Mag

In the Car
Let’s try to minimise forgetting gear.
No matter how much you plan your trip out, you’ll
always pack too much or not enough and there’ll be
something small and frustrating that you’ll always
forget (that damn tomato sauce). Depending on
what kind of trip you’re planning on doing, and
how long this trip is, you’ll obviously need more or
less equipment. Shorter trips you can cut back on
most of the cooking equipment and just eat more
basic food that doesn’t need cooking, but for longer
trips those cold cans of baked beans get boring
really quick.
Having a good vehicle to travel around in makes
your trip a lot easier in terms of how much
equipment you can take. If you don’t have a
car you can take offroad, having a lot of friends
with four-wheel drives certainly helps. If you’re
planning on going away with a few other people,
set up a shared spreadsheet where you can all
add what gear you’re taking to avoid double-ups.
Having this information also means you know who
forgot certain things and ensure they receive the
appropriate abuse.
At the end of the day, forgetting things often is
what makes trips more memorable with friends,
so don’t sweat the small things. On one of the
first adventures, we had cooked up some 2-minute
noodles, to only realise we had no forks to eat
them with. After throwing abuse at the guy who
was meant to pack them, we dug out some chicken
skewers that we had eaten before, and use the
sticks as chopsticks to eat our noodles.
A lot of camping equipment gets pricey pretty
quickly which can make it difficult buying quality
gear upfront. I believe it’s fine to get average
quality gear first so that you can get everything you
need to go out and explore, then over time upgrade
the things you need the most and you’ll find that
a lot of your average equipment does just fine.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s some absolute garbage
equipment out there that really shouldn’t be on the
shelf, but “it’s all part of the experience”.
When planning, keep a close eye on what the
weather forecast is for everywhere you are going
for the entire time. It’s always handy to bring gear
that is suited for rain and some suited for extreme
heat. If the weather is going to be pouring with
rain the entire time, then you know to pack more
towels, tarps, rain jackets, and weather-resistant
gear than you would if it’s meant to be 40°C.
Investing in a good tent allows you to comfortably
camp in either of those conditions.
Just ensure you have plenty of water, food, first aid,
petrol, and chargers/batteries for your phones, and
you’ll get by safe and sound.
immerse / gear guide