Ultimate Camping Setup
Hate camping? This might change your mind ;)
We have camped a lot over the years, but never have we camped like this before! We aren’t even sure you can consider it camping when you have this setup! Here are the items we took with us. If you dislike camping, these will make you feel like you never left home.
You’ll notice some of these items are more expensive, personally what we love to do is camp, so we invest in higher quality gear. The phrase: “buy cheap, buy it twice” is very relevant when it comes to outdoor gear that is being hit by the elements.
Disclaimer: some of these items WERE gifted, but after using them we would 100% spend our own money on them and recommend it to our friends, family and you! We will never recommend anything we don’t personally love and if we end up not liking something down the road? You will know!
Tent | Zempire Pro TL V2 Air Tent
We heard about air tents and instantly were drawn in on the brand Zempire out of New Zealand. Believe it or not, they even have tents bigger than this! The materials and craftsmanship on this tent (and all of their equipment) is next level! We were blown away by all of the different features this tent offers. The materials, the zippers, the thought behind the way things are constructed - it is clearly very well thought out. When gear has a higher price tag, these are things that are VERY important - you want to spend the money and have it LAST and do what you expect!
The tent comes with a manual air pump, but if you want to speed up the process they also offer this 12V Tent Airpump
Sleeping | Monsta Bed Queen Mattress
Maybe even more impressive than the tent itself was the queen Mattress… you want to talk about comfort? This is hands down the best air mattress out there! Even if you don’t want to go camping, this air mattress if the perfect addition for your house if you want to spoil guests with the best night’s sleep of their life. We got home to our bed and laid down and said, “dang that zempire mattress was nice” when does that ever happen???? hahah
Use the manual air pump to blow it up or go with their small compact Monsta air mattress pump
Camp Tables
If you’re looking for camp tables, look no further. We added three different Zempire camp tables into the mix and they will make you say “wow” as you set them up for the first time. They are high quality, compact, and super easy to take down and setup. Bonus, they come with high quality carrying cases for easy transport. Notice the phrase high quality is said over and over again, it truly is!!!!!!! Also can’t emphasize enough how easy everything is to set up and take down.
Kitpac Pro Round Camp Table | Camp Table | Ecofold Camp Kitchen
Seating
Let’s be honest, if you don’t have the right chair while you’re camping, it completely changes the whole experience. We have tried just about any chair you can think of, and these are our favorites.
The 3 best camp chairs for any adventure
Having a good camp chair is a NECESSITY. Over the years we swapped the traditional pop up chair for chairs that offer more comfort, durability, and practicality.
The newest addition to the mix is our Camp Couch which instantly leveled up our camping status and comfort level. Durable, good for tall people, and lots of pockets for organization in or around camp. We never like when you have a couch or something and it has a low back, we find we don’t actually sit there often. This one has a higher back, isn’t too low to the ground and is ACTUALLY comfortable. I read reviews for about 2 hours before choosing to buy this one and I am super happy with the decision!
Our 6 month old also just used his camp chair for the first time! If you have a baby who loves to camp, you’ll need this!
Power & Electronics
We are all for unplugging and disconnecting, but sometimes it’s just nice to have some power. Especially when you are keeping your food cold with 12V fridge! In our opinion having a backup power source, camping or not, is important.
We have been in our fair share of “extreme” storms and being self reliant is always important to us. It just so happens that being storm ready also sets you up for success when you’re camping! Here’s what we took with us:
Staying stress free during power outages
Power outages and storms go hand in hand. We always want to feel prepared for anything and over the years we’ve accumulated a few gadgets that make us feel confident in case our electric goes out for an extended period of time. Funny thing is, these are all items we use on a daily basis when we are living in our school bus or on a camping trip.
Power Station & Solar
These are a NECESSITY for everyone! We personally have two different power stations, but typically take our Aferiy with us on camping trips because we also have a solar panel to charge it. For another great option, check out this ANKER SOLIX. It also has the option for a solar panel input. We use this to charge everything from our coffee maker to our Starlink Internet.
Fridge/Freezer
We ditched the ice coolers years ago and have been using a 12v fridge/freezer every since. Because we normally live in our converted school bus, buying bags of ice every other day to keep our food cold just wasn’t an ideal situation. We have also found this fridge to be great on road trips in our Subaru, or when going to a grocery store and traveling a bit back to keep our stuff cold still!
Other camp items
Some other items to consider are below. These aren’t by any means “necessary” but they do make the camping experience that much better!
Blankets
Lights
Kitchen
This is just about everything we had with us, if you have any other questions on camp favorites please let us know, we would be happy to give you our thoughts!
We have been camping together for over 6 years, doing things outdoors is apart of our job and because of that we do have a lot of nicer gear and wide variety because of all the adventures we do. You do not NEED nice gear to get outdoors! Don’t let the price tags of things discourage you from getting started! Check facebook marketplace, thrift stores and places like Walmart for great starter items to camp! Another time that we ALWAYS get some of our bigger ticket items is during the bi-annual REI sales where you can get 20% of a full priced item.