Camping | Evolving Consumer

Wearable Bag Features Removable Boots

We really liked the idea of the wearable Selk’bag, which was just one of a few wearable sleeping bags that we’ve come across , and now the designers have addressed an all too common problem with sleeping bags – namely hot feet. Sleeping bags might be great for retaining warmth but a little air on the feet is never a bad thing.

The other problem with the Selk’bag was that while it provided reinforced feet to allow for walking around, it wasn’t exactly ideal for providing dexterity on uneven ground. Now there is an option for removable feet.

The new Selk’bag Patagon offers zippered feet that are great for those times when you want to let in some air, or need to do a bit of walking – such as to answer nature’s call. Press release after the jump

Sleeping on Air

With a Klymit backpacking mattress under your sleeping bag you won’t have to endure the cold hard ground. In addition to the actual air that is in the inflatable mattress this new pattern, which was demo’d at last month’s Outdoor Retailer Show, will feature numerous “holes” that serve to reduce weight while still ensuring that you are properly elevated off the ground.

Klymit Official Website

Stake Some Light

We’ve seen UCO’s line of LED lights for camping and have been impressed, but this is one company that continues to innovate. The company has introduced its new StakeLight, a tent stake that as the name suggests features a built-in light.

With a 17-lumen LED light encased in the water-resistant housing the light can help users avoid tripping over a tent rope while getting up in the night to answer nature’s call. The StakeLight features both strobe and steady modes and can can for up to 24 hours from a single AAA on strobe setting. Dare we say this is a bright idea?

UCO Official Website

Dwarf-Sized Axe

The Joseph Bowen Micro Hatchet TAD Edition is not an axe for a dwarf but it be used one-handed, while its design centers the force of the impact into the middle of the blade allowing for even hard objects to be cut. It is skeletonized to reduce weight, and it features one large center hole to aid the grip. This might just be the axe to take hiking, camping, unless you actually need to chop a lot of wood.

Joseph Bowen Micro Hatchet TAD Edition Official Website

Total Bliss

Camping doesn’t mean having to sleep on the cold, hard ground, and while hammocks get you off the ground these typically don’t allow for the sleeper to lay entirely flat.

The Hammock Bliss Sky Bed is the best of both worlds, as it hangs like a traditional two-point Hammock, but it utilizes an asymmetric design that provides a comfortable, relaxation space that is the next best thing to a bed in the trees. It utilizes ripstop nylon that is reinforced at the seams with webbing, providing extra stability and durability whether napping in the backyard or sleeping in the woods.

Hammock Bliss Sky Bed Official Website

Pad Bag

At first glance the Father Nature Outdoor Sleeping Bag looks a little like something we saw in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. It does have that “Mummy’s Curse” thing going on. But instead of a curse the FNO Sleeping Bag, which offers a sleeping pad that is sold with the bag, will provide you with a good night’s sleep in the wilds.

So if you’re heading out on an expedition to find a mummy’s tomb or just doing the camp out thing this bag, which is designed for adults up to 6’2” tall, is packed together with the padding to ensure that you’ll get that decent sleep. Continue reading Pad Bag

Rocket to the Sun (for Hot Water)

While man has walked on the moon there will never be a true rocket to the sun, as that would be a one-way trip and it wouldn’t make all that close. However, Sunrocket is something different. It is a portable heating system that can heat and even boil water using only solar power.

It features solar panels that can catch the rays of the sun and the longer you leave it out the hotter the water will get. Once heated the water can be used to drink, cook, clean or rehydrate food. So if you’re camping out or just preparing for the impending collapse of civilization this could be your rocket to a warm cup of tea.

Sunrocket Official Website

Give Me Shelter… and Water to Drink

A rain tarp is ideal for keeping you dry while out in the wilds. But the KAMMOK Team, which is looking to Kickstarter to raise funds for its Kammok Glider Rain Tarp and Weather Relief Shelter, think it can do a little more.

The Glider features rainwater retention and heat reflective technology. What does this mean exactly? Well for one this tarp features patent-pending built-in rain retention technology that can actually collect rain water in both light and heavy rain conditions. This water is funneled to special bottles and thus can provide drinking water where it might not otherwise be available.

When it isn’t raining, the Glider can also be pitched with the reflective side facing the sky to help those underneath stay cool. Video after the jump

Rope It In The Dark

Tent cords in the dark are in essence trip hazards, but the Nite Ize Reflective Rope provides 50 feet of green reflective cord that can be seen after the sun goes down. It doesn’t actually glow in the dark, so no worries about it keeping you awake, but it does reflect light so if you need to head out in night and have a flashlight it will be easily seen.

Nite Ize Reflective Rope Pack Official Website

Camp Garbage

Camping is supposed to be getting back to nature, but sometimes people camp out at music festivals or other places and create a whole lot of garbage in the process. Sometimes the tent is so trashed that it ends up in the garbage. But Fast Company reported last week that Glad – yes, the maker of garbage bags – is reportedly working on a disposable tent that turns into a garbage bag.

While we know not everyone will love the idea of a single use tent, we do think this could be a good way to ensure that campsites and those outdoor festivals aren’t totally trashed. Video after the jump

Axe to Grind

The Gerber Bear Gryllis Survival Hatchet is so much more than an axe, and so much less – as in weight. It is just 20 ounces but this 10 inch long survival hatchet can chop firewood at the campsite, help construct a shelter or in a pinch be used against a zombie or two – not that the latter is likely. But for those who have chopping to do the Survival Hatchet is one that can do that and so much more.

Gerber Survival Official Website

A Bit Torrent

Winter is hopefully in the rear view mirror but given how it is trying to hang on could be reason enough to consider the Torrent 2P tent from Easton Mountain Products if you are early spring camper. This is actually designed to be a full year tent as it features a double wall construction that is hermetically sealed to keep blowing dust and even snow out. And yet it is made of durable materials that are still lightweight. Continue reading A Bit Torrent

Assisted Blade

While you won’t be able to bring this new Gerber knife on planes, even with the new TSA rules in place, the Gerber Outrigger Knife is one that you might want to take just about everywhere else that adventure calls. It features assisted opening 2.0 technology that makes for quick access while dual thumbstuds allow for easy one-hand operation. There is a pocket clip so it is always within reach.

Gerber Gear Official Website