Photo: Peter Tsai Photography/Contributor (Getty Images)
Every year, we find new ways to pollute the great outdoors with gadgets and gizmos. We’re a long way away from the days of roughing it out on the trail. Whether your friends make weekend retreats to the lake or only know about camping from cartoons, these travel and camping gift suggestions could be great gifts for their next excursion.
If you’re the outdoorsy type, you know it may be hard to keep up with tech. After all, you can’t charge your phone when surrounded by nothing but trees. This is a mandatory nature lovers holiday gift guide, but feel free to go window shopping. Treat yourself. While you can’t take your full rig out into the woods, you can bring a little slice of the future on your travels.
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Camping Gift Guide
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Coleman Folding Double Wash Basin
$15 ($60 for the full set with dishes)
If you're going to be eating anything more than delicious s'mores over the fireplace, you need somewhere to clean up. You're not going to bring the kitchen sink, so why not a plastic replacement that serves the same function? Coleman's Double Wash Basin folds up flat and then folds out into an easy to use dirty dish receptacle. Just add water.
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Twisted Chef Burger Press
$10
Speaking of cooking on the go, you don't need to sacrifice foodie tendencies just because you're sleeping in a sleeping bag. Stuffed burgers are the best way to pack more toppings into one of the most solid meals around. Just pack this handy tool along, fire up a portable grill, and you'll have patties to hand out to the whole crew.
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Elite Screens Pop-Up Cinema
$75 (84 inches)
So, we've got the food all situated. What are you going to do while you eat? Are you out of ghost stories to tell? Well, pack along a cinema screen and you can find some new ones on Netflix. Of course, you'll need to bring along a projector, or one of those fancy phones with a projector built in. Whatever you have, this lightweight projection target makes for an excellent end to a busy day.
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Wacaco Minipresso
$60
When camping, you're probably going to be drinking a lot of water (or whatever you pack in the cooler). But your beverage stash won't last forever. Why give up your morning pep when you can instead pack this tiny bullet of coffee goodness? The Wacaco espresso machine is a hand-operated device that serves up energizing bursts of morning drinks whenever you need them.
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Coroler Fingerless Flashlight Gloves
$13
One change you'll need to adjust to whenever you're camping is light levels. The creatures of the forest are equipped for the darkness that envelops the woods for the majority of the day, but you are not. Get a one-up on these creatures with a 20-year-old fashion accessory! These flashlight gloves give you a convenient light source while keeping your hands free for whatever other outdoor tasks you're performing. Never set up your tent at 2 a.m. blind again!
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Winner Outfitters Double Camping Hammock
$27
No camping trip is complete without a hammock. Sure, you can try to have fun, but the disappointment of knowing that you could have had a hammock handy and didn't will haunt you throughout your excursion. When else in life do you get to kick up your feet in midair? Never. If you're going camping, you should bring a hammock, and this one will do just fine.
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Thermacell Black Shield Lantern
$32
When you're out and about, you generally want to experience nature. What other reason is there to venture outside to such a degree? However, there are levels of nature you probably don't want to experience. You don't want poison ivy, you don't want to see the inside of a bear's cave, and you don't want to meet a swarm of mosquitoes. While this lantern won't help with bears, it will certainly repel those nasty bugs and let you stuff your burgers in peace.
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Portable Camping Shower
$34.50
You are already set when it comes to washing dishes, but what about your body? Do you really want to risk it in the river? Have you already forgotten about the bears? This portable shower turns any old bucket of water into a shower source, spraying you in all the right places wherever you end up. Stay near the camp in an enclosure and stay sparkling clean even as you sleep on the ground.
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Suaoki Solar Powered Tent Lantern
$19
This particular lantern won't protect you from bugs, but it's versatile enough to still be useful. It's got a trio of solar panels that keep it lit up whenever you need it. The outdoors has plenty of sunlight after all.
The attachable hook lets you hang this like a ceiling light and read a book in your tent just like at home. It also lets you hang onto the lantern and take it with you out of the trail.
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BioLite USB Charging Camping Stove
$130
So, we know you've been wondering: how are we going to cook those delicious burgers from several items up? Sometimes a campfire won't cut it, but this camping stove is just the ticket. Plus, it has the added benefit of charging your phone! The world wide web will remain at your fingertips as you are surrounded by nature's bounty. How wonderful.
