Wilderness Times packing checklists, 350+ rated tents and gear buying guides. Free, no signup.
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Build a customised packing list from a Wilderness Times checklist: start from an activity, optionally keep only certain categories, drop items that do not apply, and add your own. Returns the tailored list plus buying-guide links for whatever survived. Use this when the user wants a list shaped to their specific trip rather than the full standard one.
Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding.
Optional. Extra items to append under a 'Your additions' category.
Optional. Item names to leave out (matched loosely — 'hammock' drops 'Hammock').
Optional. Keep only these categories.
Build a customised packing list from a Wilderness Times checklist: start from an activity, optionally keep only certain categories, drop items that do not apply, and add your own. Returns the tailored list plus buying-guide links for whatever survived. Use this when the user wants a list shaped to their specific trip rather than the full standard one.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| add | array | Optional. Extra items to append under a 'Your additions' category. |
| exclude | array | Optional. Item names to leave out (matched loosely — 'hammock' drops 'Hammock'). |
| activity* | string | Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding. |
| categories | array | Optional. Keep only these categories. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"activity"
],
"properties": {
"add": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Extra items to append under a 'Your additions' category."
},
"exclude": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Item names to leave out (matched loosely — 'hammock' drops 'Hammock')."
},
"activity": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding."
},
"categories": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Keep only these categories."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}Search Wilderness Times' gear recommendations. TENTS: 350+ tents, each scored out of 10 on its own review page — filter by size (the manufacturer's rating) or how many it realistically sleeps, seasons and weight, and they come back best-scored first. EVERYTHING ELSE (sleeping bags, stoves, coolers, chairs, packs, hatchets and ~60 more categories): returned as the Wilderness Times buying guides that cover it, each with its picks — the guide is the recommendation, so send the user to it. Use this whenever someone asks what gear to buy, which tent suits a trip, or for a recommendation on anything they would take camping or hiking. Ask in plain words ('tent for a family of 4', 'ultralight backpacking tent', 'camping chair'); filler like 'best' is ignored. Call with no query to see what is covered. Tent searches default to car camping unless the question signals backpacking; results are ordered best-scored first. Tent scores are Wilderness Times editorial ratings, not lab tests. Results carry no prices; current prices are on each linked review page.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| kind | string | Restrict to tents or to other gear. Default: any. |
| size | number | Tents only. The manufacturer's size, the number on the box ('2P', '4 person'); matched exactly. |
| limit | number | How many tents and how many guides to return. Default 8, maximum 25. |
| query | string | What the user wants, in plain words — a tent type ('ultralight backpacking'), a category ('camping shovel'), a brand or a model. Capacity and seasons in the words are understood too ('4 person' as a size, 'sleeps 4' or 'family of 4' as realistic capacity, '4-season'). |
Get a full Wilderness Times packing checklist for one activity, organised by category, with links to the buying guides that help choose specific gear. Use this whenever someone asks what to pack for a trip. Accepts natural phrasing ('car camping', 'camping with kids') as well as exact activity ids.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| activity* | string | Activity to fetch. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding. Common phrasings are also accepted. |
| categories | array | Optional. Only return these categories (matched loosely). Use to narrow a 100+ item list when the user only wants, say, the cooking or sleeping section. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"activity"
],
"properties": {
"activity": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Activity to fetch. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding. Common phrasings are also accepted."
},
"categories": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Only return these categories (matched loosely). Use to narrow a 100+ item list when the user only wants, say, the cooking or sleeping section."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}Get the STANDARD published Wilderness Times checklist as a ready-made PDF — the full, unedited list, free and with no signup. Available for all 12 activities. This is the standard list and does not reflect any customisation. A customised list is exported through share_checklist, whose link opens that list in the checklist builder with PDF, Excel, Google Sheets and print export.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| activity* | string | Activity whose PDF to return. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"activity"
],
"properties": {
"activity": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Activity whose PDF to return."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}Get everything Wilderness Times holds on one item from find_gear: the full review summary, specs, pros and cons, which retailers stock it, and — for a tent — its six category scores, community rating, other sizes of the same model, and two similar tents from other brands. Use this after find_gear when the user narrows to one thing, wants to compare two in detail, or asks what else is like a tent they are looking at.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id* | number | The id from a find_gear result. |
| kind | string | The kind from the same result. Optional, but pass it — it removes any ambiguity. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"id"
],
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "number",
"description": "The id from a find_gear result."
},
"kind": {
"enum": [
"tent",
"product"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "The kind from the same result. Optional, but pass it — it removes any ambiguity."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}List every Wilderness Times packing checklist available — 12 activities covering camping, backpacking, hiking, winter camping, beach camping, kayak camping, motorcycle camping, camping with toddlers, cabin camping, couples camping, fishing and snowboarding. Call this first if you are unsure which activity matches what the user described.
No arguments.
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {},
"additionalProperties": false
}Turn a checklist — including one the user has tailored — into a link that opens it in the free Wilderness Times checklist builder, where items tick off and it exports to PDF, Excel, Google Sheets or print with the gear links intact. Use this whenever someone has customised a list, or asks to save, share, print, download or get a PDF of THEIR list. Takes the same arguments as build_checklist, so you can share whatever you just built.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| add | array | Optional. Extra items to include. |
| name | string | Optional label, e.g. 'Yosemite, October'. Shown when the link is opened. |
| exclude | array | Optional. Item names to leave out. |
| activity* | string | Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding. |
| categories | array | Optional. Keep only these categories. |
{
"type": "object",
"required": [
"activity"
],
"properties": {
"add": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Extra items to include."
},
"name": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Optional label, e.g. 'Yosemite, October'. Shown when the link is opened."
},
"exclude": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Item names to leave out."
},
"activity": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Base activity. One of: camping, backpacking, hiking, winter-camping, cabin-camping, couples-camping, kayak-camping, motorcycle-camping, toddler-camping, beach-camping, fishing, snowboarding."
},
"categories": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Optional. Keep only these categories."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}| sleeps | number | Tents only. How many people it must REALISTICALLY sleep, by Wilderness Times' count (often below the size); matches that many up to 2 more. |
| seasons | number | Tents only. 3 = at least three-season; 4 = four-season (winter). |
| maxWeightLbs | number | Tents only. Heaviest acceptable packed weight in pounds — use for backpacking. |
| includeDiscontinued | boolean | Include tents no longer in production. Default false. Set true when the user already owns one, is buying used, or asks about an older model. |
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"kind": {
"enum": [
"tent",
"product",
"any"
],
"type": "string",
"description": "Restrict to tents or to other gear. Default: any."
},
"size": {
"type": "number",
"description": "Tents only. The manufacturer's size, the number on the box ('2P', '4 person'); matched exactly."
},
"limit": {
"type": "number",
"description": "How many tents and how many guides to return. Default 8, maximum 25."
},
"query": {
"type": "string",
"description": "What the user wants, in plain words — a tent type ('ultralight backpacking'), a category ('camping shovel'), a brand or a model. Capacity and seasons in the words are understood too ('4 person' as a size, 'sleeps 4' or 'family of 4' as realistic capacity, '4-season')."
},
"sleeps": {
"type": "number",
"description": "Tents only. How many people it must REALISTICALLY sleep, by Wilderness Times' count (often below the size); matches that many up to 2 more."
},
"seasons": {
"enum": [
3,
4
],
"type": "number",
"description": "Tents only. 3 = at least three-season; 4 = four-season (winter)."
},
"maxWeightLbs": {
"type": "number",
"description": "Tents only. Heaviest acceptable packed weight in pounds — use for backpacking."
},
"includeDiscontinued": {
"type": "boolean",
"description": "Include tents no longer in production. Default false. Set true when the user already owns one, is buying used, or asks about an older model."
}
},
"additionalProperties": false
}