If it's really rainy protect your fire by having two people hold a plane up.

I know some swear by the travel bidet (not for everyone), but for the masses, a pack of biodegradable “flushable” wipes are a great addition to your toiletry kit. Just one or 2 after you’re done with all of your other business leaves you nice and fresh for the day and can bury them if you’re backpacking.

Put your shoes in your tent at night so slugs don't crawl in them. Camping in a national Forest is often free. Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints.

About 2-3 cheap string-lights that run off USB battery packs (EDITed out this: run off the 2x AA-battery-packs). Mulitple light angles is better than a single light source. Cheery and festive. Get a multicolored string, if camping with kids or you are a fun camper.

Also OSMand mapping software, configured with offline maps of your camp area. Install the hillshades and height maps for extra detail. Enable and add an overlay-layer of Satellite data. Then scan your camp area and surrounds while online, so that it will cache the satellite map tiles needed when you are off-grid.

bring extra food for the first timers. they wont bring enough.

Hammock tent. All the advantages of a tent and a hammock.

Don’t have to worry about your tent getting flooded, no need for an air mattress or sleeping pad.

Headtorch.

Hammocks are the best tents, especially for solo camping. Some pack up so small I can fit the hammock, tarp and bug net into the pockets of cargo pants.

Thermo-rest is your best friend, even in a hammock. Having a wind pass under your body will make you real cold.

Scout campsites thoroughly for poison ivy, poison oak, anthills, wasp nests, etc.

Pay attention to sleeping bag ratings and remember that a 0°C rating just means you won't die at that temp, not that you'll be comfortable. Sleeping bags are one of the few things with a strong cost/quality correlation.

Always have rope. Bring lots of rope. Know what makes a good rope.

If you're out bike touring, KOAs almost always have spots set aside for cyclists to camp. Both KOAs and state parks are really useful for showers and clothes washing. Was genuinely surprised how many state parks had both when I toured across the U.S.

If you're in Washington state, the state parks are legally required to find room for you to camp if you rolll up on a bike and they're otherwise full.

Tarps are your friends. Obviously get the footprint sized ones for your tent but bring extras. I like to have one in front of my tent for shoes and things to keep it cleaning going in and out. Or I like to use it to change on if my tent is too small. Great to throw over or wrap things to avoid the dew in the morning. Got to bring a tarp

For anyone reading this thread, my best advice is to learn to identify the different types of camping in order to identify what will be useful information to you. The bushcrafter has a different objective from the van camper, who has a different objective from the ultralight backpacker.

Lay a layer of logs on the ground before making your camp fire on top of it. Ideally larger ones. They'll lift the fire off the damp ground, improve air flow and act as fuel once the fire gets going.

Psychedelics and people you trust

Ear plugs. Because that rustling of leaves is just a raccoon and most definitely not a serial killer. I like wax earplugs for sleeping versus foam.

Maintain hygiene regimens to greatest degree possible. Don't skimp on washing face or brushing teeth that you would typically do at home.

Food makes or breaks a trip for me. The weather could be awful, plans could go awry, but as long as everyone is well fed, there's potential.

I'm not a no-tech purist while camping but do try to use trips as a time to reset tech habits. Can you go for 24 hours without an Internet connected device? Kinda similar to the occasional dry week or break from coffee/caffeine: check in and see how you're interacting with tech.

Have a first aid kit and know how to use the stuff in it.

Pack a book. Everything from hammock backpacking to week-long glamping festivals, I've never regretted bringing one along.

When cooking with a skillet, let the fire die down, gather as many hot coals as possible and set your skillet firm on top your coal pile.

When cooking with a pot, hang it above a low fire, in most cases you wanna make sure the flames aren't licking your pot.

This pic is from my last camping trip, if you wanna know how to build the tripod, there are pleanty of youtube videos on the topic.

• Tiny pop-up tent, easier to carry if you can fit inside
• Headlamps
• Sleeping pad or something to separate you from the cold ass ground
• Don't interact with the cute little bear cubs

You can dispersed camp for free in most national forests and BLM lands. Its pack-in pack-out for the most part but some spots have pit toilets. Freecampsites.net is my go to site for finding free camping

Best time of the year to camp is spring and fall. The nights are cool while the days are warm. You are either too early or too late for mosquitos. It can be less busy as well.

Summer camping gets too hot both during the day and at night.

If you're in bear country, you want to hang your food high from a tree branch. Not right next to the trunk, bears can climb like squirrels. It's really amazing how fast they can climb a tree.

Also hang toiletries; don't keep toothpaste or anything scented in the tent with you.

Watch some primitive/bushcraft survival videos on YouTube. There's a lot of good tips and tricks, especially for when you aren't exactly prepared for camping (emergency situations) and need shelter, fire, food, water, etc.

Favorite channels:

• Bertram - Craft and Wilderness (off-trail camping videos)
• Coalcracker Bushcraft (lots of good info)
• Donnie Dust's Paleo Tracks (primitive tools)
• Primitive Technology (fire by friction, primitive crafting)
• Survivorman - Les Stroud (survival, cooking, history, etc)
• Woodsbound Outdoors (good info and demo)

If you're car camping or RVing, I started bringing my tree limb shears with me camping to cut up kindling from dead branches. So much faster and easier on the shoulder than a hatchet. If they're small enough, breaking them over my knee is fine, but I sometimes find good thick ones and I can't break that sucker down without a sharp tool.

Bring a bucket. Buckets are useful. I have 2 different collapsible kinds, but I also keep a good ol 5 gal paint bucket from the hardware store. It carries wood, water, is a trashcan, can be a seat, used to wash clothes or dishes, can be used as a toilet in an emergency (ideally with a trash bag liner and some kitty litter)...I love buckets.

Use a pill organizer to bring a variety of cooking spices in a tidy lightweight caddy.

Have a good first aid kit always.

Never piss on your camp fire if it's upwind of your tent. - source, was in the scouts, we did this to another patrol. Man, their tent stank.

A lb on your feet is the same as 5 lbs on your back. And bring light shoes for when you've set up camp.

And the chair kit for your thermorest is the best investment you will ever make.

My friends and I just went camping. Instead of bringing eggs in egg cartons, put them in a Blender Bottle. Shake them up for easy scramble eggs and pour!

If you are on a budget, camp in whatever vehicle you already own. I lived in a small car with my wife and cat for several months as we were moving. Learned a ton from “Cheap RV Living” on YouTube.

We had a solar generator with some panels, we cooked using electric skillet, had a twin bed, fairy lights use almost no power, and we had a 12v fridge. It wasn’t that bad but we eventually found a super cheap RV and live in that now.

Bring bug spray.

Get some sort of 5 gallon jug that has an on off valve for water. Helps if you want to wash hands or balls

Pool Noodles - Place them like this in your canopy so they add tension to the roof. This will prevent rain water from collecting near the edge and weighing down the roof.

I always place the entrance to my tent under a canopy. This allows me to to stay dry when entering the tent. It also protects me from the sun. And I can put a rug down in front of my tent to wipe my feet.

If you are using multiple canopies, considering some canopy gutters. They are basically 1 foot by 10 feet strips of tent material that you attach between two canopies. This way you don't have to avoid the drip-strip under two canopies.

Outdoor rugs can help to prevent the ground from becoming a muddy mess. They sell large, lightweight plastic rugs that work very well for this. They can be folded down to a portable size and are very light. They allow water to pass through, so they don't soak it up and become heavy.

I've learned to not put a tarp under my tent, that just traps water between the tent and the tarp. Put a tarp down inside your tent and then put a rug (or towels) on top of that. Nice dry comfy rug in your tent.

Apparently it rains every time I go camping...

good tents are worth the money. The heavy canvas ones are great if not too far from a car, but too heavy to carry far.

• Don't go to bed with the same clothes you wore during the day. The perspiration will make you really cold at night
• Even though it's warm during the day, don't assume it'll be warm at night. The temp differences can be quite drastic
• pack your clothes for the next day in your sleeping bag so they're warm in the morning. I usually either roll them up and use them as a pillow, or put them deep inside my sleeping bag by my feet.

If you go for a tent, first don't forget the tent pegs, and then it's always comfortable having a tiny mallet to plant them, rather than using a rock or your bare hands.

Minivans and specifically the no longer made grand caravan (the ruined the design a bit with the pacifica). For two people you can do no prep camping. Throw whatever you think you might want in the back. Get to site and backup to the firepit. Throw all the stuff you brought in the driver and passenger seat and open the back. If its raining you can sit on the rear seat facing backwards and the rear door gives you shelter. At night you can just sleep in the back of the van since everything you brought is now in the front seats. Because you can flip seats up and down and such you can sit as you like and easily get the sleeping room. Done some very low prep camping this way. On another note the minivan has about as good a mileage as you get from a non car.

1. It's not about the destination, its about the journey

2.Things will go wrong but don't let that ruin your trip, see #1