Our pick of wild camping essentials

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Five essentials for wild camping you can't camp without

Wild camping offers a unique sense of freedom and adventure that you won’t find at traditional campsites. For some, the excitement of the unknown and the unpredictability of your overnight spot, brings an added level of excitement to your outdoor experience. But when you're camping off-grid, the right kit is crucial. Being properly equipped can make all the difference between a memorable escape and a stressful night in the wilderness.

Here, we've listed our five essentials for wild camping, so you can head into the wild in full confidence! Click here for a more detailed wild camping kit list, too.

Nathaniel Cureton, Junior Content Editor

Nathaniel Cureton Content Editor

From childhood camping trips to 50-mile hiking challenges in Scotland, Nathaniel is no stranger to outdoor adventure and testing the limits of camping gear.

MORE ABOUT Nathaniel

Head to the Out & About Shop

For high-quality wild camping kit that you can trust, check out our stock on the Out & About Shop – you'll find camping gear from trustworthy brands like Terra Nova, Olpro and Coleman. Stock up before you head into the wild!

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Let's summarise wild camping

Wild camping is the hobby of setting up a tent or shelter outside of a designated campsite, typically in the countryside and away from society as much as possible.

The concept of wild camping is to leave no trace, ensuring that the place you choose to bed down looks the same when you leave as it did when you arrived. Campers should take all rubbish with them, too, and dispose of it properly, along with burying human waste at least six inches underground. Other rules include minimising impact on the area you choose to camp on by not using by not lighting any fires, not disturbing vegetation or wildlife, and, most importantly, being discreet.

Wild camping is so popular as it is the ultimate way to escape from modern-day society and head into the wilderness. There is also no official blueprint. As with all hobbies, there are trends and very popular elements that people are drawn to. However, every trip could be different if the individual chose, with it being very unlikely any location (particularly the relatively unknown ones) has been used to camp on twice.

In most of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, wild camping is illegal without the landowner’s permission. Without permission, it is trespassing, which is a civil offence and not criminal. The exceptions are in certain parts of Dartmoor and in Scotland under the Right to Roam Act 2003, granting public access to most land and inland water providing the campers leave no trace.

If you’re well prepared, wild camping can be part of some of your most memorable moments exploring the outdoors. Here are five products you can’t live without.

1. Tent accessory kit

It's important to be well prepared in any situation, but when you're camping off the beaten track, a minor inconvenience with your tent can turn major very quickly. It’s as simple as taking everything that you’ll likely misplace (but not leave behind as that would mean leaving a trace), forget, or damage, and keeping spares in one small pack. Guyline runners, guylines, elastics, and two types of pegs. Throw in a peg extractor, and a lightweight mallet and you’re on for an absolute winner here. They’re small, lightweight, you might even forget it’s on your person. Bring along an accessory pack, you really never know.

Find one here

2. Cooking stove

A cooking stove and its essential accessories can be a silent killer in terms of your overall pack weight and size. So identifying your exact needs and finding the closest and lightest match is essential. Anything else is excess weight and can make life harder than it needs to be. In an ideal world you want to be looking for a foldable design, as their typical shape is convenient for your bag. After that it’s a case of answering a few basic questions. Can it boil water quickly? Is the gas canister big enough to last the whole trip? Is it easy to clean without access to a sink?

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3. Lightweight sleeping bag

As an essential piece of kit, the key word here is lightweight. There's a good chance your sleeping bag will take up the most room in your bag, especially given the modern design of tents. They are also known to be very bulky, especially in the larger sizes, so do your research on the likely conditions and what you'll require from your bag, too. It's also best to play the odds by going for a three-season bag. They offer the most versatility by being designed for use in spring, summer and autumn. Wild camping has an element of living on the edge already. Hats off to anyone who heads out in the winter too!

Buy one here

4. The perfect rucksack

Having to carry more than one bag takes the hobby of wild camping from very cool to incredibly inconvenient, very quickly. So finding the bag for precisely your needs is essential, as is planning beforehand but that's besides the point. I found out the hard way, but you also need to forget about the aesthetics too. It's a case of what will be able to carry exactly what I need for this trip. And that includes everything.

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5. Bothy bag

The mild sense of danger and exposure to the elements is an appealing feature of wild camping to some individuals. But that doesn't mean precautions shouldn't be taken to stay safe should anything bad happen. Carrying a bothy bag is just logical more than anything. It is the best way for emergency services to locate you and will keep you warm in the meantime. It is also essentially a thin plastic bag; lightweight and requires hardly any room. Bring it along - you never know.

Find one here

Keep up to date on our travel advice

So you've got all your gear and a destination is set in stone, too. But what about the journey? Keep up to date with all things to do with travelling to your camping location on Out & About Live!

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