When camping you want only the right companion to come along, and the Buck Travel Mate could be a match made in heaven. This multi-tool might be your best friend at a campsite as it offers a knife, fork, spatula, scraper, can and bottle opener as well as grill scraper and even a screwdriver.
It won’t carry your gear or do the dishes but what are friends for?
We find some interesting things from Nemo Equipment and the latest is the relaxed fit Spoon Shape Nocturne 30 Down Sleeping Bag. As the company asks, “who sleeps like a mummy? If that’s not you and you like to curl up while camping this sleeping back might just be for you. The Spoon Shape allows those inside to bend the knees and shift throughout the night.
It features 15 ounces of 700-fill DownTek water-repellant down that provides a 30-degree rating, while the outer shell is made from 15D rip-stop nylon that has been treated with DWR to repel condensation. The result is a bag that will give you room to move while keeping warm and dry.
Nemo Equipment Nocturne 30 Down Sleeping Bag Official Website
Since the dawn of mankind tents have pretty much remained the same: a pole holds up the entire thing. There have been solutions to refining the system but most still revolve around a tent pole! Setting up a tent can thus cause some tension around the camp site.
However, Brooks-Range takes the concept of “Tension” in a different direction with a tent that sets up easier and reduces the stress involved. While the Tension 30 Tent doesn’t completely ditch the poles it does lessen the reliance on how these hold up the tent and more importantly does so by providing more space.
It does so by featuring a single carbon pole and two cross poles that provides headroom and creates an open space inside. Best of all this means a large tent for two people that weighs just a fraction of similar sized tents. More space, less weight and fewer poles – that might mean less tension thanks to Tension in the poles.
The Eddie Bauer First Ascent Sorcerer Pack isn’t exactly magical – so it won’t hold 10 times your weight or anything fantastical like that. But it is somewhat mystical in how it provides a unique blend of strength, weather resistance and light weight. It is made from CTF³ monofilament fiber using welded construction methods, so it can be seriously packed.
It is ideal for the next outdoor journey, but it isn’t rated for exploring dungeons or fighting orcs.
If you’re planning to go camping this spring you could still find the ground a bit cold and damp, but the Klymit Insulated Static V camping pad will keep you high and dry and have you almost feeling like you’re back home in your bed. It uses body mapping technology to provide all season warmth and comfort, while the v-chamber design limits air movement and heat loss.
It also inflates in just 10-15 breaths so you don’t get out of breath getting ready for bed.
We’ve seen – and will continue – to see plenty of utility knives for the trail and campsite. There are knives that could survive the end of the world and be ready for more. Knives that can cut tree limbs, ropes and tin cans; but would you want those to slice or dice the food you’re going to eat?
The Freescape Camp Kitchen Knife from Gerber is a rugged outdoor knife that is meant for cooking. Its razor sharp blade can mimic a chef’s knife and it can handle most food prep, but it features a rugged design that can handle the campsite. Back home it is even dishwasher safe – which is something most of those survival style knives likely are not!
There is no reason to have to read by the campfire or rely just on the light from the burning wood. The Blackfire Clamplight Lantern, which just one a 2014 Red Dot Award in the Product Design category, will provide plenty of illumination.
It can be clamped to tents, tree branches and tackle boxes, while its pivoting head shines light in all direction. It can also double as a flashlight, and users can easily switch between low, hi, and strobe lantern mode, as well as go into flashlight mode at the touch of a button. The Clamplight Lantern is equipped with Cree LEDs, which offer 260 lumens, and yet is powered by just three AA batteries. This one will endure a trip in the wild and is even rated IPX4 storm proof.
Even the most serious “outdoorsman” probably wants a little creature comforts when sleeping in the wilds. After all who really wants to sleep on the cold, hard ground? If having a little cushion under your sleeping bag is your thing, then the Aescent tent, which is being developed via a Kickstarter campaign, might be for you.
This four man tent features an inflatable mattress built into the base. Instead of a being just an air mattress on the floor, this is actually a series of intertwined compartmentalized chambers, which provides a more supportive sleeping surface – and that could help leave you fresh for another day in the wilds. Video after the jump
Much has been made in recent weeks about the “polar vortex,” which has left much of the country in a deep cold spell. Those looking for some heat would no doubt appreciate the Vertex Ultralight Backpacking Stove – not that anyone should be camping in this weather.
However, for those times when camping weather arrives this is the thing you’d like to have in your backpack. It weighs just 1.8 ounces and folds down flat, thus taking up little more room than a map. It is map of tempered stainless steel and provides a sturdy platform for cookware. It works with Trangia Spirit alcohol burner as well as solid fuel tablets, so fire shouldn’t be difficult to make. Vertex is now looking to a Kickstarter project to get the fire started for the Ultralight Backpacking Stove. Video after the jump
When we think of tents we think of a tarp that is held up by a stick. That’s probably more roughing it than we’d like, but the Cabela’s Ultimate Alaknak Tent has us rethinking what one (or for that matter a dozen) can put in a tent. At nearly $1,500 this is one expensive tent, but it offers 13×27 feet of space, more than many studio apartments. It can sleep a dozen people, offers three multi-panel windows along with an attached awning. It is held up by 10 sturdy tent poles and features a waterproof polyester material to provide those inside from the elements. After camping in this tent you might not want to go home.
Perhaps you have friends that act like they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but you can show them with the Optimus Titanium Long Spoon. It is ideal for those on the go, and is durable and rugged. It can also reach deep into stand-up food pouches – making it ideal for commoners as well.
Sink or swim – that’s an easy one. But what about whether you should saw some wood or chop it? A saw and an axe will each get the job done, but with different degrees of precession. Zippo Manufacturing Company offers both options in one tool – and actually it does a bit more as well.
The 4-in-1 Woodsman works as a hatchet with a five-inch blade, a bow saw that can cut oak up to four-inches in diameter, plus it works as a mallet and a stake puller. Why bring more tools than you need to the campsite when this is truly like four tools in one.
Those who can’t start the day without a cup of coffee likely know that camping is truly getting away from it – and that could mean caffeine headaches and a slow start to the morning. Of course you can brew up some coffee on the campfire, but if be sure to do it right with the Poler & Stumptown Camp Coffee set, which includes a travel kit with two mugs, an AeroPress Kit, Porlex JP-30 grinder, bag and even 12 ounces of Holler Mountain that will help you start the day.