Whether or not it is the weekend, and I am singing that I will soon go camping. I have not been camping in about three years. On that occasion I went to a very different place than where I am going now. I had very little equipment, most of it borrowed.
Now I am locating and gathering my camping equipment for camping in a canoe. Most of it is for backpacking as well. It is good to think in terms of backpacking, because ultimately all of this will be packed into a kayak. Notice how much progress I have made since I last updated this post. Having camping equipment spread out all over the deck is really fun.
Sleeping bag, camping mattress, tent. MUST FIND MATTRESS – IS IT IN THE ATTIC?
Stove.
Knife. NEED.
Cooking equipment. LOCATE.
Lanterns or headlamps. LOCATE.
Bug repellent. LOCATE.
Sunblock. LOCATE.
Water bottles. LOCATE.
Dry bags. NEED. [I actually bought 2, but I do not yet understand how to close them correctly. Double plastic bags with twist closings are suggested, but I am a fan of ziploc bags.]
Extra clothing. LOCATE. [I found my rain pants. I fear no paddle drip.]
Toilet articles. LOCATE.
First aid kit. CREATE.
Extra ground cloth. LOCATE.
Small shovel or trowel. LOCATE.
Matches. LOCATE.
Long length of cord or lightweight rope. LOCATE.
Carabiners (climber’s clips). WANT.
Food and water. LOCATE.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Double plastic bags and twisty ties to pack the matches in case it all goes into the drink. Have fun. I was able to go canoe camping several times many years ago when I was seeing a person with canoes and camping gear. It involve a fair amount of schlepping said canoes and gear on portage trails between lakes, but it was amazingly fun and wonderful.
Yes. I don’t actually like canoes, greatly prefer kayaks, but a canoe is what I’m being offered to borrow, so that will be fine. Boats are really essential here because they are the only way to get a world class wilderness type experience. This is why I now have a boat rack on the car … I will acquire one … am working up to it! 🙂
For the stove, I want the MSR Pocket Rocket or SuperFly. I should want the WhisperLite or a related stove, I know, but I hate pumping, priming, warming, and hoping.
SuperFly is better than Pocket Rocket because it uses a variety of canisters. Realistically, though, will I actually take this stove to foreign countries where I may have to use other canisters … ? I will have to find out about this.
Later: I tried going to one of those big box sporting goods stores and it sucked big time … I mean, really sucked, what they had for sale was terrible, and the website had made it look much better. The boutique camping stores win hands down (and the Army surplus stores).
That was how it was when I was a child, too, and I am getting pleasantly nostalgic … we had so much fun camping and then discovering backpacking in our family! 🙂