BootsnAll Travel Community

Reading the threads here I haven't seen many mentions of hauling along camping gear. I have some ultralight gear and I'm going back and forth about whether to bring any of it. I did need a sleeping bag and cooking gear in New Zealand, and would like camping to be an option in other places. On the other hand, realistically I'll be spending at least 90% of my time in hostels or organized treks where I don't need my own gear.

What's best? Just leave it all at home? Bring a light sleeping bag and do without the rest?

What I have would add about 5 kilos to my pack. I have enough room for it, but won't have much to spare.

Leave camping gear at home.

But do bring along a fresh pillowcase to use with skanky hostel pillows.

I always bring my camping gear. It's liberating - despite carrying 5 kg more. Yes, 80% of your trip, you won't need it. But the remaining times will be excactely the ones that everybody else misses out on and that will be unique to your trip.

Bring a sleeping bag. The rest is mostly unnecessary.

You don't really need a stove for camping/backpacking. You can usually do without a tent. etc.

You should be carrying things like knife, matches, etc anyway. You can make do. It won't be amazing, LL Bean catalogue camping, but you'll have fun.

We travel on bikes, so spend a fair amount of our time camping - which means we have the whole shebang. But if you're backpacking around using buses and trains for transport, realistically where would you camp? the only times we camp is when we are outside cities out in the boonies - and you can't get to those places if you're traveling on buses. When I travelled on busses, I always made sure I had a sleeping bag and used that a lot, but I can't think of when I would have used a tent.

I've often wondered about this one myself. I think I'd come down on the side of bringing a superlight sleeping bag I have (I could have done with this on some cool nights on Indian trains last year). As for tents etc I've convinced myself that if I'm going somewhere where it is an option then I'll be able to hire/buy something at the time. Hopefully...

Thanks everyone! I have a 45 F rated bag that packs pretty small into a pillow-like shape, I'll probably bring that, my plastic spoon/fork/knife combo thing, and possibly a water purifier. Although my tent is pretty small and light as far as tents go, it takes up a good chunk of my backpack. I can't take a real knife on the plane anyway (I don't plan on checking any luggage) so I'll be waiting until I need one before I buy on the road. I'll practice making my own stove should the need arise:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Can-Stove/

That's pretty similar to my setup Reducto. Generally, I'll bring:

- a poncho/tarp. I leave the rain jacket at home. use the poncho to cover the pack when hiking around. unbutton it and set it up as a tarp when camping.

- a 38 deg down sleeping bag. only weighs about 1.5 lbs and packs down to nothing

- MSR Miox and some aqua mira. less space and weight than a filter

- a 1 person mosquito net. again packs down to nothing and doesn't even weigh half a pound. really only need it to cover the top portion of the sleeping bag and can easily use for two people if necessary

- same deal on the alcohol stove. I've made them out of cat food cans using a can opener as well.

The benefit is I can still fit all this down into a carry-on size pack. The pack does expand out a little bit bigger when I need it. This equipment is enough to get by in most places. And, generally, if you end up in a place that is known for trekking (Himalayas, Patagonia, etc) and you want a little more comfortable and bomber setup, it's always plenty easy to find stuff to rent to fill in the voids.

For our RTW starting off in October this year, we have always been planning on taking pretty much full gear for camping - tent, bags, pads, stove, water purifier, cookwear... all lightweight stuff, but obviously still stuff. I've been wondering lately about the opportunity cost of having it versus not - like elAdi said, it will hopefully give you the chance to have those amazing times that you wouldn't otherwise be able to experience have if you were without. (Visions of sunrises viewed while camped out on the bluff overlooking the sea...) There are a lot of parks and wild places on the list, so hopefully the opportunities will be there.

My feeling now is that it will stay in the pack, but I guess if we change our minds we always have Fed Ex, eh?