Camping Essentials to Maximise your Car Boot Storage

Packing your car boot storage is like playing a game of Tetris before driving off on a camping trip. 

It’s always best to prepare and plan a camping checklist before packing. The factors you need to consider for your plan are:

• Climate and weather conditions
• Number of camping days
• Number of people to feed
• Size of your car boot storage
• Basic needs such as shelter, bedding, lighting, health, food and water

Here is a rundown of the camping essentials for up to a family of 4 people trip:

Sleeping Gear

Pack:

• Sleeping bags –
  Lightweight thermal sleeping bags of adequate warmth level to sleep peacefully at night.
• Self-Inflatable pillows and camp mats –
  Ditch the air pumps! There are self-inflatable pillows and camping mats that provide cushion padding and can be manually rolled up for convenient storage.

Find sleeping gear from Camping Country Superstore here

Tent

A 2 to 4 person tent that is easy to set up and flat packed into a bag. Find Tents from Oztent Australia here

Water

Water is vital for everyday drinking and cooking meals. Bringing water bottles can be heavy and bulky. There are water purification tablets that you can buy at your local pharmacist or supermarket. Otherwise if you have enough room in your car boot, bring the water bottles.

Food and Cooking Supplies

Pack:

• Lightweight dinnerware sets (plates or bowls, cutlery, utensils and cups etc)
• A small cooking pan or pot
• A small esky

Find Cooking Equipment Suppliers here

Consider bringing all-rounder food supplies that are convenient and have multiple uses for recipes. E.g. ‘bread’ for breakfast and making sandwiches for lunch.

Most NSW Holiday Parks have established BBQ areas and camp kitchens for you to cook meals.

Backpack

Pack your basic clothing, swimming costume, hiking shoes, sandals, jacket and any other clothing you need that fits into your backpack.

Foldable Furniture

Pack:

• Foldable small table for setting up your own camp kitchen
• Foldable camping chairs 

Find Foldable Camping Furniture from Camping Country Superstore here

Lamp / Torch

Light is necessary if you are camping in a remote dark environment.

Pack:

• Camping lamp –
  Try to fully electric charge your lamp via wall socket a day before your trip. If your camping lamp has an integrated solar panel, this helps with the power charging boost too.
• Torch –
  Most torches operate on batteries. Make sure to bring an extra set just in case your torch battery goes flat.

Find Lamps and Torches from Perception Lighting here

First Aid Kit

Bring a First Aid Kit that contains antiseptics, medicines (for fevers and insect biting incidents), bandages and sunscreen to ensure minor injuries are covered.

More Information

• ‘How to Become a Minimalistic Camper’ by Hema Maps
• ‘Camping Like A Boss – Equipment Rundown for Family Adventures’ by the Blonde Nomads