One of the most essential items to carry with you when you travel is Camping Gear.  This will be extremely handy in case you do not get accommodation wherever you go.  If the hotels and lodges are full during a busy season, you do not fret and worry.  You can retreat the countryside of the same city and stay amidst nature.  You will then feel thankful that did not get a place to stay at in the hotels.  There is no point in being cocooned in a hotel when you can enjoy the beauty of a place in its natural settings.  You will be happy to save lot of money too in this manner!

A good tent is important because you never know what the weather may do and a tent is a great way to ensure you stay warm and dry.  You will also need some sort of light source for at night.  You may choose a lamp or a flashlight, either are great.  A full body warmer can heat up to 150 degrees and last as long as 20 hours, ensuring a warm sleeping environment.  Rain ponchos are great for unexpected downpours and help you to stay dry.  A good quality, soft sleeping bag is a great way to ensure warmth and a comfortable night’s rest.  Lastly, a cooler is very crucial.  You will need to bring food and this is a great way to transport it and ensure it stays fresh.

Camp stoves run the gamut from $30 all the way up to $300 or more. They come in a variety of sizes and styles. A good way to measure the quality and power of a camp stove is the length of time it takes to boil a pot of water. This time is listed on the product specifications when youÕre shopping for stoves. A good camp stove can boil a pot of water in about 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

These are just some of the basic things one needs to know when looking for camping stoves that are being sold in the market. The type of stove that will suits you normally depends largely on the types of trip that you intend to take as well as the number of people in your group who will also join the trip. Last but not least, you should also consider the climate and condition where the camping will be held.

What about drinking safe water? This is the main concern. Boiling the water takes a lot of time and water gets over soon. And repeating the process will annoy you a lot. In this case a water filter is required. These days you get many water filters specially meant for your camping purpose. They are portable and easy to carry as they are light in weight. This small thing can protect you by giving 95% pure water.

It would be best to carry a cooler on your trip to keep liquids and other items cool and healthy. There are special coolers available which keeps ice up to about six days at 90 F. These coolers can store about 70 cans of different liquids or items with ice and some of them have a handle and a wheel. You do not end up lugging it; instead, you can easily pull it over any terrain with the help of the handle. You can store sufficient soft drinks and other items and keep your family happy and satisfied.

It turned out that where we were camping was below a mountain ridge and we saw some stuff moving on the ridge in the evening and in the morning but we couldn’t make out what it was. We found out from a neighboring camping group the later that there was a family of mountain lions on the ridge with cubs and everything. They had spent all last night and the next morning watching them. We, without our binoculars, were crushed. So now, we always remember to bring them.

You should review the binocular available in the market before buying one.  A good binocular really helps in any trip that you plan to start. You should always carry a compact and good quality of binocular ready.  Most of the times you will travel to place like beaches, at beach you cannot see much with your eyes but with the help of a good binocular you can enjoy viewing beach from closed angles.

Find out what type of batteries your flashlight uses and bring extras.  You do not want to end up with dead ones and nothing to replace them with.  Consider headlamp style flashlights if you plan to hike, climb or fish in the dark.  If you need a flashlight with a lot of power, you may want to consider a more industrial type brand.  These lights can be more expensive, but are worth it in the long run.  Before camping, test out your flashlight in your backyard or other dark area.  Determine how far the light shines and judge if it will be sufficient for your camping trip to ensure a great camping experience.

We returned to the campsite site at dusk to cook a nice steak dinner on the grill. Looking up, I was shocked to see a large bear lumbering towards us and whispered urgently, “Honey, there’s a bear”.  With the day’s previous joking in mind, he chuckled and said “Oh yeah, where?”.  I nodded my head behind him, and he turned around to discover a black bear standing not 10 feet away from us.

He picked up the flashlight and chased off the bear by yelling at it to go away.  We quickly finished up with dinner, and then I nearly hurled myself into the tent.  Pulling down the zipper securely, I announced that finally we were safe from the bear.  My boyfriend didn’t have the heart to tell me that a few microns of nylon were not about to keep a determined bear out of the tent.  But luckily we had taken all of the right precautions such as hanging our food from a branch, so we had no unexpected visitors that night.