Are you a beginner camping family overwhelmed by all the products available for campers? A couple years ago we were unsure of which items were the best camping products. But now with some camping seasons under my belt, I can confidently share with you my 9 favorite essential camping items you will want to add to your cart before you set up camp.
Camping with a baby or toddler? Read my Favorite Products for Camping with Babies & Toddlers.
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Best Products for Beginner Campers
Camping gear can be overwhelming. So we’ve laid out our 9 favorite general camping essentials that we’ve used time and again.
Best for Camper Setup
Believe me. When you get to your camping spot, you don’t want to spend time messing around with those crank handles to lower the stabilizer jacks. Bring along your DeWalt cordless drill for quick, hassle-free setup. Makes for easy tear down when you’re ready to go home, too! Buy it here on Amazon.
Best for Grilling
What’s one of the BEST parts about camping? The food, of course! You won’t want to cook all your meals over a campfire, but you’ll want to spend time outside. So you’ll need a travel grill. We recommend this Coleman RoadTrip 285 Portable Stand-Up Propane Grill.
It’s small enough to be portable and can even be stashed inside the camper when you’re traveling. But it’s also large enough to grill dinner for a pretty large family. It has a built-in stand that will collapse for easy transporting, and slide-in tables on each end. Use a standard propane fuel tank with this grill.
When you’re ready to start your camping weekend, check out my Easy Weekend Camping Menu with Grocery List.
Best for Drinks
You’ll also want easy access to drinks without the kids tracking dirt and mud through the camper to the fridge. We love our RTIC 45 QT Hard Cooler.
RTIC is priced cheaper than the popular YETI brand, but provides the same rotomolded design that keeps things chilled a long time. This cooler keeps our drinks cold all weekend adding only one big bag of ice before we leave home Friday afternoon.
The 45 QT is a great size for our family of 5, but if you want a larger option, they also offer this 65 QT size. You should also check out the accessories they offer – we love the basket that fits just under the lid for packing lunch meat and cheese for picnics.
Fun tip: Pick up stickers at your vacation spots, and use your cooler as a canvas to document all the great places you’ve been!
Best For Sleep
Standard mattresses in campers can barely be called mattresses. They are more like foam pads. And that’s fine for kids. But us aging parents, we need comfort at the end of a long day exploring the great outdoors. So you’ll want to invest in a new mattress. Depending on the type of bedding your camper has, that may be a standard mattress but be sure to check the sizes because camper beds don’t always align with standard bedding sizes. Our camper has a Murphy bed, so we bought this tri-fold mattress that packs up easy to provide more space in the camper during the day.
Best for a Morning Pick-me-Up
If coffee keeps you going, I recommend stocking your camper with a single-serve coffee maker. It will be convenient to make yourself a quick cup in the morning and stash it back away for space the rest of the day. We’re good with the inexpensive option here, but you could also go with this Keurig.
Best Around the Campfire
Camping chairs are an obvious must have. You’ll be spending most of your time outside, so you’ll definitely want to pack some in your camper’s underneath storage. Take comfort up a notch and grab these rocking camp chairs!
We don’t personally have this product, but my in-laws do and when we camp with them the adults and kids are always fighting over who gets the rockers! 🙂 We are putting this on our list for sure.
Best to Trap the Mud and Dirt
You’re outside, so of course your shoes are going to get dirty. But you don’t want to be tracking that all through the camper and more importantly, you might end up with a muddy site. So you will want to grab a patio mat before your first trip. We use this polypropylene camping mat that sweeps off great and comes with a carrying bag to easily fold up and throw in the camper’s storage right before we leave the site.
Best Picnic Table Accessory
Get yourself a washable/waterproof picnic table cloth AND THEN throw these tablecloth clips in your cart. The wind blowing your tablecloth around is THE WORST. But these cheap little lifesavers are a must-have at your campsite table.
Best for Trash
I recommend grabbing this portable pop-up trash can for your campsite. It has grommets at the bottom to stake it down, collapses easily for transport, and zips up at the top to keep the critters out when you’re asleep or out exploring.
The Last Thing You Need to Know about Camping Products
Of course this isn’t an all-encompassing list of things you’ll need for your first camping trip. This is a just a few of our favorite products. For a complete camping checklist check out my Ultimate Camping List for fully stocking your new camper.
Do you have any of these products? Any other products you love that I missed? Comment below!
And then share this blog post with other camping friends!
These are all great ideas! We did a lot of camping when our children were young (many many years ago). We definitely had the picnic table clamps back in the day and loved them! I do have a rocking chair and it’s great!!