HI- I realize this is not the place to ask this- but hopefully there are some of you out there who know where I can find this info.
We are ready to do some serious traveling after recent retirement.
There are 4 adults total- we have several planned trips scheduled in the next several months.
On a couple of these trips- we plan to fly to our destination- rent a van or RV and spend weeks on the road- with campground cooking on our minds.
Where can I find a site that can recommend cooking gear that I can purchase that is also acceptable to put in my luggage to take with me.
My career has been in food business- but I know nothing about outdoor cooking utensils- I know there must be some sort of great propane set that I can take along and of course purchase the propane after picking up our RV at the rental site.
Please advise if you know a site that is camping related and can help with this. Thanks

Will you be cooking on a stove in an RV, a propane camp stove, or over an open camp fire?

I'd just hit the nearest Wal-Mart when you arrive (via your flight) at your destination.

The RV will have all the cookware you need. If you are van camping, buy the little screw-on gas stove to heat things up and cook other stuff on the fire. Most camping site have electricity so you can "cheat" and buy a little electric eye or skillet to use.

Probably a lot cheaper than paying for the extra luggage fee nowadays. Have you checked how much you will pay for your checked bags now?

HI Suze- thanks for the quick reply-as I mentioned- cooking is what I did for a living- and there ain't nuttin I can't cook- lol- although there are trips that we plan to take that we will not do any cooking- a couple of places are scenic areas and secluded etc- and we would like to cook rather than eating out at times.
We will most likely have a van as our rental vehicle- so I was thinking a two burner type of campstove would work- but do not know where to order camping equipment- any help is appreciated. Our method of travel is flying to a point of entry- rental car at airport- then 2 or more weeks of scenic driving. Cooking along the way will be fun at some places- thanks

starrs has given you the answer you need - go to walmart. Some stuff you can buy at home, but the rest, like fuel you must wait until you arrive. You cannot transport cooking fuel (liquid or propane) on an airplane.

{robably the best site for camping equipment is www.coleman.com who make everything related to camping needs.

Walmart and Kmart and I think Sears and probably Target sell the Coleman line, as well as all the outdoor/camping/sporting goods specialty stores. Paragon (on Broadway and 17th St here in NYC), probably has a website that you can order from.

I'd also suggest just picking up items when you get to your destination and then if you want to keep them, package them up and ship them home.

Hope this helps.

For cooking on a campfire, bring LOTS of liquid dish soap. Make sure you coat the OUTSIDE of your pots with soap so when you wash the pots they are not blackened and ruined by the fire. An old Girl Scout trick.

Here's an old Boy Scouts trick. Forget about the OUTSIDE of the pots. They're going to turn black anyway if you use them over a fire. The food goes on the INSIDE anyway - nobody (in Boy Scouts) cares about the outside.

I would recommend going the electric route that starrs mentioned. If you rent an RV you'll want electric hookups anyway, and even with a van you can put them to good use.

Problem with any stove that uses fuel is that the stove itself has to be cleaned and free of any fuel residue to go in your checked baggage. If there's any fuel residue detected it could be confiscated. Not to mention you'll have to figure out what to do with any leftover fuel after each trip. Electric would definitely be the easier, safer way to go.

You can always use the campfire - most campgrounds will have a fire ring with a grate.

Definitely get a hobo pie maker. Get the double wide. Like this:

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...pod&id=0031806

I line ours with foil and heat up things already cooked. You just put it in the fire for a few minutes. It is truly like having a microwave in the woods. Rice dishes work great. And no clean up!

It is also great for hot sandwiches. Yum. Melted cheese...

I also really like REI for camping gear. I recently bought a 2 burner Coleman stove that I really like:

http://www.rei.com/product/723280

But...it might be a bit large for putting in your suitcase. I'm not sure about the suggestions for waiting to buy stuff at Walmart at your final destination since you'll also have to transport those things back home...

I also like this cookset:

http://www.rei.com/product/625784

At the risk of being redundant:

From the TSA website:
Camp Stoves - These can travel as carry-on or checked luggage only if they are empty of all fuel and cleaned so that there are no vapors or residue left. Simply emptying the fuel container will leave flammable vapors. We recommend that you ship the fuel containers to your destination ahead of time - passengers frequently have to leave them at the checkpoint because of fuel vapors.

Link to that page is here: http://tinyurl.com/657lql

To be clear,
I'm not saying buy stuff at Wal-Mart to then bring home.

I'm saying buy an inexpensive Coleman one eye stove (with the screw on fuel canister) and/or an inexpensive electric one eye burner (wal-mart brand is fine) and use them while you are camping and leave them. You could do the same thing I do with beach toys at the beach - offer them to someone else (in the case, at the campsite).

It will be far cheaper and easier than hauling it on the plane.

For years we hauled hunting and fishing and camping equipment on trips. "In the good ole days" you could pack a cooler or Rubbermaid tub (wrapped with duct tape) with most of your camping gear and check it all on the plane.

Today, you cannot. Or, IMO it would be stupid to make that choice.

Here's a list of Coleman products carried at Wal-mart
http://preview.tinyurl.com/62ckpl

I'm talking about the little stove at the bottom of the list. It's what I use when the power goes out (leftover from camping days).

The dual eye stove is only $50 and gets great reviews. Consider that if you are going to cook a lot.

Or, if you have access to electricity at the campsite, one of these -
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catal...catNavId=90546

One of my favorite camping pictures is of the kids roasting marshmallows over the eye of the electric burner

Please figure something out that doesn't involve buying junk and then leaving it behind. Which means it'll probably end up in a landfill.

If your point of camping is even remotely connected to the beauty of nature I beg you to do the responsible thing and bear the cost of shipping your items back home so you can reuse them.

One last point, "most camping site have electricity" and kids roasting marshmallows over an electric burner. There's something really wrong with this mental picture, IMO. Hint, hint--you weren't camping.

I know we weren't camping. We were doing a cross-country trip, staying in KOA Kamping Kabins. It was a great fit for the budget and the kids had a blast. This particular location was near Great Sand Dunes NP and I can promise they got more out of the experience than if they had stayed the night at the closest Comfort Inn.

We had birthday parties at a local state park too. The little boys camped in tents and we did as much as we could to give them (kids not related to us) a taste of the camping experiences. But, I will admit that when they wouldn't settle down for the night I made them get in their tents and pulled out a little TV/VCR combo and put in a movie. They loved it and were asleep in about 30 minutes.

Phead, I grew up camping in National Forests, a lot of time in areas that did not have designated campsites. We set up camp near the mountain stream and spent a week there. I've backpacked. I spent the first 30 years of my life "real" camping.

But, the OP mentions an RV rental and many would say that is not "real" camping.

I did not suggest tossing the equipment in the trash (and headed to a landfill). I suggested offering the equipment to someone else at the campground. If they don't want/ need it, offer it to the campground host. I would imagine it would be fairly easy to find new owners for the purchased equipment.

One of my most memorable campsite neighbors was a mom with two kids in Montana. The kids were having a ball camping for most of the summer. On our second night there we learned from the mom that she and her husband were getting a divorce and she was camping there to go to college over the summer to get her master's degree in teaching. The camp hosts watched the kids while she was in class. She planned to tell the kids near the end of the summer that they weren't going back to home and dad, but her parents were working on getting an apartment for her that she could afford. A sad time for her, but she was giving her kids a great summer.

There are all ranges of camping. My ex and I were laughed at by the RVers walking the campground roads for exercise. When we were on the move, we often tossed our sleeping bags onto banana chairs that we had placed under the rhododendron bushes. We had a cooler, a milk crate with kitchen stuff and a one-burner stove on the table. That was all we unpacked for single nights.

BTW, we in turn laughed at the RVers with signs, rocking chairs and patio lights strung around their campsites.

All different kinds of camping for all different kinds of situations.

kelliebellie -- sorry to hijack this thread -- but I think you just helped us with our Christmas shopping! We always called those "tart makers." We butter bread and then put all sorts of stuff inside; ham & cheese, pizza toppings, etc. The absolute best though is apple pie filling. Sitting around a campfire with one of those warming up your hands . . . heaven! We've done it for years but I had never seen a double one before. My family will love it. Thank you thank you thank you!

One purchase you might make that you would use when you return (bring it back) is a butane burner. It is a good tailgating, tableside prep applliance.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw...=butane+burner

It might be iffy to find on the fly at your destination, but the fuel is easy enough to get.
You can also do a lot of fireside cooking with a fry pan and a set of pans. You will need a grill to put over the coals of the fire for open fire cooking.
I recommend you make a list of what you are going to cook and then work backwards and fill in what you need to do it--obsessively!.
A plastic wash basin is a good thing.

Another thing about Walmart -- it is company policy to let RVers stay overnight in their parking lots. This is prohibited in some places, but as a general rule you can park at Walmart for a night if you can't find a campground.

Cooking on a camp stove is easy. You'll need to purchase fuel after you arrive, so why not just buy a simple stove then?

I would pack two good pans in your luggage. That's all you'll need.

I asked about the campfire, because that requires different equipment which gets very sooty/dirty, etc.

But a simply two burner camp stove is no different than cooking on gas at home.

If you really want a website... try www.rei.com