Backcountry Camping Check List
Ferguson’s Canyon UT
Do you love camping? If you’re familiar with the outdoors then you most likely know that however exhilarating nature can be, it is still unpredictable and anything can happen. Camping is fun, or at least it can be when the right precautions are taken, so here to help you on your pre-journey packing is a checklist of things you might or might not need.
Camping Essentials – Checklist
| Essentials for Camping – Printable Checklist | |||||||
| Shelter | Cooking | Misc./Optional | |||||
| Tent | ☐ | Water (Water Purification Tablets) | ☐ | Binoculars | ☐ | ||
| Tarp/Tent Diaper | ☐ | Food | ☐ | Insect Repellent | ☐ | ||
| Flysheet | ☐ | Camp stove | ☐ | High-Res Camera | ☐ | ||
| Hammer/Mallet | ☐ | Cooler | ☐ | Asstd. Tools | ☐ | ||
| Sleeping bag(s) | ☐ | Mess kit(s) | ☐ | Playing cards | ☐ | ||
| Air bed (Optional) | ☐ | Charcoal | ☐ | Cell phone | ☐ | ||
| Foam mats | ☐ | Can opener | ☐ | Clothe’s pins | ☐ | ||
| Pillows | ☐ | Aluminum | ☐ | Duct tape | ☐ | ||
| Lantern | ☐ | S’mores | ☐ | Kite | ☐ | ||
| Flashlight | ☐ | Bottle opener | ☐ | Fishing gear | ☐ | ||
| Knife | ☐ | Trash bags | ☐ | Fillet Knife | ☐ | ||
| Safety | Can opener | ☐ | GPS | ☐ | |||
| Personal medication | ☐ | Coffee pot | ☐ | Paper & Pen | ☐ | ||
| Antiseptic cream | ☐ | Cups/mugs | ☐ | Matches | ☐ | ||
| Compass | ☐ | Soap | ☐ | Rope | ☐ | ||
| Tylenol | ☐ | Sponge | ☐ | Sun block | ☐ | ||
| Medical tape | ☐ | Tongs | ☐ | Ice/Ice chest | ☐ | ||
| Lighter | ☐ | Ziploc bags | ☐ | Camp stove | ☐ | ||
| Elastic wrap | ☐ | Folding chairs | ☐ | Bowls | ☐ | ||
| Antibiotic wipes | ☐ | Axe | ☐ | Paper plates | ☐ | ||
| Bandages | ☐ | Fuel | ☐ | Plastic cutlery | ☐ | ||
| Burn ointment | ☐ | Spade/Shovel | ☐ | Hygiene | |||
| Sunburn lotion/Aloe vera | ☐ | Soap | ☐ | ||||
| Snakebite kit | ☐ | Sanitary napkins | ☐ | ||||
| Scissors | ☐ | Toothpaste | ☐ | ||||
| Tweezers | ☐ | Shampoo | ☐ | ||||
| Aspirin | ☐ | Towels | ☐ | ||||
| Sanitary napkins | ☐ | Toilet paper | ☐ | ||||
| Sterile gauze | ☐ | Toothbrush | ☐ | ||||
| Painkiller tablets | ☐ | Wet wipes | ☐ | ||||
| Insect repellant | ☐ | Deodorant | ☐ | ||||
| Hydrogen peroxide | ☐ | ||||||
Shelter/Sleeping Area:
If you plan on going camping, shelter is the most important thing, it provides protection against rain, cold weather, and wind. You need shelter (i.e. a tent) you can’t just sleep in some open, uncovered, and unprotected patch of grass. Yet there are a few things that are important pieces of your complete gear such as: pillows, sleeping bags, foam mats, and a lantern. And for those of you that would feel adventurous enough to try and build your own shelter here is a link on how to do so:
Stay Safe Not Stupid: Before setting out on your adventure always make sure someone knows where you’re going and when you plan to return. Pack a first aid kit, especially if you’re bringing kids with you, of course you would want it with you regardless but it’s definitely not something you would want to forget, especially when considering the plausibility of children accidentally harming themselves. And of course one thing you never want to forget to pack is: daily medication. Have one person responsible for carrying and distributing that said medication throughout the trip.
Cookin’ & Campin’: Cooking and camping go hand in hand, if you’ve had the foresight to pack all the necessary ingredients. There’s really nothing quite like rollin’ back into your tent after a nice hot campfire-cooked meal, then again there’s nothing quite like getting to your campsite and realizing you forgot half of the food you intended to bring! And that’s why a Food Checklist is always a good idea (if not essential) and great for organization. Also please note that carrying a lot of water not only tires you out, but is usually completely unnecessary provided that you know how to purify your own water. The easiest way is to use water purification tablets (easily found at your local grocery store) and another (my personal favorite) method would be to dig a hole with the dimensions of one foot wide by one foot long by one foot deep, you then use a fair sized bowl (fill it once) to fill the hole with water from a pond or stream, then you float the bowl in the water and cover the hole with saran wrap. Evaporation will purify the water, put pebbles on the saran wrap over the bowl to ensure that it drips correctly and voila you have clean water!
Clean, pristine, hygiene: Now even though when camping it’s a fact that you’re going to get dirty, it’s still no excuse for neglecting the little ways to keep yourself relatively clean. Therefore keeping a checklist for hygienic items definitely isn’t a bad idea, and might include: Toothpaste, toothbrush, razor, soap, towel(s), deodorant, and a comb/brush.
Things most people forget: Things you might have not considered essential or just never thought to bring can end up being a pain in the ass without careful consideration, for example you’d be surprised how many people forget to bring an axe, spade/shovel, or even an extra pair of socks! Not to mention other gear like Binoculars, Camera, GPS and/or a compass which really add to the experience. So don’t forget to double check your list and/or add more items that you feel are essential onto it!
These items are just a basic idea of what you might require on your next backwoods adventure, so personalize it! This checklist wasn’t based around you and your immediate needs and therefore is open to customization.
And with that I bid you farewell, stay safe my friends! Written by
