A car camping packing checklist for small trunks
Most car camping gear is designed around one question: does it work at the campsite? It rarely gets designed around a second one: where does it go for the other 95% of the trip?
Here’s a packing checklist built around that second question.
Before you pack: sort by “used” vs “stored”
Split your gear pile in two:
- Used constantly — stove, water, first aid, chairs. Pack these last, near the top or the tailgate.
- Used once a day — cookware, mugs, bedding. These can sit deeper in the trunk.
Anything that collapses, nests or folds flat when empty belongs in the second pile — it should take up real space only while it’s actually doing something.
Camp kitchen
A kitchen that packs small usually has three properties:
- One item does two jobs. A kettle that also works as a pot means one fewer thing competing for trunk space.
- Pieces nest. A mug that fits inside a bowl, which fits inside a pot, packs as one object instead of three.
- Everything folds flat when it’s empty. Full size while you’re cooking, a fraction of that once it’s clean and put away.
See Van Kitchen for the pieces we use ourselves.
Water
Water is heavy and awkward to pack small — most rigid containers keep their full shape whether they’re full or empty. A collapsible container gives back that shape the moment it’s empty, which matters more on the way home than on the way out. See Van Water.
Storage
Everything that isn’t the kitchen or the water still needs a home: recovery gear, dirty clothes, shoes. A couple of collapsible bins or bags mean that home doesn’t cost you trunk space on trips when you’re not using them. See Van Storage.
The five-minute test
Before a trip, do a quick pass: for anything bulky, ask “does this need to be this size right now, or only when I’m using it?” If it’s the latter, it should fold, nest or collapse — or it’s a candidate to leave behind.