When you’re taking the family out camping, planning ahead is crucial. You can never plan for every situation, but when you’re traveling and camping with kids knowing your kids routines and finding ways to accommodate those routines within the trip can be a lifesaver and can make sure that you get some rest and relaxation too.
Having the right gear, and having enough of it, is the best way to make sure that everyone is happy, feels comfortable and is safe and secure during your camping vacation.
So what gear do you really need for family camping? The most basic camping equipment that you’ll need includes things like tents, stoves, day packs, backpacks, extra clothes, foods, kitchen supplies, sleeping bags, water and beverages, hiking boots, and waterproof matches.
And that’s just a start. To make things more confusing, you have a lot of choices when it comes to things like tents, boots and other camping clothing and sleeping bags, so even just choosing everything that you need to bring with you can be a big undertaking.
And then you have to multiply that amount of gear by everyone in the family because everyone will need their own equipment and clothing.
Take a deep breath. It’s really not as intimidating as it seems to choose the equipment that you’re going to need. Remember you are not going to be raising your children in the woods; you’re going on a family vacation that probably is not going to last more than a week, or maybe two weeks.
So you don’t need to stress over what the best tent is and how much it costs. Even though there is a lot of camping gear that you need to get and the cost of all that gear can add up fast, you can find the essentials at different price points to accommodate any budget.
When it comes to choosing camping gear, there is also some leeway in what you choose to buy depending on what type of camping you choose.
If you’re going to be renting an RV or a travel trailer, then you don’t need to buy expensive all weather tents because you won’t be sleeping outdoors. If you’re not going to do any serious back country hiking, you can probably get away with using back packs instead of day packs.
