CAMPING | What Things Do Campers Most Commonly Forget To Take Camping With Them?

August 24, 2023 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Camping Features, Camping Tips & Advice, Homepage Feature, Tips & Advice

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What’s the most vital or inconvenient thing you’ve ever left at home or forgotten to do before a camping trip? Here I share some of the idiot things I’ve left at home and dig into some of the things people most frequently forget on camping trips…

We’ve all been there. We rock up to the campsite looking forward to a few blissful days of minimal stress only to open the boot of the car and proceed to have a minor Menty B as we realise with horror that we’ve forgotten something vital.

The ironic truth of being a camping ‘expert’

Despite being a so-called camping ‘expert’ and spending the last 30 years of my life camping at every given opportunity and writing about it for the last 13 years, these are some of the things I’ve forgotten to take camping with me in the last few years:

I either inexplicably pack enough knickers for a month, or none at all

Mallet, tent pegs, kettle(!), bin bags, gas canister, pillows, water carrier and underwear (I either inexplicably pack enough knickers for a month, or none at all).

When I say last few years, that’s not entirely accurate. They are all things I’ve forgotten in the last 6 months…most of them on the same ridiculous solo camping trip 😬

The ironic downside of camping so often is that instead of making me super organised, I’m now so blasé that I just assume I’ve magically got everything I need.

Camping in the forest — *A very recent solo camping trip fiasco*

Perhaps the worst thing I forgot though was on a group camping trip a good few years ago and one of my friends was borrowing a tent from me.

A brand-new factory-packed tent often fits snugly inside a tent bag, getting it back in after it’s been used is largely impossible, so, I sometimes keep the poles or pump separately… you can see where this is going now can’t you?

Yep, I took a tent for my friend, but it was useless without the sodding poles that were still at home chilling in the garage.

Lesson learned! I now (almost) always check inside my tent bag to ensure the poles or pump are inside and I also have a permanent pack of emergency tent pegs stowed in my car.

Am I the only camping idiot out there?

This got me thinking though, am I the only camping idiot out there? Having lent and given things to other campers who’ve forgotten essentials in the past though, I suspected not, so I did a bit of research to find out some of the things that are most frequently forgotten and left at home by campers.

*I always seem to be able to remember bunting and Prosecco. Priorities right?*

Things Campers Frequently Forget

Tent pegs and/or mallet
Lighter or matches
Lantern/torch
Air bed pump
Toilet roll
Sunscreen and bug-repellent
Camping chairs
Cooking fuel
Bin bags
Cooking pans, pots and/or eating utensils
Waterproofs/wellies
Extra clothing layers
Phone charger
Towel
Pillow
Washing up equipment
Hiking boots
Sunglasses
Prescription medications and/or first aid items

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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