Camping Gear

If you follow us on social media, you know how much my husband and I love going camping with our dogs Nova and Shadow. Car camping was my first introduction to sleeping outdoors. In fact, the first time I ever really went camping in my life was with Adam in 2016. Since then, we’ve spent many nights sleeping in tents together and have been able to try out and accumulate a good amount of gear. Based on my past 8 years of experience, Adam many more years than that, I decided to compile a list of our top recommendations.

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Campsite:

Tent- You really have a lot of options here, from large camping tents to light backpacking tents. We have chosen to condense our gear and use a backpacking tent while we camp. Currently we have an older version of the Marmot Limelight 3P. This has been an awesome tent and includes a footprint, which is great since many tents do not. We also love the REI Half Dome SL 3+ because it is on the affordable side (given that no backpacking tents are cheap) and has great size vs. weight stats. This tent also comes with a footprint. Keep in mind we are two adults, 5’10 and 6’3'“ with two large dogs and these tents have plenty of room for us.

Sleeping Bag-I haven’t tested out a ton of sleeping bags, but that’s only because I found one that I like and has lasted me several years. That bag is the Kelty Cosmic 20 Down Women’s Sleeping Bag. Technically the stats say it fits a person up to 5’8”, which I didn’t notice when I first got it. But I have never had a problem fitting in it, even though I’m 5’10”. If I were to upgrade for slightly more space, I would go with the Nemo Riff 15 Down Sleeping Bag because the only other bag I’ve ever used was Nemo and I love the shape. You can also get that bag in long, which accommodates a human up to 6’6”.

Sleeping Pad-I can confidently say that I have found the absolute best sleeping pad for side sleepers, and its the Big Agnes Boundary Deluxe Insulated Sleeping Pad. I can sleep on my side without my hip bones ever touching the ground, and ever since I found it I sleep so well outdoors. To add extra insulation and help prevent my inflatable pad from getting punctured, I pair it with a Therm-a-rest pad.

Camping Pillow-I don’t remember when we acquired our Klymit X Pillows but I’m so glad we did. They’re so simple and yet I find it to be incredibly comfortable. In fact, for a while I was bringing TWO regular pillows with me car camping, but since I found the Klymit pillow I actually prefer it for camping. I leave it slightly deflated and my head fits in the middle so comfortably, especially as a side sleeper. I haven’t been able to find it at any outdoor retailers so I linked it on Amazon.

Camp Chairs-Ok I have two options here depending on your vibe. We love bringing our Kelty Loveseat because its cozy to snuggle with the pups in. The only downside, which isn’t really a downside, just a preference, is that they sit pretty low to the ground and two adults sitting in it together are really close for things like eating. Our other alternative is bringing two of these Coleman camp chairs.

Camp Table-My go to camp table isn’t available at REI anymore, although I’m sure they will be coming out with a new version soon. I do own another that is almost identical to the REI table, and it’s this Coleman camp table. We were also just sent the Sherpa Table and Organizer from Camp Chef that we’re pretty excited to use on our upcoming camping trips. It’s the perfect size to fit just a camp stove, plus has a bunch of storage built-in. We’re thinking we’ll probably bring our usual square camping table in addition to this one, so we have plenty of work space since we like to cook on camping trips so much.

Lanterns-I’m going to preface this by saying we are a little bit lantern obsessed. We love the ambience they create and they look so cool when the light is low. Some of our favorite camping lanterns are from Barebones, and they include the Railroad Lantern, Forest Lantern, Outpost Lantern, Edison Mini Lantern, and Beacon Hanging Light. They’re all so beautiful. Granted, these are all on the speedy side. If you’re going for more of a minimal style, we like using this Goal Zero Crush Light Lantern for lighting inside of our tent. It’s super light weight, so it’s perfect to hang from the roof of the tent without weighing it down. It also fully collapses to save space. We also own this simple Coleman Lantern that works great to light the campsite.

Hammock-This one is totally optional and only relevant if you’re camping somewhere with sturdy trees, but we love bringing our Eno hammock. It’s just fun and relaxing to hang out in and read a book.

Posing with the girls in our Eno hammock.

Kitchen:

Stove-We have used several camp stoves over the years. The one that we’ve cooked the most with is a classic Coleman Camp Stove like this one. We recently were gifted two different stoves from Camp Chef that we’re really excited to try. The first is the is the Everest 2X which has double the output of the Coleman stove. It is much bigger and seems to be built really well. The second is definitely for those of you that are weird like us and want to go above and beyond to get real fancy with your outdoor cooking. It’s the Deluxe Outdoor Camp Oven, which includes a camp stove on top and an actual oven below. This oven fits a 9x13 baking dish and to say that we are excited to use it is an understatement. Think: camping lasagna. Camping muffins. Camp CAKE. The possibilities are endless. Make sure you stay tuned for our upcoming camp oven creations!

Dutch Oven-We have a few different options for Dutch ovens depending on what you plan on doing with them. If you are going to be cooking over a camp stove, we prefer using an enamel coated dutch oven for ease of use. If you plan on cooking over fire, we prefer a traditional cast iron dutch oven. We use our 6 qt. size most often!

Pan-We usually stick to a classic cast iron skillet to cook both over fire and over our camp stove. We like this one from Lodge.

Eating Utensils-While these aren’t necessarily designated for camping, we really like this utensil set from Barebones. It looks great and is no more spendy that other utensil sets I’ve found on REI’s website. Also, you could just bring some of your household utensils with you if you don’t want a whole separate set of utensils.

Cooking Utensils-We started off by always borrowing our household cooking utensils when we went camping. The only problem is that you have to remember to collect them every time you want to go on a camping trip. We now have dedicated camp cooking utensils, including this set from Camp Chef. It includes a sharp knife, tongs, metal spatula and metal spoon. We also like bringing this Chopping Board Knife Set from Snowpeak that includes a chefs knife nestled in a foldable wooden cutting board.

Kettle-We use this cute little Barebones kettle to heat water for coffee.

Coffee-We use our insulated Stanley French Press to make coffee outdoors almost always.

Mugs-Depending on the day, we go between insulated mugs and our wooden kuksas from Barebones.

Plates and Bowls-Our first set of camp plates and bowls was a set like this one from GSI. For $75 it includes 4 place settings, including mugs. Now we mostly use these plates and bowls from Barebones.

Cooler-We’ve tested plenty of coolers over the years, mostly because we seem to get quite a few partnership opportunities with cooler companies. Still, our go-to is the Coleman Steel Belted Cooler. We like that it takes up less room for its storage space compared to other coolers. If it doesn’t keep things cold for as long, we really don’t notice. Plus we love the look of it!

Camp Sink- We use this Snow Peak Waterproof Unit Gear Bag as our camp sink.

Biodegradable Soap- We always choose Dr. Bronners.

Scraper-Our method of cleaning our cast iron is heating water in the pan over the stove and scraping and debris off with a tool like this. We also bring a regular old sponge for plates, cooking utensils, etc.

Dish Towel-We always bring along one or two microfiber towels to use as dish towels.

Storage-We use this Kelty Camp Galley to store our utensils, plates, bowls, spices, and other miscellaneous items. We transport a lot of our non-refrigerated food items in this 45L tote bag from REI. We also go between use the Kelty Car-Go Box for kitchen and other storage, although we’ll probably go back to using it for storage other than kitchen items now that we have the Sherpa Table and Organizer to organize the kitchen with.

Water Storage-All of that dish washing talk reminded me of how much water we usually bring camping. We store it in this 7 gallon AquaTainer and bring along a Yeti Rambler Gallon to keep some drinking water extra cool on hot days. We also drink out of Yeti Rambler water bottles.

Trash-I will say, we normally just bring along trash bags. But I saw this Collapsible Garbage Can from Camp Chef that looks like a great way to prop up your trash bag into an easier to use garbage can. I think I’m going to get one for us to use this year!

Make sure you remember to bring propane for your camp stove!

Cooking camp breakfast!

Health & Hygiene:

Kula Cloth-A Kula Cloth is a great option to use as a pee cloth instead of needing to use toilet paper!

Wipes-Wilderness wipes are a great option to freshen up with.

Bathroom Kit-Up until now we had just used a basic trowel to dig a cat hole for #2 when we weren’t at a campsite with bathrooms. I just ordered us this Lite Bathroom Kit from Pact that includes a trowel that stores a weeks worth of Pact’s dehydrated and compressed wipes and mycelium tabs to help break down excrement. I know it sounds wild and I’m so excited to try it out!

First Aid Kit- We always have this first aid kit on hand. We also have a pet first aid kit with us at all times.

Bug Repellent-During seasons when the mosquitos are out, which feels like all the time in Oregon, we use several methods of bug repellent. When I first moved here I was really on my high horse and against using any chemical bug repellents but I have since been humbled by my environment. It’s a need. So first we treat our tent and staple pieces of clothing like pants, shirts, and jackets with Permethrin spray. We also use a Thermacell unit to protect our camp and that works really well. Lastly, we spray deet on any exposed skin.

Here is a link to a complete camping gear checklist from REI.

Make sure to DM me if you have any questions! I didn’t cover clothing in this post, but if you’d like I can write a post on camp clothes as well!