Do I have enough camping crap?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

  • Something to wrap yourself up in to sleep, like a sleeping bag

  • Good bug repellant (optional if you can think the bugs away)

  • Something to eat cold

  • Something to drink cold

  • Maybe a Bic lighter if you HAVE to have a fire. But you can light your kindling with the cigarette lighter in the truck.

  • Money to go to McDonalds if you HAVE to have hot food

  • Toilet paper, or use the bathroom at McDonalds (recommended)

  • Screw the tent. You can sleep in the truck. In the bed if it’s not raining. In the cab if it is.

After years of Boy Scouts I narrowed my requirements down to this (meaning: I got sick of spending longer getting ready and cleaning up than I did camping). Everything else is added weight, takes time to pack, unpack, repack, and unpack at home, and gets you all caught up in the whole materialism thing. If I want to be near the great outdoors with all the comforts of home I figure I can move to Minnesota.

Even higherly (huh?) recommended: Rent a motel room as a base of operations. Shower, restaurant, ice machine. And it doesn’t require living in Minnesota.

Before you Minnesotans start burning me, I’m a native.

22

I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned a bottle opener. What kind of a camping trip is this anyway?

Oh, you’re bringing cans. Nevermind.

23

Hiking Dopers- Advice?

24

Even though you are not hiking, it might be nice to have a topo map.

Did anybody mention a shovel?

Remember to shake out your shoes in the morning!

You might also want a current star chart so you can sky gaze and tell what is up.

25

My mother insists that a microwave (“just a small one”) is essential, but then she does all her “outdoor activity” in a Class C motorhome.

But I love her anyway.

P.S. She does concede that a TV is non-essential. My dad is the one who brings the TV (“just a small one”).

26

No canned beer, bottles and fresh limes in a separate cooler from the food. Don’t worry. My Letherman has a bottle opener, there is one on the can opener, the backup can opener and there’s the emergency, backup churchkey in my toolbox.

Everyone has a different idea of camping and I’m somewhere between the extremes. No TV or microwave but a small boombox for tunes in the evening would not be bad. I like hot real food so I’ll be bringing along a decent camp kitchen.

Sadly open fires are verboten but I’ll manage with a propane stove. S’mores will be kind of suckey so we may have to fill a caulking gun with marshmallow cream.