By Brian Oliver, guest blogger

Embarking on a weekend’s camping excursion prompts all but the most dedicated wilderness backpackers to gather enough outdoor camping supplies to dutifully provide for a large army brigade for an entire month. Piece by piece, each item of meticulously selected equipment is loaded into the car or van, such that nobody other than the packer herself could manage to repack the vehicle should the contents need to be removed. Insanity, fun, and adventure ensue as the family, neatly squished into car seats between piles of camper’s trappings, pulls slowly out of the driveway, back bumper almost scraping the pavement from the rear-heavy load generously bestowed on the much-too-small-for-this-task automobile. This, my friends, is the magnificently wonderful amassing of outdoor camping supplies that is the utter essence of what it means to be a dedicated recreational family camper.

Why, though, is this grand-scale amassing of outdoor camping supplies actually the essence of family camping? The answer lies in the mind of the camper, whose psychological state perceives a reality of me, armed with outdoor camping supplies, verses the magnificent great outdoors, armed with the elements of unpredictability and might. Indeed, there is a sense of logic in this internal pull, as what is a 5’5” 185 pound camper to do should a big bad storm interrogate his vigor? Flight says, “Run like the wind, don’t you dare look back, and next time get yourself a room at the Hyatt!” Meanwhile, fight calmly says, “Get your list in order camper, remember everything you learned in the scouts, don’t forget a thing, and we’ll take on the big bad wilderness, enjoying the heck out of every beautiful moment of it.”

Are you the camper of flight or the camper of fight? If you are the camper of flight, march straight to the nearest mirror, look yourself square in the eye and repeat after me, “I will plan, amass, enjoy, and prepare to become the next scout-worthy fighting camper!” You can do this, I promise you, as I have seen 80-year-old, pink haired, musk smelling little old ladies compile lists and attitudes that morph them into Godzilla style, biker worthy, tough fighting warriors who go camping outdoors while taking on lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). All it takes is a little willingness to sit at the feet of dedicated, fighting family campers in order to learn what makes them so successful.

Any fighting camper will tell you that a good list of outdoor camping supplies goes a long way in ensuring a pleasurable and memorable camping experience, an experience free of forgetfulness, fear, or worry. In order to learn from these experts, find ten successful, fighting, dedicated, recreational family campers to interview in day-to-day life, at a camping store, on internet forums, or through friends; and make sure to grill them on everything that they know about the sport of camping, especially as it pertains to gathering camping supplies.

In your interviews, you will likely hear some funny camping stories, tales of someone using poison ivy instead of toilet paper, or even stories of a petite Scottish man screaming, doing jumping jacks, and throwing rocks on top of a mountain to chase away a big black bear. In these stories you will find laughter, advice, and wisdom for your camping list, along with an understanding of “fight,” and discovery of the essence of family camping. Then, with joy in your heart, you too can experience the glee of pulling out of the driveway in your jam packed car, ready to take on nature as you bask in the beauty of the great outdoors.