Purposes

The purposes of camping are varied, although most people go camping to get away from everyday routeines and to place themselves in a healthy outdoor environment. From a campsite, campers can hike, fish, and hunt, find secluded places to swim, or study and photograph flora and fauna. At the campsite itself, campers enjoy such activities as pitching a tent, gathering wood and starting a campfire, cooking, and sleeping in fresh air.

History

The founder of modern recreational camping was Thomas Hiram Holding, who wrote the first Campers Handbook (1908). His urge to camp derived from his experiences as a boy when he crossed the prairies of the United States in 1853 in a wagon train covering 1,200 miles with a company of 300. In 1877 with a canoe, the earliest vehicle of the recreational camper, he camped on a cruise in the Highlands of Scotland, and made a similar cruise the next year. He wrote two books on the cruises. Later he used a bicycle as his camping vehicle and wrote Cycle and Camp (1898). Holding founded the first camping club in the world, the Association of Cycle Campers, in 1901.

Camping Areas

Selection of a camping area depends on the camper’s purposes. Some campers, wanting to be on their own in isolated areas, pack gear and food in a backpack or rucksack and either hike or canoe into forest or mountain areas. Others, preferring to live in a campsite with people nearby, drive to a public or privately owned site and set up a tent there. Camping with a recreational vehicle (RV) has also become popular. Such mobile homes range from large vans equipped with beds, showers, and kitchens to two-wheeled trailers towed by a car. These trailers, constructed of heavy-duty plastic or fiberglass tops and canvas sides, can be converted into tents by lifting the top, which is then held in place by poles. The bottom of the trailer forms the tent floor. Elderly campers or families with young children frequently choose mobile-home camping; younger people or families with older children often prefer paddling or hiking to secluded areas.

Finding a place to suit the camper’s needs is not difficult today. Guide books and magazines, tourist offices, and even road maps pinpoint many places of interest where camping is allowed and encouraged. People who want to get farther away from civilization may consult a topographical map of a specific area, which will show hiking trails, primitive shelters, elevations, watercourses, and wooded areas.

Camping Gear

Equipment for camping has progressed greatly since the 1950s campers hiked into the woods with canvas tents, wool-filled sleeping bags, and woven pack baskets. Today, experienced backpackers may carry such items as lightweight aluminium-frame packs, 1-kg nylon tents, down-filled sleeping bags, and tiny camp stoves. Proper clothing, lightweight but warm and worn in layers, is essential, regardless of where the person camps. In cold weather, a camper may wear a pair of hiking boots, woolen socks, underwear consisting of a thermal undershirt and long johns, woolen trousers (wool, even when wet, keeps the body warm), a cotton shirt, and a down-filled vest or jacket, as well as an anorak or parka, to protect against inclement weather. The camper may always discard layers of such clothing if too warm.

A wide range of equipment for shelter and sleep is available for modern camping. Tents made of nylon are generally preferred, as they will protect the camper from the most adverse conditions. Tent size and design depend on the number of people in the camping group and on the type of climate and terrain in the camping area. Sleeping bags must also be selected carefully. Bags filled with goose down or duck down will keep a person warm in cold temperatures, but bags made of synthetic materials are more resistant to wetness.

Gear for cooking varies according to the site the camper chooses. A long hike to a remote area generally calls for a small, lightweight gas stove, but a stay in a developed campsite, where portability is not as important, enables the camper to use a larger two-burner stove. Many campers also cook over fires, although gas- or propane-fuelled stoves are more reliable in poor weather. Most campers require aluminium pots and pans, a spatula, and plastic utensils, plates, and cups for preparing and eating meals.

Other related equipment includes a water bottle or canteen, a sharp knife, a grill, and a cooler. People staying in a developed campsite or in an RV, where it is convenient to have a cooler for the storage of perishable foods, may have a variety of foodstuffs on hand. Essential camping equipment also includes an axe, camp lantern, torch, map and compass, first-aid kit, rope, and matches.