Desert camping checklist: what to pack for a winter trip

A desert camping checklist comes down to five groups: coffee and tea, warmth for after sunset, a fire with wood you bring yourself, what the car needs on sand, and bags for your rubbish. Get those five ready before Thursday afternoon and the only thing missing from the trip is the crew. Here is the full list, and the things to avoid, for your safety and for the desert's.

The desert camping checklist

Coffee and tea: the dallah, a thermos, the cups, a teapot, cardamom, dates, and more water than you think you need.
Warmth: a farwa, a long sleeve, a crewneck or hoodie, a beanie for the night, and a thick mat to sleep on.
Fire: firewood or charcoal from home, a lighter, something to move the embers, and water or sand to put it out.
The car: an air compressor, a tyre pressure gauge, a tow strap, a shovel, recovery boards and a spare tyre.
Safety: a first-aid kit, a torch with spare light, a power bank, and your location shared with someone back in town.
Clean-up: big rubbish bags, tissues, and a bag for the cold ash.

Before you set off, check the car itself: a full tank, a spare tyre that is inflated and sound, a healthy battery, and the wheel tools where they belong. Sand is hard on a car that wasn't prepared, and the nearest paved road can be further than you think.

Fire and firewood: bring your own

The fire is the heart of the trip, and it has rules. Light it in a small pit or on open ground, away from tents and cars, with wood from home. Never cut the desert's trees or shrubs: cutting trees is a punishable offence under the environment law, and so is lighting a fire outside the places set aside for it in national and desert parks.

The most important rule on cold nights: never sleep with charcoal or wood burning in a closed space, tent or room. The Ministry of Health warns about it every winter. Warm the tent before you sleep and then take the embers out, or rely on your mat and your layers. Before you leave, pour water on the embers until they are cold; burying them in sand is not enough.

Warmth: layers for the season

What you need to wear changes with the season. In Al-Wasm the day stays warm and the end of the night cools, so a long sleeve and a light crewneck will do. With Al-Murabbaniya the cold comes up from the ground, and you need a heavy fleece layer, a beanie and a thick mat. The rule holds in every season: layers you can add and take off rather than one heavy piece, because desert noon and desert dawn are two different climates.

The car on sand: let the air down

First lesson of dune driving: let the tyres down before the sand. A softer tyre spreads over the sand instead of digging in. The second lesson matters just as much: pump them back up before you get back on the highway. If you get stuck, don't keep your foot down, because the tyre only digs itself deeper; get the shovel and the recovery boards out. Go with a second car whenever you can, and keep to the known tracks.

Leave it cleaner than you found it

The desert you love is the desert someone else left clean. Take every bit of rubbish back to town with you, down to the charcoal ends and the seed shells. Don't leave an open pit or blackened stones in the middle of the spot. Whoever comes next Thursday deserves to find the dune the way you did. If you find rubbish someone else left, take what you can: nobody cleans the desert except the people who love it, and a spare bag takes no room in the car.

The same list at Barr

We wrote this list on the back of the Trip Checklist Tee: Thursday after Asr, dallah, thermos, farwa, compressor, and last on the list, most important of all, the crew. The sand lesson is on the Air Down Tee, and three ways to build the fire are on the back of the Fire Builds Hoodie. For every trip of the year there are the Essentials, and with them this season's collection, Al-Wasm. Every piece is made for you after you order.