When the weather turns warm, the hearts of millions of families, individuals and groups turn to camping whether it is for a long vacation or just a few days break. The necessity therefore arises for these people to start thinking about where to buy camping gear and supplies. If you are a keen camper, then you will probably already have most of your camping gear, but everyone needs to stock up on supplies before they actually depart.

Luckily, there is no shortage of suppliers of camping gear and supplies and with the Internet too, you will never be short of somewhere to buy camping gear and supplies. However, before you rush to get your wallet out, you first have to work out what you need. It is often useful to split the stuff you have to have to go camping into two separate kinds.

First there is camping gear or equipment. which encompasses thing like the tent, sleeping bags, rucksacks and tools and then there are the supplies, by which is meant foodstuffs, toiletries, matches et cetera.

The first type of places to try for buying camping gear and supplies is sport shops, if there is no dedicated camping shop close to you. Many sports people such as fishermen and hunters take a tent with them when they venture out, so you will find almost everything you need for camping at these sports shops as well. You are certain to find a hunting and fishing or sports shop close to you or you will find huge sports shops on line. The sports section of a large department store is also likely to stock these items.

Department stores may not stock such a wide variety as camping and sports shops, but you will often find that the prices are lower. Be careful of the quality though. Equipment bought from a sports shop will generally be robust and of high quality, whereas gear from a department store may be for children to use in the backyard. It is better to do some research on line for respectable brands and then go to see what is obtainable locally.

Army and navy surplus stores often offer high quality, military grade camping equipment. After all, if people trust their lives to this kit in battle, it must be good enough for you to go away for a week or two camping, must it not? As long as you like camouflage colours, that is.

No happy greens, yellows, reds and blues in the army and navy surplus stores though. Still, they are excellent if you want to observe nature or go fishing. They will also have the correct tools too, like collapsible spades and camping stoves.

You can break camping supplies up into two components as well really: luxuries and essentials. The luxuries, such as Coco Pops, beer and the like are far cheaper in the supermarkets. Try to get the dried varieties of anything you take, like dried milk and instant coffee, especially if you are hiking a long way.

The necessities can be obtained in the supermarket as well, but you may find some interesting food products in the army and navy stores as well. There could be soldiers’ ration packs and instant fire lighters. These are serious products intended for soldiers on active duty, but you may like to try them out for amusement and experience.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on a lot of subjects, but is currently concerned with Poconos camping. If you are interested in a rental in the Poconos Mountains, please go to our website at Poconos Vacations