Packing for a Camping Trip

Keywords: Camping, checklists, packing

By Stacy DeBroff

Make sure to pack the items you’ll need first on top, starting with the flashlight, tent, and materials to start a fire.

Pack food that needs little preparation and travels well. Plan easy meals that need no refrigeration, such as instant rice and beans. Pancakes can be simplified if the batter is made ahead of time and sealed in a Tupperware container. Precooked, frozen pasta dishes and casseroles will thaw slowly in your cooler and be ready to warm and eat the next day.

Instead of throwing away the extra condiment packets from your fast food meals, save them for camping trips.

If you are staying more than a couple of days and will not be at a place where you can dispose of the diapers, consider using cloth diapers that can be cleaned and will therefore cut down on the smell.

Setting up the Tent

• Tent and ground cloth

• Rope

• Sleeping bags/pillows

• Blankets

• Air mattress and pump or other padding

The campfire

• Waterproof matches or butane lighter

• Wood and kindling

• Paper for fire

• Small hatchet (to cut up branches)

Cooking and eating

• Camp stove and fuel or grill

• Oven rack, if you plan to cook over the fire

• Charcoal and starter, if plan to grill food

• Cooler

• Thermos

• Bottled water or filter if you’ll be relying on water from lakes or rivers

• Drinks

• Ice (Block ice lasts longer, if you don’t also plan to use it for drinks)

• Plastic bowl

• Paper plates/flatware

• Mugs

• Skillet/saucepan with lid

• Oven mitts

• Tongs/spatula/skewers

• Sharp knife

• Can opener/corkscrew

• Canteens/water bottles

• Large water jug

• Ziploc bags

• Aluminum foil

• Coffee pot

• Easily stored, simple meals

• Snacks

• Salt, pepper, and condiments

Cleaning up

• Napkins

• Diaper wipes (even if you don’t have a child in diapers)

• Tissues

• Trash bags

• Broom

• Towels, dishtowels, paper towels

• Clothespins and rope (for drying clothes and damp tents and sleeping bags)

• Biodegradable laundry, dish, and body soap and shampoo

• Toilet paper

• Small shovel

• Garbage bags

Relaxation

• Radio

• Markers/paper

• Cards

• Bikes/helmets

• Bat and ball

• Frisbee

• Kite

• Bucket/shovel

• Beach umbrella

• Lawn chairs

• Collapsible fishing pole, net, and license

• Tackle box and bait

• Magnifying glass/binoculars

• Folding card table (though many sites have picnic tables)

• Backpack, day pack, or fanny packs

Clothing

• Swim suits

• Hats

• Water or shower shoes

• Hiking boots or sneakers

• Sunglasses

• Layers of warm and cool clothing, since you’ll be outside day and night

• Rain gear, no matter what the forecast says

Miscellaneous

• Flashlight with extra batteries and bulb

• Lantern with extra mantles and fuel

• Candles in safe holders

• Map and compass

• Life jackets

• Camping reservations or permits

Stacy, heralded as a “parenting guru” by the Wall Street Journal, authored four best-selling parenting books (Simon & Schuster) and launched Mom Central, Inc. (www.MomCentral.com), a company devoted to providing savvy advice to simplify and enrich the lives of busy Moms and their families. Stacy appears as a regular parenting expert on national TV show, including NBC’s Today Show, CNN, The View, Tyra Banks Show, CBS’ Early Show, The Daily Buzz, Mike And Juliet, Fox & Friends, and the Rachael Ray Show. Stacy also serves as a corporate spokesperson, trendspotting for the media on behalf of over 30 national brands.

In the 1990’s, Stacy founded and ran as an attorney the Public Interest Office at Harvard Law School. Stacy lives with her husband, Ron, and happily engages in imperfect parenting of their two teens, Kyle and Brooks, in Boston, Massachusetts.