Bunnings Camping Gear

  • Author: Ted Jones
  • Date: March 16, 2022

Bunnings Camping Gear
Bunnings warehouse has a surprising large amount of outdoor items. It is often overlooked for camping equipment and caravanning kit across Australia.

In this article we are going to check out what Bunnings camping gear is available and what tools could be used for the great outdoors.

Also included is some camping tips and hints.

I checked out a couple of stores and listed what items they have. While they don’t have everything you need for camping, they do have a lot of gear that can be used for the Aussie bush.

 

Camping equipment from Bunnings

You might even call this the Bunnings camping gear list. Let’s see what type of camping stuff they have, read on.

 

Bunnings camping chairs

Camping chairs at Bunnings
One luxury when outdoors, camping or fishing for me is the camping chair. It doesn’t have to be a super deluxe type, but big enough to relax in after putting up the tent and yelling at the kids to help set up camp.

Bunnings has several types of camping chairs to suit different sizes and activities, including kids camping chairs.

They have the Oztrail and Marquee folding camping chairs, and prices range from a cheap $10 to up to $70.

While they don’t stock as many camping chairs as Anaconda, there would have to be some comfy chairs in the Bunnings collection.

Camping Tip – Place the chairs in the back of the boot or trailer last when packing. So when you get to camp you can unload it first and put gear on it. If the ground is wet, this is ideal for keeping items dry off the ground.

Or you can just sit in the chair and contemplate what you need to unpack and where to set up the tent.

For more camping tips and hacks, click on – Camping Tips Australia

At night, so the camping chairs don’t get wet pack, them away. Put then under a tarp or upside down from the dew.

 

Cooler bags and eskies

Eskies at Bunnings
The Bunnings esky range was quiet good with soft cooler bags, to large hard type eskies.

Some of the brands were: Marquee, Esky, Titan Deep Freeze, Outermark and Coleman coolers.

The esky sized range from 2 bottle and 5 litre coolers, to 120 and 150 litre ice boxes.

For wheeling to the fishing spot, or to the beach, check out the Esky on wheels at Bunnings.

Prices ranged from $12 for the 4 litre, all the way up to $299 for the Esky 120 litre Artic Pro Rugged with fitted accessories pack.

Bunnings Esky

Remember the ice.

Camping tip – Instead of buying crushed ice, fill some plastic 1 litre water bottle up with water, and throw them in the freezer. This way you have free ice. And if it gets hot, you can use the plastic bottles for extra cold drinking water.

The kids like when some are filled up with cordial. Ice and cold drinks, all in one.

 

Bunnings generators

Bunnings has portable petrol and invertor generators, with brands like: Ryobi, Full Boar, DeWalt generators, Crommelins, Ozito and Briggs & Stratton generators.

They are available in 2000W, 2200W, 3600W and 4000W models.

(Gee, the generators have come a long way from the old noisy ones, that you would have to put as far away from the camp as you can and behind a big tree. Even then they would be noisy.)

The new ones are pretty quiet, more compact and more economical.

 

Torches

Torches, headlamps and lanterns and Bunnings

Bunnings does have a wide selection of flashlights and headlamps for camping.

They have some great torches nowadays that have some very high Lumens ratings and are very affordable torches.

A rechargeable lantern or battery lantern is ideal in the tent at night as it gives a soft light, so you can see when preparing the bedding, etc.

Headlamps are ideal for camping and fishing as you have your hands free.

The Eveready brand, Dolphin and Arlec brand are available. Why not as probably good quality as the Olight torch brand, they cast a decent light.

Remember the spare extra batteries, or checkout the rechargeable torches.

 

Bunnings tarps

Bunnings tarps

Tarps are a fantastic bit of kit when camping and Bunnings covers this well (Pun intended.)

You have a collection of tarps, heavy duty, extra heavy duty tarps and super heavy duty of all sizes.

What I did like when shopping in the tarp area, is they have a small sample of the tarp fabric on the outside of the bag. You can see how thick and strong the tarp material is.

I have the heavy duty tarp. (Green and silver model and it works well.)

I just used it for a recent camping trip to the Grampians (Gariwerd) in near gale force winds and it held up okay. One of the corner grommets moved a bit, but the corner is reinforced and still solid.

Camping tips. Tarps are great from covering over your swag, tent, or putting under them for a dry base. When packing up a wet tent, use a dry tarp to wrap the tent in, so other camping gear doesn’t get wet when travelling home.

(You can bet if it does rain, it will be the day you want to pack up and go home. All your gear is wet then and needs setting up and drying at home.)

For RVs or caravanning, a tarp makes a good awning, annex or floor.

 

Tent poles

The selection I saw from two Bunnings stores was not great, but they had two types of poles. An extendable tent pole and also a three section pole.

The three section pole was very high. This might be too high to fly a tarp in windy areas like Apollo bay down south Vic, or along the coast at Newcastle in NSW.

While most Bunnings items are reasonable in price, the tent poles did seem on the dear side compared to other camping shops.

Check out Anaconda, BCF, Snowys, Tentworld and Wild Earth for some good prices and selection of gear for tent poles.

 

Guy ropes

Bunning guy ropes and tent stakes

High visibility guy ropes are a good way to avoid tripping over them. (In case you have had too many brewskies, or wines.)

In the stores I visited, Bunnings had a couple of types of guy ropes available. The old fashion ones with the wooden toggle and spring, and bright fluro green guy ropes.

Some guy lines are in the rope section, other ones are nears the tarps.

 

Tent pegs

Bunning tent pegs

Bunnings has some steel tent stakes in various sizes, also some sand pegs.

Tip – You can always carve a couple of wooden tent pegs from a stick, or in sandy conditions, bury a stick or dry bag to make a sand anchor.

The tent pegs are also in two sections, one area is in the rope area, the other near the tarp section.

They also have screw in tent peg kits, where you use an electric cordless drill to screw the tent pegs into hard ground.

Bunnings screw in tent pegs for hard ground

 

Ropes

Bunnings ropes for camping

Extra ropes and cordage is always handy when camping and has one hundred and one uses. From hanging a tarp, to making a makeshift clothesline, or towing some logs for firewood.

Utility rope and cordage is also handy for extra guy ropes, hanging items up or securing fishing and camping gear when travelling.

While Bunnings doesn’t have paracord as such, it has 4mm utility type ropes and cordage, which is convenient to have camping for small jobs.

You can never have too many ropes and cordage when car camping or caravanning. Even when I am hiking I always carry some spare cordage, or hanks of paracord, or micro cordage.

 

Camping Tip – The wobbly rope bridge.

The kids will enjoy this fun activity when camping.

Get a couple of hanks of tow rope or thick rope and suspend them low between two solid trees. (Watch for dangerous widow maker dead limbs or trees above.) Make a low rope bridge with one rope, then one or two sections as rope up higher for the hand rail.

When the children have mastered two hand rails, remove one rope hand rail and see how they go.

 

Camping tables

Along with the comfy camping chair, another item that makes life easy is the camping table.

Bunnings had large picnic type plastic moulded ones and smaller lightweight camping tables.

Tip for packing, place it on the bottom as the base in the back of the ute, 4WD or trailer. Place items on it as a base.

 

Bunnings camping stoves

Bunning camping stoves

The Gasmate portable BBQ butane stove single burner, and other camping stoves are available. These are so useful to have and take up little room in your camping kit.

Bunnings also stocks the spare butane gas canisters, which are dirt cheap.

 

Gas Bottles

BBQ gas bottles are available with the swap and go system. They come in a few different sizes, like 4 and 8.5 litre bottles.

Bunnings also has BBQ utensils like BBQ tongs, spatulas, long forks and cleaning brushes and scrapers.

 

Bunnings rubs, sauces and spices for the BBQ?

Bunning BBQ rubs, sauces and spices section

One new thing that caught my eye is the spices, suces and rubs section at Bunnings.

I haven’t used any yet, but I can imagine after a hard days camping or caravanning is, cooking up a big steak with a nice smoky rub on it.

I reckon some of the flavours would go well with nice kangaroo steak, or venison steak as well.

Bunning BBQ sauces and rubs

 

Firelighters

Bunnings has a good collection of fire-lighting tools, kindling and even bags of wood for fuel, for the campfire.

BBQ briquettes, fire logs, extra-long matches, kindling, it’s all there for campfires and barbequing at Bunnings. (I sound like an ad.)

Always be fire smart and ensure your campfire area is clear of excess fuel. Check for fire-ban and don’t have an open flame when camping on hot and windy days.

Camping tip – Always have more than one source of fire lighting, like have a couple of Bic lighters and boxes of matches, in case they get used, lost or broken.

 

What is Fatwood at Bunnings?

Fatwood at Bunnings for camping

The hidden secret at Bunnings for campers is fatwood. While not many people have heard of it, fatwood makes great tinder and kindling source for a campfire.

Fatwood is a resinous pine wood that will catch on fire easily and even burn when it is wet.

You only need around two to four sticks of it to get the fire going. Then start adding bigger pieces of fuel size wood. (Slowly step up the firewood size.)

For those minimalistic campers and bushcrafters in Oz, you can also ignite it with a ferrocerium rod, or ferro rod for short. (Not to be confused with a flint and steel.)

For the fat wood, you just shave some fuzz scrapings and make some feather-sticks with it and hit it with a few sparks to ignite it.

Of course fatwood can be light with matches, or a Bic lighter as well.

Bunnings has fatwood in the BBQ fire lighting area. Grab a bag or two, but leave some for me, as Bunnings only has it at selected stores and now and then.

 

Portable Fire pits

Bunnings fire pits

Bunnings has a good collection of some really nice looking designs and types of fire pits.

While a lot of them are bigger, designed for the backyard, the smaller fire pits would be okay to throw in the back of the trailer (or boat when towing it) for camping, or caravanning around Oz.

 

Axe / hatchets

An axe and its smaller cousin the hatchet, is valuable around camp for collecting and processing firewood.

While you can get a lot of firewood from the ground (where allowed) an axe is a versatile tool.

Remember safety first with the axe or cutting tools. Get an experienced outdoorsman to show you how to safely use an axe if you have never used one before.

For splitting small bits of kindling, the hatchet is a useful tool.

You can also use the back of the hatchet for hammering tent pegs into the ground. Be careful on the upswing and use a cover / mask for it, for safety.

Bunnings has a basic collection of axes and hatchets that are great for the price. If you are going to use them all the time, go for some brand names. But for occasional use, the Bunnings axes and hatchets are fine.

 

Bow saw

Another cutting tool for firewood is the bow saw, and it is safer then swinging an axe around.

In the garden tool section, you can find all sizes of bow saws and hand pruning saws.

For small cutting chores like limbs and saplings, the Bacho Laplander is a manageable hand saw. An ideal tool for small jobs when camping and fishing. I have had mine for years and is great for camping chores and bushcraft skills. (When I last went in, they were out of stock.)

 

Jerry Cans

Water is always a necessity when camping, as you not only can use it to boil the coffee or tea, but also use to cook food like boiling and preparing and washing food.

Bunnings has 10 litre and 20 litre plastic water Jerry cans and assorted water containers.

For fishing or camping trips just for a day, I sometimes just take the 10 litre jerry can for less weight.

Camping tip – don’t store the water containers near the sleeping bags, clothes or bedding, in case it leaks or spills.

Check the weather forecast for how hot it is going to be. If in doubt take more water than you think you will need. (Especially in places where you may not be able to re-supply with water.)

 

Multi Tool

A Leatherman type tool or multi tool is invaluable for camping.

Bunnings has some Gerber multi tools and no name tools that will do the job for fishing and camping.

 

Knife and axe sharpeners

Available from Bunnings are whet stones, files, diamond files and axe puck stones for sharpening knives, axes and even fishing hooks.

 

Plastic bags

From keeping food stored and tidy, or for rubbish, plastic bags are handy to have.

A heavy duty plastic bag can make a makeshift dry bag for a backpack or to protect gear like bedding when travelling.

Remember to tidy up the campsite; don’t leave rubbish in our beautiful bush. (If you can take it camping, then take the rubbish home. A lot of our free camping spots in Australia won’t be free, if we keep leaving rubbish at camp sites. They will be closed, so do the right thing.)

 

Buckets

The simple humble bucket is handy for storing extra camping gear while travelling, then for collecting water.

Instead of getting a dedicated wash tub for the dishes, just use a bucket. Not as wide, but will save room and double up for other purposes as well.

If the camper forgets their camping chair, just use a tall one for a stool. Just turn it upside down and place a bit of padding on it like a folded up towel.

A bucket is convenient for storing fishing gear like hand line fishing reels, or for smelly bait in as well when traveling.

You can also make a DIY camping toilet seat with a pool swimming foam noodle. Put a slit cut foam noodle on the rim of the bucket for the seat. Use a plastic bag to catch the waste.

 

Shovels

Bunnings shovels

For getting the 4WD out of the mud, to digging a loo, a shovel is a must have when camping or travelling in the outback.

The long handle spades make it easier digging, but take up more room.

Look in the garden tools section of Bunnings for some spades and shovels.

 

Tape

Just like rope and cordage, tape has one hundred and one uses when camping and Bunnings has a few brands and types available.

Gorilla tape, duct tape and electrical tape is worth having in your camping gear or tool box. It is good for patching a tent or tarp hole, to fixing some wiring on the camper trailer.

(I recently left my tarp a bit too close to the fire and some embers burnt some small holes in it. A small section of Gorilla tape on both sides of the hole, fixed it up quickly for a no leaks tarp.)

 

Extras for car camping

For car camping, or with a trailer you can also get some vehicle recovery gear from Bunnings like: Tow ropes, chain and snatch straps.

For tying down gear in the trailer check out the cargo nets, ropes and ratchet straps.

The cam buckle tie down straps are ideal for tying down fishing kayaks.

(Don’t use ratchet straps tying down the kayak, as it can put too much pressure on the kayak mould and can warp it, or crack it.)

Bunnings also has diesel and petrol jerry cans.

Tools for the vehicle, boat, motorbike and caravan, like screw drivers, pliers, ratchet sets etc. are useful to have in the tool box when camping.

 

Rubber boots

Gum boots are always handy to have around campsite. You never know when it is going to rain heavy and the campsite gets muddy.

 

Insect repellent

Insect spray and Mosquito coils are available in the BBQ gear section.

They also have mosquito wrist band. (I don’t know if the wrist bands work, I wouldn’t mind testing them out. Perhaps I will get some for the kids to try.)

They have the popular Rid insect repellent brand.

 

Storage tubs

A large range of storage tubs and containers are sold at Bunnings. These are ideal to put camping gear, fishing or food in when travelling.

Grab the heavy duty ones (hopefully the lid won’t crack when you put heavy camping gear on it when packed on it) with lids, to stop rodents and insect getting into your gear or food.

 

Electric power lead and power boards

Power leads are useful for running from the generator to the caravan. Or from the powered site outlet to the tent.

Bunnings has plenty of leads and power boards to choose from.

 

Conclusion

While Bunnings isn’t going to compete on range for dedicated camping equipment as say BCF, Aussie Disposals, Snowys, Tentworld or Anaconda, it does have a wide range of gear and tools that are good for camping and caravanning.

The only thing missing at Bunnings for camping gear are the sleeping bags, sleeping mats and tents. (But you could use just a tarp for minimalistic camping instead of a tent.)

There are probably heaps of other tools from the store that can double up and serve for camping in the bush as well.

Check out Bunnings camping gear for some good prices right in our backyard.