How to Pack for a Camping Trip: A Carry-On Challenge

Tomorrow morning at 6 am, I’ll be hopping a plane (okay, three planes) from Washington, DC to Vancouver, British Columbia for a two-week rock climbing trip, which means tonight is packing night!

I definitely didn’t wait until the last second. I don’t know what you’re talking about.

But here’s the catch! On this particular trip, we have to bring big, bulky bouldering pads to put on the ground to protect us when we fall, and they’re going to suck up our checked bag allowance! So, somehow we’re going to have to get all this camping gear to Western Canada in carry-on luggage (if we want to avoid another $100 charge – which obviously, we do). Hmmm… I smell a challenge.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: How to pack for camping trip using only a carry-on and a backpack.

It’s now 8pm the night before, T-minus 10 hours until takeoff.

Packing status: Not even started.

Okaaaay so here we go. These two bags. Two weeks, camping equipment, clothes, camera and computer gear. No problem, right? And of course, by no problem I obviously mean that after stuffing my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping bad into the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel and realizing that there’s literally no more space for anything else, maybe it’s possible I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

How the heck am I going to make this work?

See, the art of living a life of travel comes in saving money. The more money you can save on each trip, the more trips you can take. The more frugal you are in your day to day life – wait for it – the more trips you can take. So yeah, I get it. The easy solution here would normally be to just check that extra bag and save myself the hassle. $50 one way, $37 on the way back (LOVE those Canadian exchange rates) and I’d get to bring more stuff and do it easily. A bigger lantern, cooking gear – things to make life at the campsite a little more bougie.

But honestly, at the end of the day, the way I see it is that by forcing myself to think critically and creatively NOW, I’m giving myself an $87 discount on my next adventure. Who the heck wouldn’t say no to an $87 coupon on a flight to Spain in October?? (Purely hypothetical, of course)

Okay. So. If we’re doing this – and we are – what next? My brother offers a killer solution. He tells me to ditch the sleeping pad and sleep on one of our bouldering crash pads instead. Duh. Awesome. That’s one less inflatable roll to deal with. Suddenly the Black Hole duffel can actually fit a good amount of stuff! Still no big lantern or camping gear, but this is starting to look feasible. Climbing shoes, portable speaker, camp stove, a sweater, hard drive, and some climbing-related knick knacks all fit around the tent and sleeping bag.

Now to the other bag. Old yella. I love this thing because it’s waterproof and holds a lot… but… this time it just may not hold enough. I filled it to the brim with all my clothes but still lacked space for toiletries and camera gear soooo I swapped this bag out for a less-chic but roomier backpack. Pause here to mention that I’m a big fan of backpacks and travel bags of all varieties. I probably have too many. But this was a moment where having a wide selection to choose from came in incredibly handy. In another post I’ll talk about all my packs and which I pick for which types of trips, but just plugging the idea here that flexibility is key.

To improve things even more,I ditch a couple of t-shirts and decide that two flannels is plenty. Fold. Don’t stuff. Rookie mistake. Shirts, toiletry bag, camera bag, book, chargers, laptop in the sleeve, water bottle in the side, and though it is fit to BURST, we have a fully packed “personal item”. Does it fit into the dimensions the airports tell you your bag has to be? NOPE! Do they *EVER* question you when you’ve got the bags on your back instead of rolling behind you? Also nope.

That’s my carry-on hack. Pretty much every gate agent (all I’ve experienced) assume that if it fits on your back, it’s small enough to be a carry-on. And as long as your backpack is smaller than your duffel? Turns out that in the real world, that’s the only qualification required to be considered a “personal item”. Works like a charm. AND THE BONUS IS YOU GET TO BEEF UP THOSE BACK MUSCLES LUGGIN’ BOTH AROUND THE AIRPORT. Win/win.

(The only caveat to this that I’ll mention is if you’re flying those low budget carriers like Spirit, Frontier, Allegient, etc. They will be *WAY* more stingy with their bag policies than the bigger airlines, so if you’re flying one of them disregard the above advice.)

I zip closed the final zipper just after 11pm. I have to be up and out the door in five hours. Pleased with the outcome of the night’s packing adventure, it’s time to grab as much shut-eye as possible. It took a little while, and my sleep’s going to suffer for it, but I gotta admit it’s pretty nice to know I’ve got that $87 coupon in my back pocket – all thanks to a little ingenuity, flexibility, and a willingness to work just a little harder. Seems worth it to me.

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FULL PACKING LIST

Camping Equipment
Tent
Sleeping Bag
Small Camp Stove
Small Solar Lantern
Headlamps (x2)

Climbing Equipment
Bouldering Crash Pad (Checked: $53 RT)
Pairs of Climbing Shoes (x2)
Chalk Bag
Chalk Skin Repair Balm
Flexbar (for warming up/training)
Finger Triggerpoint Rings (for injury prevention)

Clothing
Pairs of Underwear (x7)
Pairs of Socks (x7)
T-Shirts/Tank Tops (x7)
Flannels (x2)
Longsleeve Base Layer
Fleece Jacket*
Rain Jacket Pants*
Shorts (x2)
Boots*
Flip Flops Hat

Electronics
Laptop & Charger
DSLR Camera & Charger
GoPro Hero 5 Black & Charger, Tripod
Phone & Charger Power Bank
Portable Speaker
2 TB Hard Drive

Miscellaneous
Passport
Travel Wallet w/ Global Entry, Priority Pass Cards
Book
Small Travel Journal
AAA Batteries

* wore on travel day