Who’s bringing what?
1. Camp Gear – This is your personal gear. At the very least bring:
- a tent
- sleeping bag
- sleeping mat
- tarp (to lay underneath your tent)
- extra clothes
Remember, some people may have extra gear. Ask if they can share what they have with others, especially those going for the first time. If someone has a large tent, having multiple people sleeping together cuts down on things to pack into the car. At the same time, some like their privacy. Check out the Shelter section for more information on different types of tents.
2. Camp Food – Divvying up who’s buying the food can become problematic with a large group of people. The easiest ways that we’ve found are:
- Have one or two people be in charge of the food. Have them purchase it at most, a few days before leaving, so as to not have certain foods spoil. It’s easier to have all the food together in one place and then to pack it all up in one cooler. Then you divide the total cost spent versus the amount of people camping.
- Everyone goes shopping together right before going to the campsite.
Remember: Have a premade shopping list made-up that everyone agrees with and find out if someone doesn’t eat a certain food/meat or is allergic to anything. Head over to the Food section for Camp Food Ideas.
3. Alcohol – Have each car be in charge of their own alcohol. Also, buying mini kegs instead of bottles and cans, greatly reduces the amount of trash that accumulates over the trip. Know that if you run out of alcohol, depending on where you’re camping, the stores may close early.
TIP: Buy a Six Pack of Different Bottles (Brands) of Beer. Buy a bunch of mini kegs. Now each person in the group can refill their beer bottle. They also know it’s their bottle because of the brand of beer (label).
Planning the Trip with the Group
- Email (Gmail)
- Group Text Messages
- Skype
- Chat Rooms – Start a free private chat room. Send a request to everyone going for all to be in the chatroom at a certain time and have a discussion. (e.g., Hey Everyone! Let’s all log in to Chatzy on June 8th, at 8 P.M. We’ll talk about what we have and what we’re missing. Talk to you guys then!) Chatzy is a free private chat room that I’ve used and had a good experience with.
Garbage Disposal
Disposing of trash can be a problem when primitive camping. See what stores are within driving distance and ask places that have a dumpster if you could throw your trash in there. We’ve done it before and had success. Sometimes you go and there are no places to throw out your trash, that’s when you have to make room in your car and carry the trash home with you. I’ve only had to do this once as there were no stores open and it was past season.
Going to the Bathroom
You will be defecating and urinating in nature. Do it far away enough from where everyone is camping (at least 100 feet) and at least 200 feet away from sources of water. Place a shovel and toilet paper near a tree. Let everyone know that when they need to go to the bathroom, that that’s where everything is and to put it back when they’re done. When defecating, take the shovel and toilet paper, find a nice place in the woods away from everyone, and dig a hole between 6-12 inches deep. Do your business and then cover the hole up. Remember where you went.