Essential camping gear and tips (part 2)

Today we’ll be continuing our look at various essential camping gear and tips for the novice camper or the camper who hasn’t done it in a while but want to get back into it.

We talked last time about tents, sleeping bags and clothing in general, all nice and dandy, but there is one major necessity that we must absolutely talk about: coffee.

One can survive without food and water, but one cannot survive without coffee.

Coffee

You don’t have to deprive yourself of your daily caffeine jolt, you can consider taking along an insulated cup or something like the MSR mugmate which is a portable, easy-to-clean filter that sits in the cup. You can add coffee or tea, hot water, steep, remove, drink the result and then dump the grounds. For those who aren’t that picky about their caffeine source, taking some instant coffee with them in a tin can with a lid will do the trick.

Cooking and drinking

Camp stoves are obviously what most tend to gravitate towards, however if making an open fire is possible, getting some sturdy pots would be ideal. As for the drinking part, well you might want to transfer any and all wine into a wineskin, thus saving both on weight as well as not risking breaking wine bottles – or you know, you can re-use some plastic ones.

Water

Water is a requirement for life, and non-tainted water might be a bit of a problem unless you’re ready to lug around litres of the stuff. The easiest choice would be to pack some purifying tablets with you, but there are some other options, depends on how light you want to hike or camp.

Recharging your phone

Regardless of how much you want to disconnect from the world, it is advisable to carry your mobile phone with you, especially if you’re planning on hiking on your own – which you really shouldn’t – or if you’re planning on crossing some harsh terrain. You might want to invest in a solar charger to make sure that your phone doesn’t run out of juice when you most need it.

One other thing that you might want to consider are some car rental services.