Car camping is a great entry-level way to get into camping. It gets you outside with all the essentials while not being nearly as intensive as backpacking or boondocking. Beyond the clothes on your back and some layers, you don’t need a lot to start camping.
If you want to car camp, you just have to load up all of your camping gear in your car, travel to a campsite, and pitch a tent in a choosen area. Some people refer to car camping as “base camping” or “tent camping”.
For anyone looking to get into car camping, pack these 10 essentials for your next (or first) car camping trip!
1. Tent
When you’re looking for tents, you want to look for a three-season tent. These are lighter and cheaper than four-season tents. If you’re just getting into camping, you want to avoid starting out in the winter anyway.
Make sure you buy tents that are rated for one more person than will be sleeping in them. For example, solo campers usually want to buy two-person tents. Couples will usually benefit from three-person tents. The size ratings of tents tend to be on the small side, so sizing up is best.
You don’t need to spend $500 on a tent. Unless you want to go backpacking or winter camping, it’s easy to find tents under $200. With a bit of hunting, you can even find a great tent under $100. Ozark Trail, Coleman, Teton Sports, and several other brands offer simple tents for under $100, and sometimes even under $50.
2. Sleep System
Your sleep system is the combination of your sleeping bag and sleeping pad.
Do you need a sleeping pad? No. Can you get away with a yoga mat or other piece of foam? Yes. However, having a real sleeping pad will greatly enhance your experience. Any simple blow-up sleeping pad will do. For beginners, I always recommend Klymit as a budget-friendly brand that makes great sleeping pads.
For sleeping bags, make sure your sleeping bag is appropriately rated. Often, the degree rating on these bags is the “survival” rating and not the “comfort rating.” Go up at least 5-10 degrees if you sleep warm and 15-20 if you sleep cold.
3. Pillow
A pillow is essential? Can’t I just use my hoodie as a pillow? Yes, yes you can. However, just like a good sleeping pad, a pillow can make the difference between a restful night’s sleep and hours of tossing and turning. There are lots of blow-up pillows as well as packable camping pillows. Buy those if you want, but your pillow from home is just as good when car camping.
4. Camp Stove
You don’t need a huge two-burner stove unless you plan to make elaborate camping meals. For most first-timers, getting a small single-burner camping stove is fine. You can even find budget-friendly backpacking stoves that are even smaller.
Whatever you choose, make sure you get the right fuel. As a rule of thumb, camping stoves usually run on propane and backpacking stoves usually run on isobutane.
5. Freeze-dried Meals
I always recommend that beginner campers buy freeze-dried camping meals. Yes, they’re a little more expensive, but I promise that the convenience is worth it when you’re first starting out. This way, you can just focus on enjoying your meals instead of cooking and cleaning (and making sure you don’t leave any food out).
Once you’re seasoned, you can leave the freeze-dried meals behind, but those Backpacker’s Pantry meals are so good you may not want to.
6. Water
You want more water than you think you need. Let me say it again. You want more water than you think you need. Bring at least half a gallon of water per day you’ll be camping – per person. Add some more if you’re using water for freeze-dried meals. Beginners may want to pack one gallon of water per day, just to be safe.
7. First Aid Kit
You can make one of these or purchase a premade one. Adventure Medical is the name brand in this space, but there are other options. Whatever you do, make sure you’re equipped to handle all minor injuries you can expect to run into while camping. Likely, you’ll just need to treat minor cuts, scrapes, or burns – if you need to use your first aid kit at all.
8. Lighting
It gets really dark when you’re camping, and you don’t want to rely on your phone’s flashlight. At a minimum, you want a headlamp. Having a lantern or two is a nice bonus, but not absolutely essential.
9. Camp Furniture
If you aren’t at a campsite that has that classic picnic table, you want to bring your own chair. Even if you have that, it really isn’t that comfortable. Bring a folding chair to sit by the fire with. Any char will do when you’re car camping. There are lots of expensive camp chairs, but a cheap folding soccer chair will do just fine.
10. Power Bank
You want to be able to keep your phone charged, just in case you need to call for help and no one is around. That’s unlikely, of course, especially if you’re car camping in a popular campground, but you never know when you – or someone around you – might need help. You need enough power to keep one phone charged. Any small power bank will be able to do that, so don’t worry too much about choosing the right one.
These aren’t the only things that you need, of course. There are plenty of other pieces of gear like speakers, coolers, coffee, and all sorts of other gear that’ll make your car camping trip more enjoyable.
However, if you’re just looking to get started and test the waters for car camping, these 10 things are all you need to have a great time in nature!
