Fishing and camping on Idaho’s Kelly Creek and North Fork Clearwater with family.Most Americans focus their camping vacations on the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day. But savvy campers know that the ‘shoulder’ seasons are the best times to make camp. Autumn camping offers fall colors, no bugs, fewer people, and more active wildlife for viewing.
We’ve found some great new products to make fall camping even more enjoyable.
Luno Air+Foam vehicle mattress
Like the original Luno Air Mattress (see review here), the new Luno Air+Foam is precision cut to fit specific makes and models of vehicles. Slipping the new mattress into a 2023 Ford Explorer showed just how well Luno has dialed in the fit – the pad slips around wheel wells, door bumps, and other contours as if the car designers themselves tailored it.
Regarding comfort, the new Luno mattress exceeds even the lofty standards of their original air mattress. As the name implies, the new version features a foam-filled self-inflating air mattress. The Air+Foam inflates in just 5 minutes, give or take a few minutes. To achieve a firmer mattress, simply blow a few breaths into the valve to achieve your desired mattress firmness. The four-inch thickness provides plenty of padding for even the roughest SUV cargo area. The Air+Foam is a double bed that fills the entire cargo area, or for solo trips, use the center zipper to remove half the bed so you can still store gear while you sleep.
$499. Buy now.
Solo Stove Mesa XL
What’s camp without a campfire? A cold camp. But fires bring more than heat – they give life and vibrancy to camp experience. And fires don’t need to be big, roaring infernos. A small, contained fire provides just as much vibrancy as a bonfire, without the smoke, hassle, and danger of spreading fires.
Solo Stove firepits have become favorites for campers – and homeowners – wanting safe, smokeless fires. And Solo’s Mesa XL Stove proved to be an ideal appliance for single or couples camping. The small firepit weighs just over 2 pounds, and measures just 7 inches wide by 8.5 inches tall. The Mesa XL can burn any clean, dry wood found around camp, or you can feed it with standard wood pellets.
The small feet on the device elevate the firebox enough to make it safe for use on a table or bench, so the fire can enjoyed in camp or at home on a deck. $99. Buy Now.
Bring warmth to the table. Mesa is the tabletop fire pit made to elevate your space’s aesthetic. With Dual Fuel capability and Signature 360° Airflow, anyone can easily ignite and enjoy a smokeless fire.
Gregory Alpaca Gear Storage
Sometimes, the best gear isn’t what you use in camp but what you use to get to camp.
The Gregory Alpaca Gear Storage system helps get you and your essentials to camp, while also providing useful organization while in camp. The Alpaca products work well individually, but each piece also works wonderfully with the others to great a storage system.
The Alpaca Gear Pod 5 and Pod 10 provide storage for smaller items. The rectangular pods – sized at 5 liters and 10 liters – feature lightly padded sides and bottom panels, and coated mesh zippered lids. The pods can be stacked together or nested inside the Alpaca Gear Basket or Box.
The Alpaca Gear Basket 70 proved the most versatile of the large storage containers. A rigid aluminum frame provides great structure and support when transporting gear, but collapses together to create a slim package for storing when not in use. The Pods fit snuggly into the 70-liter Basket for good organization of gear, or the Basket can used as a simple gear carrier without the pods. For more compact storage, look to the Alpaca Gear Tote – a 30-liter version of the Gear Basket.
The pods sell for $29 (5L) and $35 (10L), while the Basket sells for $79 and the Tote for $59. Buy now.
