Summer is allegedly here, althogh the weather may make you think otherwise. Myself and my family always try to get away for at least a couple of weekends camping in the summer but each time we go there is always something we forget.

Here is a brief list of a few essential pieces of camping equipment that we have forgotten in the past, but hopefully will not forget in the future.

Bug Repellant: Forgetting to take some sort of insect repellant can turn an otherwise fun weekend away into a mosquito bitten nightmare. We like to take some effective insect repellant along with one of those electronic devices that keeps insects at bay.

Spare Torch Batteries: Last year we had two torches with flat batteries the first evening outdoors. This year we are equipped with a couple of wind-up torches as well as some spare batteries for our head torches.

Fire Stick or Lighter: This may seem obvious, but we aren’t smokers so we don’t naturally carry lighters. A camp fire is all part of the fun of camping so make sure that you have some means of starting a fire. My favourite device is a Fire Stick. The children love to start the fire with this simple device as it makes them feel like Bear Grylls.

Reference Books: My wife and I are pretty good at identifying plants, birds and animals, but we aren’t experts. In recent yearss, ever since the children started to ask lots of questions, we have started to take a couple of good reference guides, one on birds and another on plants, so that we all learn something while enjoying our camping trip.

Binoculars: Not really an essential I suppose, but our new Maushaus binoculars have certainly opened our eyes to the countryside around us. The children in particular love to zoom in on the wildlife we spot with our new binoculars. A great addition to our camping equipment list.

So, hopefully we’ll not leave any of these things behind the next time we venture into the great outdoors.