camping Checklist, Preparing for Camping

I love camping! Ever since I was a little girl my family held a week long family camp out with my mom’s sisters and their families. It was always my favorite time of the year. Now I’m grown with kids of my own, and thankfully my family still goes camping once a year, and I get to join them with my own little family! Many may not know but a lot goes into preparing for a week long camping trip in the mountains of Wyoming and Idaho. There are no showers, electricity, cabins, running water, outhouses, nothing! We have to take up everything we will need for the entire week, including drinking water! So in order to remember everything we need, we rely greatly on camping checklists!

Camping Checklist: Be prepared for Camp.

Sometimes I can be a little OCD, so I usually organize my camping checklist to ensure I don’t miss anything. Maybe our list will help you when you prepare for your next camping trip.

Camping Checklist-Shelter: 

• Tents- you want to be sure you have a shelter which can withstand wind and rain. Always check your tents before you go to ensure they have not sustained any holes over the  year in storage.
• Ground cloth or tarp to protect the tent from the rough ground.
• Stakes
• Door mat to help prevent tracking of dirt and mud into the tent
• Broom and dustpan to clean out the tent throughout the week.

Camping Checklist-Bedding: 

• Sleeping bags for each family member
• pillows
• Extra blankets (it always gets extremely cold in the mountains, our mountains is normal to be around 15 degrees at night even in the summer)
• air mattress/sleeping pads
• air pump

Camping Checklist-Clothing: 

• Shoes, good hiking shoes are a must. Also pack extra shoes that can get wet. We always spend time in the water while camping.
• Jeans. You want long pants with a durable texture for the times you are hiking, to protect your legs from brush, poison ivy, and bugs.
• Shorts, even though it gets cold at night, it still gets hot in the day, You want cooler clothes for while you are hanging around the campsite.
• t-shirts and 1-2 long sleeved shirts
• Socks and extra socks,
• Hat
• jacket
• underwear
• sleep clothes
• rain gear
• swimming suit/towel
• laundry bag

Camping Checklist-Personal:

• towels, wash clothes
• soap in plastic case or zip lock bag
• toothbrush/tooth paste
• deodorant
• Comb/brush
• Toilet paper
• Personal Medications
• Allergy medication
• Sunscreen
• Bug spray
• Contact solution, carrying case, etc
• Eye glasses

Camping Checklist-Misc: 

• First Aid kit
• Lantern/flash light
• batteries, lots of batteries
• whistles
• Water, lots of drinking water. Average 8 cups of water a day per person, and multiply by the number of days you will be gone and that is your drinking water.
• Water- for cleaning, first aid, running of camp, etc. This is extra water you need to transport up that will be used for washing dishes, washing hands, face, etc.
• camera, camera bag, extra batteries, extra SD card for plenty of room for pictures
• Books for down time
• Hobby equipment, camping is the perfect time to enjoy hobbies, so bring them along. Musical instruments, crafts, crochet, knitting, etc.
• Games! Camping is always all about spending time with family playing games. We always have a large array of card games we all play in between meals.
• camp chairs
• sun glasses
• fold up tables for meals
• Shade Canopy
• Tissues and paper towels
• pocket knife
• Trash bags. Whatever trash we take up, we always bring back down, so having extra trash bags is a must.
• rope- this is used for a vast array of uses, but also very handy for make shifting a clothes line to dry wet clothes on.
• Clothes pins.
• paper and Pen, to record your thoughts, experiences, or make notes of what you can bring next year to make the camping experience even better.

Camping Checklist-Cooking:

This section varies rather dramatically because it all depends on the type of camping you are doing, how long you will be camping and if you will be camping with other people or on your own. Since we always go camping with my large extended family, we don’t have to worry about every little thing because different family members have different cooking utensils and we all share. So since my dad has the 3 burner propane camping stove, I don’t have to worry about bringing something to cook on. But here is a basic list which you can expand if needed.

• Cooler, you need something to keep your cool foods cold, so coolers are a very important part of cooking utensils
• Frozen water. We always recycle water bottles, or Soda Pop bottles we’ve gathered for a few weeks before we leave camping, wash them out, fill them 3/4 with water and freeze them. Then we use these as the ice in our coolers to keep the food cold, but also as they melt we then have cold drinking water to use while we are camping.
• Stove for cooking, or utensils for campfire cooking.
• Dutch oven and utilities-always a favorite camping meal
• Matches, lighter or fire starter. If you are in a place that allows camp fires, you need something to start the fire. Plus these come in handy when starting your propane ran cooking utilities.
• Paper cups, plates, bowels, plastic silverware, etc. Disposable eating is usually my favorite way to go when camping, it means less water we have to carry up for washing dishes, and less work we have to do while up there.
• cooking utensils, stirring spoon, spatula, etc.
• Pots and pans for cooking
• Ziplock bags
• napkins
• seasonings
• potato peeler
• Anything else specifically needed for the meals you plan.
• Food, all the food you have planned for you camping trip.

Now that you have a great camping checklist, you can start packing and going through all the camp preparations. Happy Camping!

Did we forget anything?

What is your favorite Camping Memory? 

What do you always have in your camping checklist?

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