Everything you need in the outdoors — from shelter and sleeping to cooking and navigation. Works for car camping, campsite trips, and wild camping.
The difference between a great camping trip and a miserable one often comes down to three things: sleep quality, food, and weather readiness. This checklist is built around those priorities. It covers the gear you genuinely need, what you can improvise without, and the small things that most people forget until they're standing in a field at midnight.
The things experienced camping trip travellers wish someone had told them before their first trip.
There is no worse feeling than arriving at a campsite at 7pm and discovering a missing pole or a broken zip. Set your tent up in the garden before the trip. Every single time.
Before packing anything heavy, ask: will I use this more than once a day? If not, leave it. A folding camp chair that gets used 8 hours a day is worth its weight. A heavy cast iron pan is not.
Temperatures drop significantly after sunset, even in summer. Pack at least one more warm layer than you think you'll need. Merino wool is ideal — it insulates even when damp.
Dry bags are cheap and save trips. Sleeping bag, spare clothes, phone, and any food you don't want animals in should all be in waterproof bags or containers.
The full camping trip packing list, broken into categories. Use our free interactive tool to check items off, add your own, and export to any format.
The most frequently asked questions about packing for a camping trip.
We are working on a beautifully designed printable version of the Camping packing list. Camping PDF
Roamers List has personalised packing lists for all 9 trip types.