Camping Checklist: Gear, Food and Firewood for Your Trip

Camping goes wrong in small, predictable ways: the tent pegs are at home, nobody brought a tin opener, and
the firewood bought at the last garage before the gate turns out to be damp pine. The first two you will
survive. The third ruins the evening.

Shelter and sleep

• Tent, with its pegs and poles actually in the bag
• Groundsheet or footprint
• Sleeping bags rated for the season — the Cape gets properly cold at night, even in summer
• Mattresses or stretchers, and a pump
• Pillows, and a warm layer for sleeping in
• Headlamps and a lantern, plus spare batteries

Fire and cooking

• Firewood — dense, dry hardwood. Take more than you think.
• Kindling and
  firelighters — the wood will not light itself
• Matches or a lighter, kept dry, and a spare
• Grid, tongs, a fire poker or spade
• Potjie or a cast-iron pan
• Gas burner and a bottle for coffee, so you are not lighting a fire at 6 am
• Cooler box and ice
• Water containers — more than you think, again

How much firewood to take

A realistic guide for a group of four:

• One evening braai: 7 kg to 10 kg.
• A braai plus a fire to sit around: 15 kg to 18 kg a night.
• Three-night weekend with fires every evening: a 25 kg bag, plus a spare 10 kg.

Cold nights burn more wood than warm ones, and a sitting fire burns far more than a cooking fire. Buy it
before you leave — campsite shops are expensive when they have stock, and closed when they do not.

Food

• Meat, portioned and frozen flat — it doubles as ice on the first day
• Braai spice and marinade, mixed at home in a sealed bottle
• Bread, butter, eggs, bacon
• Braai broodjie ingredients: bread, cheese, tomato, onion, chutney
• Salad or veg that survives a cooler box
• Coffee, rusks, and more coffee
• Foil, cling film, rubbish bags

Don’t forget

• Camp chairs and a table
• First aid kit, sunscreen, insect repellent
• Dishwashing basin, cloth, soap
• Cash, for the gate and for the farm stall
• A tarp — for shade, or for the rain nobody forecast

Keeping wood dry on the road

Wood picks up moisture fast in a bakkie overnight. Keep bags off the ground and covered, and store the next
day’s wood in the car rather than beside the tent. Dry wood is the difference between a fire and a smoke
signal.

Ready to stock up?

Browse the full firewood range, grab charcoal and
firelighters while you are there, and get it delivered before the weekend rather
than after it.