Less is more..............try thinking like this. "If it won't fit in my backpack, it doesn't need to go"! Start there. The more stuff you take, the more stuff you have to deal with, and the less time and energy you will have left over to enjoy the ADVenture. For most in North America, you are seldom very far from services. So taking lots of food, and excess cooking gear isn't needed. Don't spend you time dealing with "stuff" when you could be spending your time exploring, or enjoying the area. Then after a few trips, you can decide what might be nice to have "around the camp fire".

Yes. The more you know, the less you need.
When I first started backpacking/mountaineering, I wanted all my gear to be the most lightweight, the most waterproof, the most breathable, boots with the most support... the most whatever.
Fast-forward years later, I run barefoot, wear trail runners instead of heavy boots. When I climbed Mount Rainer this year, I had to mend my ripped hiking pants the night before, my rain pants and gaiters had rips, zippers on my backpack were broken, I duct-taped crumbling soles of my double boots... In other words, things were far from perfect but I had a great time on a successful and safe climb.



That Coleman stove is indeed a classic.

Less can be more; but why make it difficult to have a good time? Everyone has different comfort levels. My wife and I have been camping together for 6 years and have found a comfortable level of equipment. We really love our RTT (purchased last year) for comfort, packing, and ease of travel. The Dometic fridge we bought early this year has really changed food prep and packing. Now I take orange juice on the trips to have with breakfast because we have the room.

I did the whole "live out of a bag" thing in the Infantry when I was in the Marine Corps. Now that I have an option to be comfortable when camping I want to be comfortable.

Cooking outdoors is a pleasure with this little stove, uses LP, has built-in windscreens. When I bought mine 3 months ago, was only $69 on Amazon Prime, bought a small 4 lb. bottle, makes breakfast, boiling water, etc., a breeze. Excellent quality, cast frame, aluminum screens, quality kit, small, not for a backpack, think car camping...

No, it's not a grill/smoker, it's a super convenient camp stove, no pumping, no expensive butane bottles that are always empty…

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Camp-Chef...0stove&veh=sem

I hate sleeping in the dirt/mud, sets up in seconds, breaks down just as fast. Again, for car camping.

https://kamprite.com/shop/tents/tri-...size-tent-cot/

On my first overnight backpacking trip I took two changes of clothes. One to sleep in and one for the next day. It's the outdoors equivalent of taking your first baby to the ER because he's got a 103-degree fever. The experts just roll their eyes at you.

I do still take clean underwear for every day though. Gotta have some standards.

I'd recommend a hammock over sleeping pad if it's dry.

As someone already mentioned here for starting a fire tiny dry twigs in teepee shape work best for me, but good luck finding those when camping in a desert.

We have Coleman 2 burner propane stove. The only reason I went for this one is because it has walls on three sides to prevent wind blowing out the fire. I could not find same design with one burner because I would rather get that to save on space.

To store most of the camping gear (tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, stove, flash lights, pan, lighter etc) we use plastic tub from Walmart.

As to equipment/gear, if you plan on doing camping often I would suggest in investing money on good quality gear that won't fail when you need it the most. I'm not suggesting to buy a 2 person tent for $1000 and sleeping bags for $500 each. But good quality gear is a must since it will be constantly abused whether by using it or moving around etc.

Good luck and stay safe.

No one has mentioned it but always make sure you "Buy where you burn" when it comes to fire wood. This helps keep any type of bugs/disease that might not be native to that area from spreading infection.

A good fire starter is wax paper with some saw dust rolled up into a fire burrito. you can always add some extra wax to the saw dust layer for a longer burn time.