Sunflower’s Car Camping Checklist
The Items We Recommend to Up Your Car-Camping Game
Car camping is typically a family-friendly camping experience that is easier to plan. The weight of your gear, the distances of your hikes, whether you can refill water bottles — these worries are more or less eliminated when you have a vehicle with space to haul it all.
Sunflower turned to our Outdoor Shop team to compile this go-to list of items to own and pack to make car camping a success, whether on your own, with friends, or alongside family. The number of sleepers, the hydration system that works for where you're going, the temperature, and whether you are a sleeping bag or hammock fan can determine what on this list you decide to bring. Any links below will take you to the page on our site where you can peruse our online offerings.
We’re always here to help — come into Sunflower Outdoor and Bike or give us a call to help you find the right items for your car camping adventure! We often have new items available only in the shop, and we genuinely enjoy discussing and ideating on upcoming trips. We even have local recommendations about where to park and pitch your tent.
Shelter When Car Camping
Tent: From full family-sized tents with porticos to single-sleeper options, you’ll want the right-sized tent to provide shelter. When you’re car camping, weight isn’t as big a deal, so you can opt for the space and protection from the elements you and your co-campers prefer.
Sleeping Bags or Blankets: Find the sleeping bag you need by the temperature rating the bag is designed to be used in. From heavyweight to light blankets, you can find the right range for the area, elevation, and time of year you’ll be camping.
Sleeping Pads: Get off the hard ground with a sleeping pad under your bag — you won’t regret it (and your back will thank you). Especially helpful when it is cold outside to keep a layer between bodies and the cold ground.
Pillows: You can pack pillows from home or grab a more compact and compressible pillow that also works well for hiking and backcountry camping.
Hydration While Car Camping
Water Bottles: Bring enough water bottles for everyone, taking into consideration hiking, kayaking, or other activities you have planned.
Big Water Reservoir: Bring enough water to drink, cook, and wash dishes and even clothes if you'll be out for a while. Bring more than you think you need (bottled water doesn’t go bad).
Water Bladder for Backpacks: This is optional, based on how much hiking and how much water you’ll need. But, if you’ll be hiking and carrying water for a long time or for multiple people, this is a super convenient way to do it.
Cooking When Car Camping
Cooler: Find a cooler that won’t leak and, ideally, keep ice frozen for most if not all of the time you’re camping. Store food in water-tight containers to keep food dry as the ice melts.
Camp Stove: A propane-powered cooking stove (and optional water boiling system for coffee or rehydrating dehydrated food) makes feeding hungry campers easier to accomplish. Cast-iron pans and your regular pots from home are easy to use over a camp stove, and you won't need any other special equipment often used when cooking over a campfire (although that is also a fun experience.) Don’t forget the canisters of propane! Disclaimer: We do not recommend that you replace toasting your s’mores marshmallows with a camp stove.
Dehydrated Food (optional): Dried foods and meals can make snacking (think dried fruit and nuts) and cooking (think fully dehydrated meals or oatmeal for breakfast) fast and simple. You can also rehydrate hummus, beans, or other parts of a meal to speed up feeding time.
Cookware: Once you’ve planned what you’re going to eat and the food you’ll be bringing, pack the pots and pans and cooking utensils that will work best with your planned cooking method, whether over a fire or on a camp stove. You can use specific camping gear (which is handy for keeping your camping equipment together when not in use and making packing more efficient) or bring items from home you don’t mind getting a little extra gritty while you're out.
Mess Kit: Pack your plates, bowls, cups, and eating utensils — consider some handy tin or plastic options for durable, lightweight, and seemingly indestructible options. Rimmed plates, collapsible bowls and cups, and other options can keep packing light and save space.
Hygiene/Safety When Car Camping
First Aid Kit: You just never know — get a first aid kit to handle minor cuts and scrapes and potential emergency care.
Flashlights, Headlamps, and/or Lanterns: No one likes to stumble to find a bathroom at night. Lanterns help keep a tent or campsite well-lit, headlamps are convenient for individual use, and flashlights can help guide the way for one or two folks at a time.
Camp Soap + Sponge or Scrubber: Pack body, hand, and dish soap that will be gentle on the planet. Specific options have been developed to leave a light footprint and cause little-to-no harm to plants and wildlife.
Camp Towels: Towels designed to dry fast are best; bring towels for bodies, hands, and dishes.
Sunscreen and Bug Repellent: Prevent uncomfortable sunburn and bug bites with regular application of sunscreen and bug repellent.
Comfort/Activities to Make Car Camping Even Better
Camp Chairs: Sitting around a campfire or lounging at the campsite is really no fun without chairs. Bonus points for ones that rock and/or have cupholders. Chairs for kiddos with built-in mini tables can be especially useful.
Hammocks: Highly recommended for those seeking the most luxurious and relaxing camping experiences. (Don’t forget a book and/or napping necessities to maximize the hammock’s potential.)
Backpacks for Hiking: An option if you’re planning to walk and/or hike while camping. You can find a pack that fits your build to keep the weight of the pack evenly distributed with adjustable waist and chest straps. Select your backpack based on how much you need to carry, whether you want a built-in hydration system, or even a frame to hold a small child.
Camp Table: When a picnic table isn’t available, a camp table gives you space to prep food, eat food, play cards, write journal entries, and basically anything else requiring a flat surface.
Battery-Operated Fan: This helps keep you cool if you’re camping while it’s hot outside, keeps air moving comfortably in a tent as you sleep, and can also help keep bugs at bay.
Blankets: If you don’t need them for sleeping, you may still want a blanket to spread on the ground for relaxing (they are a great addition for a camping pup). They also help add warmth to the part of you not facing a campfire or as the night cools down.
Bug Net: You can set bug nets up over plates of food or around where you’re sitting and sleeping in areas with heavy mosquito, fly, or other biting and itchy insect populations. You can use one perfectly sized to cover a hammock, too.
Tarp or Canopy: Great to hang over a space you want to stay dry and/or to provide shade. Lay a tarp down under your tent to protect the tent fabric and add a barrier between you and the ground, lay one out under a camp blanket, or lay one down to set things (including you) down to keep them from getting dirty.