
I’ve covered our car camping gear before, including notes about why we have chosen the items we have. But I wanted to also share a dedicated camping checklist with you in the hopes of inspiring your next trip — and helping you stay organized and feel prepared! This free download is a great place to start preparing for your next camping trip (or even your first if you’re a beginner!). Let me know what you think.
Our Camping Checklist: What to Pack for Your Next Outdoor Adventure
Keep in mind that the items named and linked are the exact things we pack and use while camping, backpacking, rock climbing, hiking, etc. You don’t have to go out and buy this exact list, but I wanted to share my product recommendations just in case!
Gear & tools:
- Tent: REI Half Dome tent
- Sleeping pad(s): NEMO sleeping pad and Therm-a-Rest Z Lite Sol Ultralight Foam Backpacking Mattress
- Sleeping bag: REI Co-op Joule 21 Sleeping Bag
- Pillow: Exped Air Pillow if I’m backpacking, otherwise my usual pillow from home
- Seating: Camp chairs
- Fire building tools: Fiskars axe, Fiskars hatchet, bag of dryer lint and long lighter
- Multi-tool
- First aid kit
Camp kitchen essentials:
- Collapsible table: GCI Outdoor Compact Camp Table 25
- Lanterns and rechargable lights: Luci Color: Solar Inflatable Lantern and Black Diamond Voyager Lantern
- Plates, bowls, cups: Coleman 12-Piece Enamel Dinnerware Set
- Utensils: Snow Peak utensils
- French press: Snow Peak Titanium Cafe Press
- Pans: Greenpan non-stick fry pan and Greenpan covered sauce pan
- Stove + fuel: Camp Chef Everest 2 Burner Stove
- Potable water: Coleman Jug With Water Carrier, 5 Gallons
- Food storage: Stainless Steel Food Storage Bowls with Lids
- Cooking tools: cutting board, tongs, spatula, corkscrew and bottle opener, can opener, chef’s knife
- Cleaning items: Sponge + biodegradable, natural dish soap
- Cooler: Yeti 65 cooler
- Wash basin: Joseph Joseph wash basin
- Trash bags
Clothing (varies by season & location):
- Headlamp: Black Diamond Storm Headlamp
- Tops:
- Patagonia Synchilla Fleece Pullover
- Prana Momento Bra
- wicking tank top
- base layer with sleeves
- Bottoms:
- Outerwear:
- Accessories:
- Smartwool heavy wool socks
- Smartwool lighter wool socks
- Outdoor Research Papyrus Brim Sun Hat
- 2 bandannas
- bathing suit
- Smartwool Timbervale beanie
- gloves or mittens
- sunglasses
- Footwear:
Personal items:
- Lightweight Quick Drying towel
- The Deuce + biodegradable toilet paper
- Nalgene HDPE BPA-Free Water Bottle + Wide Mouth Splash Guard
- Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40
- Picaridin Insect Repellent
- Nuun Sport: Electrolyte Drink Tablets
- Hand sanitizer
Optional items:
- Outdoor Research Ultralight Ditty Sacks
- Deuter Guide 40+ SL Pack
- Exped Torrent 30 Daypack
- Hammock
- Binoculars
And don’t forget to download your FREE Camping Checklist!
You might also like…

5 Tips for Dog Friendly Camping
We don’t always bring our dogs with us because they can be sort of a pain. Noodle is older, so the trips are really hard on him. But Lucy loooooves coming along. For us, it’s a balance of what we plan to do on the trip and what is safest for them. When I go solo camping though, I always bring at least one of the dogs with me for safety. Here are 5 suggestions to help you enjoy dog friendly camping even more this summer!

How to Solo Camp as a Woman & Why It’s Important to Me
So many people were amazed that I go camping by myself! I’ve never really thought too much about it, but I do get it. There are safety concerns, for sure. So today I wanted to share how to solo camp as a woman and why it’s so important to me to do this for my mental health and well-being (more on those benefits here)! I hope this post inspires you to do give it a try and see if it works for you, too.