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we can more directly tackle trying to
provide your home away from home,”
says Brensinger. “And honestly, the
equipment is so good these days,
the experience of camping can be so
pleasant, notwithstanding the need to
make a living, it does beg the question
of why you would want your money
tied up in any one location?”
“It’s a positive trend because it
means we can focus on building gear
that makes the outdoor experience
more comfortable and less intimidat-
ing to those that might be new to
camping,” adds Greene, who points
to Kelty’s continued focus on “sim-
ple, versatile, grab-and-go products
that fit in the back of a car, set up
quickly and provide comforts that
rival the home.”
Examples from Kelty’s S/S 2018
introductions include new integrated
sleep systems that offer camp beds
and pads designed to fit their match-
ing Kelty sleeping bags, making
sleeping outdoors easier and
more comfortable. Similarly,
the Noah’s Camp Screen is
a 12-foot screen room that
protects picnic tables from
bugs and falling leaves/
debris and packs down into
its own backpack carry bag for
convenient transportation from
car to site.
Elsewhere, a quick flip through this
issue’s new product section suggests
brands expect to see increased sell
through of many “camp comfort” items
such as rectangular sleeping bags,
large coolers, camp kitchen wares,
luxurious sleep pads and cots, base-
camp tents, camp furniture, chargers
and rechargeable appliances. In other
words, the emergence of car top tents
is just the beginning.
“From a product point of view,
we’ve put a lot more
emphasis on growing our
‘Campfire’ segment in
the last few years,” says
Per Wååg, general man-
ager for Brunton Outdoor
and Primus U.S. “This
is a segment where we
target the typical car
camper, overlander and
other users that can carry
more equipment on their
adventures. All of these
products have an element
of portability yet main-
tain significant cooking
capabilities, allowing more and more
users to bring their indoor kitchens to
the outdoors.”
This is all not to suggest that any-
one jump off the lightweight wagon.
Rather, “We see a general trend in
people becoming more polarized with
their outdoor activities,” says Wååg.
“There is a growing audience that is
taking on more extreme challenges
and adventures, as well as an uptick
in people selecting more comfortable
ways to spend time outdoors.”
Ultimately, old assumptions about
the type of customer who might be
looking for a “comfort” item, or who
would be classified as a “car camper,”
may no longer be relevant. There also
should be some reconsideration as to
the type of customer who might pur-
chase, say, a cot or a power sprayer
or even a family-sized tent. In other
words, the same highly adventurous
enthusiast that used to be associ-
ated with ultralight mummy bags and
bivouacs may today be the same type
of enthusiasts who buys an elaborate
sleep system or sets up a full-blown
outdoor kitchen.
If nothing else, it’s probably time
to broaden and alter the collective
perception of what it means to go
“car camping.”
BioLites says its new SolarHome 620 is
a self-contained system of solar lighting
and charging that can turn any off-grid
structure into an electrified home. It
features a 6-watt panel, three daisy-
chaining lights, USB charging, and
radio/mp3 capabilities. SRP is $149.95.
NEMO’s ultra-comfy Jazz Duo two-person
sleep system has an integrated bed sheet,
oversized hood, insulated mattress top,
and two-way zippers on each side for
temperature control. Jazz Duo Luxury
fits a queen sized mattress.
When an E-tool is not enough, the
Rhino-Rack Shovel/Spade/Axe Mounting
Bracket frees up space inside a vehicle
but keeps tools at the ready when
needed to dig yourself out of snow, sand,
mud or tackle any other type of terrain.
The brackets mount directly onto the
Rhino-Rack Vortex crossbars or Rhino-Rack
Pioneer systems.
The fold-down,
one-piece Master
Cook Station from
GCI is a long way
from a mess kit
stacked inside a
mesh bag.
Inside
Outdoor
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SUMMER
2017
30