For many years we considered most of these items camping necessities, but now we mostly leave them at home. In this post we wanted to share a few thoughts on some “essential” items that can take up so much room in your camping vehicle, and how we got rid of some of our unnecessary camping gear.
Note: Some of the items that are “obsolete” to us are still very useful to other campers – everybody’s situation is different. Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links to products we recommend.
Obsolete Camping Gear Item #1 – Coleman Lantern
Our traditional liquid-fueled Coleman Lantern, with its fragile fiberglass mantles and breakable glass globe has been replaced. In its place we carry a couple rechargeable LED camping lanterns. While we do sometimes miss the comforting sounds that our old Coleman lantern made, we don’t miss the mess, fire danger and fickle nature it had. We can also save some space by not having to carry Coleman fuel along, another plus.
Replaced Camping Item #2 – Yeti Cooler – Ice Chest
When Yeti coolers first came out we splurged and bought one, which at the time cost over $300 and seemed like an insane amount of money to spend on a cooler. But, we found that these kept ice so long that we could keep our perishable camping food cold up to five days, if we kept it out of the sun. With a new Dometic 12 volt fridge/freezer where our center console used to be in our truck, the Yeti is back up on the shelf. Someday we may need it again, but for now at least, it’s going to stay home.
Obsolete Camping Gear Item #3 – Large Flashlights
Our old D-cell flashlights, like our Coleman lantern, have been replaced by compact ones using LED bulbs. Most of our lights still use batteries, but they’re AAA cells, which don’t take up much space. We get more light and longer run time from our small key-chain LED lights than we ever did from traditional flashlights, and they’re so lightweight that can clip them on our caps when setting up camp.
Replaced Camping Item #4 – Sleeping Bags
This one sounds crazy, right? I mean, how can you go camping without sleeping bags? Now that we do most of our camping out of a rooftop tent, we find sleeping bags hard to get in and out of and unnecessary for most of our trips. A good four season bag is great for colder weather, but we’ve found that for most of our camping season, a bottom sheet and Kelty Bestie sleeping blankets work better for us.
Obsolete Camping Gear Item #5 – Disposable 1 lb Propane Canisters
We still like to use propane to cook with, but no longer carry Bernzomatic or Coleman throw-away propane bottles or larger 20 lb tanks. In their place are a couple Flame King refillable ones, which can legally be refilled and transported.
We refilled our old disposable propane canisters for years – see article here – but after having one leak, and learning that doing so made them illegal to transport, we feel safer using the more rugged Flame King bottles. For longer trips, a 5 lb “growler” propane tank can be mounted inside the truck bed, taking up much less room than a 20 lb tank would.
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A few other obsolete (to us) camping/overlanding gear items that we no longer bring along include:
- Machete – Cool looking, yes, but we have better things to use against bears, villains and branches. For most chopping tasks, an axe works better. For branches a pair of handheld loppers does the job.
- CB Radio – To keep in touch off-grid, a couple Baofeng GMRS handhelds and a 50 watt mobile, reaches farther and has better audio quality.
- Coffee Percolator – A compact, 48 oz Stanley Stay-Hot French press replaced our large Coleman percolator. It makes better coffee, and stays hot for hours.
- Camping Pillows – Most of these are horribly uncomfortable. Bring a regular pillow from home and your neck will be happier.
- Firewood – We still enjoy having a campfire, but not quite as often now. With a small, propane-fueled ammo box fire pit/grill , we don’t have to worry about gathering wood or dousing a smoldering fire.
- Toothpaste – hello brand toothpaste tablets are easier to use when camping.
One of the keys to having a great trip is to avoid both over-packing and bringing overly complicated camping gear. Before this year’s camping season kicks off, it might be a good idea to take a look at last year’s gear, and see if there are some things that can be replaced or eliminated before your next outing.
