Camping

Shelter & Sleeping Gear

Tent – There are a few important points to remember when choosing a tent. First, make sure your tent is big enough. Our rule of thumb is that for every adult person who will be sleeping in it, your tent should be rated for two people. In other words, a “four-man” tent should comfortably accommodate two adults and their personal gear. Second, your tent should be easy to assemble and disassemble, even in adverse conditions such as wind or rain, and should be sturdy and stable once you have it set up for use. And third, this is one area where you really do get what you pay for. Look for things like quality materials, sturdy zippers that won’t jam or break with normal use, and a removable, waterproof rain fly. Be willing to spend a little extra money up front for a tent that’s big enough and well made, and it should last you many enjoyable years. Also, be aware that almost all tents come from the manufacturer with a set of pathetically inadequate little stakes. If this should be the case with your tent, spend a few extra dollars and get a set of nice, stout tent stakes to go with it. Any sporting goods or camping store will have them in stock, and they make your life much easier. Don't forget a hammer or hatchet to drive your tent stakes into the ground with, or pick up Coleman's handy tent accessory kit, which contains stakes and a hammer, as well as a stake puller and whisk broom.

Sleeping Bag - This is another area where you tend to get what you pay for, especially if you’re getting a cold weather bag. Money spent on quality here will definitely pay dividends out in the field. As with your tent, look for sturdy construction and durable materials, and make sure the bag’s temperature rating matches its intended use conditions. For very cold environments, consider getting a mummy-style bag that has a built-in hood to keep your head warm. If you are getting a cold-weather bag, it should have a baffle that runs along the inside of the zipper so that you don’t rub up against an ice-cold metal zipper in the middle of the night. A zipper that opens from the foot as well as from the head is also nice, since it allows you to regulate temperature if you start getting a little too warm. Folks who are taller than the norm should look for an extra-long bag, since standard bags really only work well for people shorter than six feet tall. Extra wide sleeping bags are also available, as is a sleeping bag expander which allows a more robust individual to fit comfortably in a standard-sized bag.

Ground Pad – You’ll want something to put down between your sleeping bag and the ground. At the minimum, a closed-cell foam ground pad such as an Ensolite pad serves to stop cold from radiating up into your bag (and body) from the ground below. For those of us who aren’t exactly kids anymore, and want an extra layer of padding between our bones and the ground, a Thermarest or similar inflatable pad is ideal. These combine a layer of internal foam padding with a 2-inch or so layer of air, providing considerably more comfort than a ground pad does without sacrificing small size and portability.

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Cooking

Camp Stove – While cooking over an open fire has a certain manly mystique about it, it’s usually much easier to cook meals on a camp stove. Many stoves today are designed to use small propane cylinders for fuel, which is much more convenient than the older white gas stoves with a fuel reservoir which had to be filled from a separate container. The white gas stoves are still available if that’s your preference, as are some dual-fuel stoves which will burn either white gas or unleaded gasoline in a pinch. Whichever style of stove you choose, get one with two burners. This will give you much greater flexibility than a one-burner stove, even if you’re only cooking for one or two people. While it might seem like a no-brainer, make sure you take along matches or a lighter to light the stove with. And always, always test the stove to make sure it works before you leave home. Finding out as the snow is starting to fall that you won’t be having a hot meal after all tends to take a lot of the fun out of things.

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Pans, dishes, and utensils – You can do some pretty impressive camp cooking without getting really fancy or using a lot of equipment. Remember that any pans or dishes you use will have to be cleaned once you’re done eating, which can get problematic in a campsite without running water. At a minimum, your camp kitchen should contain a skillet (nonstick makes cleaning up easier, but that’s a matter of personal preference), a pot or saucepan, a spatula, a cooking spoon, a couple of small kitchen knives for prep work, a roll of aluminum foil, some zip-top bags, a can opener, and enough sets of dishes and utensils for the number of people you’ll be feeding. If you want to cut down on the dishwashing, use paper plates and plasticware. Remember to take a dish towel, a scrub pad or sponge, liquid soap, and some trash bags. In addition to all the above, our camp kitchen also includes a coffee pot, a couple of coffee cups, a small plastic cutting board, and a plastic basin for doing dishes (we use a plastic oil pan, available for a couple of dollars from any auto parts store). We carry all this in a large plastic box, which also holds any canned foods or dry goods we might want to take along.

Food – This is very much a matter of personal preference. We like to take a basic array of spices and dried herbs in small bottles, along with whatever else we decide sounds good. Obviously, canned food and dry goods that don’t require refrigeration are easier to handle, but meats and other perishables keep very well in a cooler full of ice for a couple of days. If you decide to cook something more complex than fresh fish and canned food, you can simplify the process by doing most (or all) of your prep work ahead of time and packaging the prepped ingredients in zip-top bags for travel. We have prepared some pretty tasty gourmet-style camp meals this way. Use your imagination, and be adaptable.

And if you won’t have access to potable water at your campsite, don’t forget to bring your own with you. A five-gallon cylindrical cooler with a spigot on it, like the ones used by sports teams or construction crews, will hold enough drinking water for a few days, and if you put ice in it when you fill it the water will even stay cool the whole time.

A word of caution in regard to food: If you’re camping in bear country, make sure you follow all posted rules and precautions for that area and secure your food (and trash) in bear-proof containers. Some campgrounds provide bear boxes for you to use. If not, be sure to secure your cooler and any other food containers in your vehicle when not using them, and never keep food inside your tent. Trash should be removed from your campsite and properly disposed of as soon as possible, since food scraps or food containers in a trash bag can attract not only bears but other critters as well. Ground squirrels and other small animals may not pose the obvious threat that a bear can, but they have been known in some parts of the country to carry diseases such as plague. Play it safe and keep a clean camp.

Cooler – For putting your fish and any other perishable food items in. Make sure you get one that’s big enough to hold all your food and drinks, as well as enough ice to keep it all cold for a couple of days.

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Creature Comforts

Lantern – A lantern makes it a whole lot easier to carry out tasks such as eating or navigating around your campsite after the sun goes down. These days lanterns come in quite an array of styles, from traditional white gas lanterns to propane lanterns which use self-contained fuel cylinders to battery-powered fluorescent models. As with everything else, your choice of lantern is primarily a matter of personal choice, since all of these will work well and do what they are designed to do. We prefer propane lanterns, both for convenience and because the same propane cylinders that fuel the lantern will also work for our camp stove if need be. If you get a propane or white gas lantern, make sure you pack extra mantles (the part of the lantern that traps the flowing gas and actually creates illumination) in case you need to replace one, as well as extra fuel. If your lantern is battery-powered, take extra bulbs and batteries.

Hatchet or small axe – Not only is this useful for cutting up firewood (and face it, we all like to sit around a campfire at the end of the day and talk about how good the fishing was), but the blunt back face of a hatchet makes an excellent hammer for chores such as placing tent stakes. And speaking of firewood, if you are camping in an area where firewood is not available for purchase, be sure to only burn fallen deadwood. Never cut wood from a living tree to make your fire.

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Folding chair – This is one of those nice-to-have comfort items – definitely beats sitting on a big rock. We like to take an extra chair or two along just in case new friends from a neighboring campsite want to stop by and shoot the breeze.

Folding pavilion or sun shade – Not an essential item, but definitely nice to have. An EZ-Up tent or similar product can provide shade from the sun in an area where trees are scarce and create a comfortable place to sit when you’re not busy fishing. We like to take two – one to sit under, and one to cook under so nothing falls in the food. In a pinch, a tarp and some strong cord can be used to improvise a sun shade if you have trees around. We take a skein of paracord or similar stout cord on every trip, because it’s just plain useful to have.

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Personal Gear & First Aid

Personal gear – This part of your gear is, well, personal. What you take on a camping trip will vary widely depending on where you’re going, the time of the year, the terrain, and a host of other factors we can’t even begin to address here. Some constants, though, that we pack on every trip include sunscreen, insect repellent, a spare hat, a couple changes of clothes (clean, dry socks are especially important), a pocket knife, a small flashlight, a rain coat or poncho, warm clothing that can be layered in case of inclement weather, a towel, soap, and any prescription medications that need to be taken on a daily basis. Although most campgrounds have restrooms that are typically well-stocked, we also take along an emergency roll of toilet paper…just in case. And of course, don’t forget your fishin’ gear!

Just remember that in camping, as in most worthwhile activities, proper preparation is the biggest key to enjoying yourself safely. This means not just physical preparation, but also knowing your limits and those of your gear. If the weather suddenly turns bad, are you prepared and equipped to stick things out and make the best of it in safety and relative comfort? If not, know when it’s time to call it a day and head for the nearest motel.

First aid kit – This doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but should include at a minimum some bandaids, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic cream or ointment, gauze pads, rolled gauze, tape, an elastic wrap or two, and some aspirin or other over-the-counter pain killer. If you’re going into the back country and won’t be within easy reach of medical or rescue personnel, adjust the contents of your kit accordingly. Make sure everyone knows where to find the kit in case of emergency. There are a number of good, basic first aid kits commercially available if you don't want to assemble your own.

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Equipment Sources

Wondering where you can get all the stuff on the list above? Here’s a partial list of sources for camping gear:

Cabela’s
Bass Pro Shops
Big 5
Sports Authority
CampMor
Sport Chalet
REI
Wal-Mart
The FishinTrips.net camping products online catalog

Or, you can simply go to your favorite local sporting goods store. If they don't have something you're looking for, they can order it or tell you who else carries it locally.

Obviously, we can’t tell you everything there is to know about camping here. It’s a big topic, and there are a lot of good books out there on different aspects of it, as well as a lot of knowledgeable people. We encourage you to go to them for more information, or contact our camping experts if we can answer a question for you.

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