Camping is a great outdoor activity in summers with friends and family and having the right kind of gear can make the camping experience even more memorable. Let’s explore some great items that will enhance your camping experience this summer. Let’s start with a quick list of the camping items that are essentials and good to have.
Living / Sleeping
- Tent
- Sleeping Bag
- Tent mat
- Sleeping pillow(s)
- Camping chair
- Headlamp
- Lantern / Torch
- Camp table
- Sunshade
- Ground cloth
- Extra stakes
- Hammock
Cooking
- Stove and Fuel
- Ice and Cooler
- Cookware
- Utensils
- Dishes / Cutlery
- Cleaning supplies
- Water jug
- Gloves
- Beanie
- Ball cap
- Swimsuit
- Slippers/Sandels
- Neck gaiter/buff
- Sleepwear
Clothing
- Base layer
- Synthetic jacket
- Rain jacker
- Hiking trousers
- Hiking shoes
- Hiking socks
- Table cloth
- Portable coffee maker
- Fire starter
- Fire wood
- Axe Hatchlet
Hygiene
- Toiletries
- Sun screen
- Bug protection
- Medication
- Portable toilet
- Portable shower
- Sun hat
- Baby wipes
Personal items
- Repair kit
- Navigation
- Water bottle
- Earplugs
- Eye mask
- Solar charger
- Extra batteries
- Notebook & pencil
- Book or Kindle
- Board Games
- Activity gear
- Bear spray
- ID, cards, & cash
- Cellphone charger
- Reservation
- Forest/Park pass
- Essentials
- Good to have
Depending on whether you want to have more comfort and fun you can decide to make the optional items as must-haves.
Now that you have a list, let’s look at some of the best items for some of them so it takes away the hassle of deciding which ones are great and which ones will last longer. And believe me, you don’t want to do this exercise every year so my personal experience is to get a good quality item that lasts at least half a decade or even more based on how one takes care of keeping it intact and storing properly when not in use.
Decathlon – 6 Person Camping Tent – UltraFresh
Depending on whether you are an all season outdoor person or just summer outdoor person you might want to either choose a 3 season or just summer season tents. Here we are going to review a summer tent and for someone like it even works in fall if its not too chilly. This Decathlon tent is really sturdy, easy to set up, survive heavier rain and winds as well. Comes with good ventilation and the best part is that it comes with Decathlon patented technology that reflects the sun’s rays and keep inside cooler. Height wise it stands 6.5ft in the centre and gives a 120 sq. ft. space inside. I did not have any issues in setting up and I think one can set up quickly in about 20 minutes, as compared to one I bought earlier which was a disaster. I have used this tent for longer camping trips where it was raining and windy, which made it quite chilly and I was really glad to have this to sleep in.
ALLPOWERS SP033 Portable Polycrystalline Solar Panel
In today’s world we are so much surrounded with all the devices and gadgets that people get stressed out thinking of running out of juice for their gadgets. So this becomes a big thing when it comes to camping, so what better than getting your own portable solar panel and a power station that gets charged from the solar panel. This is definitely one of the awesome things I bought over last year which has been of great value. Infect, I was able to charge my dead phone to 5 % in about 5 minutes even on a cloudier day. Eventually it also charged my 41600mAh portable Power bank to almost 10% in an hour.
Originally I bought this 200W portable power bank and then I upgraded to a 300W portable power bank that has much more features like AC, DC, lights and allows to control with an app
Decathlon Camping table with stools
When it comes to having portable furniture, it is very important to have something sturdy, easy to use and something that can be quickly assembled. I am a firm believer in buying something robust that is long lasting so that I don’t have to get bothered again and again for the same thing year after year. I stumbled upon this Decathlon table and stool combo which is exactly what I wanted. It is so easy to set up and easily seats 4 people to enjoy an outdoor meal or even for playing board games or card games in the wilderness. I would highly recommend anyone who wants to buy one.
Stanley Classic Legendary Camp Mug
This is a great multipurpose mug which one can use either on a day to day basis or for a campsite. It really keeps the morning coffee nice and hot as one would expect, however it always allows you to enjoy a nice cold drink. It matches what they claim that it can keep things hot for 1+ hour and cold for around 3 hours. Personally I love stainless steel which is a breeze when it comes to hand cleaning. Comes in great colours to match mens and ladies’ preferences 🙂 Definitely a great buy for your next camping trip.
Wacaco Nanopresso Portable Espresso Maker
A great camping mug deserves a great cup of coffee, but in the outdoors we frequently settle for just OK. Grounds in our coffee, a weak brew or the best of the still-mediocre instant coffee brands available are usually go-to’s at camp. If you’re ready to upgrade to something better, and don’t mind spending a bit of extra time on your cuppa, this espresso maker from Wacaco may be the right choice for you.
When you first open up the Nanopresso, the sheer number of moving parts can be a bit daunting. But once I got the hang of it, I realized the Nanopresso was quite streamlined, and not unlike the espresso machine I have at home. Once the ground espresso is packed into the cartridge and secured to the body of the Nanopresso, it’s simply a matter of pouring the hot water into the reservoir, screwing the body onto it, and then pumping the knob until espresso pours out the other side. And the espresso that it produces really does taste like what you’d expect out of a home machine. Know it requires regular care and maintenance to stay in prime condition.
