23 Nov Beginners Guide: Weekend Camping Essentials

In this beginners guide, we break down what camping equipment essentials you need for a weekend away. If you are a beginner and haven’t been camping before, how do you know what you need? Truth is, you really don’t need to bring a lot of equipment to have a great weekend away camping. However, there are some basic and essential items you can’t leave home without. Let’s explore what those are. 

Weekend camping essentials. 

• Tent
• Mattress + Bedding (sleeping bag, spare blanket, pillows)
• Table (if site does not come with a picnic tbl)
• Chair
• Cooker + Gas Bottle 
• Lighting – head lamp and lantern.
• Minimal Kitchen Items (plates/paper plates, cutlery, thermos, frypan, billy, coffee press, tea towel, sponge, small bucket, bin bag, knives)
• Towels (beach and microfibre)
• Esky/fridge/cooler bag.
• Entertainment (cards, speaker, board games)
• Food + Drink

Don’t get sucked into buying a heap of unessential camping items at the camping store that you don’t need! Don’t get me wrong, it’s easily done, I’m talking from experience here. So take my advice. Buy what you need and build from there.

If you don’t have the money to invest in everything you need all at once, that’s totally understandable. Camping equipment isn’t cheap. It’s okay to purchase a few cheap items to get you started on your first few camping trips. Especially if you are unsure if you will even enjoy camping. There are definitely higher quality items that are worth investing in if you already enjoy camping and plan on camping a lot. 

If you have friends or family that camp regularly, ask if you can borrow some items. You will find a lot of people are happy to share their camping equipment so don’t be shy, ask and borrow equipment that you can’t afford to buy right away or its also a good way to try before you buy.

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Where to buy camping equipment

In Australia there are a few great camping stores, Snowy’s Outdoors and Anaconda to name a few.

Let the experiences of camping be the memories not the equipment you use.

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Weekend Camping Essentials

Space is always an issue in the car so pack wisely and pack the necessities. If you are a beginner these are the absolute essentials you will need on your weekend camping trip. 

These are the camping essentials you can’t go camping without. 

• Tent
• Bedding
• Chairs and table
• Lighting (lantern / head lamp)
• Microfibre towel
• Cooking equipment 

Breaking down the essentials

Tents:

This is by far the hardest and usually the most expensive item to purchase. Think of it as an investment. There are so many options on the market. Do your research because everyone’s camping needs are different. You might need something that packs up small and compact. You might want a large tent for a full family, you might need something that is lightweight or within a certain budget. Everyone’s tent requirements are different. Do your research.

Here are some questions that can help you narrow down your selection:

• Do you need a tent that packs away small, for easy storage?

• How many people is it going to sleep?

• Do you want to stand up in the tent?

• Are you planning on doing long trips or weekend trips?

Here is an example of what tents we have and why…

We own 2 tents. One is the blue swag (you see in the images below) for solo camping or our main tent is the OZ Tent RV4. The RV4 is our fave and an amazingly quick set up tent. Not going to sugar coat it but, it is expensive and needs to go on roof racks because its not compact. However, it is an amazing tent, we have been using it for more than 5 years. It’s absolutely worth every cent for us and our camping style. It never fails us in windy, rainy, hot, cold conditions. It takes 30 secs to pop up and is very durable. However if you are not camping regularly you might not need or have the budget to invest over $1000 into a tent.

We keep the blue swag for solo camping because it packs up nice and small and does not require roof racks, unlike the RV4. Do your research and buy according to your needs and budget.

Below are 2 good entry level tents that wont break the bank (under $500), good quality and made by a reputable brand. Start here and you san start to refine your tent requirements.

• Coleman 3 person swagger approx price $300 **
• Coleman Instant Up approx price $450 **

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Bedding:

Again plenty of options here, self inflating mattress, air mattress, foam mattress, stretcher beds. Do your research and see what will work for you and what will fit in the car. It’s worth trying them out in store to see how comfortable they are.

There is nothing worse than a bad night’s sleep so having something comfortable is a must. Making sure you have somewhere comfortable to sleep is essential, you don’t need to rough it.

Sleeping bags are easy to choose, in Australia we have very mild weather. Unless you plan on camping in the extreme cold then most of the sleeping bags on the market will be fine. If you plan on camping in winter or in the cold then definitely purchase a sleeping bag according to the climate or just bring an over blanket for additional warmth in cold weather.

Hot tip for summer beach side camping… use sheets and a blanket (not a sleeping bag), its easier to get the sand out of the bedding. Another hot tip, never forget ear plugs. It can get noisy in nature with birds or flapping tents, ear plugs will help you have a good nights rest.

We purchased our very cheap sleeping bags on ebay for our very first camping trip and they are still going strong.

Chairs and Tables:

There are plenty of tables on the market but generally any folding trestle table will do the trick and also fold down nice and compact. Depends on the car space you have.

Chairs are absolutely essential weekend camping item, because when you are camping you usually spend a bit of time relaxing in a chair at the end of the night so it’s definitely something to invest in a nice comfortable chair.

Depending on where you are planning on camping a lot of campsites provide wooden picnic tables, so you may not need to bring both tables and chairs. If car space is tight then this could be something you leave behind if the campsite already has you covered.

Lighting:

An absolute weekend camping essential for a camping trip. A good headlamp and a lantern will get you by to start with. A head lamp for when you go wondering off to the toilet at night, and a lantern to provide a larger spread of light for the campsite at night. These should be charged and ready for use when the sun goes down.

When choosing your light source you will need a portable light, one that stands on its own or has a hook for hanging (like a lantern) and also provides a good spread of light. Having a rechargeable light is also very handy so you don’t have to worry about bringing batteries, but you will need a battery pack or car charger to recharge when necessary. Rechargeable lights will most likely need to be charged after each use so decide for yourself which option will work for you.

Personally we uses these Hard Korr portable lights (affiliate link) have been an absolute amazing purchase for $100. Comes in a 4 pack so you can dot them around the place, to provide good campsite lighting, they are magnetic and have a small bungee strap to attach it to any pole or inside a tent. 

A good headlamp is worth investing in because it will get used every night and on every camp trip and you will want something that is good brightness (aka 300-500 lumens). 

There are alot of options on the market, however my advice, choose something that is waterproof (usually overlooked) and rechargeable for longevity. If you do opt for battery operated lights hot tip… take the batteries out when storing to prevent them corroding inside the light.

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Microfiber Towel:

Having a clean towel that you can use for bathing is an essential weekend camping item. If you are camping for more than a few days you might like to have a clean towel to use for bathing. Having a clean towel is usually overlooked especially if you are doing physical activities like hiking or mtb’ing. Microfiber towels are usually small and compact so shouldn’t take up much space.

Being able to wipe off the salt or the day’s layer of sunscreen is very nice and the last thing you want is to use a salty sandy damp beach towel. Or if you are in the bush, it can get surprisingly dusty or muddy. Being able to wash off some excess dirt or dust is nice and this towel will come in handy.

Cooking Equipment

You can’t always rely on the BBQ’s provided at campsites or a fire ring. That’s why cooking equipment is a part of the essential camping list.

Public BBQ’s can be really dirty or not in working order. Camp kitchens can be busy so it’s nice to have your own space.

A small butane burner is cheap and will do the trick for a night or 2. If you plan to do a bit of camping, investing in a good camp stove with a small gas bottle is a good idea, but not a necessity. 

Sit down and make a list of all the food you want to cook so you can shop accordingly and bring what cooking equipment you need for those recipes so you dont overpack. Here is a list of some of our go-to meals to cook when we go camping to give you some inspiration.

Just to give you an idea what we have in our minimal weekend cooking box.

• Cooker (butane or gas)
• Lighter 
• Chopping board
• Fry pan, saucepan or whatever is required for the meals you plan on eating/cooking.
• Billy (aka stove top kettle)
• Sharp knife + tongs
• Plates, bowels, cups, cutlery
• Coffee plunger or Stove top coffee espresso maker
• Thermos cups for morning coffee
• Tea towel and small microfibre cloth 
• Small bucket for washing up, sponge and dishwashing liquid.
• Bin bags.

3 things on this list that are often overlooked. 1) bin bags 2) bucket, sponge and lqd for washing up and 3) Lighter, incase your cooker malfunctions.

Entertainment

Entertainment is a subjective one. You might enjoy telling stories by the fire, drinking games with your mates, dance parties on the beach or card games until the drinks run out. Or if you have a beach cricket set this might be the time to dust it off. Always take a speaker so we can enjoy some tunes and a few drinks to provide a little entertainment. 

• Board Games
• Cards
• Speaker
• Beach Cricket / Footy/ Friske etc.

Final Thoughts, weekend camping essentials

That’s really all you need to bring on your camping experience. You can of course accumulate lots of expensive camping items like fridges, solar blankets and deep cell batteries that are not a necessity, for longer off grid trips they are essential however for a quick one or 2 night weekend camping trip its absolutely not necessary. 

There are definitely camping items that can add a little luxury to your trip but are totally unnecessary. You will learn what you need the more you go camping, so just get out there and have some fun in the great outdoors.

Generally if you forget something that you desperately need, most campsites have friendly people that are willing to help or lend you something. Don’t be afraid to ask if you are really desperate for a lighter or some spare batteries. 

Hoping this list gives you the confidence and nudge you need to get out there any enjoy.

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