Camping Food and Water Calculator

How the camping food and water math works

Water is the heaviest thing you will pack, so it pays to get the number right. The calculator starts with a base amount per person per day, which you can edit. One gallon covers drinking, cooking and light cleanup for many car campers, and it is an example default rather than a rule. The weather setting then multiplies it by 1 for mild days, 1.5 for warm or active days and 2 for hot days with hard hiking. Adjust each box to fit your group, because a family with young children and a group of hungry hikers will land on very different numbers.

Here is a worked example with the defaults. Four people camp for three days in mild weather at one gallon each per day. That is 4 x 3 x 1 = 12 gallons, which fits into three five-gallon jugs. Switch the weather to warm and the total rises to 18 gallons, or four jugs. Food follows the same pattern: 2 pounds per person per day gives 24 pounds for the group, and 2,500 calories per person per day gives 30,000 calories in total.

Ice is planned per day for all your coolers together. Eight pounds of ice per day needs 24 pounds for three days. Real melt rates depend on cooler quality, how often you open the lid and the air temperature, so treat this as a starting point. Pre-chill the cooler, keep it in shade and pack block ice where you can. Stove fuel uses an example rate of 1.5 ounces per person per day, which covers boiling water and simple cooking.

For a hiking trip, carrying weight matters more than jug counts. Use the hiking water calculator for trail legs and the pack weight calculator to see what your food and water add to your load. To turn your grocery plan into dollars, feed the numbers into the camping trip cost calculator.

Where these numbers come from

The formulas and default values in this calculator are based on:

• EPA WaterSense statistics page (average household use of 82 gallons per person per day, for context)
• Arithmetic from your inputs. Note: water, calorie, ice and fuel rates are editable examples, not official requirements

This is a planning estimate, not medical, legal or immigration advice. Fees, allowances, limits and entry rules change, so confirm the figures with your airline, cruise line, customs agency or the official government source before you book or travel, and follow their rules if they differ from this page.