10 Household Items to Bring Camping
When most people think of what to bring camping, they think of expensive tools, designed specifically for being in the outdoors. While many of these products are wonderful, there are many household items that I find myself bringing for every camping trip into the woods.
Here are my top 10 favorite household items to bring camping, every time:
Plastic Garbage Bags
If you take a close look at my camping gear, you will find garbage bags squirreled away in every pack, box, and pretty much any other place that I can put them. Garbage bags — specifically with the drawstring — can be used around the campsite for things like:
garbage (duh)
dirty clothes
emergency rain jacket for you or your pack
Why specifically with a drawstring? We all know the importance of keeping food and toiletries out of our tents — but what if your campsite doesn’t provide a bear box? What if you are far from the car? And what if (yes, this has actually happened) a mouse makes a nice big hole in the bag you were going to string up for the night? Use that garbage bag to hang all of your smelly goodness in the tree!
Oven Mitts
In my camping gear, you will now find two ~fancy~ fire-safe welding gloves. But, before I had these, I would rock an 80s yellow polka-dotted oven mitt around my campsite.
Some campers, myself included, plan elaborate meals over the campfire. But sometimes we find ourselves without a way of flipping or getting even close to the food we tossed into the coals.
Now, oven mitts are not fire regulated so please don’t place one directly into a fire, but they will be able to grab onto the hot — double stuffed with cheddar, bacon, and sour cream — potato you threw onto the fire rack an hour ago. If you’re going to go through the trouble of cooking yourself a great meal, you’d better be able to get it out of the fire.
DampRid
Do you know those bowls filled with small beads that whisk away the moisture from the room? That’s what I’m talking about.
Bring a few of these along on your camping trip and place one or two in the corners of your tent. This will ensure that you will keep that damp yucky feeling away from your sleeping bag, clothing, and eww pillows.
Waking up feeling damp is one of my least favorite feelings. DampRid will keep the moisture and morning dew out of your tent for the night and you’ll wake up dry, and smelling better.
Pro tip: If you want to keep your clothes extra dry, keep them in a dry bag (intended for canoers and kayakers) while camping. These bags are also awesome for organizing your clothing.
Cotton Balls
Cotton balls are a must-have in your medical emergency kit for many reasons. Add a couple of extra in there for one simple reason, cotton balls can be an emergency fire starter.
Are cotton balls the best way to start a fire? Absolutely not. Would I suggest practicing starting a fire with cotton balls? Absolutely!
While there are many wonderful techniques to start a fire, anything will do in an emergency setting. If you should have anything with you in an emergency — it’s your medical bag. Throw in some cotton balls and some matches, and you will at least be able to start a fire in a dire situation.
Foot Rug
Do you have a rug laying around the house that is no longer in use? Bring it camping!
Having a rug placed right outside of your tent door is a great way to keep dirt from getting into your dwelling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve quickly popped out of the tent, left my shoes behind, and jumped back in. In doing this I bring in all the mud, sticks, and tiny rocks that seem to always hide in the corners. Having a rug in front of my tent reminds me to wipe my feet, “as a civilized person” one might say.
Hand broom and dustpan
Having a small hand broom and dustpan is a great way to keep away all of the hidden debris in the corner. Nothing is worse than a tiny rock lodging itself into your foot in the middle of the night.
I tend to have quite the morning routine when I camp. Once I wake up, I head over to my hammock and promptly fall back asleep for a half-hour. Once fully awake, I start the fire from last night’s coals, start the coffee and make breakfast. Once my husband is up, I clean the tent top to bottom and open all of the air vents.
I hang my broom and dustpan from this amazing mesh wall our tent has, so it’s always easily accessible. I know not everyone has said mesh wall, but having your broom in an easily grabbable place will remind you to keep your tent nice and clean!
Cutting Board
Nothing is more frustrating than trying to make a meal on the uneven surface of a campsite picnic table. We often forget our typical kitchen routine when deciding what to bring on a camping trip. This includes our regular use of cutting boards.
Of course, cutting boards will be a great essential for cooking in the woods. But, it can be wonderful any time you need a flat surface. Such as putting in contacts (I’m looking at myself for this one), writing in your journal, even playing cards during the (hopefully one and only) rainstorm.
Pack away your oldest and smallest cutting board into your camp supplies (treat yourself and your kitchen to a new one) and never worry again about trying to cut your steak on a paper plate in the woods.
Kitchen Sponge
Another thing often forgotten about while packing our camp kitchen is our cleaning supplies.
Don’t forget to bring your essential kitchen sponge for all dish cleaning purposes.
My suggestion is to get a sponge that is extremely porous — one that has the netting on the outside and dries very quickly. This way, you can get all the food bits out of it and pack it back away in your kitchen supplies. This saves you a tiny amount of valuable space in your bear bag/canister.
Pair your kitchen sponge with eco-friendly sulfate and scent-free soap for cleaning up your messy dishes.
Pro tip: most camp soap doesn’t sud — don’t worry though, your dishes are still getting clean!
Don’t feel like dealing with either of those things? Go with paper plates (that do not have a plastic coating) and completely burn them in your evening fire. Just make sure the food bits are thrown away first.
Tinfoil (aka aluminum foil…)
Once upon a time, I didn’t check our camp kitchen box before leaving for our trip. I grabbed the bin, stuffed it into the car, and away we went. Come that night, we had set up our stove and were ready for a feast of stew. we looked into our box, didn’t have a pot or pan. Cue panic and wild woman sounds as I ruffled through our camp boxes until… I found it!!
Tinfoil (I can hear small angels singing). I quickly folded the tinfoil in half, folded some walls for it, and voila, we were ready to cook dinner. Now, I don’t suggest cooking every meal out of tinfoil, nor was it easy to do so, but we made it work for the weekend!
Tinfoil can be used for much more than cooking nightmares — as a foldable, bendable material, you can use it to store small things (earrings that you may have forgotten to take out?), or collectibles (many rocks found on a hike). Also perfect for absolutely dire situations like rain collection or a bowl for water. Really, tinfoil is my Duct tape.
What do you bring camping?
Get crafty and creative when coming up with what to bring camping. Some of these items, you just can’t replace (like my beloved tinfoil). Of course, there are great products that could replace some of these items, but go simple. Go easy! And go cheaper!
Grab your camp gear from the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom… wherever! Just make sure you get out there!
Your turn — What household item do you have to bring camping? What have I missed on my list?
Let me know in the comments!
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