>>1185586Define "legit." It's a bunch of vague, generally valid advice that could be applied to many different kinds of camping, but not one specifically.
If you start a list like this with a backpack, then that implies backpacking. However, no mention is made of optimizing your gear for fitting into a backpack. Then again, this is a long rabbit hole and you'd probably be better served with starter items in all your gear categories so you can upgrade incrementally later on, as you decide what you want to do.
As for cooking, this really depends on WHAT you want to cook. If you plan to do a three stone fire and the recipe calls for low heat, guess what, you're going to burn your food. If all you need to do is boil water for a dehydrated meal, then you can use whatever heat source you want. A fire will cover your pot in soot, though, which can be kind of annoying to get all over your gear. Look up "soda can alcohol stoves" for a cool DIY project that costs very little to complete and gives you a camping stove sort of thing.
Also, while I agree that the sleeping bag is the single most important piece of gear in your kit and you should splurge on one since it could last you a lifetime, I wouldn't call spending $50-100 on one "splurging." A good 3 season down sleeping bag for backpacking will run you between $350-500. If you don't need the compressibility of down, then you could get a good synthetic bag for probably around $200, but you'll need a large enough backpack to accommodate it. You can cheap out on all your other gear, but if you plan to camp (as a general rule in temperate climates) after October 1 and before April 1, you really should not cheap out on your sleeping bag.
