A must-read for camping beginners! Two essential pieces of gear you should have bought when you first started camping.

Hello everyone. This is Tsukui from WAITER-U.

I run a cafe in Shimokitazawa that's like a campsite, and in this program, I talk about things that will encourage people who want to start camping but "don't know where to start" or "are worried about whether they can really camp alone, stay overnight, and come back safely," assuring them that there's no need to worry.

Today, I'd like to share my experiences from around 2020-21, when I started camping, and how it's been almost four years since then.I should have bought it earlier.I'd like to introduce two pieces of gear that I feel are truly worthwhile. In other words, these are carefully selected items that, if you had bought from the beginning, would have saved you from unnecessary expenses by not having to buy replacements multiple times.

Essential gear for camping

The basic equipment needed for camping is as follows:

• Camping chair
• table
• sleeping bag
• Cot (something to place under your sleeping bag)
• tent
• Fire pit
• Cooler box
• lanthanum

With these items in place, you can do basic camping. After that, you can move on to improving work efficiency and upgrading your cooking equipment.

1. Camping chair (Helinox Chair One)

The first basic gear I'd like to introduce isCamping chairis.

Initially, I used inexpensive products, but the problem was that while cheap products were easy to assemble, they often required "unnecessary force."

Camping chairs are typically constructed by assembling wire-reinforced poles and then fitting the fabric seat onto these vertically assembled poles. You complete the chair by fitting the four corners together, and I've had the experience many times where the first three corners go smoothly, but the last, fourth corner requires a lot of force to pull.

What solved all those problems at once wasHelinox Chair Oneis.

Helinox is a long-established, top-class high-end brand in the camping chair industry. While the price of just under 20,000 yen isn't exactly cheap, I found it more economical to buy this one from the start and use it for a long time, rather than trying various cheaper products and eventually settling on this one.

The advantages of Helinox:

• No unnecessary force is required during assembly.
• Very durable
• Comfortable to sit on
• The meticulous seat construction is characteristic of high-end brands.

If you're planning to buy one chair now, I recommend getting either a Chair One or Chair 2 so you can use it for a long time.

2. Cot (Helinox)

The second one is also a Helinox product.CotThis is a base that you place under your sleeping bag, and it serves a similar purpose to a mattress on a bed.

The reason I recommend it is the same as with the chair: "ease of assembly." Because it doesn't require unnecessary force, it's not just easy to assemble.Cleaning up is also very easy.This is what it will be.

Making cleanup easier dramatically improves the camping experience. This difference is especially noticeable if you're cleaning up while hungover from drinking too much the night before.

About the Helinox brand

Today I recommended two Helinox products, so let me explain a little about this brand.

Helinox was not originally a brand that made camping gear. They manufactured the aluminum frames that form the framework of their products.Korean brandHowever, there is a history of applying that lightweight yet high-strength technology to camping gear.

At first, I thought "Helinox" was a French brand because of the name, but after doing some research, I found out it's a Korean brand.

The appeal of Korean camping gear

Currently, Korean camping gear is attracting a lot of attention. There are many stylish, sophisticated, durable, and high-quality brands available.

On social media, especially on Instagram's camping accounts, you often see posts using Korean hashtags (e.g., #campingin한국어). Korean brands are currently very strong in the camping gear industry and continue to grow.

Since I started camping around 2021, many people have already been saying, "This stove from Korea is great."

I'd like to research Korean camping styles and camping trends overseas in more detail in the future. My impression is that people enjoy camping in relatively well-maintained environments, but I believe that the most important thing is to camp in a way that makes you feel comfortable and happy.

In conclusion

In this program, we will continue to regularly talk about camping-related topics, events that have occurred at The Camping Lounge Waiter U in Shimokitazawa, and current trends.

Thank you for your continued support. See you next time!