15 Essential Camping Gear Items for Summer Adventures

Summer is right around the corner, and with that comes prime camping season. Whether you’re camping in a tent, RV, van, travel trailer, or something else, these are the items we’ve found essential after decades of camping.

Having these key pieces of gear around camp keeps us enjoying the warm days and long evenings in nature.

1. Flying Camera

Being able to capture our adventures is something that we’re super passionate about. Heck, we have a whole YouTube channel dedicated to that. We love being able to look back on the places we’ve visited and memories we’ve created, but we don’t always love taking away from the moment by having to fumble around with a camera.

The HOVERAir X1 allows us to record moments without taking away from what we’re doing. Set it on one of the tracking modes, launch it, sit back, relax, and capture your memories. We especially love using this for hiking, since it will fly along behind or next to us, capturing us on the trail.

Get $20 off with our code ADVENTURE: https://tr.ee/WaBYXO

2. TemboTusk Skottle Grill

We love cooking outside, and the TemboTusk Skottle makes it fun and easy. We’ve been using this Skottle to cook most of our camp meals for over 5 years.

It packs down small, runs off of propane, and cooks everything from tacos to stir fry to popcorn (yes, popcorn!). Plus, clean-up is quick. Just scrape, wipe, and stash.

3. Propane FireCan and Grill

With more and more fire bans lasting longer in the summer, this is our favorite way to make sure we can still have heat, ambience, and an additional way to grill.

The Ignik FireCan and Grill packs up small, is super durable, and provides a great way to grill meat or veggies. It gives you that delicious flame-broiled flavor without any additional cooking oil or grease.

We love fueling this with the Ignik Refillable Propane Tank. It’s about the equivalent of five of those green propane bottles (we all know which ones we’re talking about), and it saves a lot of money and waste you would otherwise have.

4. 12V Fridge and Freezer

Gone are the days of having to keep a cooler filled with ice to keep your food from spoiling. The ice always melted and made a mess with all the water ending up in the food.

Now, with the invention of these great 12V fridge/freezers, we can keep additional food on the road for days. This saves us a lot of money when we are traveling through small towns, and it also lets us stay off-grid longer without having to resupply.

Get 12% off with our code ADVENTUREOUTTHERE: https://icecofreezer.com/ADVENTUREOUTTHERE

A silver cooler with the lid open, displaying various food items including salad greens, cucumbers, bell peppers, and packaged snacks. — *_{12V dual zone fridge/freezer from ICECO.}*

5. Portable Power Station

Power is everything when you live on the road, and the Bluetti Elite 200 v2 has been our off-grid MVP. It handles our satellite connection, laptops, induction cooktop, camera gear, and everything in between, without us constantly monitoring the battery. The recharge options are super flexible too: solar, shore power, or even the vehicle’s alternator. We love knowing we can set up camp anywhere and still keep everything charged without draining the van battery.

Get 5% off with our code ADVENTURE5: https://www.bluettipower.com?aff=24

6. Inflatable Paddle Boards

Living in a van, we have limited space for “fun” items, but these inflatable paddle boards pack up small and still allow us to get out on the water. Having these has been such a game-changer in being able to enjoy waterfront sites.

We can use these as traditional paddle boards, but they also have an additional attachment to put them into kayak mode. Having that flexibility is perfect for when we want a little bit more of a leisurely day on the water or we want to fish from the paddle boards.

Get $10 off with our code NPBE10: https://tr.ee/xilj0E

7. Packable Camp Chairs

You can’t relax around camp without having some comfortable camp chairs. We’ve had a lot of different ones over the years, but these have quickly become our favorite.

The Unigear camp chairs pack up super small, are incredibly easy to set up and put away, and they are some of the most comfortable camp chairs we’ve sat in. They sit nice and tall, have pockets on either side, and have a nice little sway motion, so you feel like you’re in a rocking chair.

8. In Case of Emergency

No one wants to think that an accident will happen to them, but it’s better to be prepared. Having an emergency communication system and medical kit can keep a small accident from turning into a catastrophe.

For satellite communications, we highly recommend having a Garmin InReach Mini or Starlink that you can use with your phone or computer. Both come with monthly plans that you can tailor to your needs and turn on/off when you’re not exploring the backcountry.

Get one month of free Starlink service with this link: https://starlink.com/residential?referral=RC-2034617-61003-48

For first aid, we love this Medical Kit that has everything you need for 2 people over the course of 4 days. You can buy medical kits that are smaller or larger, but this has all of your basic wound, burn, blister, and bleeding care.

9. Camp Table

When you’re camping in remote destinations or somewhere off-grid, you likely won’t have a picnic table at a campsite. That’s where a sturdy camp table comes into place.

This 4’x2′ Lifetime table gives us a place to keep all of our cooking gear, water bottles, cameras, and anything else we don’t want on the ground. It has adjustable legs, so it can be either regular table height or counter height. It also packs up really slim and slides easily into the back of our van for travel.

10. Sand Mat

This is one of those items that not only makes a campsite look cozy, but it also serves a practical purpose. A foldable sand mat is easy to toss in your rig, super lightweight, and adds that little bit of extra touch to a campsite.

Not only that, but it’s a great way to get sand off your feet before entering your rig, and if you have a pup, a spot for them to call home around camp.

11. Thermacell Bug Repellers

First things first, I will admit, I was a complete skeptic at first! But after two summers in the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska, we can say that our Thermacell Mosquito Repeller works like magic. It has made evenings around the fire (or just getting in and out of the van) so much more enjoyable. No spraying yourself constantly with weird chemicals that don’t work.

Plus, there is also the hiker version, which you can easily clip onto your backpack to keep you bug-free on the trails. It’s like hiking with your own little personal bug-free bubble around you.

12. Camp Box

What’s in the box?!? (cheesy Se7en reference)

Our camp box is basically our catch-all for everything related to making a campfire and cooking over one. We store everything in here, from a butane lighter to wood to a fire starter to our favorite long tongs. Below is a list of things you’ll find in our camp box:

13. Tools and Recovery Gear

Whether you’re far down a remote dirt road or pulling up to a sandy spot on the beach, it’s always a good idea to have tools for your rig and the proper recovery gear. We’ve needed to use both over the years and are constantly adding to and refining what’s in our kit.

We have a tool bag that’s specific to what we need for the van, and we also have recovery gear that would be suitable for just about any rig. These are a few of the things we carry with us to make sure that we can get off a trail and/or recover our rig (or others) if needed.

For a full list of our recovery gear, check out our blog post here.

14. Bathroom

No one likes to talk about it, but everyone does it… going to the bathroom. There are a few different ways you can be responsible when doing business in nature.

The first is if you have a self-contained rig (like our van) and a toilet inside. We personally love our Nature’s Head composting toilet. It produces the least amount of waste, doesn’t smell, and requires minimal maintenance.

The second is to use a good ol’ bucket and a bag. We find this method best for when we are tent camping or in our truck camper. A 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid makes it comfy to sit on. Inside the bucket, put a waste bag with gel for easy clean-up. Just tie up the bag and dispose of it with your regular garbage.

15. Ambience Items

Last, but certainly not least on our list of summer camp gear are ambience items.

A set of string lights adds so much joy to camp life that we had to include it. Our solar string lights brighten up camp, add ambience, and give us a little glow without using any battery power. They are weather-resistant, can be charged by solar or USB-C, and roll back up nice and neat when you’re not using them. No more tangled copper wires and instant coziness.

A small rechargeable bluetooth speaker allows us to listen to music when we want to add a little extra vibe around camp. We do love listening to the sounds of nature, but sometimes tunes can add just what you need to set the mood. This little Marshall speaker has great sound and battery life, and with its rectangular design, we can keep it on the counter without it flying off around turns.

Final Thoughts

We’ve learned over time that it’s best to start small and go from there. This list is meant to give you an idea of what we use, but by no means is this everything you need to enjoy camping in nature. You might find that something is more or less important based on your individual needs.

All that matters is that you’re getting out there and having a great time!

Got questions about any of the gear or want us to do a deep dive on one item? Just let us know. Happy camping this summer!

AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: Some of the links above are affiliate links. If you choose to use them, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we use ourselves and love. This helps keep us on the road and making content. We appreciate your support!

Essential Camping Gear for Summer Adventures