Wild Camping Kit List

If you are joining us on any of our Wild Camping Trips or are out on your own adventures, check out our wild camping kit list below to help you prepare.

Sharing Kit on Expeditions with us

We will organise a WhatsApp group for your expedition so if anyone wants to share some items such as stoves & fuel, poo shovels, and water filters that can be arranged ahead of time and reduce backpack weight for the group as a whole.

CHecklist

Download your checklist to help you pack for your trip: Wild Camping Kit Checklist

Rucksack

• 60litre+ is often required to carry everything you need for multiple days of wild camping.

Clothing / Footwear

We have more information about the main walking equipment on our Hiking Kit list UK page.

• Walking boots – with Ankle support

• Walking socks + spare pair - If your boots aren’t fully waterproof consider Sealskin socks / Bridgedale equivalent. Aldi also often sells some that work well and are very reasonably priced! Even if just as a spare pair.

• Gaiters

• Hat, gloves, buff or scarf (and spares – especially gloves)

• Base layer - often described as wicking, breathable, or active etc. synthetic or merino are available, to help move sweat away from the skin. Cotton isn’t suitable as it holds on to moisture and can make you cold very quickly.

• Mid layer – Jumper / hoody (Not Cotton)

• Insulated layer - Jacket / Fleece

• Full Waterproofs – Jacket & trousers

• Walking trousers / Leggings (NO JEANS)

Spare clothing / socks

You should also carry some spare clothing for both comfort - a fresh t-shirt & underwear is always a nice feeling on a wild camp -, but also in case we get wet while we are out in the mountains.

We often take a spare pair of socks (alongside our spare walking socks), for in the tent so your feet feel fresh in the evening and before you set off again the next day.

 Emergency kit / Personal Medication

• Small personal first aid kit incl. any personal medication

• Survival bag - small packable bright orange ‘bin bag’ to put over you encase of emergency and you aren’t able to get your tent up.

Camping

• Tent – A small 1 or 2 person tent. 1 person tents can be quiet tight so we opt for a 2 person tent to give a little more room. The weight difference is often minimal for the space. The Vango Banshee is popular entry level wild camping tent.

• Sleeping bag – 3 season is recommended due to the nature of Scottish weather

• Sleeping mat / roll mat – various options – Roll mats are bulky but light and often can be strapped to the outside of your bag (although it should be wrapped securely in a bin bag if being carried on the outside of a rucksack, closed with a freezer clip, as a wet roll mat offers far less insulation from the cold ground and will lead to your sleeping bag getting wet, reducing it’s insulation – both of which would be uncomfortable at best!), inflatable mats usually end up inside your bag. A good night sleep is always helpful for a wild camping trip.

• Inflatable pillows – Completely optional – we often roll up some extra clothing into a dry bag rather than bringing an extra item.

• Gas Stove, Gas Fuel & Lighter (We do not permit fires on our trips, as per outdoor access code and mostly there is no wood to make them anyway!)

 Jet boil / equivalents are superb for just heating water up quickly but not ideal for cooking in. However, food pouchs & things like porridge / cous cous only require having boiled water added to them so we use one of these.

Cooking Stoves – If using one of these, a stable one is recommended with wide base & wide teeth to put your pot / pan on. Don’t forget something to light it with – lighters tend to survive a wet day and work better in a breeze than matches

• Cup, bowl, cutlery – Things to eat with & drink from if you want coffee / tea etc. You can get flat packing cups & bowls as well as ‘Sporks’ which are double ended cutlery.

• Small rubbish bag – Leave no Trace – we will be taking everything we carry on the trip back off the mountain, so a bag to put your rubbish works better than having it just in your rucksack.  

• Poo Shovel – leave no trace includes our waste. You may also choose to bag entirely and carry out but that is up to you. Double or triple bag if you do decide to do this.

Basic Toiletries

• Toothpaste,

• Toothbrush,

• Hand sanitiser,

• Toilet paper,

• Ear plugs (recommended to help you sleep – we like the silicon ones)

• Feminine hygiene products– Here is a short article about these both for single day and multi day trips from BMC. Like almost everything, these will need to be carried out so consider a ‘nappy bag,’ sandwich bag or similar to keep them separate from your kit.

Other ITEMS

• Dry Bags – pack your kit in dry bags / bin bags or similar. This will stop everything from getting wet if it rains. It’s sometimes useful to line your rucksack with one big bin bag, closed with a freezer clip or similar – wind-driven rain can work its way into any loose openings in bags

• Head Torch – fully charged / spare batteries

• Midge Spray

• Sunscreen

• Sun hat

• Walking poles – Highly recommended for big wild camping trips.

• Powerbank

• Map & Compass (And the skills to use them – check out our Navigation Courses) & Remember not to store your compass next to your power bank or other magnetic things in your bag as it can depolarise (needle flips to point south instead of north).

Water

• Water bladder / bottle flat 2/3 litre capacity (although you may not have it all full at once) – Something that can be refilled as we walk. Bottle is sometimes easier than refilling a bladder but a combination of both allows you to keep a flat-packed option in the bag for the evenings when we will also need to fill it for cooking. 

• Water Filters (Sawyers) – Entirely up to you. We tend not to use them but pick carefully which streams we fill up from as we go. There is no guarantee if you don’t filter that you won’t pick up a bug.

• Tea & Coffee bags – who doesn’t need caffeine?

• Mini Squash refill pods (50ml approx.) – great if you want to add a bit of flavour to your water.

Food

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner & Snacks

You will need each of these for all the days you are on the mountain.

Depending on the trip, breakfast before we leave the start point / dinner once we are finished on day 3. This allows us to reduce the amount of food we carry. Otherwise for 3 full days:

Day 1: Breakfast, lunch, Dinner & Snacks

Day 2: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Snacks

Day 3: Breakfast, lunch, Dinner & Snacks

We will let you know if we can leave a couple of meals.

Dry & Wet food pouches

You may have seen these in outdoor shops. They usually need boiled water to heat up making them quick and easy to cook. They are small flat packets, so fit in the bag quite nicely. But they can be expensive.

Check the calories. You will be burning a lot of calories on a wild camping trip, working harder carrying the heavier bag etc. Make sure your food has plenty of calories (we sometimes eat 2 meal pouches at dinner for example.)

You can take food pouches for breakfast & dinner. We often take other breakfast & lunch options and keep pouches for dinner.

Alternatively: Make your own?

Here are a few of our ideas. (We’re not chefs and these are just some ideas that fill you and give you calories.)

Breakfast

Porridge – We often bag up portions of porridge, either in a container or zip lock bags – add in chia seeds, dates, nuts, sugar or honey etc in the mix for a bit more excitement & milk powder for more calories & flavour. Instant style oats only require boiled water on them rather than boiling with milk as you may do at home.

Lunch

Often, we take sandwiches for the 1st & second day and then nuts raisins (Trail Mix) for the 3rd day. Sandwiches are bulky though and I often squish them down.

Pork pies work well in the mountains and can also be a good first day lunch option.

Oatcakes are a popular option and can be jazzed up and made easier to eat with a tube of cheese spread (Primula or similar) or vegetarian pate.

Dinner

Cous cous with some added extras – haloumi, Chorizo, cut up capsicum or small container of chilli or lemon-infused oil etc.

Snacks

Pork pies, nuts, dried mango, chocolate bars, sweets (anything you fancy!)

1 Luxury Item

Something you know you shouldn’t be bringing but will just help make the experience that little bit nicer. For some people that’s a small book, others a hair brush or maybe some playing cards. I highly recommend it not being too heavy or bulky though!

Spares

• Boot laces

• Snacks! (can you ever have too much food?)

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