The 20 Best Camping Gear Essentials For The Money

Although camping is considered a leisure activity, it is one that requires a great deal of planning and preparation. This is especially true if your idea of camping involves venturing deep into the wilderness and far from the amenity-filled campgrounds that exist just outside the edges of modern civilization. When you’re surrounded by nature without the right equipment, things can go south quickly. You’ll end up having a miserable time at best… and a dangerous time at worst. So to help you avoid these pitfalls on your next outdoor excursion, we’ve put together a list of the best camping gear essentials to buy.

How We Pick Our Items

There are admittedly a lot of products made for camping and the outdoors, which makes it difficult for one to select the best without spending hours reading reviews and/or testing the items out for yourself. Luckily, we’ve spent years in this space, figuring out which products should be brought along on camping trips, simply because we love the outdoors and have used plenty of camping gear ourselves. The items in this guide may not be the best overall in their respective categories (for that, we have separate guides for most topics), but will provide you with the best options when it comes to camping, especially when factoring in function, features, price, and how much space they take up.

Thermacell MR300 Portable Mosquito Repeller

Best Insect Repellant: Without a doubt, bugs like mosquitoes are one of the biggest drags of spending time in the great outdoors. The blood-sucking insects can make life outside miserable, but finding a reliable way to keep them away without exposing yourself to harmful chemicals is tough. Enter this device, which eschews deadly DEET in favor of low-toxicity allethrin to create a 15-foot mosquito-free perimeter that lasts 12 hours per refill.

Gerber Compleat

Best Camping Utensils: One of the most satisfying aspects of camping is having a nice meal by the campfire with your fellow campers. And while the classic “sharpened stick” has its role for toasting up marshmallows and hotdogs, some meals require a bit more in the way of utensils. This punny set from Gerber will have you ready for any type of meal with a fork, spoon, spatula, and 4-function multi-tool. Plus, all pieces snap together to convert into a set of super handy tongs.

Adventure Medical Sportsman Series Medical Kit

Best Camping First Aid Kit: A first aid kit is something you hope you’ll never have to use but will never regret bringing along. But not all first aid kits are created equal. This example from Adventure Medical is designed specifically for the challenges of outdoor ailments, with supplies to treat various types of animal attacks, field injuries, and more. The gear is divided up into injury-specific sections for ease of use in an emergency, and the included wilderness medicine guide provides instructions on how to treat more than 50 common outdoor afflictions.

Hyperlite Stuff Sack Pillow

Best Camping Pillow: It’s always good to look for gear with multiple functions when camping, as such products reduce the number of items you need to bring, allowing you to pack lighter. This stuff sack/pillow is one such piece of gear. By day, it functions as a waterproof stuff sack to protect your most sensitive gear from the elements with its tough Dyneema exterior. But turn it inside out and stuff it with clothing and you’ll be treated to a cozy Polartec fleece pillow for the nighttime.

Coleman LED Lantern

Best Camping Lantern: Coleman’s been lighting the outdoors for Americans since 1900, so if anyone knows their way around a lantern, it’s them. This twin lantern from Coleman boasts four LED bulbs that never need to be replaced and offer up to 390 lumens of brightness. The batteries are good for 299 hours on low (6m beam) or 85 hours on high (10m beam), giving you more operational time than you’ll need, and the weather-resistant construction means it’s ready to take on wind and rain.

Proof 72-Hour Merino Tee

Best Camping Shirt: We’ve already hinted at the benefits of packing light while camping, and one of the best ways to cut back on your haul is by reducing the pieces of clothing you bring. And one of the best ways to do that is with Proof’s 72-Hour Merino Tee. The name is no misnomer — this shirt was designed to stand up to 72 hours of wear between washes. Thanks to merino wool’s natural thermoregulating and anti-odor properties, this can be your only shirt for an entire long weekend at camp — and no one will want to steer clear of you because of it.

Prana Stretch Zion Pant

Best Camping Pants: While we sometimes wish we could wear shorts all the time, some situations — especially outdoors — call for pants. And for those situations, these are the pants we’re reaching for. Made from a super-stretchy nylon/spandex blend that’s also incredibly durable, the Zion Pants feature a gusseted crotch for a greater range of movement. They also boast a DWR finish that repels water, and roll-up snaps make cuffing these bad boys super easy when the need arises.

NEMO Helio Pressure Shower

Best Camping Shower: What’s better than a shower while camping? Answer: nothing. Sure, having a shower at camp certainly takes away some of the “roughing it” aspect of the activity, but once you get under the water you won’t care about that anymore. This ingenious device holds 2.9 gallons of water and puts out 5 to 7 minutes of continuous water pressure from its 7-foot hose. And this isn’t your average camp shower; this is a real-deal, high-pressure stream that’s great for washing your hair, dog, dishes, or anything else that gets dirty.

REI Co-op Camp Bed Self-Inflating Sleeping Pad

Best Sleeping Pad: Once thought of as a luxury, the sleeping pad is being thought of as a camping essential more and more as time goes on. And it’s easy to see why, as sleeping on a soft and supportive surface makes for a much more restful night than just plopping a sleeping bag on the lumpy ground. This pad from REI offers excellent ground insulation for those chilly nights, while its self-inflating design makes setup a breeze.

ESeE 4P

Best Camping Knife: A knife is one of those tools where you won’t know how useful it is until you need it, and this knife is especially useful in the great outdoors. Created to be the perfect all-around tactical, survival, and bushcraft knife, the ESEE 4P has a 4.5-inch blade of 1095 carbon steel fixed to a Micarta handle. Put through the wringer countless times by professionals all around the world in situations much worse than any you’re likely to find yourself in, this knife is designed to take a beating and never let you down.

Jetboil Flash Stove

Best Camping Cooker: While cooking at camp can be a fun experience, it can turn stressful if it becomes too time-consuming. After all, you don’t want to spend your entire trip cooking — you’re on vacation! That’s where Jetboil’s Flash Stove comes in. In case you couldn’t tell by the name, this compact stove will heat up your grub in a hurry. It features a match and lighter-free lighting system to get you started immediately, and its quick boiling cooking will have your food ready in under two minutes. What’s more, it doubles as an efficient French press-style coffee maker.

Helinox Chair Zero Camp Chair

Best Camping Chair: There’s nothing worse than showing up at a campsite and realizing that you didn’t bring anything to sit on. Sitting on the ground gets old fast, and unless your campsite features a bunch of strategically placed rocks and stumps, that’s what you’re going to have to do. So it’s always smart to bring a few chairs, and these seats from camp chair experts Helinox are the bee’s knees. They’re super lightweight and pack down to the size of a water bottle.

Patagonia Black Hole Duffel Bag

Best Camping Duffel Bag: It’s tough to imagine a brand that’s more associated with outdoor adventuring than Patagonia, as the brand offers a ton of gear that’s built to survive whatever nature throws at it. And to haul all that gear, Patagonia has their iconic line of Black Hole bags. Available in various forms, our go-to is the duffel. It comes in several different sizes, boasts legendary durability, and is solidly weather- and abrasion-resistant.

mahabis Curve Canvas

Best Camping Slippers: This just in: slippers don’t have to look dorky. mahabis’ classic Curve has the look of a stylish canvas sneaker but the comfort of your favorite slippers. They feature a temperature-regulating wool lining, a Staywax-finished canvas outer that fends off water, and a grippy, shock-absorbing rubber outsole. They’re the perfect shoe for lounging around the campsite, and will even work in a pinch if you need to make a quick trip into town for supplies.

Fiskars X27

Best Camping Ax: Camping knives are all well and good but when it comes time to gather some wood for the campfire, you’ll want something that’s capable of getting the job done. Fiskars’ X27 blade is simply the best ax when it comes to minimizing the size of any logs you find in the woods. Due to its size-to-weight ratio, it’s able to split wood in single strikes time and time again, and it has an impact-absorption chamber to eat up a big portion of the blow. At 36″, it won’t be the most compact option around but it’s slim enough and essential enough that it shouldn’t matter.

Rumpl NanoLoft Puffy Blanket

Best Camping Blanket: Rumpl is one of the top names in the insulated blankets game, and their Puffy line is the stuff of legend. For the NanoLoft variant, the brand goes eco-friendly by swapping out the feathers for their proprietary NanoLoft insulation. Made from 100% post-consumer recycled material, NanoLoft is comprised of tiny circular clusters of fiber that mimic the properties of down clusters. These clusters trap warmth inside pockets of air, preserving heat no matter how cold it gets outside.

BioLite FirePit+

Best Camping Fire Pit: Starting a campfire is pretty much the most essential skill that every camper must learn, but let’s face it: sometimes you just don’t want to bother with the hassle of it all. And for those times, there’s this technological wonder. BioLite’s ingenious portable fire pit boasts an automatic wood-fired flame that’s powered by 51 air jets injecting oxygen in key locations. It throws off almost no smoke, meaning there’s not a bad seat in the house, and you can even transform it into a charcoal grill for a little hibachi action.

The North Face The One Bag

Best Sleeping Bag: A sleeping bag is one of the most indispensable pieces of camping gear there is, and the difference between a good one and a bad one is highly noticeable. If you ask us, you’re better off opting for a great one, and that’s what we have here from The North Face. Confidently referred to as “The One,” this standout bag is built to keep you cozy in a wide variety of temperatures as it combines the benefits of a 40°, 20°, and 5° sleeping bag in one thanks to zip-on insulation.

YETI Tundra Haul

Best Camping Cooler: For such a young brand, YETI has firmly established themselves as makers of some of the toughest and most well-built outdoor gear in the industry. But it’s still the brand’s coolers that set them apart more than anything else. The Tundra Haul is a wheeled version of the brand’s most-acclaimed cooler, and it makes maneuvering to and around your campsite a breeze. Plus, you’re still getting the outstanding insulation and rock-solid build quality that YETI is known for.

Hilleberg Januu

Best Camping Tent: If there’s one piece of gear you picture when you think of camping, it’s probably a tent. A tent is one of, if not the biggest purchase you’ll make for your camping trip, so you’ll want to make sure you invest in the right one. Swedish tentmaker Hilleberg definitely gives you your money’s worth, like in this classic two-person tent. The Jannu is designed for mountaineering, so it’s extremely lightweight and boasts a four-season build and super-stable construction that will hold up to any weather. In other words, it will easily handle even the worst camping trip you can muster.

The Best Hiking Gear Essentials

If you plan on doing some hiking on your next trip, make sure you check out our guide to the best hiking gear essentials to enhance your outdoor experience.