Camping Toys
Reviews of camping toys and items not in other categories.
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Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow Review
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been experimenting with different pillow options that range from Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow to stuffing clothing into the sleeves of my coats. Nothing has been comfortable. So, when searching for inflatable pillows, I came across an inexpensive option that was well reviewed on Amazon. It’s the Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow. This is my brief Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow Review. Description The Trekology Ultralight Camping Pillow is technically called the Aluft 2.0. It’s $16 on Amazon. It is an inflatable pillow. It takes three to five breaths to completely inflate. When inflated, it’s about 17 inches by 11 inches and about 4…
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Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review
Having a bright flashlight with you on a paddling trip, especially when night paddling, can make a difference between being able to navigate and being able to be seen while on the water and not. In the U.S. if you paddle at night, the U.S. Coast Guard requires that you carry a bright, white light to point at other boats as needed. The ideal flashlight will be bright, light and watertight. To that end, I was recently able to checkout a new flashlight by Fenix. This is my Fenix PD36R Flashlight Review. The Fenix PD36R is an USB-C rechargeable flashlight with a maximum brightness of 1600 lumens out to the…
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Sunyear Camping Chair Review – a Cheap Knockoff of a Heliox Chair, but is it Good?
On an 8-day canoe trip through the lower canyons of the Rio Grande River along the Texas border, we brought along Heliox chairs for lounging around on in camp. They were light and comfy, but at $100 I didn’t feel like they were worth it. While researching the chairs on Amazon I found a knockoff by Sunyear. I’ve been using these chairs since February and this is my Sunyear Camping Chair Review. Description of the Sunyear Camping Chair The Sunyear Camping Chair is basically a knockoff of a Heliox chair. It is even the same blue. The legs are made from aircraft-grade 7075 aluminium alloy and fold up into a…
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Xshot Dome Port Review
Like many paddlers, I bought a GoPro camera. I used it for a season to shoot lots of video, but didn’t do anything with the video — because most of it was pretty boring. Eventually, bored of shooting action video, the GoPro sat in the corner of my office gathering dust. That is until I got my hands on an XShot Dome Port to review. The XShot Dome Port is a 6-inch dome port designed to allow you to use your GoPro Hero 3 or Hero 4 to get “half-and-half” waterline shots. This gives you a picture that is half above the waterline and half below the waterline. It also…
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First Look: Flip Reel – a fishing handline for kayaking and canoeing
Have you ever wanted to fish from your canoe or kayak, but didn’t want to deal with rods and reels? The Flip Reel by Squiddies offers a solution. It’s an easy-to-pack hand fishing line. The line, sinker and tackle all store inside the flip reel when not in use. The reel itself is compact and portable, and has a line cutter built in. It weighs 5.3 ounces without tackle. To use the Flip Reel, you flip open the bell to expose the reel, clip on the tackle (and bait the hook if needed), then you wet the reel completely. To cast, you spin the line around in a circle and let go…
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Fenix HL60R Rechargeable Headlamp Review
Recently, I received a Fenix HL60R Rechargeable Headlamp for review. For the last month, I’ve used it on night outings for photography and for night riding a fat bike. Due to the time of year, I haven’t had a chance to use it while paddling at night — something that I seldom do — but I have used it for camping. The HL60R is the highest end light in Fenix’s headlamps lineup and one of the brightest headlamps on the market. This is Fenix’s description for this headlamp: Featuring a micro-USB port for go-anywhere charging, the Fenix HL60R Headlamp delivers a maximum output of 950 lumens, beam distance of up to 381…
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Vargo Titanium Ascent Tent Stake Review
Most campers put little thought into the stakes that they use. With newer tents, you almost don’t need to because they often come with v-shaped stakes. It wasn’t always that way. Just a mere 10 years ago, most tents were shipped with flimsy aluminum pegs that bent the second that they even saw the ground. Not so today — at least with the tents that I’ve bought recently. So, any aftermarket stake that you buy has to be something special. For me that means a lighter and stronger stake beats out the stakes included with a tent any day. With that in mind, I had a chance to test out…
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Enerplex Solar Power Review
Over the summer, Enerplex sent me a few products to test out and review. I received Enerplex Kickr IV and a Enerplex Jumpr Slate 10K for review. I spent the summer using them to charge my smartphone and tablet and other USB powered devices, such as a camera. And I’ve found that I love the products. I find writing reviews for products that I love more difficult than for products that I’m so-so on, so I’ve been procrastinating on this review, because I love this bit of kit. Enerplex Kickr IV Reivew The EnerPlex Kickr IV solar panel is a foldable and flexible 6.5 watt charger. EnerPlex claims that it’s powerful…
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Grand Trunk Double Hammock Review
I recently received a Double Hammock from Grand Trunk Goods to review. Grand Trunk Goods claims that the Double Hammock is “The world’s best portable hammock.” So, in this cursory review, I set out to find out if that claim was true. I’ve used these simple fabric hammocks before and currently own three of them. They occasionally get put up in the backyard (although this year has been too buggy to enjoy them), and now and then I like to take them along on trips into the BWCA, especially on trips to Brule Lake. There are a bunch of island campsites on Brule Lake and it’s great to paddle to…
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Dorcy LED Headlamp Review
Over the last few months, I’ve been using a couple of Dorcy LED headlamps that they sent to me to review. I’m a bit of a headlamp geek, so I’m always excited when I get a chance to use a new headlamp. But, I’ve settled into using two high-end headlamps that I really like (see The Petzl Zipka Plus vs. the Princeton Tec EOS Headlamp shootout), so I haven’t played around with any new lights lately. High-end headlamps aren’t for everyone and not everyone wants to dish out $40 for a headlamp. Some people would rather spend around $20. The problem with lights at that price is that they’re usually dim and…
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Swag: Boombotix Boombot Review
Boombotix, an outdoor speaker company, recently sent me a Boombotix Boombot speaker for review. Now and then, I think it might be fun to sit around a fire under a dark sky while listening to some Trampled by Turtles, Bon Iver or maybe a little Neil Young. Or during a training paddling, listen to music via speaker instead of via headphones. This speaker offers a semi-waterproof way to make that happen. Here’s what Boombotix says about the speaker: The Boombot1 is an ultraportable speaker that offers incredible BOOM for the buck. The Boombot1 fuses Japanese urban design with acoustic technology in a palm-sized portable package. It works with ANY audio source…
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The Petzl Zipka Plus vs. the Princeton Tec EOS Headlamps
When I first got into adventure sports, my headlamp was a flashlight combined with a Velcro strap, and the Petzl Zoom headlamp was the headlamp that I lusted over. When I could afford a headlamp, I went out and bought a Zoom and it served me well until Princeton Tec started to introduce lighter and smaller headlights. I was working retail at the time and got a box of samples to try out. That trial box turned me into the corporation’s headlamp geek. I was hooked until a few years later when Petzl introduced its first LED headlamp, which got something like 40 hours of battery life. I got one at the…
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Goal Zero Solar Panels: Expedition Solar Power Made Easy
About 10 years ago when I first started to switch from film photography to digital photography, I started looking at solar power options to keep my batteries charged on long trips. At the time, I found that the Brunton SolarRoll did the trick, because it was light, it could charge my batteries and it was easy to pack away. Since that time, I’ve found myself carrying more electronics into the woods. I sometimes carry a GPS, a laptop, hard drives (gasp, even with some movies on them), my Kindle Fire, two cameras with different batteries, a VHF radio, a mp3 player, headlamp and a cell phone (p.s. on trips less than two…
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Dynaflex Gyro Exerciser Review: a Tool No Paddler Should Be Without
Years ago when I was a climber, I ended up getting tendinitis in my elbows. It went away quickly with rehab, but showed up again later during a 560-mile kayaking trip. After the trip, the tendinitis went away with minor rehab, but I started noticing it again now and then. Then a couple of years ago on a 350-mile kayaking trip I had a major flare-up as a result of adjusting my paddling style to account for another injury. This time, the tendinitis didn’t go away easily. I took a full year of rehab exercises before I had any temporary relief from the pain. It took one more year of…
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Tear Aid Review – An Emergency Repair Kit and Patch
On a 45-day kayaking trip about a week from the end of the trip, I stopped for lunch and took my top off to cool off and change to a lighter layer. After lunch, pulling on the drysuit, I felt the neck gasket tear — a smooth, soundless rip that released the tension in the gasket, but caused my stomach to turn. The rip was huge. It ran from the top of the gasket almost all the way to the base. My standard repair kit includes Aquaseal, duct tape and bulk bike tire repair material, but for various reasons my repair kit didn’t come in the resupply box that I…
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