Camping Gear Review

Compression Sack: STS/Mont

These compression sacks are really good for storing and compressing sleeping bags. The sack that came with your sleeping bag tends not to perform as well, so it's good to get something else. They are also great for backpacking trips. Put all your clothes for your trip in a compression sack, compress it, and you get a lot more free space (plus a great way to keep them dry). 

STS's waterproof stuff sack has a fabric at its end that lets air out but keeps water from getting in. Great for squeezing air out of your clothes, compressing them and reducing the space they take up. Even though it's waterproof, I probably won't submerge it in water. For weight-conscious campers, an ultralight version of this stuff sack can be found on STS's official webstore, which saves a few grams.

Mont's Z-force sack mimics a pulley system for compressing items more efficiently. The feeling of having something done nice and quick is always great, and that's what it offers. Only disadvantage is that it's not waterproof, and kind of heavy (medium size weighs 100g). 

Pack organisation: Woolworths shopping bag

Nothing beats some cheap, sometimes free shopping bags. They're really light (at 60g each) and help with partitioning food and clothing. The colours are also sharp and comforting to your eyes.

Sleeping mat: Nemo Tensor series/Decathlon MT900

The mat that lasted longer than every other sleeping mat I've had. There are a few variants, including the extreme version (shown below in image) with a very high R value, and an old discontinued model with R=4. They're great for side sleepers, not hitting the ground as I roll while I sleep. Elevates you well above the ground, where it feels about 70% the comfort level of your home's mattress. 

I used to own an STS Etherlight, used it for roughly 1.5 years and clocked about 30 nights before it started deflating. STS pads are not warm enough, and their poor durability seems to be a recurring issue among many people. They're really comfortable, just like the Nemo ones (maybe STS ones are a tiny bit more comfortable), but Nemo seems to be better in terms of not deflating overnight. 

Also worth mentioning is Decathlon's MT900 sleeping pad. Essentially the same as Nemo pads in terms of comfort and warmth, at half of its price tag. Great work from Decathlon for keeping everything simple and affordable.

Pillows

I have many pillows- some are ultralight and feel like sleeping on a balloon, some are ultra heavy but really comfortable. It's really a personal choice, and for me, which pillow I take depends on how much I need to go light. Regardless of which pillow you go to, it's always worthwhile to have one. They're still much more comfortable than improvising with clothes or sleeping without one.

For road trips, backpacking where you're sleeping on a vehicle, car camping or easy camping trips: Nemo's Fillo (shown in pic above with the Nemo mat) is a really comfortable pillow, almost matching my bedroom's pillow. Doesn't feel like a balloon, and has a nice layer of sponge that feels exactly like a pillow at home. Only downside is that it doesn't pack well and takes up a bit of space. The only way it packs is by deflating the pillow, and folding up the sponge. 

Camping trips: Zorali's pillow (left) is fairly large compared to other camping pillows but it's quite a comfortable pillow to have. It's tall and most importantly has a strap that straps it onto the sleeping pad, and stops it from sliding overnight. The outer fabric can be detached for laundry. 

For ultralight adventures, Big Sky's pillow (right) is a really comfortable ultralight pillow. It's big and cushions your head really well. Only downside is that it's literally a balloon, and smells like a pool toy. 

Sleeping bag/quilt: Neve Gear Waratah

A very affordable, good value for money quilt made by an Australian company. It's advertised warmth rating can be quite far away from what you'll find comfortable if you are a cold sleeper. It's -8 rated quilts feel more like 3-5 degrees comfort to me. Nonetheless, it's a good quilt, and it works in 90% of camping anywhere that's not snowing. 

A quilt is different from a sleeping bag in that it doesn't cover the back of your body. Your sleeping pad, instead, insulates that. This keeps it light (and cheap). Strap it onto your sleeping pad, zip up the end over your foot, and that's all you need for the night. On warmer days or when crashing into your friend's place, all the zips/buckles can be undone and it works just like a quilt at home.

At a price of $419 AUD (-8 degrees version), this is excellent value for money.

Tent: Decathlon MT900 1-person tent/Durston X-Mid series

I use a STS Alto TR2 tent for most of my trips. It's a great tent, but also an expensive one, and not a lot of unique features to talk about. It only barely fits 2 people if both of them use a tiny mummy sleeping mat, and it doesn't have the best interior design.

What's more worth mentioning is Decathlon's MT900 tent. A highly affordable, high-quality ultralight tent, weighing 1.3kg and perfect for one person use. It does feel quite small like a coffin, fitting just one person, but it's tall enough for you to sit inside the tent and room to store a few items inside. The design keeps your belongings (packs etc) outside of the tent but inside the fly, away from the elements. Set-up is fairly straightforward with everything colour-coded. 

At similar price points is Durston's X-Mid trekking pole tent series. Haven't used them myself, but they're really good tents and definitely worth a look. Instead of having a metal pole that opens up the tent and supports the structure, this is done using 2 trekking poles (or carbon fibre poles that they sell). This makes them lighter at around 800g. Also great are the magnetic door toggles that hold the tent door to the side instead of having to mess with traditional toggles- something that should have been a standard feature in all tents. 

Both tents are priced roughly (or below) $400 AUD yet perform better than tents priced twice as much. 

Stove: Soto Windmaster

It's on the expensive edge of camping stoves but definitely worthwhile if you spend extended time cooking in the wild. It's reliable in wind, fuel-efficient, easy to light up and easy to cook on. 

Pots: all pots are essentially the same. For easier cleaning, you can choose ones with ceramic coating (ie. non-stick). STS's Frontier pots are great for this purpose. For ultralight campers hoping to save a few grams, Toaks makes great titanium cups and pots in many sizes. The best one to get is probably the 550mL one, holding roughly 2 cups of coffee/tea and enough water to dehydrate all meals.

It's hard to find small frying pans that are non-stick in Australia, so I have one (with unknown brand) from Hong Kong. For fancier meals, there are lots of options for adding a hot plate onto your stove- just that they're not in Australia. Check out Asian hiking stores (those from Taiwan, Japan etc) and ship them across the ocean. 

For beginners: just start with one pot. Something that has a capacity of roughly 1.5L will be comfortable for most cooking. That's all you'll need.

Soto ST-310/ST-350: Stove that takes in butane cartridges

The cheap cylindrical gas you use for your hotpots can also be used for camping, saving you money from buying gas canisters. Attach one of the cylinders to the stove, light it up and cook food just like any other stove. Soto has made an entire ecosystem out of these stoves and they can be coupled with hot plates for a barbecue in the wilderness. 

Only downside is that these cheap gas cans can be a bit tricky to screw on. Be sure to practice a few times before trying it outdoors. If screwed incorrectly, the contents from the gas cartridges can leak, which can be irritating to your skin. Leaking gas is also flammable and can start a fire. These stoves are not sold in Australia and have to be imported.

Big Sky food insulation pouch

They are very lightweight and versatile, and can be used in many different ways. It can be a cooler bag when you travel, keeping drinks and fresh meat cool. It can also be a bag to keep lunchboxes warm. When camping, some people use it to keep their food warm while eating. Some use it to keep fresh ingredients cold before they get to the campsite. 

GSI Compact Scraper, Wilderness Wash, Spondonicle, Lifesystems Plasma Lighter

GSI Compact Scraper- a kidney-shaped silicone that works really well at getting food scrapes off your pot. The best part about it is that, compared to a sponge, it never gets mouldy. At home all it needs is a rinse and it's ready for the next trip.

A good dishwasher in the wild is STS's Wilderness Wash. A few drops will do the trick and keep your pot relatively clean till you get home. Note that it's not entirely made of natural ingredients, and it's better for the environment the more you avoid using it. Always dispose of the soap in bushes away from rivers and creeks, and not directly onto waterways.

Having a spondonicle (pot handle) can save your life when your handle gets a bit too hot. Also lets you retrieve the pot from the campfire. 

The best lighter to light up your stove is a plasma lighter made by Lifesystems. It's got an extendable telescopic arm, and runs on a rechargeable battery charged by a microUSB cable.

Backpack: Osprey Atmos AG 50L

The main reason I got this is because it was on clearance. It has its pros and cons. Osprey makes really good functional backpacks with well-designed compartments, straps and attachment points, much better than other brands. 

Pros: The air mesh supports your back nicely. Hip belt is very well designed to transfer weight to your body, and with that 10kg of load feels like nothing. Hip pockets included. Padding for shoulder and hip belts can be extended for extra comfort.

Cons: The pack itself is heavy at 2kg, which is one of the heaviest items you're taking on a camping trip. Beyond its load limit of 13-15kg the pack becomes very uncomfortable to carry, with the weight starting to load onto your shoulders. 50L capacity can be very limiting when you try to carry a few extra items- get the 65L version if you can.

Always good to shop around- Osprey makes Aether (conventional large size packs) and Exos (Osprey's version of ultralight packs) series which are also great. Also worth considering is Aarn Packs from NZ- their backpacks have been quite popular with very well-designed suspension systems. For beginners looking for something cheap to start with, Mountain Designs backpacks from Anaconda are very decent and comfortable. Decathlon also makes really good camping backpacks. Shop around, see what you value out of a pack, and make your informed decision.

Cnoc water systems

Cnoc makes soft water reservoirs, bottles and straws like an entire ecosystem. A more efficient way of filtering water is to screw your filter (eg. Katadyn BeFree) onto a 3L reservoir, open up the end to retrieve creek water, and squeeze the reservoir to filter water. The reservoir can also be hung up on a tree to be used as a gravity filter. If you have a backpack that has a bottle holder for tall bottles, Cnoc's 1L soft bottle fits perfectly. It also collapses well to be stowed away if needed. They connect to a Quickcap, which can be used to attach a straw/hydration tube to be used as water bladders.

Multitool: Gerber Dime

Don't bother with Victorinox or complex multitools as you'll most likely never use most of the features. Gerber has only the essential features and is very lightweight. Most useful feature is its scissor, great for cutting out tape and packages.

Jacket: Macpac Icefall (discontinued)

A great Macpac technical jacket with 800 fill power, good for keeping warm in mild winter temperatures down to 5 degrees (for a cold person). While it's discontinued, anything that has 800 fill power and 80-100g of down fill will perform the same. It's a great go-to jacket to carry around the mountains when things can get a bit cold.

Fleece: Macpac Craigieburn

This is a merino-synthetic blend hybrid fleece, and has the best features on both worlds. Merino is moisture-wicking and odour-resistant, meaning the jacket can go for months without laundry and great even as an everyday jacket. Pure merino clothing isn't very durable, and a synthetic blend adds a bit of abrasion resistance. Great jacket just by itself on warmer days, or to be layered alongside other jackets. 

Hygiene: Trowel, Toothpaste tabs, Pocket Shampoo

A really good one to take is BoglerCo Trowel. Weighing only 13g, there's no reason not to take one along. The edges on the sides help cut through roots of plants, and the plastic end keeps it comfortable as you dig into the ground.

Toothpaste tablets are great alternatives to bringing the entire toothpaste. Some people bring wilderness wipes as an alternative to showering, but pocket shampoo is more important, as dirty hair can get uncomfortable down the trip. 

Shopping for new gear: Do I need something?

They are big investments and can easily cost thousands of dollars. Many people will sell you the idea of "gear up for your next trip", but it's not a great way to justify new spending. I personally like to think about a few things before I even look for new gear:

• Will this fulfil a need I had before today? Let's say we're buying a new ultralight tent. Have you been needing this for quite a while, eg. for the past 3 camping trips?

• Will I use it frequently enough? Most technical gear is designed for multiple uses and decades of adventures. Frequency is fairly subjective and is something you should personally decide. Personally, I'd say 10 camping trips per year is a good benchmark, that's on average once a month, and you'll be easily clocking 15-20 nights on your new fancy tent per year. 

• Do I not have something similar? Is it just a sleeping bag that's not warm enough, a pack that just doesn't look outdoorsy, or a jacket that has a few tears? Instead of investing in something completely new, it's cheaper to just add on to your existing gear. A sleeping bag liner with your sleeping bag, or a few repair patches for your jacket will save you on a new one. 

If any of them gives a No, it's probably best that you borrow gear from somewhere/someone. Alternatively, second-hand markets such as Facebook Marketplace can have good deals. 

Shopping at big brands

Many big brands (eg. Macpac, Kathmandu, The North Face, Columbia etc) are previously known for good technical gear, but have now gone for the streetwear market and hence their quality is not as appealing. This means their technical gear doesn't fit what hikers expect in terms of durability and ease of use. You can still find good clothing that'll work for general conditions, but don't go on a full alpine walk and expect their jackets to work. 

Camping gear go on clearance very often in stores. Many brands (eg. Nemo) produce a new version each season, and the older model goes instantly into clearance and becomes way cheaper. Are there any differences in functionality? Not quite. Finding the right fit with clearance clothing can be a bit difficult, as it's often the odd sizes (Small, XL, XXL etc) that are cleared out. If you're not in a rush to get something new, wait for them to go on clearance, and most likely you won't have to wait long. 

If it's broken, bring it back to the store and ask them to fix it. Almost all big brands have some sort of warranty that you should make good use of. Plus, the very useful consumer law should it fail.