Basic Car Camping Gear: What to Bring Camping (my camping essentials)

hello welcome back to my channel today i am diving into what i consider to be my car camping essential gear when i was thinking about this video i really wanted this list to be simple and not overwhelming so we're gonna cover just the basics those core pieces of gear that you need if you want to go out car camping what i mean by car camping is the kind of camping where you drive up to a campsite or a campground so there's no hiking in involved that's what i'm doing right here we are in national forest we have this beautiful spot i'm going to show you around and show you all of my gear first up is the tent so let's go so this is my car camping tent it is the big agnes copper spur three person tent there are tons and tons of different sizes styles brands of camping tents plenty of options to fit all different kinds of budgets this is really going to be your shelter for the trip so it's going to protect you from a little bit of wind the rain and if you need a break from mosquitoes you can hang out in the tent so typically i am camping with it's just me and nick sharing this tent and so it's a three person ten it just gives us a little bit more room in case it is raining and we do need to spend a little bit more time in the tent we have a lot more room to kind of just hang out play some cards wait out a rainstorm that kind of thing so when you're car camping weight and size isn't as much of a factor as it would be if i was going backpacking if i was going backpacking i really want a tent that is small and lightweight but when you're car camping i'm just putting in the car so i am more than happy to bump it up to a three-person tent just to have a little bit of extra room my recommendation if you're looking to buy a tent is to actually go to the store check a few of them out get inside see how roomy it is see if you have enough headroom if you like the style do you want two doors do you need just one so there's so many different features to consider and like i said there are a variety of brands and price points so there's a pretty good chance you'll find something that fits perfectly for your trip and your needs next up we're gonna hop into the tent and talk about the sleeping pads and the sleeping bags oh hey good you're already in here [Music] the next piece of gear is your sleeping pad the thing that you're actually going to lay on now sleeping pads provide insulation and comfort and i think it's worth choosing one that's going to be comfortable for you especially if you want to camp a lot when i was a kid i remember we would go camping as a family and my mom would pack blow up air mattresses for car camping and so i know a lot of people who do that that's a perfectly fine option as long as the mattress is going to fit in your tent that's just something to keep in mind but if you have blow up mattresses you can just bring one of those battery operated pump things and you can use that you can also use backpacking sleeping pads which are typically ultra light and really small i have one of those for backpacking but since i do so much car camping i really upped my game when it came to the sleeping pad and i have these exped mega mats which nick and i are obsessed with they were the best impulse buy i think of gear that i've ever bought but we just got to this campsite about an hour ago so they're still self-inflating they're really nice because they they fold up pretty small i'll give you a shot of kind of how big they are when they're folded up but you get to camp and we just open this valve and for the most part it will self-inflate and then when i'm getting ready to go to bed i'll just pump a little bit of extra air in there and i'm good to go as you can see they're really thick and they're just really comfortable i absolutely love them so we have two of them that fit really comfortably in this three-person tent you know if we tried to put a third person in here there really wouldn't be enough room for that sleeping pad so you want to kind of think about your sleeping pad and your tent as a system together to make sure that everything fits and choose something that is going to be comfortable for you number three on this list is of course going to be your sleeping bag the thing that is going to keep you nice and warm when you're camping this green one is mine it's a little bit warmer than this red one which is nyx again so many different options and different price points for sleeping bags if you're like me and you tend to sleep colder i really would recommend getting a mummy style bag and this you know it has a hood here and you can really just like cinch in all of that heat as opposed to a rectangular sleeping bag that just isn't quite as warm because a lot there's a lot more air flow happening there but whatever you choose just make sure that you're of course looking at the weather for wherever you're going to be camping and that you're packing enough warmth sleeping bags have temperature ratings and that temperature rating identifies the lowest temperature at which that bag was designed to keep the average sleeper warm i'm actually expecting it to be very cold tonight on this trip so i brought my warmest sleeping bag but then i also have another sleeping bag here for extra warmth that we can drape over both of these sleeping bags so you can bring extra blankets extra sleeping bags whatever it is you have the point is really to just make sure that you're thinking ahead and packing enough warmth one of the great things about car camping is there's a little bit more room to work with in the car so throw in those extra blankets make sure that you're warm and comfy when it comes to sleeping number four on my list is a pillow this guy right here now i'm sure there's some people out there that would consider this a luxury item do i need a pillow to survive no but it sure makes things so much more comfortable for me now there are tons of great camp pillow options which are just small and compressible i just sometimes grab my pillow from home and then just wash the pillowcase when i get home for me this is such a simple item to pack that just adds so much extra comfort so why the heck not so that's it for the inside of my tent and these essential pieces of gear to shelter you from the elements and keep you warm at night now let's go take a look at the rest of the camp number five on my list is going to be a headlamp or some sort of illumination for when it gets dark a headlamp is kind of i think and always a good idea to have in your bags i have one in like all my backpacks so that i never forget it and you can just put it on and walk around have two hands free to do whatever you need to do when it gets dark you also could consider in addition to the headlamp some sort of lantern and this is actually i don't even know where we got this one but it kind of falls up i think it has like it's like a party mode on this thing it just has all sorts of lights [Music] but it does just do like a normal light [Music] let me see but it does just do like a normal light no ah here we go but it does just do like a normal light well anyway so something like a lantern is nice if you want to play games at a picnic table and just kind of hang out a little bit more without everyone having to wear a headlamp and like shining things in people's eyes a lantern can just be kind of nice to have more light in a general area but i think if you want just one thing i would definitely go with the headlamp it's really small and versatile and you could like i said it's nice that you can wear it and just have your hands free to do other things next up on this list is going to be your kitchen gear now i made an entire separate video that dives deep into all of my camping kitchen gear how much you bring really depends on what you want to make and how much you want to make so to keep things really simple i would say the basics of kind of what i always bring would be a cooler a propane stove cast iron pan my water jug so the water jug is really important because you want to bring enough water for your trip be able to refill your water bottles and stay hydrated and then also just maybe some bowls and some forks spoons stuff like that you can cook so many delicious easy meals camping with simply a propane stove and a cast iron pan in fact a lot of the recipes and things that you see me making in all my other videos are made with those two things so you don't need to over complicate it now for those of you who are ambitious when it comes to camp cooking and just enjoy cooking in general like me something like a dutch oven is so much fun i think it's my all-time favorite piece of camp cooking gear i just love cooking with it so that's like a piece of gear that it's definitely not an essential thing if you're not super into the cooking you don't need to get that but just the basics like i said that stove the pan the cooler the water jug stuff to eat with i will link to my camp kitchen gear video in the description box below so make sure to check that out if you want more info next up on my list is a small foldable table now depending on where you're camping this really might not be necessary right now i am out doing dispersed camping i'm in the national forest i'm not at an established campground that has a picnic table so i packed my little table along so that you know we could eat off the table i could prepare my meals here we could play games here and just have like a nice little table again if you're going somewhere that has a picnic table you know this is not a piece of gear that you need to go out and buy right away maybe even ever and then the same with these camp chairs so that's the next thing on my list would be something to sit on again at establish campgrounds there are typically those picnic tables which you can easily just hang out and sit at the picnic table if you want to hang out around a fire having a nice little camp chair is great and again out here it's nice to have these just so we have something to sit on when we're eating or reading a book or just relaxing at camp the last item that i want to mention in this video is a med kit so i just leave this thing in my car it's fully stocked up to date it's got all the medications it has bandages and all the types of things that you would need as a first line of defense when medical care is probably not easy to access when you're out camping so it's good to be prepared with a med kit to know how to use the things that are in it everyone in your group should know where the med kit is in case someone has to run and grab it in my med kit i also have a roll of duct tape because duct tape could be used for so many things you gotta tape something together something rips who knows i just like to have a roll of duct tape in there and then also just a multi-tool multi-tool comes with me everywhere like i always have it when i'm hiking backpacking camping whatever it just has so many useful little tools even just like a can opener it's just a nice little thing to always carry i just wanted to quickly mention as a reminder that this list doesn't include your personal items like your clothing your toiletries any like books or games and stuff like that that you would want to bring camping obviously that stuff is highly personal on what you want to bring and i just wanted to keep this list really basic with what i consider to be kind of the essential pieces of car camping gear alright so that rounds out my list of car camping essential gear i hope this video has been helpful make sure to check the description box below the video i have tons of other camping tips videos and i will link to those there along with recipes and stuff when it comes to camp cooking so make sure to check that out subscribe ring the bell if you want notifications of when i upload new videos make sure to just ring that bell because that's really the only way to get those notifications i'm gonna go make some dinner we're actually making steak quesadillas tonight which i am really pumped about so i'm gonna go do that enjoy the evening and i will see you in the next video [Music] peace [Music] you

Channel: Amanda Outside

Views: 292,140

Keywords: camping gear, camping gear you must own, camping essentials, camping gear list, what to bring camping, camping necessities, camp gear list, what to pack camping, camping gear essentials, camp gear, camping, car camping, tent camping, camping gear for beginners, camping hacks, camping tips, amanda outside

Id: 3myF6HvAOA8

Length: 12min 48sec (768 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 17 2020