Trip one, on an easy site
Camping for the first time
A first camping trip fails on small things: no lighter, no torch, a tent nobody has ever pitched. This list assumes you own almost none of the gear yet, so it leans on the site's kitchen and showers rather than a stove you have never lit.
Shelter: TentWho carries the weight: A short carryPower: SometimesToilets and showers: YesCooking: Site facilitiesDrinking water: Tap on site
Plan this tripWho it is for
Anyone camping for the first time, or the first time since childhood.
The checklist for this trip
The full camping gear list
The packing planner already sizes 27 of these for your trip — the shelter and the cooking kit are yours to bring.
Shelter
- Pitch it once at home before you go — a tent you have never put up is not a tent you can put up in the rain.
- Count them against the tent's own list. Bring six spares — pegs bend in stony ground and vanish in long grass.
- Goes under the tent, not inside it. Trim it smaller than the floor or rain runs along it and pools beneath you.
- A pole splint, a few metres of tape and a spare peg. A snapped pole ends a trip; a splint turns it into an anecdote.
Sleeping
- Match the comfort rating to the coldest night, not the average one. Comfort and limit ratings are different numbers.The planner packs this
- It is insulation before it is padding. The ground pulls more heat out of you overnight than the air does.The planner packs this
- An inflatable one, or a dry bag stuffed with tomorrow's fleece — either beats a rolled jacket.The planner packs this
- Adds a few degrees, and it is the part you can actually wash mid-trip.
- Campsites are louder and lighter than anyone expects, and dawn arrives through nylon.The planner packs this
Kitchen and water
- Both, in separate places. A lighter fails in the wet and matches fail in the wind.
- One spork each. Bring a long-handled one if you are eating out of freeze-dried pouches.The planner packs this
- An insulated mug earns its weight: it is also your bowl, and it keeps coffee hot in wind.
- Sponge, a small bottle of soap and a drying cloth. Wash away from the water, not in it.
- A litre each, minimum. Wide-mouth bottles are the ones you can actually clean.The planner packs this
- Sealed and off the ground. Anything that smells is an invitation, from ants upwards.
- Two more than you think. They double as dry bags, wet-kit bags and an emergency groundsheet.
- The reason to get out of the bag on a cold morning. Not essential, entirely worth it.
- Dries dishes, lifts hot pots and wipes the table. One cloth doing three jobs.
Clothing
- Camping evenings are colder than the forecast, because you stop moving at six.The planner packs this
- Taped seams and a hood. Water-resistant is not waterproof once it has rained for an hour.The planner packs this
- Broken in before the trip. A campsite is mud and gravel even when the walk is short.The planner packs this
- Something to put on when the boots come off. Wet boots dry overnight; wet feet do not.
- There is no shade on most pitches, and you are outdoors from dawn to dusk.The planner packs this
- One more pair of socks than days. Dry socks are the cheapest morale there is.The planner packs this
- A cotton towel never dries in a tent, and by day three it is the wettest thing you own.The planner packs this
Light and power
- One each, not one shared. Both hands free is the entire point of wearing it.The planner packs this
- Headlamps point away from you; a lantern is what makes the tent a room after dark.
- Cold halves battery life, so a winter night eats what a summer one would not.
- Check the airline's cabin rules before you fly with it — it can never go in the hold.The planner packs this
- One more than devices. Cables are what actually gets lost, not chargers.The planner packs this
Hygiene
- Decanted into small bottles. Full-size bottles are most of what makes a wash bag heavy.The planner packs this
- Your own roll, in a bag that keeps it dry. Site blocks run out on Saturday night.
- Between the tap and the food there is often nowhere to wash. This is that gap.The planner packs this
- A wash when there is no shower. Pack them out — none of them are flushable, whatever the box says.
- Shared shower blocks are shared shower blocks. Two euros, no regrets.
Safety and first aid
- Plasters, antiseptic, painkillers, tweezers, tape. Check the dates before every trip, not after.The planner packs this
- In its labelled box, plus a photo of the prescription. Two days more than the trip.The planner packs this
- Check what bites where you are going: midges, mosquitoes and ticks want different things.The planner packs this
- You are outdoors all day, including the overcast ones. Reapply after swimming and after sweating.The planner packs this
- Apply at the first hot spot, not the first blister. That is the whole trick.The planner packs this
Tools and repairs
- Cabin baggage will not take the blade — it goes in the hold or it gets confiscated.The planner packs this
- Wrap a metre around a water bottle rather than carrying the roll.
- A washing line, a spare guyline and a tarp ridge, in five metres.
- Sleeping bag in one, tomorrow's clothes in another. Wet is survivable; wet bedding is not.
Documents and money
- Most sites ask for it at check-in, and a photo on your phone is not always accepted.The planner packs this
- Downloaded, not streamed. Campsite reception is exactly where the signal disappears.The planner packs this
- Check it covers the activity — plenty of policies exclude anything they call mountaineering.The planner packs this
- Small notes and coins: showers, laundry and barriers are often coin-operated and offline.The planner packs this
Three things worth doing
- Pitch the tent in a garden or a park before you go. Twenty minutes at home saves an hour in a field at dusk.
- Borrow before you buy. A first trip is how you find out whether you want the expensive sleeping bag, not a reason to own one.
- Book two nights, not seven. If it goes badly you have lost a weekend; if it goes well you will book the fortnight yourself.
What catches people out
- A cheap sleeping bag rated to 0 °C is not comfortable at 0 °C — that number is the survival limit, not the comfort one.
- Almost everyone underestimates how cold the ground is and overestimates how warm the bag is.
Questions people ask
A torch, and then a lighter. Both are cheap, both are unbuyable at ten at night on a rural site, and everything after dark depends on them.
No. Pick a site with a kitchen or a BBQ area, eat one meal out, and decide about a stove once you know you like camping.
The gear above is yours to bring. The clothes, the toiletries and the tech are what the planner is for — it sizes them for the length of the trip, the weather and how many of you are going.
Now size the rest
Let the planner pack the clothes
The gear above is yours to bring. The clothes, the toiletries and the tech are what the planner is for — it sizes them for the length of the trip, the weather and how many of you are going.