There’s a 10 essentials list for hiking and backpacking—but what’s absolutely essential for camping? Put on my list of essentials these give items that add convenience and comfort: a super bright lantern; a lightweight, collapsible chair and small table; a soft-sided, highly portable cooler; and a tiny charger to resuscitate your phones. They will become staples of my trips ranging from car camping to rafting.
Gear Review: Big Agnes Hole in the Wall Jacket
Down Jacket
Big Agnes Hole in the Wall Jacket
$220, 14 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
bigagnes.com
When I unzipped my sleeping bag after a night spent under the stars at nearly 11,000 feet by Columbine Lake in Sequoia National Park in August, I wasn’t thinking about what’s inside the new Hole in the Wall Jacket. Cocooned warmly inside my bag, I had been hammered by strong gusts all night; and with that cold wind still blowing when I woke up, I didn’t want to get out of it. But I pulled on this fat puffy and all but forgot about the wind—reminding me that sometimes the characteristics that make for a good puffy jacket are what you can’t see.
Gear Review: Big Agnes Big Easy chair kit
Backcountry Camp Chair
Big Agnes Big Easy chair kit
$40-$45, 1 lb. 1 oz. (20-inch-wide model, including mesh stuff sack).
Sizes: 20 and 25 inches wide
moosejaw.com
I am loath to carry any superfluous weight backpacking, but this is one piece of non-essential gear I virtually never backpack without: The pound it adds to my pack is well worth the comfort and rest I gain in camp. Just this year, I’ve used it on backpacking trips in Utah’s Coyote Gulch, Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains, Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness, and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks, but I’ve also brought it on innumerable past backpacking trips.
Ask Me: Got a Family Backpacking Tent Recommendation?
Hi Michael,
We discovered your website about a year ago, and have loved getting inspired by your stories!
We have planned a family backpacking trip on the Teton Crest Trail this August, based on your past trip, and need to replace our old tent. Our kids are ages 8 and 10, and we need something that will fit the four of us, as well as being light enough to be reasonable to backpack with. We do trips regularly in the mountains around home (Aspen, CO) and in the Utah desert, in spring through late fall. Occasionally we’re out in snow, and sometimes amidst serious bugs. Can you recommend anything in particular that you’ve tried and liked?
Gear Review: Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 4 Tent
Tent
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL 4
$600, 5 lbs. 10 oz. (tent, fly, poles)
bigagnes.com
My wife and I are delighted that our kids are big enough to backpack and are eager hikers. But they’re both still grade-schoolers—they can’t carry much yet. She and I still haul virtually all of our family’s gear and food. How far our kids can hike is no longer the limiting factor in our family backpacking trips; it’s how much she and I can carry. Now this incredibly light, low-bulk, four-person tent has changed the calculus of backpacking for us.