Everything on the list is in my BOB which I take camping to test the gear so no list needed and no forgetting.

Worse than forgetting something, which if you are lucky you only do once --

Continuing to drag around "anchors" just because you might need them, or because you have always carried them.

A friend of mine can not, will not, won't go camping without his cast iron frying pan. I think it weighs as much as 1/3 of my gear all by its lonesome, is awkward to pack, stays hot forever, and is a pain to clean. Yet time after time, he has to have this pan.

Another guy was carrying around this giant 5 D cell maglite. We were kidding him that if the airport beacon went out they could call him. That and if a bear ever attacked he could whack it senseless with his flashlight.

Oh, the one thing that I never ever forget - TP. One of the first things in, seldom taken out, often replaced. Leaves just don't cut it.

Talk about needing things. One camping trip, a kid brought a watermelon, 2 1# Dinty Moore cans, and 1 16oz pineapple can. For a 10 day trip. And he had acid reflux.

Needless to say, that first night we ate his watermelon, threw the dinty moore into bear boxes (provided at the campsite, and we were doing a loop) and he ate the pineapple. And then proceeded to get diarrhea through his, my brother's, and my TP supply.

NOT a happy camper in the morning, as I dragged him, still in his bag, out of his tent to scream his ear off.

BTW, he actually went home later that day, since he wasn't hacking the hike for a few reasons. His 'buddy' brought a new roll of TP back with him when he caught up to us. Nice 2-ply stuff.

I can't say I usually forget much when I go camping. But that's the result of spending the day before just making sure I have everything. And I always have a list when packing.

Most of my camping lately is done at my local offroad park, so I'm maybe 50' away from a vehicle and maybe 3 miles from a store if I do need anything. But my goal is to not have to run to the store and actually have all that I need.

It's been years since I actually camped out in the wild outdoors, but I'm preparing to get back into it soon.

I make a handwritten list on a 3x5 card, punch a hole in the corner of the card, and attach it to the pack, cooler, box the gear is supposed to go in. I started doing that a few years ago when all the hurricanes were hitting Florida. All I do is check the list for that particular pack to make sure everything is there.
Also a firm believer in redundancy. Because the most needed tool usually gets shifted around and falls to the bottom of the pack. I also practice finding things in the dark. I HATE it when I have to use a flashlight in the tent at 3 A.M.

SwampDonkey: Why not scan in images of the lists meanwhile? At least you'd have a backup copy in a different location and medium until you get around to typing them in. -- Bear

What if you forget your list?

Excellent idea dchinell. I admit I am not very computer savvy, I will have to get my teenage kids to teach me how to scan something into the computer.

I have gear lists and weekly menu's going back to when I went on week long hunting trips as a teen. My gear is now much more expensive and higher quality, we eat far better, but I can guarantee that we do not have as much fun.

Mike

lists are a good start but i'm one of those vision orientated kind of people,which explains my photo and not writing hobby.
unless i lay everything out and eyeball several times i don't trust myself..the shot is my canoeing day bag,it could almost be a BOB.

I've never written any camping equipment plan down (yet), but I would probably benefit from doing so...

What I do is that I make a mental checklist in my head: What do I need for sleeping? (Ground sheet, sleeping bag, tent, whatever...) Cooking? (Stove, pots, ...) Clothing? and so on and so forth. So far I've never forgotten anything important, but I could probably cut down a bit on the weight and bulk if I had the discipline to make a list.

As I said, I am most afraid of forgetting to bring my shoes and jacket. They are not part of my pack, and if the weather is nice on departure I won't be wearing them when I pack and drive the car. It is my perpetual remember-in-the-last-minute item.