Tent Camping Checklist
Before you head out for your first tent camping trip of the year, you should take some time and go through your camping equipment to make sure that everything is in working order and that you have everything ready to go. This way, there won’t be any surprises when you arrive at your campsite. There is nothing worse then showing up at your campsite miles from any store just to find out that you have forgotten something or your tent has a big hole in it. Here is a tent camping checklist to help you get ready for your tent camping trip. 1. Your Tent This is one of the more important items on your tent camping checklist. If it’s a nice day outside you can do this out in the yard, but the living room or family room will do just fine. Take your tent out of its storage bag and spread it out on the ground checking it for any tears or rips in the fabric. Sometimes small tears can start along a seam of older tents and if not caught can turn into a big rip. Run all of the zippers to make sure they are all working properly. Most tents will have multiple zippers around the doors and windows. Check to make sure that you have all of your tent polls and stakes. If you have fiberglass tent polls, make sure that the elastic bands that hold them together is in good shape. If you see any of the bands that are starting to fray, you can pickup a repair kit at most outdoor stores like REI or Joe’s. 2. Sleeping Gear (sleeping bags, blankets and air mattress) Your sleeping gear should be a top priority of your tent camping checklist as it will make for a bad tent camping experience if you can’t stay warm at night. You will want to do the same thing with your sleeping bags that you did with your tent and roll them out on the floor to make sure that they are in good shape and that the zippers are working properly. I know that we use our sleeping bags throughout the year and they may not be in the same shape as they were when they were last used for camping. Some areas can get pretty cold even in the summer time so make sure you have some extra blankets just incase. If you use an air mattress it is a good idea to fill it with air to make sure there are no leaks. An air mattress doesn’t do you any good if it won’t hold air. It’s better to find and fix any air leaks now instead of when you are out in the woods. 3. Tarps I have always said that you can never have too many tarps when it comes to camping. It doesn’t matter if you’re tent camping or camping in an RV, you will always need to have some tarps on hand. For tent camping you will want to have two tarps just for your tent. One to place under your tent and another one to go above your tent incase of bad weather. Again, if your tarps are not new, spread them out and make sure they are in good shape. It’s always a good idea to have a few extra larger tarps to go over your picnic table or to cover your camping gear incase of bad weather. 4. Camp Stove No tent camping checklist is complete without having your camping stove on it. Most of the camping stoves today are fairly simple and easy to use, but it’s always a good idea to try out your stove before leaving on any camping trip. Especially if you are using one of the older Coleman (white gas) stoves. The seals in these stoves can dry out and cause your stove to not work properly. You can pick up a repair kit from just about any store that carries camping gear and have your stove repaired in just a matter of minutes. 5. Cooking Gear (pots, pans and utensils) It’s always a good idea to have separate pots, pans and utensils that you only use for camping. This way you can store them in a Rubbermaid container and you will always know that you will have what you need. It only takes a few minutes to go through the container to make sure that everything is there and ready to go. To make this even easier, make a separate tent camping checklist of everything you have and keep it in inside the container so you can easily tell if anything is missing. Just tape the list to the inside of the lid 6. After Meal Cleanup This one is pretty easy. We have a small plastic wash tub that we place dish soap and some wash cloths and dish towels into and keep it one of the Rubbermaid containers that we use for camping. You may want to through in some scrubbing pads as well. 7. Hygiene Here, you just want a smaller plastic container that you can put all of your personal hygiene stuff into. We always fill it with an extra set of things that are separate from what we use on a daily basis. Again, make a list of what is in the hygiene kit and tape it to the inside of the lid to make it easier to see if you have everything. 8. Personal Gear (clothes, shoes/boots and other gear) This one is another important part of your tent camping checklist. Always make sure you have enough warm clothes. If you don’t have personal camping gear set aside that you only use for camping, this may be something you check the day before you leave. Just make sure that you always bring along extra pairs of clothes, shoes, coats and rain gear. Even on days that are nice, you may find your self having to cross a stream and you will need that extra pair of shoes/boots and socks. 9. Games We always bring along plenty of games for everyone just to be sure we never run out of things to do. We spend most of our time out hiking and exploring, but we always find time to get together and play some fun camping games. Some of the camping games we bring along are:
One of the things that I haven’t mentioned here is FOOD. This one I will leave up to you. Only you will know what kind of food you like to bring camping. Just make sure that you bring enough for everyone. That’s about it for our tent camping checklist. Happy Camping :-)
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