Preparing for a Weekend Camping Trip: Clothing, Cold-Weather Gear, and Personal Items (Part III)

The great part about camping is, once you’ve found everything from the previous list, you’re pretty much set. You can generally just raid your closet and drawers for the right clothing. If you want to look official and spend your birthday money, you can buy all kinds of lightweight and purpose-made gear from one of these places.

Generally, however, just follow these steps below, and get some good boots and socks.

Clothing

Most of the items in this list should be self-explanatory. For items that may get sweaty or rained on, wool or synthetic is the best option. Cotton tends to soak up water and dry slowly.

T-shirts

Just grab one or two from the drawer, ideally polyester or blend.

Underwear

Grab from the drawer, boxer-briefs will prevent potential chafing from the long walk.

Pants

If you can find wool or polyester blend pants, those are ideal, though full synthetic pants have a tendency to pick up tiny holes from campfire embers.

Hat or sunglasses

Sun and rain. Those might be present on your trip, so plan ahead.

Footcare

When hiking, taking care of your feet is very important, especially keeping them dry and free of blisters. If you’ve seen it, think of the scene with Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump:

Wool socks (2-3 pair)

Find thick wool socks for winter and thin wool socks for summer. Wool wicks moisture and stays warm while wet, which makes it the clear choice over cotton, which stays wet and dries slowly. As they said in the Scouts, cotton kills! SmartWool is a popular high-priced brand, though there are many other choices. Be prepared to spend $6-15 or more for a good pair.

Hiking boots

Your boots should have ankle support, fit snugly with some slight space in the toe so you don’t stub your toes when hiking downhill. GoreTex or other waterproof breathable fabric combined with Vibram nonstick soles are the hallmarks of a good pair of boots. Price: $60-200.

Gaiters

If you plan on hiking in mud or snow, these waterproof flaps attach to the top of your boots, wrap around your ankles, and keep things out of your boots like mud, water, and especially snow. Price: $20-30 and up.

Moccasins, sandals, or old sneakers

For wearing in camp once your feet are tired.

Rain jacket

A decent breathable rain jacket costs $80 for a simple shell up to $150 or more. Here is where it makes sense to invest in a decent jacket with GoreTex or equivalent from a reputable brand like Marmot, REI, North Face, or similar. Jackets can be re-waterproofed with a product like this. You can get away with a plastic poncho or rain jacket, though you may end up sweaty or with a poncho torn to shreds on tree branches, be warned.

Cold-Weather Gear

You can go camping well into winter, as long as you make sure to layer

Jacket

Wool or synthetic jackets can be heavy or bulky, while down is light and compressible, though deflates and becomes useless in rain. Down jackets are thus best in winter snow, not autumn rains. Layers of wool or synthetic are good in the rain, but should be layered with a sweater and t-shirt below and a rain jacket on top.

Sweater

Steal an old wool sweater from your grandpa. This is a good layer to keep under a jacket if it gets chilly.

Long underwear (bottoms)

It’s worth it to buy a specialized synthetic pair if you feel you’ll need them under your pants. Price: $20-30

Gloves

I just use old ski gloves or whatever is on hand. The flip-open fingers style gloves can be useful once you’re in camp because you can hold things and not feel like an astronaut trying to eat dinner in outer space.

Knit hat, any will do, as long as it covers your ears.

Thick wool socks, as discussed above.

Scarf or neck gaiter

You may want to cover your face or neck if the wind gets bad, but you can still camp in winter with the right preparation. If you’re in a tough spot, you can use a t-shirt as a scarf to stop wind and cold from getting inside your jacket.

Personal Items

These items should be self-explanatory.

Travel toothbrush
Toothpaste
Biodegradable soap
Sunscreen
Insect repellent
Toilet paper
Bandana
Plastic bags
Trash bags
First aid kit

Other

Optional.

Notebook
Playing cards
Camera
Book

Thanks for reading. Next up:

Part IV: Cooking and Water