Wouldn’t it be great to sleep under the stars in a Himalayan valley or sit at the camping site beside the Dawki river in Meghalaya?
Camping is the most enjoyable activity to overcome the stress of your regular professional life and studies. It can be any location, be it national parks, the backcountry, private camping grounds, or even in the backyard.
However, no matter the place, a camping session with friends and family will take your worries away. Therefore, while you plan to go camping, it is essential to bring some vital things to sustain in the wild.
So, let us give you a detailed camping essentials list for Indian trips that you require and how the equipment can assist you in having a great camping experience.
1. Camping Tent – The Most Essential Item
While ticking out the camping essentials list, the first thing that you should carry is a camping tent. It will be your primary shelter that can protect you from the harsh sun rays, the chilly wind at night, or the untimely rain. However, when you purchase the best camping tent in India, then you should consider its capacity or size.
If your camping group has more members, then you will need a large-sized camping tent.
Also, make sure that the tent has enough durability and lasts for at least three to four seasons. The tent should have enough room for proper ventilation.
Another aspect that you should take into account is the tent’s flexibility. You must be able to fold and set up the tent quickly.
The tent should also have sufficient height to have free movement and sleep comfortably inside the tent.
2. Pocket Knife/ Multi-Tool
To perform some essential tasks in camping, you must include a pocket knife or multi-tool into your list of camping essentials.
The pocket knives usually come with several functional tools like can openers, screwdrivers, blades, etc. The knife is capable enough to cut ropes, fruits, and other things.
So, invest in an affordable, easy-to-use, lightweight, sharp, and portable pocket knife or multi-tool before going camping.
3. Sleeping Bag
After a whole day of hiking and backpacking, it is mandatory to have a relaxed and peaceful sleep.
Therefore, do not hesitate to spend a considerable amount of money on the best quality sleeping bags. It would help if you took care of the sleeping bag’s weight while buying it as it should not be too heavy.
An easily portable sleeping bag will not put too much cause stress on your shoulders and
4. Camping Pillow
If you need a lightweight and compact pillow option, which is usually necessary for backpackers, you’ll need a pillow made specifically for camping. Other than that, you can use your clothing, your luggage, or traditional pillows from home to support your head.
The main benefits of camping pillows are that they are lightweight and compact. It can be carried anywhere and at any time. In addition, some camping pillows are waterproof. If you are camping in wet and cold conditions keeping your pillow dry is essential. It is also smaller and helps with relaxing. A camping pillow is an excellent way to make your camping both enjoyable and comforting.
5. Camping Stove
When you are out camping, you should add one of the best camping stoves to your camping essentials list. You should always carry a stove, whose type should depend on the kind of food you cook. Cooking on a camping stove is similar to working on a standard gas stove. In addition, it possesses the following advantageous characteristics:
- The stove spreads the heat evenly, making sure that the food is cooked in all parts
- It has an effortless learning curve which is very helpful for beginners.
- It has variable heat adjustment facilities.
- You can adjust the amount of heat by controlling how much gas you are burning.
6. Camping Cookware
Camping without good food is no camping at all. When it comes to what cookware you should carry for your camping, the things to consider should be the material, weight, size and portability. It would be best if you always took as little as possible to make your cooking utensil kit easy to carry.
The essentials, however, cannot be missed. You should always have a stove, whose type should depend on the kind of food you cook.
It would help if you choose proper cooking utensils for camping, which solves more purpose and consumes less space. Folding utensils count to be very helpful in camping.
Frying pans, pots, bowls and a good quality knife solve most of the needs. Water storage is the most important thing you should keep in mind, for which the camping cookware must be easy to clean.
7. Firewood
It is used as fuel for purposes such as cooking, heating, or power production. Softwood and hardwood are the two types of firewood available.
Because of the moisture content in the wood, softwoods burn more quickly than hardwoods but produce less heat.
Firewood is helpful in a variety of ways. It has availability all year and is not subject to significant seasonal variations, demonstrating that it is exceptionally open to everyone.
The acceptability of firewood is very high as it has been used since ancient times and has shaped cooking habits accordingly.
8. Firestarter For Bonfire
When it comes to camping, a bonfire is a must. A good fire starter counts to be the most utilized element you carry for camping. Firestarters are designed to ignite easily and help the timber catch the flame at a faster rate.
Gathering firewood, timber, and kindling is not an easy task. It would help if you kept running to gather firewood to keep the fire burning. The job becomes a bit easier with a fire starter because it lets the flames stay stable for a more extended period than usual.
So, when you use a fire starter for one fire, it burns for a long time and eases your botheration for collecting wood a bit.
9. Flashlights or Lanterns
When you are out in the wild, the nighttime seems to approach faster than usual. The thing you should keep handy always during camping is a lantern or flashlight.
Walking around on rugged terrain or in a jungle will be impossible without a source of light.
You should always carry a lightweight LED lantern and keep it charged so that you can face emergencies. Whether to walk on a dark path or scare away wild animals, a light source is essential.
10. Headlamp
If you are an actual camper, the one thing you should always keep in hand is a headlamp.
Nobody wants the phone battery during the time they are out of the house.
So whether it is hiking or lighting up a campfire, having a headlamp will permanently save your phone battery.
Thus, having a light on a small headlamp is an intelligent choice.
11. Camping Chair
If you are camping, you should always keep a camping chair handy. It is always a necessary item for leisure.
Whether you want to rest in between your journey or sit around the campfire to enjoy your food, you always need it.
A good camping chair should be light and portable so that you can carry it anywhere and everywhere without bothering.
Camping chairs are not very comfortable like the ones you own at your home. But they can be folded and carried easily.
12. Camping Table
A camping table is an essential component of camping life, but it does not receive the same level of attention as other camping ‘must haves’ like tents or awnings.
The best ones have foldable varieties which improve package density for travel.
It gives a bigger surface to prep dinner and helps plan a route or shuffle your cards after a long day. You can fold it anytime and anywhere. These foldable camping have different features.
Most camping tables are foldable with two side tables and a compartment with two shelves to help your essentials be organized.
13. Travel Hammock
When you think about the camping essentials list, the first image that comes to your mind is the tent. But recently, that image has changed as there is an alternative which is the hammock. The hammock has been specially designed for sleeping.
The design and materials are getting advanced and popular with car packers and bag packers around the world. They are more comfortable as it’s above ground level! So, no more sleeping on rocks, roots, mud, and sloping, uneven grounds. They provide you with more versatility as they offer more freedom of location when it comes to where you’ll lay your head at night.
Travel hammocks are straightforward to set up, so no more struggling with tent poles and stakes. Camping hammocks include a rain fly and mosquito netting and yet still weigh under 1.3 kg. It’s so comfy you can forgo the pillow and sleeping pad you would have brought to sleep comfortably in your tent too.
14. First Aid Kit
A first aid kit is a necessity on your list for camping. While camping, there will always be minor nicks, cuts, scrapes, bruises, and a slew of other more severe injuries that may affect you. A simple trip and fall can bruise and cut a knee, which may not seem serious at first. However, things change when the wound catches dirt.
While a bee sting or an allergic reaction to a stinging plant may be unpleasant, they are easily treated with medication. Bandages, gauze, antibiotic wipes or antiseptic liquid, burn cream, scissors, medical tape and needle, and thread should be there.
An excellent first aid kit will help you with typical camping accidents! It will also keep you prepared for any survival situations that can arise during your journey.
Do not forget to take a well-stocked first aid kit while going camping.
15. Waterproof Clothing/ Raincoat/ Umbrella
Rain gear are a raincoat, or slicker is a waterproof or water-resistant coat worn to protect the body from rain. They give you protection from elements like rain, thunderstorm, and snow. Rainwear is manufactured using a membrane or coating that serves as a barrier so that rain cannot penetrate. These essentials will be the primary shelter that can protect you from adverse weather.
16. Drinking Water Flask/ Bottle
Camping and booze go hand in hand. Fortunately, drinking flask has been providing benefits in carrying both water and alcoholic drinks. Taking a flask saves you from the trouble of carrying around a heavy glass container.
Therefore, it keeps the drinks safe even though you are miles away from the destination. You will need a place to keep your camp drinks cold and refreshing while you are making them. It is also a stainless flask that does not have a fear of leakage. You can use it for keeping cold drinks or hot beverages.
17. Insect Repellent
The first thing that comes into your vision while sleeping in the tent is beautiful nature, gazing at stars, or enjoying the bonfire. The reality of bugs and insects can ruin your camping trip, so it is better to carry an insect repellent.
It helps in keeping those dangerous insects at bay and also ensures a great outdoor experience. It is equally essential to save yourself from the deadly bites of mosquitos and bee stings. There are varieties of it like lotion-base, oil-base, and spray type. The options tend to last longer as they take more time to vaporize. The spray applied on clothes lasts longer than skin.
18. Hammer for Tent Pegs
You cannot set up a tent without a hammer for tent pegs. It is an essential piece of equipment to prevent them from breaking and bending. With this, it is easier to pound tent pegs. The hammer is also helpful for other activities, which makes camping easy.
19. Toilet paper/Soap/ Other Personal Care Essentials
Hiking is all about making compromises, and you will have to make one understand what “clean” means. For example, people at the camping site should use biodegradable soaps instead of regular soaps to save water resources and go eco-friendly. The phosphates in soaps encourage algae blooms in the lakes and streams of the forest. Also, use sanitiser that helps a lot to keep yourself sanitized and clean.
20. Cooler/ Thermal Bag
A thermal bag, also known as a cooler bag, is a thermally insulated shipping container that can be carried and is usually made of thermally insulating materials and often a refrigerant gel. It keeps cold items cold and hot items hot by helping to preserve the temperature of its contents.
They are very eco-friendly and do not pollute the environment as plastic bags do. You can also carry these bags on your back if you don’t have any space to place them. A cooler bag is a great way to make your hiking fun rather than making it awful by carrying large weights.
Other Items for Camping
Apart from the above 20 camping essentials, you can also consider the following items to camp-
- Travel backpack
- Sunshade
- Camp rug
- Broom
- Bottle opener
- Knife sharpener
- Mug
- Trash/ recycling bag
- Food storage containers
- Binocular for birdwatching
- Portable Telescope for stargazing
- Star chart/ map
- Navigational tools like a compass
- Solar charger
- Action camera for video recording
- DSLR or mirrorless camera for photography
- Books
- Notepad/pen
- Music Player and Bluetooth Speaker
- Toothbrush with paste
- Sunscreen
- Hat or cap
- Comb and Mirror
- Hand sanitiser
- Napkins
- Sleepwear
- Travel insurance (if any)
- Drone camera to take magnificent aerial shots of the nature
Camping is a risky as well as a fun activity. If adventure boils down to your personality, then camping is a sure option to try. But not following the camping essentials list may create troublesome experiences. If you plan to camp during trekking, check the trekking essentials too.
You should always be prepared for the worst but hope for the best. Keeping on all the essentials recommended by our website handy and gathering up the courage will determine your camping experience.
