Mine the past few years has been tarps + ratchet straps. I love making a little tent city and having different areas for different purposes.
If I’m car camping with family I love my 2-burner Coleman stove attached to a 20 lb. propane tank. Nobody in my group will ever lack a warm meal or a hot drink on a cold day.
If I’m hiking to camp then my old external frame pack has a special place in my heart. It isn’t for every adventure, but I pull it out when I need to haul weird or oversized loads for special occasions. I’ve carried bundles of firewood, cases of beer, family-size tents, and other foolish things that wouldn’t work well with my more modern packs.
Edit: If I’m hiking and carrying normal stuff then I love my Lafuma down sleeping bag. It’s wonderfully small and light while still being toasty warm.
I love my mini isopro stove, titanium pot/mug set and how it all nests together.
It’s a l but of a luxury weight wise but my backpacking chair. It’s relatively light for a chair but still heavy for portages but it makes the whole camp so much more comfortable.
given that i always car camp:
Aquatainer square 7gal water jug. You don’t realize how hard it is to pack water until you get a square jug that actually fits with your other stuff in the trunk. AND IT HAS A SPIGOT OMG. The spigot makes wash-up after cooking so much easier.
I have a few ratchet straps I’ve never used for anything. Same with some rope I bought, but we’ve only been able to camp a few nights in the past month. I’m hoping to a lot more in the next year. I just bought a cheap folding saw and an axe. I want to buy good quality equipment, so I’ve been watching video reviews,etc looking for good options for axes. I’ve found that brands like Fiskars, Estwing, Gransfors are good choices, to name a few. I’d like to have a longer,heavier maul for splitting and then a smaller one for kindling.
I have a long list of things I want/need. Right now, near the top of my list after axes are: more tarps, better lantern(s), percolator coffee pot(currently using a kettle + french press), a coleman stove perhaps, and a bigger tent and a bigger tarp that I can tie to some trees and put my tent and chairs under if needed. And new boots!
edit: should add also my iron skillet! I love it a lot more when camping than using at home.
I can vouch for the giant tarp. One of them that’s like 15’ x 20’ has saved camping multiple times when we got rained out. Picnic table and gear all fits under it for car camping. Same for backwoods, and we were even to get it high up enough with ratchet straps + standing on food barrels to where it was safe to have it at the edge of the fire pit.
