Eco Thermo 6 Sleeping Pad by Pacific Outdoor

Get an even better night’s sleep with the Pacific Outdoor Eco Thermo 6 Sleeping Pad. This air-core designed, lightweight sleeping pad is easy to pack and rolls up into a small stuff pack.

These pads have a zero carbon footprint and are made from bamboo fiber fill and undyed bamboo fabrics.  It’s even received the Backpacker Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Green award.

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Backpacks

Naturally, you’ll need a great pack to haul all of your stuff while you’re trekking through the wild, right?

The Water Dog Hydration Pack is made of PVC-free and toxin-free recycled materials, and comes with a BPA-free water bladder that you can fill for all day trail sipping.

Made from recycled plastic soda bottles, the BlueLounge Backpack is a great light day pack that can pull double-duty as a daily accessory. Fill it with a few essentials for a day’s hiking, and then use it daily when you’re back in the city.

Cookware and Utensils

The type of cookware and dishes you’ll be using will depend a lot on whether you’re backpacking or setting up in the kind of campground that has hot showers and electrical outlets.

Cookware and Dishes:

All-in-one sets are fabulous, as you can use them both as pots/pans and bowls/plates. A titanium cook set is pretty much ideal for both backpacking and car camping, and you can eat right out of the pots so cleanup is a breeze.

For lightweight backpacking items, you can go for something like Fozzils foldable plates and bowls, which weigh next to nothing and are super easy to clean too. MEC’s GSI Infinity Divided Plates are great too, as there are handy little compartments for different dishes… just in case you really don’t like it when your baked beans touch your veggie burger.

Instead of bowls, you can aim for a heavy-duty camping mug that can hold oatmeal or stew as well as coffee or cocoa. REI’s big ol’ recycled camp mug comes in grey or olive, is made of recycled polypropylene, and can hold just about anything you pour into it.

ToGo bamboo cutlery set

Cutlery:

REI has a great set that’s made of an aircraft grade aluminum alloy, and it’s comprised of a fork, knife, and spoon. It’s durable, easy to clean, and can last a lifetime.

Bamboo utensils are super lightweight and ideal for backpacking, and there’s always the ubiquitous spork if you’re a one utensil kind of person.

Remember to wash all of these items after using them, and if you’re camping deep in the woods, store them—and your food—well away from your tent in case animals are attracted by the scent of the scrumptious supper you cooked. Hanging them from a tree is your best bet, and you can also store them in your car if you drove in.

 Blueberry Maple Crunch from Outdoor Herbivore

Camping Food

If you’re going backcountry camping and/or hiking, the best foods to take with you are compact in size and weight, but high in protein and energy.

Snacks:

Many (if not most) CLIF and LUNA bars are vegan, and many are gluten-free as well. Other bars such as YAWP and Earnest Eats are fab too. If you don’t have a sweet tooth, you can go for spicy and savory items like vegan jerky, vegetarian pepperoni sticks or dried spiced chickpeas and nuts. You can also prep for your trip with an all-in-one snack box like something from Vegan Cuts, where you’re sure to have a selection of different snackables to keep the entire camping party munching happily. If you prefer to make your own camping snacks, there are some amazing energy bar recipes out there, and you can’t go wrong with a good DIY trail mix with a variety of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

Meals:

If you’re “car camping”, or visiting friends at a cottage, you can probably just take a cooler full of your favourite snacks along with you, but there’s something special about cooking meals on an open fire. Outdoor Herbivore has a great line of dry vegetarian and vegan camping food so you just need to add them to boiling water for a delicious, hearty meal at the end of a long day. They also have sprout sacks so you can sprout your own seeds and beans while you trek, which will let you have some crunchy freshness to nosh on. A quick look through Pinterest can give you countless other ideas as well. As a final note about food, camping just wouldn’t be the same without roasted marshmallows, and you can get some great vegan ones via Sweet & Sara.

The BioLite charging stove

Stoves

It’s difficult to cook without a stove, unless you MacGuyver one out of a tree stump, or just cook over a bonfire.

The Sun Oven has received top marks from countless people, and it’s a lightweight option that would allow you some pretty decent meals out in the woods.

BioLite is another great stove that serves a dual purpose: it can charge your electronic devices while warming your food. There’s no additional fuel needed for this stove either; just gather some twigs and light them on fire.

 

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