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Camping equipmentWhat to buy?Not much really. Camping is a great, cheap way to vacation. So what do you need? Not much: just a place to sleep and food to eat. Wal-Mart and Target are great places for camping equipment. The sporting good stores and the expensive light-weight gear belongs to the backpacker. You don’t need to spend a fortune to family camp. For under $300 you can equip your family for years of family camping. Start purchasing the camping equipment in late winter and you’ll be ready by summer. Here’s a list with most of the things you’ll need. Everyone has different needs. Build your camping experience around your own needs. Tent Camping needs:1. Tent, $100 -- If the tent bag says 4-person tent, it means 4 people. Purchase a tent a little larger than you need. Large multi-room tents are nice, but sometimes they are too big for the campground pad. Trying to get it back into the bag is nearly impossible. A tent with a full rain fly is the way to go.
2. Sleeping pad: $10-$80 or air mattress: $25 with a 12 volt rechargeable air pump. The $2 air filled pool rafts work great for the kids. 3. Sleeping bag: $20 – If you are camping in the summer, purchase a bag that goes down to 40-degrees or so. Think you might be cold? Put a small blanket inside the bag. 4. Lantern: Propane or Battery: $35 – Propane is definitely brighter and will illuminate the campsite better but you will need a flashlight or something in the tent. Never take a propane lantern inside the tent (tent material and your stuff is flammable). For campers just starting out, a battery operated lantern is a good choice. It can go into the tent after dark and is safe for the children. 5. Stove – Coleman makes a variety of stoves: $50 – We've had the same standard green, metal 2-burner stove for 10 years now. It’s easy and still works great. We bought the smaller, fold-in-half red stove last summer to fit in my suitcase for the New York trip. It’s smaller, yet durable. 
6. A couple of pots and pans from home. 7. Utensils to eat and cook with. 8. A medium sized cooler. 9. Cheap plastic plates (or, I hate to say it, “paper plates”}. 10. Dish pans to wash dishes: $1 11. Folding chairs: $10 each Just add a few nights at a campground ($10- $45 per night), food, the family and you can have a great time for very little money
Want to try camping, but don’t want to sleep in a tent?Cabin Camping is great fun. The KOA Camping Cabins and Jellystone campgrounds are for you. Bring your sleeping bag and leave the tent and sleeping pads at home. 
Of course the cabins cost a little more ($35-$90) and they sleep 4, sometimes more.Most commercial campgrounds are fantastic, clean and family safe. Many have activities, tours, gift shops, game rooms and pools. Sometimes we find it hard to leave.
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