Newanderthal
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On every camping trip, someone forgets something. It's the nature of the activity. To help with this, we make lists, checking off each item as we pack it. The only problem with this is that we often can't find what we're looking for or we forget to write something on the list. Even if you get everything, the packing process takes all day, if not several days.
It doesn't have to be that difficult. On average it takes me 15 minutes to get my gear ready for a trip. It's not that I'm fast. It's that all my gear is ready to go. All I have to do is load it.
Here's how it works.
For backpacking, everything I need is in stuff sacks. I got several drawstring bags from Academy. Food goes into one. My cooking setup (alcohol stove, fuel, lighter, pot, spork, windscreen) goes into another. First aid kit is in a zipper seal bag. Small items like bug repellent, headlamp, extra lighter, iodine tablets, etc. goes into another. Clothes go into another, and so on. There are few things in my pack that isn't contained in a stuff sack. When I get ready to go, I simply grab the individual bags and shove them into my pack. All the stuff sacks are kept in one big box along with my sleeping bag, pad and water bottles.
If you're doing truck camping, the easiest thing is to buy Sterilite containers from Wal-Mart. Get the kind with the latch-on lids. Use them to organize your camping gear. One can contain your kitchen items like paper plates, seasonings, utensils, etc. Put clothes in another. Tents and tarps can go into another container. Do this to keep everything organized. When you're ready to go, you have rectangular containers that stack neatly in the cargo space of your SUV or your trunk. If you have a truck, they can ride in the back and you don't have to worry about the contents getting wet if you pass through rain.
I've found that this setup works great. All my gear is stored in one central location and if a friend calls me up at work thirty minutes before I get off and tells me that the guys are going camping, I can be ready to hit the road less than a half hour after I get home (with the exception of stopping at the store for a bag of chips and some Captain Morgan)
It doesn't have to be that difficult. On average it takes me 15 minutes to get my gear ready for a trip. It's not that I'm fast. It's that all my gear is ready to go. All I have to do is load it.
Here's how it works.
For backpacking, everything I need is in stuff sacks. I got several drawstring bags from Academy. Food goes into one. My cooking setup (alcohol stove, fuel, lighter, pot, spork, windscreen) goes into another. First aid kit is in a zipper seal bag. Small items like bug repellent, headlamp, extra lighter, iodine tablets, etc. goes into another. Clothes go into another, and so on. There are few things in my pack that isn't contained in a stuff sack. When I get ready to go, I simply grab the individual bags and shove them into my pack. All the stuff sacks are kept in one big box along with my sleeping bag, pad and water bottles.
If you're doing truck camping, the easiest thing is to buy Sterilite containers from Wal-Mart. Get the kind with the latch-on lids. Use them to organize your camping gear. One can contain your kitchen items like paper plates, seasonings, utensils, etc. Put clothes in another. Tents and tarps can go into another container. Do this to keep everything organized. When you're ready to go, you have rectangular containers that stack neatly in the cargo space of your SUV or your trunk. If you have a truck, they can ride in the back and you don't have to worry about the contents getting wet if you pass through rain.
I've found that this setup works great. All my gear is stored in one central location and if a friend calls me up at work thirty minutes before I get off and tells me that the guys are going camping, I can be ready to hit the road less than a half hour after I get home (with the exception of stopping at the store for a bag of chips and some Captain Morgan)
