What Do I Need for 1 Night of Camping? (Checklist Included)

Camping is a luxury many Americans have been enjoying for hundreds of years. 

In fact, it is predicted that around seven million leisure traveler households will try camping in 2022.

So with that being said there are a ton of people wondering what they need to bring on their first night out camping. 

In this article we aim to answer just that, and to do so we have created a 1 night camping checklist.  

Let's get started.

1 Night Camping Checklist

If you have ever been out camping you already know that it can be a breath of fresh air (quite literally) to get out into nature and camp. 

However, with that being said, the majority of us are so well adapted to the concrete jungle that we often forget how different it is living outside in the wilderness. 

Camping rough can be amazing, but there's no doubt that first time campers should consider planning ahead when it comes to the items they want to bring along with them. 

Failing to do so could result in a rather negative experience, when camping is supposed to be just the opposite. 

Below we have listed the most important items first time campers should take along with them on their first night camping.  

1. Tent

Perhaps one of the more obvious items on our list. If you are going out camping, then you need to bring along a tent, that is assuming you wont be staying in an RV or cottage during your camping excursion. 

Make sure you buy a tent that is large enough for the amount of people who plan on sleeping in it. Also, ensure that it is waterproof, the last thing you want is for everything to get wet in the middle of the night should it rain spontaneously. 

2. Sleeping Bag

Sleeping bags will act as your blanket whilst you are out in the wild. They are generally much warmer than blankets and are rated by the temperature they are built for. 

It is very important that you bring a sleeping bag equipped for the weather you will be camping in. That is, if it's cold, get a warm sleeping bag, and vice versa if it is hot. 

3. Camping Mattress

Without one of these you will be sleeping on the hard ground, trust us, this is uncomfortable. Unless you are into that sort of thing. 

We recommend bringing along a self inflatable camping mattress, they are easy to transport and can actually be more comfortable than those large blow up mattresses you find at Walmart. 

4. Pillows

The same goes for pillows, if you are low on storage space, get one of those inflatable pillows, the air can be released and they fold up extremely small and compact. 

However, a word of caution, they are not the most comfortable, so if space is not a concern, bring along a few pillows from your bed at home. 

5. Head Lamp

You will be surprised at how adapted we are at doing things under artificial light. The most trivial of tasks become extremely complicated when you are doing it at night in complete darkness.

A head lamp works wonders during a camping trip. Especially when you need direct light for a task, such as cleaning the dishes (don't we all love cleaning dishes on a camping trip). 

100 to 150 lumens should be adequate for most camping needs.

6. Camping Chair

Life is slow on a camping trip, you will find lots of time to just sit and relax, doing this is much more comfortable on a camping chair. You know, the ones with the cup holders built into the arm rests. 

7. Cool Box With Food

If you only plan on doing a short camping trip, then a basic cooler box will work magic by keeping your fresh food fresher for longer.

According to the FDA, you should try to follow the basic two-hour rule whilst out camping: Don't leave anything that you would typically refrigerate out for more than two hours at room temperature. If it's a fairly hot day out, make that just one hour. 

8. Knife, Fork, Spoon & Plate

You are going to need to bring your basic cutlery in order to eat your food. There are quite a few sustainable brands that make bamboo cutlery. We recommend looking into bringing along some of these as you don't want to spoil/scratch your stainless steel home cookware. 

9. Cooking Utensils & Camping Stove

If your camping spot doesn't have a BBQ area and you are unable to make actual fires to cook your food, then a camping stove will definitely come in handy.

The fire is contained and safe, and thus actually cooks your food faster as the heat is directed directly against your cooking pot. 

A really cool camping gadget is the Solo Stove, it does basically the same thing as a gas cooker, except it uses wood as fuel.

10. Portable Power Station

Last but not least, whats a camping trip without your portable solar generator? No seriously, if you plan to camp for extended periods of time, or somewhere off-grid, then how else do you plan to recharge your most important devices? 

A solar generator, for example our EB55 or EB3A is perfect for shorter camping trips. If you plan on camping for longer and need to power more devices such as your drone or laptop, then bringing along our AC200P would be a smart choice. 

Final Thoughts

Using our above checklist will definitely make your first camping trip a lot easier, and to make it even more convenient we made a table for you, so you can quickly check if you've brought all the above along with you: