We’re looking at 20 bits of camping gear that should form part of your camping and cooking gear kit for any type of camping. One of the best bits about camping is the evolution of the camping gear you take out bush with you.

Every time you go away, even if it’s just for a quick overnighter, you’re invariably hit with some sort of revelation – ‘geez, I’m getting that for next time we go camping, that’s a bloody beaut idea!’. Forget waiting for those revelations to hit you, though – here’s Part 1 of our list of 30 essential bits of camping & cooking gear that’ll transform any camping adventure!

1. STORAGE BOX
   Nothing like keeping all your tucker in one spot. One of our favourite bits of camping gear is a water and dustproof case like the Adventure Kings 78L storage case or the Adventure Kings 156L storage case. Being able to keep all your camping gear in one spot means it’s so easy to hit the road for your next adventure!
   
   2. CAMPING KNIFE
   We’re not talking Mick Dundee-type blades here, but a nice all-purpose blade that you can use for everything from opening cans of food to buttering a sanger is an excellent bit of camping gear or cooking gear to carry with you. Keep a sharpening stone in your camping gear storage box so you can keep it in top nick whenever it needs a bit of attention.
   
   
2. FLINT
   Matches get wet, lighters run out of fluid – but a flint will always provide a good, reliable ignition source to get a campfire going, which makes it an excellent and essential bit of camping gear. It’s a failsale that’ll work when you need it.
   
   Hot tip: If your kindling or firewood is wet, split it down the middle a couple of times to get to the dry stuff inside.
3. FIRELIGHTERS
   As far as essential camping gear goes, firelighters go hand-in-hand with the flint, and will kickstart a fire quickly. Crumble them up and sprinkle them over some dry leaves and bark and hit it with the flint – it’ll be the easiest-starting fire you’ll ever get going. Get really tricky by adding BBQ bricks to an empty egg carton – just light the carton and watch the fire kick off! Make sure to keep these in your camping gear box at all times!
   
   
4. RUBBER MALLET
   If you’ve ever bent a peg trying to setup camp, you’ll know what a good mallet can do for you, which is why it makes the list of our essential camping gear you should be carrying. Metal-headed hammers aren’t as good – rubber mallets let you knock pegs in with more force, exactly what you need in rocky terrain.
   
   
5. SOLAR GARDEN LIGHTS
   Some of those cheap solar-powered garden lights make a beaut addition to your camping gear, especially if you’ve got kids who get up in the middle of the night when nature calls. Bung em at the bottom of guy ropes so you don’t trip over em after a few liquid refreshments.
   
   
6. MESH FLOOR
   Take a mesh floor with you in your camping gear kit even if it’s not sand you’re camping on. Fold it and put it at the front of your tent as an easy way to brush your feet off before you climb into bed. The camping mesh floors are designed to let soft dirt and sand fall through without letting anything come back up. A rubber doormat works well here too.
   
   
7. GLOWSTICKS
   Nope, we’re not suggesting you crank out the stereo and turn it up to 12, but a packet of those cheap glowsticks you can get online can be used for marking everything from your tent, to the tin lids. You’ll get 100 for about $10 if you hunt around on the computer. Definitely one of the most useful if not quirky bits of camping gear you’ll carry with you on your adventures!
   
   
8. ROPE
   Useful for everything from rigging a tent in the case of broken poles to making a quick clothesline between trees, keep about 30m of rope in the back of the 4WD. It’s the kind of stuff you’ll never think you need, until you carry it – then you’ll find yourself using it every trip. Rope is absolutely an essential bit of camping gear that you’ll be glad you carry!
   
   
9. BABY WIPES
   Doesn’t matter if you’re the toughest adventurer out there – a shower in a box is just what the doctor ordered sometimes and it comes in at #10 on our list of most useful camping gear. A couple of no-name boxes of baby wipes stuffed in various parts of the 4WD will last forever and keep the whole family happy
   
   
10.  CITRONELLA LAMPS
    Nothing will ruin a good night’s camp quicker than some mongrel mozzies or midgees giving you grief, but if you’ve got citronella candles in your camping gear kit, you’ll be right. Pack a couple of those smallish lamps that run off the litre bottles of cintronella oil into your camping gear kit – longer lasting and nicer smelling than mozzie coils, and with a couple burning around camp, more effective too.
    
    
11. TARPS
    At least one good quality tarp and one cheapie should live in your camp gear kit. Keep the good one for making a shelter, along with guy ropes and tent poles, and use the cheapie for anything from a mechanic’s mat if you need to crawl around under your 4WD to wrapping up wet, soggy recovery gear.
    
    
12. TORCHES. GOOD ONES. LOTSA THEM
    Pretend you’re scared of the dark when it comes to buying lighting – buy good stuff, and buy as much as your bank balance will allow. LED is the only type of camping gear lighting worth investing in these days – gas lamps are fragile, halogen suck a lot of battery juice for the amount of light they put out. Grab a couple of LED head torches, and some of those bright led camp light kits with the magnets on the back – instant camp lighting!
    
    
13. A DECENT AXE
    You don’t have to spend the earth to get a decent axe to carry with you in your camping gear these days. In a pinch you can of course use the axe other jobs, but any job’s made that much easier with the right tools. Store your axe behind the middle row seats in your 4WD, running lengthways.
    
    
14. SOME KIND OF SHOWER
    Doesn’t matter what end of the scale you’re talking about here – anything from a solar camping shower you hang in a tree, to a full-blown on-board hot water shower system will let you wash the dust from the day off before dinner, so you’re refreshed when you’re getting onto the important things, like solving the world’s problems around the fire at 11pm that night. We highly recommend a shower as part of your essential camping gear!
    
    
15. CAMP TABLE
    Look, we’re not going to get too basic here, because everyone knows a couple of camp chairs and  table are an essential bit of camping gear to take camping, but we’ll just say this. A good quality camping table can be as simple as the brilliant Adventure Kings Roll Up Aluminium Camping Table – and sturdy table space will be one of the best investments you’ll ever make in your camping gear!
    
    
16. PORTABLE BBQ FOR CAMPING
    Yep, we’ve all used those beaut little suitcase cookers, and truth be told in good weather conditions they’re not bad. But add in a bit of wind, or a cold snap, and they struggle to put out enough heat to keep a frypan or camp oven hot. Add a quality camping BBQ like the Voyager Portable BBQ to your camping gear kit and you’ll be able to cook up a storm anywhere!
    
    
17. CAMPFIRE BBQ PLATE
    You can’t go past a campfire BBQ plate as part of your camping and cooking gear for sheer ease of use. Just get the fire going nicely, pull a few glowing logs off to the side and put the BBQ plate over the top, then bung on your grub. Definitely one of our all-time favourite bits of camping gear, and so beautiful in its simplicity!
    
    
18. WELDER’S GLOVES
    Definitely keep a set of welders gloves in your camping gear box at all times. Useful for everything from stoking the campfire to putting your camp oven on or off the coals, you can’t beat a cheap set of welder’s gloves. Buy em from the hardware store for about $20, throw em into your tuckerbox and you’ll never struggle around a campfire again.
    
    
19. TENT PEGS – DIFFERENT KINDS!
    A bag with all different types of tent pegs, and extra guy ropes is without a doubt one of the most invaluable bits of camping gear you’ll carry. Make sure you carry sand pegs too. In a pinch on the beach, bury plastic bags full of sand and use them as anchor points for the guy ropes – making absolutely sure to dig them back up in the morning, of course.