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.

Ibex Crush Felt Hat

shop.ibex.com
Just because you’re hitting the international scene doesn’t mean you have to leave behind your flair for fashion. The Crush Felt Hat achieves what other stylish lids haven’t been able to offer—the ability to travel with a real hat that retains its shape, whether it’s on your head or smashed into your carry-on or the overhead bin.  Made of 100-percent felted wool, the Crush will also keep you surprisingly warm.  The other all-natural merino wool attributes apply, including wicking without any odor retention, and warm-when-wet comfort.  We love the slight, almost pill hat-style brim as well as the circles of gray stitching around the hat base. You’ll love its all-natural, classic fashionable function.

Product Type
Hats
Good For
, ,
Tested In
Daily use in Washington, DC's surprisingly cold fall, transitioning from near-freezing temps at JFK to the balmy world of Asia.

Crumpler Headaitch Shoulder Bag

www.crumpler.com
For us, sometimes the best measure of a bag’s usefulness is how quickly someone else swipes it from our testers and makes it their own—which is precisely what happened when the Headaitch entered our testing rotation. What was supposed to be two weeks of hearty use become four months as one girlfriend made it her go-to hauler for just about everything (gym clothes, work documents, grocery shopping, travel carry-on, wine hauler, overnight bag—to list but a few).  Look at the bag and you’ll understand why. Constructed of 900D nylon on the outside, with a reinforced 1,000D base and a 150D ripstop lining, the bag can take some serious punishment, from rough handling to rougher weather. We tested out the small size, which offers an ample ten liters of storage, secured by a full zipper (a feature not often found in smaller totes), and supported by two wide shoulder straps to carry the weight. Inside, deep, Velcro-fastened pockets and a full-width zipper pocket are perfect for stuff you want to keep separate from the bag’s cavernous center. And Crumpler’s aesthetic lets you punch up the color with fun patterns, or go for the conservative urban black.  We say go bright.
Tested size small; medium size has 17 liters of storage for $70.

Product Type
Day Packs
Good For
, , , ,
Tested In
San Francisco, The Russian River Valley, Santa Rosa, CA; Near-Constant Daily Use by a Young Professional in Washington, DC

Eagle Creek EC Adventure Upright Suitcase

www.eaglecreek.com, eight pounds, ten ounces
As much as we strive for minimalism in our active lives, outdoor obsessions typically means that every trip we take includes a bike helmet, bike shoes, climbing shoes, trail runners or day hikers, a puffy mid-layer, a rain jacket, soft shell hiking pants, and—ya know—all our other clothes.  Thankfully, the EC Adventure Upright accommodates all our gear-centric activities with aplomb.  We tested the 25 model, which boasts a cavernous 75 liters of storage space (that can expand to 82 liters), for a West Coast jaunt that included all the afore-mentioned gear specs as well as camera gear, extra bags, and space for wine and beer from California’s Russian River Valley and Portland, OR. The pack interior gives you tons of storage space—just one big, open container for your goods, along with compression wings on clipped straps to tie everything down.  The large interior panel in the door also kept our folded laundry (which we love putting in one of Eagle Creek’s Pack-It Folders) from the rest of the guts of the bag, while the large zippered outside pocket let us stash our jacket before checking the bag; the smaller one is great for travel documents. The whole rig rides on a pair of durable wheels that handled copious abuse in both urban and outdoor environs, but when the bag was packed to capacity, the collapsible handle didn’t glide out as easily as it had at the start of our trip (read: before we acquired WAY too many bottles of rare beer). Other details—like the “piggyback” clip that lets you attach your day pack to the roller, a slip-away luggage tag, and exterior compression straps—round out features of this durable suitcase, and the colors schemes (black, green, and a burnt orange) will also let you tailor your pack to your own on-the-road aesthetic. Oh yeah, it also comes with Eagle Creek’s famed lifetime warranty.
Specs and testing were done on the Upright 25 model ; comes in two- and four-wheel versions in sizes ranging from 39 to 123 liters.

Product Type
Rolling Luggage
Good For
,
Tested In
DC to San Francisco, then up the Russian River Valley into Santa Rosa and the Timber Cove Inn. Then, back to San Fran, then to Portland, then Bend, OR...and then back to DC with way too many layovers.

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
, ,
Tested In
Car camping in Catoctin Mountain Park, MD
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