One of the biggest problems that people face when they go camping is that they don’t have the right furniture to make their trip comfortable. This isn’t something that is thought about too terribly often, as we tend to take the furniture that we have in our homes for granted and by the time we get to our campsite, it’s too late!
If you’re like many, you’ve made a few mistakes by not bringing along the best pieces of gear to make your trip comfortable. To share experience and to help learn from other’s mistakes, consider taking along one or more of these pieces of camp furniture on your next trip!
For Relaxing Around Camp
Foldable Recliner Chair
Recliner Folding Chair
If you enjoy kicking your feet up at home in a recliner, why not bring that same sort of comfort with you camping? Folding chairs have experienced a bit of a revolution in the last 20 years that has produced some amazingly comfortable reclining chairs that are also easy to pack along with you in your car! These are usually pretty large chairs, so they are best for when you don’t have to haul your gear anywhere.
Rocking Folding Chair
Foldable Rocking Chair
Another great choice for folding chairs to relax in around camp are foldable rocking chairs. These are cool because they allow you all the comfort of being able to fidget in your seat without having to worry about tipping back too far. And they usually come with organizational pockets on the side to keep all of your snacks and drinks within an arms’ reach!
Foldable Love Seat
A big problem that faces most couples when they go camping is that they can’t cuddle up on a regular folding chair. They are uncomfortable and can easily break when loaded with too much weight! Thankfully, foldable love seats are around to make it easy and safe to snuggle up next to your sweetheart around a campfire.
Backcountry Folding Chair
If you’re going backpacking and want to bring furniture with you, one of the best pieces of gear that you can bring is a backcountry chair. It resembles a tent more than it does a standard folding chair, since you set it up by putting together a series of poles to create a frame where the seat is then attached.
These are great for sitting by a lake after a long hike. One of the best places to bring a backcountry folding chair is Odessa Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park!
See Our Article On The Best Backcountry Folding Chairs
For Organizing Camp
Foldable Backpacking / Camping Table
One of the most universally used pieces of camp gear is the folding table. They are great for setting up all of your camping supplies on for the day, sitting down to eat around, and cooking on top of if you don’t have a dedicated camp kitchen. They’re cheap and easy to buy practically anywhere!
Their biggest downside is that they are bulky to pack. If you are short on space, it’s hard to justify bringing a big folding table.
Roll-up Table
Where the standard folding table falls short, the roll-up table shines. Roll-up tables offer the same benefits as a standard folding table, but they often come in some larger sizes when you need a bit more space and have enough storage to bring along a larger pack.
Camp Kitchen
One of the most revolutionary pieces of gear to come out in the last several years has been the folding camp kitchen. It’s a modern take on an old idea, because these can fold up like a foldable table, but offer the same sort of organization and cooking space that the old chuck wagon cooks used to have.
If you’re cooking for a large group, camp kitchens are a great way to stay organized and sanitary with all of your utensils. To try some awesome camp food recipes, click here!
Cooler Organizer
Have you ever needed to find a special piece of food in your cooler and needed to reach all the way to the bottom to get it out? If you have, you know the pain of digging through ice and experiencing the unpleasantness of how cold your hand gets!
Cooler organizers are great for solving that problem as they make it so that your food and condiments are kept in easy to reach spots, saving your hand from having to free dive through an unforgiving tub of ice!
For Getting a Great Night’s Sleep
Backpacking is a bit different than camping. For backpacking, you’ll either be sleeping on a sleeping pad, or a hammock. Below we are going to lay out some other camping options.
Large Cot
One of the most uncomfortable things about camping is that you more than likely will end up sleeping on the ground. And while that might not seem too terribly bad, especially if you have a nice mattress to sleep on, getting in and out of bed can be a real pain!
Help yourself out by bringing along a cot to sleep on. Think of it like a portable bed frame! Cots help you stay elevated off of the ground, and offer a more comfortable opportunity than other methods (depending upon your preferences).
Air Mattress
Air Mattresses are a staple in the camping community because of how easy they are to set up and use. They are relatively inexpensive, which makes it easy for just about any budget to afford them!
They are also great because they pack down very nicely when not in use, since the only thing that gives it volume is the air inside of it! If you are tight on space inside of your vehicle, an air mattress is the best thing to bring to sleep on at night.
Futon Mattress
A widely known, but severely underused piece of camp furniture is the futon mattress. Futons are awesome because they are much more reliable compared to air mattresses (they can’t pop or deflate!). Futons don’t depend on you remembering the air pump to inflate them and they offer the same level of comfort, if not more comfort, compared to air mattresses.
The downside with futons is that they are bulky and difficult to pack in a small space. While you can get a trifold futon mattress, it still takes up quite a bit of room in the car. But if you have the space to bring one, futon mattresses are worth it!
Glow in the Dark Guy lines
There’s nothing quite so terrifying than to get up in the middle of the night and tripping over your tent’s guy lines. You stumble to the ground and who knows what else is waiting to scrape you up! That’s why glow in the dark guy lines are a must have piece of camp furniture.
While you don’t sit or sleep on them, they are definitely useful for a good night’s sleep as they provide peace of mind that you’ll safely exit your tent to answer nature’s call if it comes calling during the middle of the night! You don’t have to worry about being tripped up by unseen guy lines when they glow in the dark!
Hammocks
We strive to deliver awesome value to our readers, so here is one last piece of furniture that everyone should bring camping. Hammocks are amazing pieces of furniture because they can be used for relaxing around camp and for getting a good night’s sleep! They’re easily packable and lightweight, which makes them ideal for just about anyone to use. Backpackers can get lightweight options, while other campers can get larger options that can support two people.
Be sure to check out our complete guide to hammock camping.
Final Thoughts
When you know what furniture to bring, you’re sure to have a reliable, relaxing, and restful retreat in the wilderness. A final piece of advice is to be sure to take notice of the pieces of gear that were exceptionally helpful to you after each trip that you take. Take notice of the pieces of gear that you wish you had brought along too! And don’t be afraid to test out some gear by purchasing it used before you decide to spend a premium price on new gear.
Max DesMarais is the founder of hikingandfishing.com. He has a passion for the outdoors and making outdoor education and adventure more accessible. Max is a published author for various outdoor adventure, travel, and marketing websites. He is an experienced hiker, backpacker, fly fisherman, backcountry skier, trail runner, and spends his free time in the outdoors. These adventures allow him to test gear, learn new skills, and experience new places so that he can educate others. Max grew up hiking all around New Hampshire and New England. He became obsessed with the New Hampshire mountains, and the NH 48, where he guided hikes and trail runs in the White Mountains. Since moving out west, Max has continued climbed all of the Colorado 14ers, is always testing gear, learning skills, gaining experience, and building his endurance for outdoor sports. You can read more about his experience here: hikingandfishing/about