Wild Camping Kit List

For the Wild Camping Overnight Photography Guided Session you need to provide your own camping equipment. Below is a list of what I use and what I recommend, it doesn’t have to be anything too fancy but you need to be comfortable and please bear that in mind, because if you are not comfortable you are going to be miserable! I’ve divided the list below into the major areas of camping.

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Sleeping

• Tent - this one is a bit of a no-brainer, you are going to need a tent to sleep in. Personally I use a Hilleberg Akto (not an affiliate link), it is a great tent for all year round including winter and it is very robust, although expensive. My friend uses a Vango Banshee 200 and it is a nice tent that is easily affordable.

• If you want to give bivvi bagging ago then I would strongly recommend the Alpkit Hunka XL (not an affiliate link) or the Snugpak Bivvi Bag

• Sleeping Bag - my sleeping bag is one designed by Ray Mears and made from goose down, it is very expensive but incredibly warm and spacious, you can check it out here (not an affiliate link). I would recommend a Rab Ascent 900 sleeping bag it should be warm enough for most nights and it is reliable company.

• Sleeping Mat - often overlooked but a good sleeping mat like the Therm-a-rest ProLite is a god send, stopping you losing heat to the cold ground, this one is a combination of foam and inflation to give some cushioning as well. Although many people recommend an inflatable mat such as the Therm-a-rest Neo Air Xlite Pro as it is a bit lighter, but if you have a puncture it’s no longer useful.

Those are the bear essentials for sleeping out, I also enjoy a Therm-a-rest Ultralite Pillow Case which you fill with clothes at the end of the day to make myself a little bit more comfortable. I always take a thermal top and trousers to sleep in as well but take what you think you will need.

Eating

• Stove and cooking pots - my recommendation for one or two nights out is to use something simple, such as a Jetboil, it uses gas canisters easily available on amazon and in good outdoor shops, which there are plenty around here. You will also need a lighter or some matches as it’s not self-igniting. The Jetboil is not designed to cook food but to boil water, and as my next recommendation is food…

• Food - I recommend bringing simple expedition style food packs, such as macaroni and cheese, chilli con carne, or chicken tikka, as they only require some boiled water to rehydrate, you can eat them out of their packs so no need for a bowl, and they are high in calories. Perfect for after a long day!

• Spork - everyone needs something to eat with!

• Brew kit - if you like tea, coffee or hot chocolate I recommend bringing some. They are great for just warming you up! These Nescafe All-in-one sachets make it super easy to bring a couple with you. As does these Cadbury Hot Chocolate Sachets.

• Water bottles - I would recommend 2 litres of water which should be more than enough, in 2 good water bottles rather than a camelback or pouch, so you can easily pour some into your cooking pot. In the winter it might be necessary to use an insulated bottle, like a Chilly’s, to make sure your water doesn’t freeze.

• Water filtration kit - there are 2 ways of water purification either: filter and boil, or filter and chemical. So you need a water filter, I use a simple Sawyer water filter but the MSR Trailshot is equally as good if not better and some water treatment tablets, like Lifesystems chlorine dioxide tablets to completely purify the water of any bacteria, protozoa or virus.

Bits and Bobs

• Headlamp - you need to be able to see what you are doing, especially if we end up doing some night photography. Petzl is at the front of headlamp design and creation but if you want a cheaper one then this one will work too. Always bring a spare set of batteries, just in case.

• Spare warm jacket - I cannot stress enough, no matter what the season please bring a spare warm layer. It can be a simple fleece or something more advanced like a lightweight down jacket. I use an Icebreaker Hyperia jacket, as it packs down small, is relatively lightweight and very warm. This jacket is meant to sit in the packs and should not be worn during the day unless we have stopped. It’s there for the evening and night when the temperature will drop a lot.

• Spare socks - if for some reason your feet get wet then having some spare socks in your pack is a godsend, honestly do not underestimate the conditions we may face in Scotland. They can also be useful to sleep in if your feet get cold. This is a spare piece of equipment so I recommend you to have 2 sets of socks, the ones you are wearing and one as a back up for if the first pair is soaked through.

• Spare wooly hat - a simple spare hat can be really useful if you are feeling the cold in the night. This one is not too expensive, thermal retentive and easy to put at the bottom of a bag for emergencies. This is a spare piece of equipment so I recommend you to have 2, one that you use and one as a back up for if the first one is lost or soaked through.

• Spare gloves - same as the hat above, a spare pair of gloves can be really useful in the night. These thinsulate ones should be good enough to sit in the bottom of your bag. This is a spare piece of equipment so I recommend you to have 2, one pair close to hand and a back up pair for if you lose a glove or they are soaked through.

• Waterproof jacket and trousers - it should be self explanatory, but this is Scotland and there is rain at any time of year and in large quantities! Do not underestimate how wet you could get. My recommendation is the Berghaus Deluge Trousers and Jacket set they are very good and it’s what I use.

• Compass and map - if for some inexplicable reason we are separated then having a compass and knowing how to use it could be useful, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. If you want to practice navigation anyway, then I would recommend a Silva compass and I can tell you which OS Map you will need once we start talking about where we want to go, either way a map case would be useful.

• First aid kit - I will be carrying a first aid kit should we need one, but it is always a good idea to be prepared for yourself and a small first aid kit is not a lot of weight but a lot of peace of mind.

Wash Kit

• Soap - some simple wilderness soap to wash your hands, face and food kit.

• Towel - a small microfibre towel to dry your hands after washing

• Toothpaste and Toothbrush

• Toilet kit - this is quite important but often overlooked. A simple kit for you to go to bathroom in the wild, I like to practice a leave no trace policy. So if you need to go to the bathroom then you need to have brought a toilet kit! This should include some hand sanitiser, a pack of tissues, a small pack of wet wipes can be useful, nappy sacks, and a cat-hole trowel. You need the trowel to dig a hole to do your business into, which you cover over afterwards, and the nappy sacks are used to take your used tissues/wet wipes away with you. This is because tissues can take up to 50 years to decompose and wet wipes can take up to 250 years to decompose, so we take them away and dispose of them in the bin. You should use the hand sanitiser immediately after you are finished and then wash your hands with soap and water. These things should be stored in a small bag and kept away from everything else in its own pocket. I buy most of these things in a shop like Superdrug or Boots, where they have a lot of travel sized items.

Camera Kit

• DSLR/4:3/Mirrorless Camera (a camera of some description, I use a Canon 1DX mark II and can recommend the Canon 5d mark IV also)

• Wide angle lens (such as Canon 17-40mm f4 or Canon 16-35mm f2.8)

• Medium telephoto lens (such as Canon 24-105mm f4 or Canon 24-70mm f2.8)

• Long telephoto lens (such as Canon 70-200mm f2.8)

• Filter set including a polariser (such as the Lee Landscape Photography Kit)

• Tripod (such as 3 Legged Thing Winston Tripod)

• Spare Batteries, memory cards and anything else you may need

• Intervalometer (for astrophotography)

Lastly

• Backpack - you’re going to need somewhere to store all this kit! Osprey are a good brand and I think this 85 Litre Backpack/Rucksack should be large enough to fit everything mentioned above. You might be able to go a little smaller, it depends on your camera gear and gear choices in general.

• Dry Bags - they are very useful for organising your kit and ensuring that the spare clothes and sleeping bag do not get wet! I would recommend this pack of Exped Dry Bags that you can use to organise your stuff.

This should be everything that you need to bring for a comfortable night out. If you want to bring more equipment be aware that you will be carrying it!