Streamlining Your Camp Gear

Are you a nature lover like me?

Growing up, my family always took me camping, we traveled all over the US in a tent or a camper. When I was young, my parents wanted to get us out from the TV and watching cartoons all day on Saturdays. In order to do this on a budget, we started tent camping, and worked our way up hard top campers.

Car Camping At Mid 20’s 

Once I graduated college and moved to Atlanta, I wanted to be able to get away, on my own and started exploring north Georgia for campsites. I built up a great stock of camping supplies, some on my own, some lent to me by my parents, and some my roommate shared with me, and soon we were up to packing 2 full sedans with us when we took “primitive” camping trips.

Yes, 2 full cars! They were full of hard back coolers, corn hole boards, tents, camp chairs, our weekend bags – with options for varying weather, gallons of water, hammocks, cooking/grilling set up, air mattress sleep systems and etc. Ugh! Im tired just thinking about loading the cars, so much work!

Enter: Paddle Life

Then a friend introduced me to the world of kayaking, and I got this great idea and dream of loading up my kayaking with the bare essentials, and paddling off to a beach somewhere to camp for the weekend. Enter: a whole new world of camping!

I took at look at my gear and realized majority of what I owned was first, not going to come with me, and second, wasn’t really necessary.

How To Streamline Your Gear

Here are some question to ask yourself when you are trying to down size, or minimize your car camping supplies to fit a more thru hike, or kayak camping trip.

1. Start by laying it all – see what all you’ve got stored away
2. Anything you HATE setting up or lugging to/from the car -BYE
3. For the rest: Ask the following questions:
4. Hit the dollar section for lightweight travel size items
   1. What am actually I going to use this for?
   2. How often will this be used on regular trips?
   3. How heavy is it? (Note, if you are getting into hike through or kayaking camping, get a small scale to better calculate the weight you’ll be carrying)
   4. Can I replace/repair  this to make it lighter?
   5. Do I WANT this or do I NEED this?
   6. Is there a smarter way to cook on this trip? (i.e. less tools or coolers)
   7. Which 2-3 articles of clothing will I go with out (note: this is for a weekend trip. If camping longer, increase this number) Also, Remember layers are your friend 

5. Pack your bag with the essentials first, anything that doesn’t fit – BYE

More on different light weight items I upgraded to and product reviews to come. I wish you luck on your next rip!

May you find bliss in a light pack, and less set up.