Working out what to pack for a camping trip will depend on the facilities where you are going, and how long you'll be there. If you are heading to a caravan park close to the shops for the weekend - it is a simple process.....but if you are heading remote, it gets more complicated.....and even more complicated if you are going to several different landscapes/climates on an extended road-trip.
And you've also got to consider the weight you'll be carrying - particularly if that involves extra fuel and water. When we headed into the Simpson Desert at the tail end of our June/July 2019 trip, we would have been pretty much bang on our 3.5 MT upgrade to the Hilux's Gross Vehicle Mass (including passenger weights).
This post provides a bit of a checklist to assist with what to take for a range of different camping types. The links below include comprehensive lists (including weight estimates) for everything we took on a month long trip through the Top End, Red Centre and Simpson Desert - with checkboxes to differentiate between what you'll need for Remote Camping; Bush Camping; Basic Campgrounds and/or Caravan Parks. There are even links to some of the gear we use.
Obviously shelter and bedding are going to be key components to a comfortable camping experience. You are going to need shade from the sun, shelter from the rain, warmth at night, somewhere to sit - and even a bit of protection underfoot.
Our "Set Up for the Simpson" weighed in around 110-115kg.
There would be nothing worse than your power carking it in the middle of nowhere with 3 days of lamb chops stewing in the fridge and the temperature nudging 40 degrees. Sure, if you are going to be stopping in powered sites, this is not such a big deal. But its pretty important when you are going remote.
Our "Set Up for the Simpson" weighed in around 50kg.
Yeah, yeah...fair enough....getting dirty is half the fun. But you don't want to get crook. It wouldn't be much good in the middle of the Simpson with a dose of the trots. That means keeping you and your gear as clean as practical.
All up, you'll probably take much the same no matter where you go...probably about 5kg all up.
Having simple, practical kitchenware is really important. You'll be washing up after every meal, so you won't need extra plates and cutlery. Just keep it simple, and take what you need.
Including our pantry/kitchen box, we would have been carrying somewhere around 80-90kg in our "Set up for the Simpson".
We like to run with a bit of a list of "pantry essentials" and then build around that when we can with the stuff that goes in the fridge and a few treats here and there. Ultimately, a lot of this dry food gets packed into the Sistema containers we keep banging on about.
It probably comes to around 5-6kg...and is useful for any camping environment.
This stuff is heavy, and takes up space - but with a bit of thought you can put together a relatively compact kit - and you are going to want it if you are in a tough spot on a remote trip. If traveling in a group, its a good idea to plan ahead and share some of the bulky/expensive items.
Without a winch, we were running at about 40kg of tools and recovery gear.
Struth, chuck an extra spare wheel on board and another 80L of fuel and see how you go with weight! By the time we'd worked that out, we were up to close enough to 120kg and I was almost getting a blood nose!
But you'd rather be looking at it than for it.....so suck it up buttercup.
It goes without saying that a good first aid kit is critical for any kind of camping trip - and as you get more and more remote.....you need to think about more and more things. Communications, fire safety - and just personal protection.
It's just common sense, and it doesn't need to be a lot of kit. Probably somewhere around 5kg should pull it up.
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