When the weather becomes fine, the minds of millions of families, individuals and groups turn to camping whether it is for a long vacation or just a few days break. The need therefore arises for these people to begin thinking about where to buy camping gear and supplies. If you are a keen camper, then you will in all probability already have most of your camping gear, but everyone needs to stock up on supplies before they actually depart.
Fortunately, there is no lack of suppliers of camping gear and supplies and with the Internet as well, you will never be short of somewhere to buy camping gear and supplies. However, before you rush to get your wallet out, you first have to work out what you need. It is often useful to split the stuff you have to have to go camping into two separate types.
First there is camping gear or equipment. which encompasses thing like the tent, sleeping bags, rucksacks and tools and then there are the supplies, by which is meant foodstuffs, toiletries, matches et cetera.
The first sort of places to try for buying camping gear and supplies is sport shops, if there is no specialist camping shop close to you. Many sports people such as fishermen and hunters take a tent with them when they go out, so you will find nearly everything you require for camping at these sports shops as well. You are bound to find a hunting and fishing or sports shop near you or you will find large sports shops on line. The sports section of a large department store is also apt to stock these articles.
Department stores may not stock such a wide variety as camping and sports shops, but you will often find that the prices are lower. Be wary of the quality though. Equipment bought from a sports shop will normally be robust and of high quality, whereas gear from a department store may be for children to use in the garden. It is better to do some research on line for respectable brands and then go to see what is available locally.
Army and navy surplus stores often offer high quality, military grade camping gear. After all, if people trust their lives to this kit in battle, it must be good enough for you to go away for a week or two camping, must it not? As long as you like camouflage colours, that is.
No happy greens, yellows, reds and blues in the army and navy surplus stores though. Still, they are excellent if you want to observe nature or go fishing. They will also have the right tools too, like foldable spades and camping stoves.
You can split camping supplies up into two parts too really: luxuries and essentials. The luxuries, such as Coco Pops, beer and the like are far cheaper in the supermarkets. Try to get the dried varieties of anything you take, like dried milk and instant coffee, especially if you are walking a long way.
The necessities can be obtained in the supermarket too, but you may find some interesting food products in the army and navy stores too. There might be soldiers’ ration packs and instant fire lighters. These are serious products intended for soldiers on active duty, but you may like to try them out for fun and experience.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on a lot of subjects, but is currently involved with Poconos camping. If you are interested in a rental in the Poconos Mountains, please go to our website at Poconos Vacations