8 Cool Gear Items to Upgrade Your Car Camping Experience

April 25, 2023

Friends hanging out at lakeside campsite

Camping is meant to get you outside and reacquainted with the simple pleasures of life, like falling asleep beneath a sky full of stars and basking in absolute silence. But car camping isn’t meant to be uncomfortable. Whether you crave a hot meal, a feather-soft sleeping arrangement or a cup of well-balanced coffee in the woods, these items will elevate any front-country camping experience so you won’t have to sacrifice comfort when sleeping outside this spring and summer.

KUMA Outdoor Gear Bear Buddy Heated Chair

Powered by a rechargeable battery pack, this heated camp chair will keep you cozy on chilly mornings, while you’re hanging out by the lake or stargazing by your campsite. This two-seater features two separate control systems with three heat settings, so each sitter can customize their own heat level. To maximize and retain the heat, throw a blanket overtop while relaxing in the chair. The Bear Buddy Heated Chair is equipped with two stem glass holders so you can enjoy wine in nature, as well as two cup holders for coffee mugs or other beverages. With a padded back, cushy armrests and a sturdy frame, this battery-operated chair makes a comfy, cozy, cuddly addition to elevate your campsite.

Rumpl NanoLoft® Flame Blanket

Made with fire-resistant fibres on the face side and ripstop polyester on the other side of the blanket, this NanoLoft® Flame Blanket is specifically designed for spending time around the campfire without worrying about stray embers leaving burn holes in your clothes. Its Cape Clip® keeps the blanket in place, which means your hands are free to roast marshmallows and play card games. Comparable in size to a one-litre water bottle when stuffed in its water-resistant carry sack, this blanket is lightweight and travel-friendly. Plus, made from 100 per cent post-consumer recycled down-like insulation, this flame-resistant blanket provides durable warmth, even away from the campfire.

Mountain Hardwear Bridger™ 4 Tent

With a floor area of 5.8 square metres and an interior height of 168 centimetres, this Mountain Hardwear tent provides ample space for the ultimate car camping base. It’s equipped with two large saloon-style mesh doors for easy ins and outs, and eight roomy pockets to stash shoes, helmets and accessories. But its highlight is the massive front vestibule, which is ideal for everything from laying out your gear to hanging clothes to dry, and it’s even large enough for small group hangouts to avoid the rain and wind. Plus, the mesh canopy provides unobstructed views of the night sky from your sleeping bag. Larger groups can consider the six-person version.

Solo Stove Ranger 2.0 and Pi Oven

All you need to start a smokeless campfire in Solo Stove’s line of portable fire pits are three or four logs. With its removable base plate and ash pan, clean-up is just as easy. The Ranger 2.0 is the line’s most portable option. Clocking in at just over six kilograms, this can be transported from the backyard to the beach to your campsite.

Pizza lovers can elevate their outdoor cooking experience by bringing along the Pi Fire pizza oven, which sits atop Solo Stove’s portable fire pits. With a simple setup, the oven fires up artisan-quality pizza in as little as seven minutes—an especially fun and convenient option when camping with kids or in a group.

Butane Lighter Torch

Light the fire with the Avventura Outdoors Butane Lighter Torch, which is refillable with butane and gives an adjustable flame. With a dynamic range of settings from a tiny flame to a massive blowtorch, this powerful lighter can be used to roast marshmallows and light campfires in the wind and rain.

MiiR Pourigami

For gourmet-tasting coffee even when you’re in the woods, this MiiR Pourigami coffee filter consistently delivers tasty brews. Unlike most standard camp-friendly coffee filters that are made of plastic, the compact Pourigami is cleverly designed using three interlocking stainless-steel panels, which lie flat when disassembled and can be reassembled in a matter of seconds. Its carrying case slips into your pocket for easy transport, and it also has room to store a few coffee filters. Though the cone-shaped pour-over brewer is ideal for making one 10-ounce cup of coffee at a time, it’s easy to clean, which means you can still make multiple cups of coffee in a short period of time.

Mountain Mug

Keep your coffee or tea warm in this double-insulated massive Mountain Mug. Holding up to 800 millilitres of liquid, hot or cold, this leak-proof tumbler will keep your beverage of choice at your desired temperature for hours on end, perfect for a morning of peaceful fishing, road trip to a hiking trail or afternoon canoeing excursion.

Complete Campsite Kitchen Bundle

Make scrambled eggs and beans for breakfast, cook up a pasta dinner or boil water for your tea with explore‘s Complete Campsite Kitchen Bundle, which comes with everything you need to prepare a hot meal in the woods, including a frying pan, saucepan, a seven-piece set of cooking utensils, dishes to eat off of, a no-break egg container and a spice and condiment set. Individual carry cases make it incredibly easy to pack everything up and toss into the car for camping trips or spontaneous picnics. It’s also lightweight: the heat-resistant silicone collapsible kettle weighs only 440 grams, and the canister stove packs smaller than an egg. This bundle will allow you to enjoy delicious hot meals without being weighed down.