The call of the wild is impossible to resist… at least until you get there unprepared, cold and subsiding on trail mix that’s becoming more and more raisin-heavy. Never fear, intrepid explorer, for we at Oracle Time are experts at making ourselves comfortable in any and all environments with these luxury camping gadgets. After all, nothing’s better on a cold, icy mountainside than a stone-baked pizza; nothing cools on a hot, dry summer’s day more than an ice-cold beer, and nothing gets you prepped for a long day ahead better than a good night’s sleep.
Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 4, $1,000 (approx. £827)
There are more luxury camping gadgets on the market than its easy to parse through, especially tents, so we went for the reliable outdoorspeople at Big Agnes and their roomy, versatile Wyoming Trail 4. The three- season tent offers two side compartments and a generously large canopy in the middle for a more-than-respectable free- standing, multi-use shelter. Each sleeping area contains two entrances if you just can’t face last night’s snorer and incredibly stable, self-equalising guy lines will ensure that’s your only problem through the night.
Available at Big Agnes.
Hest Sleep System, $499 (approx. £405)
Cheap, inflatable mattress? Your poor, aching back won’t hear about it, especially after a whole 30 minutes of watching your mates put the tent up. The only thing that’ll do is the closest mattress to your best at home: the HEST Sleep System. The luxury memory foam camping pad regulates temperature, pressure and everything that might interrupt your sleep, so that when you’re not up and about first thing in the morning, it won’t be your fault, it’ll be your mattress.
Available at Hest.
Hennessey 4season Survivorman Hammock, £329.95
Working with the Survivorman himself, Les Stroud, Hennessey have created something that goes well beyond your boho garden hammock. The 4Season Survivorman is an all-weather, insulated swinger that can be put up in any camping environment, and retain comfort and practicality. The two-layer bottom holds a foam pad, meaning it’s always in the right, diagonal position to sleep, while a rain fly will keep water well off your new home away from home. It also comes with a lightweight survival kit if, for some crazy reason, you don’t already have one.
Available at Hennessy Hammock.
Barebones No. 6 Field Knife, $79.99 (approx. £65)
There are plenty of tools you can take camping with you, enough that a full regiment of Swiss army knives couldn’t tick them all off. Instead, go minimal with a pared-back take on that most versatile of survivalist necessities, a camping knife. This sleek take by the aptly named toolmakers at Barebones is as handsome a field knife as you can get, with a sturdy fixed, high carbon tempered steel blade, tactile wooden handle and a matched sheath. If you find yourself camping in the wild with nothing but the No. 6 and your wits, you’ll probably do well. Provided you don’t lose your wits, anyway.
Available at Barebones.
Biolite AlpenGlow 500 Camp Light, £79.99
Mood lighting’s hard to come by in the middle of camping in the woods. Most camp lights are bright and nothing else, and there’s only so much you can rely on flickering campfire light for a bit of romance. That’s where Biolite comes in. Their Alpen Camp Light will have your camp glowing the colours of the aurora borealis at the press of a button. Fancy something a little warmer? Shake the lamp and it’ll automatically change up the colours. A few of these gadgets dotted around the campsite and you’ll have your own forest wonderland.
Available at Biolite.
Dometic CFX3 100 Mobile Cool Box, £1,275
You know what’s worse than getting caught in freezing rain? Having the sun get your beers warm. Personal experience, there. This hefty, powered beast from Dometic goes above and beyond your basic picnic cooler; it actively refrigerates and even freezes down to -22 degrees. It’s roomy with an 88 litre capacity, efficient thanks to airtight Active Gasket technology and won’t flatten your car battery if you leave it running. Sure, you could live off the land and all that, but at the end of the day you can still kick back with an icy cold one by the campfire.
Available at Dometic.
Beosound Explore, £169
Whether you’re camped for the night or clambering up a mountain trail, Bang & Olufsen’s latest travel speaker will just. Keep. Going. The weatherproof casing – we’re talking a genuine storm here – protects the Beosound Explore without dampening the sound, meaning you get great sound wherever you go. Fully dustproof, fully waterproof and pretty much outdoorproof, it offers up to 27 hours of playtime, so the great outdoors will hear you coming.
Available at Bang & Olufsen.
Ooni Karu 12 Multi-Fuel Pizza Oven, £299
Why would you ever go for paradoxically burnt and uncooked sausages when you could get luxury, fresh, stone-baked pizza in a pinch? Ooni’s ovens are small enough to be carried relatively easily, easy enough to get to temperatures hot enough to cook your wilderness-made dough in seconds (we’re talking 500 degrees) and, in this instance, can use wood or charcoal instead of environmentally harmful gas canisters. And sure, if you really want you can still cook sausages in it. Just maybe at a slightly cooler temperature.
Available at Ooni.
Vango Radiate Embrace Chair, £110
How do you make a comfy, padded camping chair even better? Add in a radiator. Yep, forget bundling up against the cold, the Radiate Embrace chair houses a graphene heating element that’ll keep you toasty so long as it’s connected to a power source. Which we’ll get to shortly. The sturdy legs will stop you tipping out mid-nap and the whole thing packs away into a svelte carry bag. It’s the best seat out of the house.
Available at Vango.
Jackery Solar Generator 2000, $3,599 (approx. £2,935)
So far, we’ve opted for a few electronic camping gadgets, which causes a problem. There’s only so much battery your car has before you’re genuinely stuck in the wilderness. Fortunately, Jackery are well-known for their chargers and their latest might just be the most impressive yet. The Solar Generator 2000 Pro has a pair of solar panels that efficiently channel sunlight into the power bank, fully charging in just two and a half hours of sunlight – which is about all you can expect from a British summer. It’s weighty, sure, but Chris Pratt seems to be able to handle it.
Available at Jackery.
