Tent camping must haves

Been many years since I camped. What are some things to be sure to have?

Hotel room🤷‍♂️

Air Conditioning

Excellent replies so far….

Depending on your age...a cot.

GOOD, not cheap, instant coffee.

Cat hole kit: Metal trowel, TP, and, again, depending on your age...Preparation H wipes. Put all this in a 5 gal. bucket. Keep a flashlight close to the bucket. A toilet seat bolted to a folding stool frame is an extreme upgrade and any lady with you will appreciate it.

Whiskey. Amount to be determined by how many minors are on the trip. You don't want to set a bad example, but then again, if it's a bunch of whiney ones, you may need a fair amount to cope.

Don't go before the middle of September.

I concur.

#2 on the list, as mentioned, whiskey.

Thermacell

Get you one of these
Stanley French Press and bring your regular coffee. I like Cafe Du Monde.

Are we talking backpacking in wilderness camping or trucked in base camp with cabin tent and generator type camping. Or something in between?

Staff.

This is my kind of camping.


And, try pricing current, true safari dining furniture!

Deer camp, electricity provided. Just getting stuff together for bow season

If there's electricity...you're not camping.

Ok, so deer camp base tent with electric.
Heavy gage extension cord with three way splitter added.
A small heat cool portable AC unit worked well for me. I just run the hose out the corner of the door with it zipped up to it. Don't try to push the size or you will be throwing a breaker. Smallest you can find. That is what I use when I set up my goose hunting tent camp in OK.
Bow season the cool is more important than the heat IMHO. I have a real small stand alone portable AC unit that I run with a small generator in my camper stand in east texas when I am not hunting out of it.
I have a single cup Keurig that is small and light. Easy to clean. No more drip coffee makers or instant for me if I have electric in camp.
Small compact microwaves are dirt cheap, you would just probably have to turn the AC off while using it.

It’s been a few years but we used to camp for a week up in the Colorado high country every October. Weather would range from 70’s and sunny to 20 and snowing.

My only just have was an inflatable air mattress or sleeping pad. Everything else besides the sleeping bag was secondary.

Rolled up jacket as a pillow. Slept in base layer and a hoodie. Slept like a baby.

Keep a pee jug w/lid close so you don’t have to leave the tent in the middle of the night.

Jet boil and water for instant food, I’m a ramen and mountain house guy so I eat light on the trail

I like to camp

My must have list:
Good waterproof tent
Portable stove
Coffee percolator
Water supply
Lantern
TP
Bedding


Make it more enjoyable list:
Shade
Sleeping pad or cot
Lawn chairs
Portable table
Tarped cooking area
Dutch oven
Sit down toilet
Ice chests

Well, I'm a dude I guess. Have to have a cot. Cotton sheets, wool blanket, pillow. Good night's sleep. I'll wake up and forget I'm in a tent.
Cooking, old Coleman stove. Teflon pan, can of smoked Hormel ham, can of beans. Cornmeal muffin. Can peaches for desert.

Solar Shower

A tent

Specifically, a Gazelle Tent. I have one. About 8' x 8', I can set it up in the dark by myself in less than five minutes. Big enough to stand up in, have a cot or two and a space heater. It's great, a hub design.

All good suggestions.

With electric , I'd put up a wall tent and leave it all season. Put a rain fly on it an maybe one of the potable a/c if really needed.
Cot and sleeping pad, chairs, rug for the floor.
We use a Camp Chef oven stove for cooking up here.
Wood stove is a must for us, maybe not for you.
Solar lights for easy light at night, good led lantern for inside the tent.
A good welcome mat type rug out front of the door helps keep it clean inside.
Maybe some kind of shower with hot water since you have electric.

Some of these tents used in the Civil War were maybe the best. A wall tent about 8' wide, 8' deep and then a fly with a porch in front, maybe 6 feet. Mosquito netting for the sleeping area.

My deer camp has been tent with no electricity for a while now.
Good tent you can leave up if you want to. Setting up when you get there and packing up when you leave can be a PITA, especially in bad weather.
Good oversized cot and 2-3" foam cot pad. Look at Teton Sports on Amazon.
Build an outhouse and set it a little ways from camp. I've built nice full size ones and also just toilet high boxes out of scrap plywood that you can cut a hole in and mount a toilet seat on. Beats the hell out of squatting, keeps your camp cleaner, and you can remove, burn the box at the end of the season if you want and fill in the hole.
If you got electricity good box fan and small elec heater you should be good to go.
I also think instant coffee sucks. No reason not to make a good pot if you have a fire or camp stove.

For those that don't know. You can boil 1 1/2 cups of water and pour in a level tablespoon of most any grind of coffee and boil only about 20 seconds. Let the grounds settle to the bottom and carefully pour out the top portion- one cup. Fast and easy. Might have to strain a couple of coffee grinds through your teeth, not bad. Try it at home before going on the trail.
For this kind of coffee- no big campfire required, just a few handfuls of leaves, pine needles, etc. to get 1 1/2 cups to boil.

It's been years since I've had it, but Celestial Seasonings makes a "Morning Thunder" tea that's a fair substitute for coffee. It's got maté in it. 'Know a guy on here that got addicted to maté in Argentina.

I, however, experience a different type of "morning thunder" when I wake up.

When I was young I did a lot of canoe camping up in Canada. Everyone drank tea- faster, easier than coffee. Lumberjack type guys having their cup of tea.

The whole coffee issue.............I need a caffeine fix in the AM. When tent camping I take cans of Starbucks cold brew and keep it in my ice chest. It's good. I've went to cold brew coffee 100% at home also, and could actually take my cold brew pot in my ice chest as well. The "kick" most of us need is actually faster when you slam 16 oz of cod brew than sipping on a cup of hot coffee.

For the last 20 plus years I drank 1-2 pots of coffee a day. Had a hard time going to sleep unless the coffee pot was RTG for the next morning when I crawled into bed.
Gave it up for Lent this year and it almost killed me. Since I never want to go through that again I switched to hot tea with caffeniated chai being my favorite. 1-2 cups tea a day or sometimes one cup of coffee and I'm good. Feel a whole lot better than I used to.
Cold brew is a good idea and I have done that before at the lease when I want to keep things super simple.
Still, hard to beat a hot cup of coffee on a cold morning when you're hunting so if I have a stove or a fire 99% of the time I'm making coffee.

What I use when I dont have a cooler

https://www.lifeaidbevco.com/fitaid-go

Folgers coffee bags, just like tea bags. Just heat the water and put the coffee bags in it for a short steep. Takes about 5 or 6 for a whole pot of coffee.

toilet paper

But I sort of like straining the grounds through my teeth.

Water jugs
Good sleeping bag
Axe

Comfort and getting a good nights sleep is important. For heating, I have used a Mr. Buddy (indoor safe) heater connected to a bulk tank kept outside the tent. I also had a carbon monoxide alarm. This worked, but I was worried about the tent catching on fire, and did not sleep well. If electricity is available, a small space heater may be a better choice.

A good nights sleep is important
Good XL cot
Mattress pad
Pillow
Sleeping bag

Oher stuff
Propane camp stove
Lighter
Folding table
Chairs
Firewood
Fire starter fluid
Water jugs

Good air mattress, thermalcell, sleeping bag, pillow, opposite clothes.

I like to put egg crate foam on my cot. I sleep like a baby that way. I also have a tri-pod for my camp fire to cook on.

I hate freaking cots man, I use a twin futon mattress and Outfitter XL sleeping bag and I’m usually the only fella refreshed enough in the morning to make coffee.

Just picked this tent up for $55. pop up in seconds Coleman tent

Also air matress since Cots are no fun. Sleeping bag and snacks

Like WyTex, I use the Folgers Coffee Singles. Three or four in a pot of coffee works, if you let it boil for a while, instead of just steeping. Crystal Light drinks are good too, and the Citrus one tastes good, aren't highly acidic, and has a caffeine one.

Instead of just a flashlight, get the small camping lanterns. Provide more area lighting, have a hi and low power switch, most have emergency SOS flashes. Use a headlamp for directed lighting and tasks

I take my propane burner and a 20# tank, and hardly ever build a fire anymore. That will last me a week.

Anytime you pack TP, paper towels, or baby wipes, put them in a zip lock bag for waterproofing, and the bag will come in handy of other stuff.

When out their glamping in the wilderness make sure the address sign is well lit so Uber Eats can find their stop easily.

The sleep system is the most important thing when it comes to tent camping IMO. I’ve never used a cot so can’t speak to that route but a good quality pad, bag, and pillow make a world of difference in how good or bad the experience is. Especially if it’s cold. A pad with a high r value is critical in the cold and can take a cold miserable night and turn it into a comfortable sleep.

Since you are basically car camping it’s easy since you can get really good bags and pads with good specs at cheaper prices not having to worry about weight and packability.

'100% the most important thing is comfort while sleeping. The regular old air mattress just doesnt do it. A cot may be ok but I have never slept on one personally. I use the exped matt which is a type of inflatable air mattress. We put an egg crate pad on top and it is like sleeping at home almost. plenty of pillows and covers. For me the colder the better. I wont camp in 70 degrees or warmer. Everything else is "whatever' but if you dont sleep well then camping just sux!

Yes, camping absolutely sucked for me until i discovered Hennessey hammocks and was able to actually sleep at night! Will not ever sleep on the ground again! you don't have the extra covered space that you have in a tent, but it was worth it to me! If you've never tried hammock camping, i highly suggest it!

A travel trailer parked next to tent.

Cool weather.

Wall tent with a wood stove and comfortable bed. Thick sliced bacon for the morning with over easy eggs and hash browns done on the bbq. French press for the coffee. Maker's Mark and Cohibas for the evening after bbq bacon wrapped ruff grouse and backstrap.

You get the ruff grouse and backstrap. I'll tend the fire and make sure no one steals your whiskey.

Yerba Mate’ is the shyte.

Gives me a better kick with zero jitters or head aches, unlike red bull, celcius, monster, etc.

I’m not a coffee drinker so this is perfect.

You can get packets of Yerba mate’ on Amazon.

Air Mattress all the way!