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Camping is all fun and games until you realize you forgot your sleeping bag.
- Planning your first camping trip isn't all about floating down the river or cooking s'mores over a campfire.
- It's easy to forget essentials like sleeping pads, pots, and fire-starting supplies when you're focused on all the fun you're about to have.
- From sleeping bags and mats to portable cookware and cleaning products, these 27 pieces of gear are essential for your first camping trip.
Sitting around the campfire and roasting s'mores under a moonlit sky or spending the day floating down the river is what camping dreams are made of.
That's exactly what I pictured on my first camping trip when I was 18. Little did I know that I needed something soft to pad my sleeping bag, coal to cook food, and soap to clean the one pan I managed to pack - for about 10 people might I add. Yeah, I forgot to pack pretty much everything.
In the years since, I've learned a lot about what basic supplies and gear I need to be comfortable from my many camping trips along the Delaware River all the way to Death Valley. I've camped in sunny weather that never dropped below the 70s and in the freezing rain alike.
Save yourself the embarrassment (and sore back) of making the same mistakes with this list camping gear and supplies - all affordable and under $100 too. Trust us now and thank us later.
Here are 27 pieces of camping gear you'll need to have a fun and comfortable camping trip:
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