Ultimate Camping Guide

Camping is undoubtedly one of the most underrated things.

It happens to be so because most people do not understand how effective a camping adventure can be. On the other side of the spectrum, we have people who think camping is an arduous task.

The truth about camping lies between these two points. Camping has been one of the best hobbies you could ever have, and it has only become more critical in the twenty-first century.

Most of us spend our lives so intertwined with technology and the digital world. So, it is not so shocking that all of us can enjoy a camping adventure once in a while. But we understand if you do not have a clear idea about getting started with camping. We also had a lot of doubts before our first-ever camping trip. 

In this article, we have prepared the ultimate camping guide you would ever need.

Why Is Camping a Perfect Hobby?

Are you still wondering if camping is a good hobby for you?

Here are just a few reasons why camping is the perfect hobby for most people.

1. Camping is easier than you imagine. If you have the right plan and equipment with you, starting your camping adventure does not take more than a few minutes. Of course, you will have to find one of the best camping spots in your region. On the flip side, if you cannot find a camping spot nearby, you would not mind taking a cross-country road trip, would you? Long story short, you can start all your camping adventures pretty quickly.
2. Camping experts would tell you that there is no single correct way to engage in camping. It essentially means that you can design your camping adventure according to your preferences and other choices. For instance, you can either stay entirely off the grid or take a simple shift from the buzzing world of careers and education. In the end, finding a customized form of camping that suits your needs is a marvelous thing.
3. Choosing camping as your hobby also means you can grow your survival skills. You would understand how you can survive without all the conveniences of the modern world. Therefore, you would not have to struggle even in the worst-case scenario of emergencies. If you can do the same with your family or partners, it can be an excellent bonding activity as well. You can easily have a family that knows how to act even when things go south.
4. If you are looking for an immersive way to get moving, you must consider camping as the best hobby out there. When you are on a camping adventure, you have to push yourself quickly and get as much exercise as you can. You can improve the possibilities by combining hiking or other kinds of adventures. Therefore, if you spend most of your days in front of a desk, camping can help you stay fit and competitive.
5. Research has also proven that camping can help your mental health. Because you get to spend more time with nature, you also have the opportunity to understand yourself better. And there are many ways how a clearer mindset can help you get a better grasp of yourself and what you want. So, if you find yourself anxious all the time, a camping adventure could be the best hobby you could have.

As you can see, camping has several benefits to offer.

Who Is Camping For?

While camping is indeed the perfect hobby, it may not be the best hobby for everyone.

Even though not so much absolute, the following people would find camping so useful. In other words, camping would suit you if you can relate to the following descriptions.

• Camping is great for those who have an adventurous spirit inside. They should take up new challenges and explore them for maximum output. In the case of camping, it could be living on bare minimum resources or staying away from the conveniences you are used to.
• You should also be ready to understand what discomfort is. At the end of the day, when you go on a camping adventure, you may have to leave behind several things like the internet or air-conditioned rooms. So, you cannot enjoy the experience if you do not have that craving for discomfort.
• Camping is an excellent choice for those who want to experiment with life. If you’re going to go for something specific like survivalist camping, you must be ready to take up some significant steps. As you can guess, these may not be the happiest moments, at least initially.

As we said, these are not strict rules. However, if you can develop these qualities, they can make the camping experience more meaningful. As you can guess, the same qualities can help you in different aspects of your life.

Therefore, even if you do not think you are pre-made for camping, taking a few extra steps will not harm you in any way. On the bright side, you can choose between different types of camping.

Camping Vs. Hiking

Those interested in exploring the wild may use terms like camping and hiking interchangeably.

But, experts can tell you the noticeable differences between camping and hiking. Since camping and hiking offer different benefits, you have to make the right choice.

Some people love camping but do not want to go for hikes. Anyway, we have listed some significant differences between these two adventures.

• Camping is the process of staying outdoors, including but not limited to forests and national parks in various spaces. It could be a simple tent, a dedicated camper vehicle, or an RV. On the other hand, hiking refers to the exploration of the wilderness. These long walks usually occur in the wild or countryside, where the hikers may follow different trails.
• In camping, you may not have to be that adventurous. As we said, you can camp in your backyard or a national park with ease. It is more about the stay than the journey. On the other hand, hiking gives more importance to the trip. Hikers may follow a trail and find their way back to the beginning point on the same day. Staying at the destination is not that important.
• Camping wants you to stay in a single place to build an alternative living system for a few days or weeks. You may have to move around a little, but it is not that experimental. However, if you go hiking, you have the option to experiment all the way you can. For instance, you can explore the routes you have not seen or the paths you have not walked before.
• Camping requires you to carry a wide variety of materials that help you survive in the wild. You may have to take options for food, fire, and light. On the other hand, you should have hardware that helps you navigate better while going on a hiking adventure. Custom-made hiking shoes and multi-tools are some of the standard options.

Because of these differences, people also perceive camping and hiking differently. That is, hiking may provide you values that you could not possibly get with camping.

At the same time, you must have increased stamina and survival abilities if you want to go on a fully-fledged hiking adventure. By the way, you always have the option to mix and match camping and hiking, thereby developing a custom plan.

Types of Camping

As we mentioned earlier, you can choose between different camping options.

Some of the popular options are as follows:

1. Basic Camping

It is what normal people refer to when they say they want to go camping. As the name says, the entire scene can be straightforward. You can go somewhere in your vehicle, set up the tent, and stay in the area for a few days or something.

Even though you may have to make a few compromises during basic camping adventures, they do not push you to the edge, which is excellent.

2. Adventure Camping

Adventure camping brings an extra taste of adventure to what we mentioned above. In this case, campers may go to the extent of surviving in the wild on their own.

For instance, you may have to hunt animals and cook food. Similarly, you will be entirely off the internet and cellular connection. In the end, an adventure camping trip will keep you the closest to nature.

3. Backpacking

Backpacking is another type of camping that takes things to a new level. When you want to go backpacking, you would not have many huge bags or anything.

Instead, you have to include everything you may need on the trip in a simple backpack. As you can guess, this camping method gives importance to exploring the wild, among other things.

4. RV Camping

RV Camping refers to the type of camping you do in Recreational Vehicles. This type of camping does not keep your life away from comfort.

Instead, you can enjoy all the amenities from your RV or camper while spending the time in a super-nice place. On the flip side, because RVs and campers come with showers and other options, you can set up the RV as the base for hiking.

5. Survivalist Camping

Survivalist Camping is different from other types of camping because the former wants you to develop your primal skills of survival.

As a survivalist camper, you may not carry a lot of food or other resources. Instead, you will have the right tools and skills to create a living in the wild. For instance, you may have to hunt for food or use the nearby pond for water.

6. Glamor Camping

Glamor Camping, also known as Glamping, takes camping to an uncommon level. In this case, the campers do not have to work towards building the tent or anything.

Instead, the service provider will create a camping environment for you. These packages may even include options like villas, airstreams, pods, and rooms. You may fail to recognize this one as camping, but it is.

7. Canoe Camping

Even though similar to backpacking and survivalism, canoe camping is a popular thing you should check out. Nevertheless, canoe campers can carry more resources along with the canoes.

It would be a great place to start with your water-based adventure ideas. At the same time, you will need to look at how the scene changes according to rain and weather.

As you can guess, all these camping methods have their advantages and disadvantages. More importantly, you must have the right set of equipment to get started.

In the rest of the article, however, we will be talking about the general concept of tent-based camping only.

Camping Equipment

Regardless of the camping type you choose, you need an essential set of camping equipment.

You may take things to another level by staying off this equipment, but that is overkill for many people. Therefore, we have prepared a list of the must-have camping equipment for everyone:

1. A good tent

You need a practical tent to start your camping adventures. It must be able to accommodate all people in your group. In most cases, you will have to carry multiple tents — one for each and so forth.

However, you also can get two-person and three-person tents in the market, but they are relatively more expensive. If budget is not a constraint, you can go for huge tents that resemble cabins as well.

2. Sleeping Kit

You also need a sleeping kit to use when the sun goes down. Based on where you are planning to camp, you can choose between a sleeping bag or a couple of blankets.

The best thing about sleeping bags is that they can protect you from the cold environment even if you plan to sleep outside the tent. However, if you think you will be sleeping inside a well-built tent, a couple of blankets would do the job.

3. Water and Food

You cannot compromise food and water when setting up camping equipment. You should have two options here. First, you can carry the recommended amount of food and water for your group.

Second, you can carry hunting and cooking equipment to help you survive. If you want to reduce the weight of your bag and engage in closer-to-nature living, you should check out the second method.

4. First-Aid Kits

You cannot predict what may happen in the wild during your camping adventure. So, it makes sense to carry a fully-fledged first-aid kit along with other equipment.

These kits do not even add more weight, but they can be a lifesaver at times.

5. Emergency Equipment

This word could mean different things to different campers. However, it would help if you tried to have some basic things like a flashlight, a headlamp, toilet paper, and a multi-tool kit.

The core idea is to be ready for the unexpected. So, even if things go south, you will not have to panic.

6. Navigation

If you are camping at a nearby location, it is unnecessary. However, if you plan to move around, you should have some navigation.

There are many options, including offline maps, dedicated GPS navigation devices, and good-old, printed maps. You should consider them a backup, and you can use them if your natural sense of direction is not good enough.

Now, we will move to some camping-related sections that require additional knowledge.

How to Deal with Food?

As we said, you need a proper strategy to ensure food and water during your camping days.

Taking care of water is pretty easy. You can store the water in a tank or find a freshwater source from nearby areas. You can even get portable water purifiers that give you clean water from not-so-clean sources.

But if you want to deal with food, you will have to think about it. You can choose between two options.

Pre-prepared Food

It is the easiest option out of the two. This method will prepare the food you would need during the camping experience and carry it to the campsite. So, you would not have to worry about cooking once you are at the camp.

The problem is that pre-prepared food will consume a lot of space on your camping vehicle or backpack. Also, you will have to be strict about how much and how often you consume food. There could also be some inconveniences regarding the eating experience.

Cooking at Campsite

Most campers prefer cooking the food at a campsite instead of carrying pre-cooked or pre-prepared food. Of course, there are a few advantages. First of all, you can reduce the weight of your backpacks.

Instead of carrying several pounds of cooked food, you can bring a few pounds of raw materials and a stove. Then, you can cook at the campsite based on the quantity required at the time. There is also the option of hunting and gathering the raw material from the site.

Hiking with Pets

All of us love to take our furry friends with us on a hike. However, you have to take care of a few aspects.

• Finding the appropriate food for your pet can be troublesome when hiking. So, you must take a few cans of food when you get started. However, it would not be a problem if you feed raw to your dog or cat.
• Weather: You should not take your pets for granted to survive in different climates. Sure, many dog breeds can endure temperatures that humans may find troubling. However, it is best to add extra hardware to protect your furry friends.
• It would be best if you also considered your pet’s safety, especially when you have a dog or a cat. Even though it is essential to let them explore the scene, you have to keep these domesticated animals safe from various wild threats.
• Last but not least, you must have a comfortable rapport with the pet before you take it camping. Otherwise, managing the pet when you are out of the comfort zone can be challenging for at least some.

Hiking with pets is not impossible or anything. You have to pay more attention.

Camping Safety

Here are some tips that would enhance camping safety. We will be quick.

• It would help if you double-checked the environment surrounding the tent. In this way, you can be aware of the potential threats and other issues.
• It would be best always to carry some backup options when going camping. We are talking about enough water and food in addition to power backup and navigation options.
• It is always a great idea to check the weather before setting out on a camping trip. For instance, if you want to build a tent-based camp, a location with constant downpour would not be ideal.
• If you plan to do a campfire, you must stay very vigilant. First, you have to protect all of you from the fire, but you also have to stop the fire from messing with the wildlife.
• Last but not least, you should have an exit plan ready for the worst-case scenarios. A simple route that would take you to the nearby hospital or community is something great to start.

All these sound simple, do they not?

Camping Legal Issues

Before deciding where you want to camp, you should check the legal standing of the site. As you may know, some places do not allow you to camp on the property, while others are fine.

The best idea is to choose a camping site by checking out some of the recommendations by experts in the area. They will have a clearer idea about which camping sites are the best for beginners.

Alternatively, you can check camping options at different national parks in the United States. However, you should read the policies well before you pack the bags.

Conclusion

We believe this guide helped you get the basics right about camping and prepping.

If you follow some of the best strategies and plans, camping can be an excellent hobby for you and your family. And you can add them to your precious collection of memories.