Alite Mantis Camp Chair

www.alitedesigns.com
We’ve never been big fans of the standard camp chair—the awkwardly folding, bulky canvas gigs with the even bigger carry bags.  Even with drink holders in both arm rests, they’re never as good as we want.  Well, San Fran-based Alite Designs must’ve heard our quiet dissatisfaction, because their Mantis Chair really hits every sweet spot.  The chair employs the same pole assembly tech found in tent frames—a simple, but genius design solution—to create a ridiculously strong, breathable 210D ripstop nylon chair that holds up to 250 pounds. The frame assembles in seconds, and the four corners of the seat slide seamlessly into the tips of the aluminum poles (color coding keeps things easy, though our testers hardly needed the guidance).  The chair sits about eight inches above the ground on four cylindrical legs, providing all-day comfort, whether you prefer to keep your feet flat, sit Indian-style, or contort into some other quasi-yoga pose.  Plus it fits into a carry sack that’s a modest 17.5 inches long and five inches in diameter. The two-pound chair is ideal for car camping, but a bit hefty for backcountry applications. To address the needs of ounce-scrimping backpackers they’ve developed the Monarch chair ($70; pictured, right). Built off the same design as the Mantis, the Monarch boasts only two legs:your feet offer the additional stability, which lets you slowly rock as the chair takes the bulk of your weight. The Monarch provided the same body-hugging comfort and support as the Mantis (with the same 250-pound weight limit), but weighs in at a feathery 1.3 pounds, packing into a stuff sack that’s 12 inches long and only 4.5 inches in diameter.  The Alite designer refers to the Monarch as the “six-beer chair” because, after six beers, balancing on its two legs can be…challenging (and potentially humorous for those around you). We see this a challenge, but some might find it an insurmountable obstacle. Both of these chairs are as at home at outdoor concerts or on the beach as they are tent-side. The thin diameter of the chair legs means that the feet can sink into wet dirt or sand, leaving the sitter off balance (or in a slow-motion fall). But on dry land, both chairs proved to be admirable outdoor thrones. And a bonus: one three-year-old car camper even figured out how to wear the Monarch.

Product Type
Camping Accessories
Good For
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Tested In
Tailgating, car camping, and backpacking.

Kate’s Real Food Tiki Bar

katesrealfood.com, 2.2 ounces
When you hear an energy bar tastes good, there’s typically an unspoken caveat: “for an energy bar.” But take it from us, the new Tiki Bar just tastes really freakin’ good.  It comes from the kitchen of Kate’s Real Food, one our favorite culinary creators who got started by looking for a way to recharge while riding the tram between steep-and-deep runs at Jackson Hole; their first bar was naturally dubbed Tram Bar. The Tiki continues that all-natural tradition, with a dizzying list of ingredients: mango, cashew, coconut, almond butter, and honey, all hand-mixed and crafted. It’s a peanut-, soy-, and gluten-free burst of sunshine that’ll warm you on the long outdoor days ahead.

Product Type
Food and Drink
Good For
, , , ,
Tested In
The palates of a number of day hikers, car campers, and skiers happy to find a burst of real flavor with their energy.

GSI Pinnacle Camper Cook Set


www.gsioutdoors.com, three pounds, nine ounces
We all love the latest/greatest in tech that makes up the universe of Gearzilla, but gear obsession really reaches its apex with camping cook sets—in large part because the way they always nestle together is always so darn clever. Witness the GSI Pinnacle Camper, our latest car-camping obsession. This convenient kit gives you everything you’ll need for a four-person outing: three- and two-liter pots, two strainer lids, a nine-inch fry pan, four 14-ounce insulated mugs with sip-friendly plastic lids, four 14-ounce bowls, four 7.5-inch plates, a folded pot gripper, and a sturdy carrying case that also doubles as welded sink. The bowls, mugs, and plates are color-coded so you don’t have kids fighting over which plate was theirs, and the pots and fry pan are made of non-stick, hard-anodized aluminum. The heat-resistant, crush-proof strainer lid makes it easy to drain water from pasta and works with both the bowls and the frying pan, and each lid has a convenient orange thick-cloth handle centered at the top. The folding handle has a trigger that locks into the pots with comforting authority; we’d expected that sliding the handle on before engaging the lock would be tricky, but when you’re cooking the weight of the food makes the action a breeze. During a long-weekend car-camping expedition everything performed well, except one of the top handles did come off and quickly disappeared in the chaotic darkness of late meal prep.  And, as you’d expect, the whole things collapses down like a Russian nesting doll.

Product Type
Camping Accessories, Food and Drink
Good For
,
Tested In

Therm-a-Rest LuxuryLite Mesh Cot

cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-rest, 3 pounds, 12 ounces
The understandable compulsion of car camping is to bring everything—which should inspire at least one savvy manufacturer to make a portable kitchen sink.  And since we also pack more than we really should, our vehicles becomes a disorderly collage of gear that we seldom use while sleeping in the sidecountry.  But from now on we’ll be sure to pack the new LuxuryLite Mesh Cot from the outdoor sleep professionals Therm-a-Rest.  Unlike the old school army cots that haunt the minds of more than one tester, this 26-inch-wide, 72-inch-long bed offered some of the best sleeping we’ve had while camping.  The cot employs what they call “bowframe” technology; instead of using crossbars that inevitably bite uncomfortably into your back, the cot uses a series of stretch-free, anodized aluminum poles (much like those used in a tent) that flex and bend, which are slotted into circular nylon feet that attach to the cot to create airy flex without any obstructions across the width of the cot.

Set-up is pretty straightforward: two long bars create rigidity along the length of the cot, and then you assemble the cross bars by mounting poles in each foot and marrying them together (male to female) before attaching them to the cot by stepping on the back panel, bending the poles to create that flex, and then hooking the feet into the pre-cut spots. The whole thing takes about five minutes the first time—and about three minutes to take apart. And, because it’s built from a series of poles, it breaks down to a package that’s 16 inches long and six inches in diameter, which makes it easy to pack in your overstuffed car. It’s also suitable for rides into the backcountry on horseback and bike, and can work with just four of the six crossbars, cutting down on weight. With all the legs included, it weighs a fairly hefty three pounds, 12 ounces; you wouldn’t want to carry this on a multi-day backpacking trip (for that, check out the comparatively featherweight, two-pound, 12-ounce UltraLite model). We used this cot in a small backcountry two-person tent, and it stretched the limits of the tent’s floor space with another person in the tent, so check the dimensions of your tent and plan accordingly.  The all-mesh fabric also means you’ll want a traditional sleeping bag in the fall, winter, and spring. We also support pairing the cot with Therm-a-Rest’s NeoAir for plush, warm outdoor sleeping comfort.

Product Type
Camping Accessories, Sleeping Bag Accessories
Good For
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Tested In
Car camping in Catoctin Mountain Park, MD

Stoic ARX 3 Tent

stoicgear.com; five pounds, four ounces
I used this three-person tent for five-nights on the Main Salmon River, a trip that played out across 70 miles over six days with hot, dry weather.  Since we didn’t encounter any serious rain, the tent was mostly used to keep the bugs out while camping on sandy beaches each night.  Nighttime temperatures reached the mid 60s and daytime highs peaked in the mid 80s.

The tent was erected quickly with one or two people helping.  The asymmetrical design offers two doors, one on either side of the tapered floor.  We slept side-to-side with our feet at the narrower end of the 41.2-square-foot floor.  It slept two kids, one adult, and a dog very comfortably.  A fourth adult could squeeze in if rain was a problem, and the 49-inch interior height offers a good amount of space inside. The vestibules accommodated our packs and boots, but they weren’t overly spacious.  We did manage to unknowingly put a small hole in the floor and the mesh walls leading me to think that the fabric is not very strong.

On a second trip to the Mount Jefferson Wilderness in Oregon, three boys slept in it on a two-night backpacking trip.  It was very light and easy to carry.  The boys set up the tent the wrong way the first time, but then they switched the poles around and put it together quickly.  However, we found asymmetrical rain fly to be counter-intuitive; getting it on right was a challenge. We didn’t notice any condensation after a night when temps dipped into the mid 40s, in part thanks to the Velcro lift in the rainfly that opened up a vent in the top of boost ventilation.
-Greg Bueker

Product Type
Three-Season Tents
Good For
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Tested In
Main Salmon river, Mount Jefferson Wilderness
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