There aren’t too many things that are more intimidating or frightening, than the beginning, or starting a hobby like camping again. So we are going to attempt to remove some of the mysticism surrounding choosing the right gear for your new adventurous pastime!

Camping has to be one of the most enjoyable and commonly undertaken recreational pursuits that anyone can ever undertake. The nature of being self-reliant and by being mostly removed from the comforts found in everyday society are very primal and often leave us with a feeling of being rewarded and recharged.

Camping is an extremely social undertaking and helps us to connect with our mates, and bond with family members and create a more solid family unit. getting out camping has been scientifically shown to lower our stress levels and it opens up a whole new world of education about survival and existence to the little ones, amongst us that they’d never get in a typical classroom.

Whether you’re gearing up to go camping for the first time, or you’re just getting back into the swing of things after a long hiatus,  it’s easy to get caught up in all the different options available, with stacks of gear that makes lots of sense, with even more reasons why one piece is better than the other, it may take a little experimentation to work out exactly what gear you will need for your dream setup.

Here at 4WD Supacentre, we’ve made it our goal to ensure that whatever style of camping you choose, you will have an affordable and feature-packed range to choose from and through years of research and development, we’ve made it possible for just about anyone to get out and enjoy the great outdoors!

Here’s our list of the Seven Essential bits of camping gear that’ll transform your campsite like you wouldn’t believe.

Forget what you used to know about camping because this is the future and it’s here right now;

LED CAMP LIGHTING

Long gone are the days of power-hungry halogen battery powered lights or the even older gas-powered lanterns with flimsy mantles! These days LED camp lights rule supreme and there’s little wonder why.

Modern LED’s are so bright and yet because of clever circuitry, they draw such little power that you massively reduce the risk of running down your battery by accidentally leaving your LED camp lights through the night. In the awesome Illuminator range, there is both a four and a five bar LED lighting kit perfect for lighting the whole camp, in addition, you can also get ahold of the handy  1.3m LED Strip light or a 4m LED roll that’s perfect for hanging off your swag or awning.

STAY CLEAN!

One thing that puts a lot of people off camping, is not being able to have a clean shower every day. There is an easy solution to this problem, with the introduction of our genius 12v Portable Shower Kit! This light-weight kit runs off your car or 4WD’s cigarette lighter for power and can draw water from just about any clean source, before pumping it out of the 2m hose and the showerhead. Our favourite way of doing it to boil a billy or two of hot water, mix it with some cold water in a bucket and you’ve got a proper hot shower!

INSTALL SHADE!

Out of everything in the Adventure Kings range, there aren’t many things we’ve sold more of than the legendary Adventure Kings roll-out side awnings and we aren’t even surprised.

An Adventure Kings Awning can be set up by just one person in just 60 seconds and they’re brilliant quality too. At 4WD Supacentre, we’ve taken the concept of a 4×4 awning to the next level by building a solid foundation that has the ability to easily attach the add-ons like awning walls, mesh floors and even fully-enclosed mozzie nets and properly enclosed tents! Campers love the modular design of our awnings which lets them set up their campsite exactly how they want it.

INSTANT SHELTER WHEREVER YOU ARE

Adventure Kings Camping gazebos are the next big thing in the camping world because they offer instant amounts of shelter. The Adventure Kings 4wd gazebos are available in both a 3m x 3m and 6m x 3m size, and we’ve taken the same modular concept of our 4wd vehicle awnings and applied it to our gazebos too. Not only can you get a brilliant-value gazebo from 4WD Supacentre, but you can also buy side walls, mozzie nets and even fully-enclosed massive 3m x 3m tents that let you shelter the entire family!

SLEEPING BAGS,  BUT NOT LIKE YOU’VE EVER KNOWN THEM

The Adventure Kings Premium Winter/Summer sleeping bags are the top of the line and assume the throne as king of all-weather, super-comfortable sleeping bags! If you’ve been camping before and found yourself shivering through an icy cold night in a cheap and under-insulated sleeping bag, then you’ll be a convert to the versatility and practicality of these epic sleeping bags!

Rated to be comfortable and warm down to -5°C these bags are truly toasty warm resulting in a good night sleep, no matter where you end up.

One of the best features with this bag is that you don’t have to grab hold of a summer bag, through the warmer months because you can remove, the plush flannelette liners to reduce the available warmth, and as an added benefit, these two zip together.

This results in a double sleeping bag suitable for you and the better half, you can share the warmth on those cold nights but is protected by the tough poly-cotton canvas outer and soft flannel interior no matter what the weather!