You’re either a camping fan or you’re not. For some, the idea of getting in touch with nature, sleeping under the stars and cooking over a stove is a little slice of heaven. For others, the idea of sleeping anywhere other than a comfy bed with an en suite is horrifying.
Prepare to have your mind changed, hotel-dwellers! A camping trip needn’t mean you miss out on life’s little luxuries. Plenty of gadgets exist to make the whole process smoother.
Putting up a tent is one of the most intimidating things about camping, so anything that takes the stress (and various poles and screws) out of building your home for the night is welcome. The Moontent from Firefox (£34.99) pops open the minute you take it out of the bag, so that all you need to do is peg it down.
Nifty eh? Here are a few more creative camping gadgets.
Unless you fancy cleaning your utensils in a saucepan, or crouched over a running tap at the nearest amenities, washing up can pose something of a problem whilst camping.
The Kitchen Sink, (Firebox, £12.99) is another pop up product that uncurls from a tiny hand sized product to a large sink with study sides, capable of carrying up to 10 litres of water. The ‘sink’ has a couple of mesh handles too so you can carry it with ease.
No excuse not to pack everything *including* the kitchen sink now.
Carrying on with the washing theme, we’ve got the Pocket Shower on the right (IWOOT, £14.99)
The basic concept is that you fill the black bag with water, and hang it from a tree. The black fabric will attract heat, so (if the weather is hot enough) you’ll have a warm shower. The water comes from the shower head on the bottom of the bag.
This gadget can hold up to ten litres of water, which should be enough for a seven-minute shower.
Worried how you’ll cope without your early morning coffee kick whilst away? The Handpresso (FairfaxCoffee, £84) is an eco-friendly, electricity-free gadget.
To work it, you need to pump the machine until it hits the green light, then fill the reservoir with hot water. Pop in one of the coffee pods, hit the release button, and you’ve got piping hot expresso goodness.
If you don’t fancy faffing about with stoves and saucepans or living on a diet of bread and cheese, you might want to consider the convenience of HotCans.
The ‘meals in a can’ looks like any other canned meal, except these ones heat themselves up. You can choose from Sausages & Beans or Vegetable Chilli, and the process of heating up only takes 12 minutes. Simply pop the key in the top, remove the lid, and wait for your dinner to cook itself.
You can order them for £4.99 per can from Firebox.
Noteable other products include the Freeloader for emergency charging for laptops and mobile phones and erm….the Shit Box. Enough said.
[…] time last year, I gave you a round up of the best gadgets for camping. I think it’s time for an update, don’t you? After all, everyone is camping these […]