The Best Car Camping Gear: Staff Picks
Camping adventures don't always include a hefty backpack or tiny bags of dehydrated food. Often, logging a couple nights under a starry sky is easier with your steel steed within arm's reach. Vehicle-assisted camping is a great option for anyone who wants to bring more comforts from home or folks who have physical limitations.Regardless of whether you opt to sleep in your car or in a tent nearby, or if you're driving into a campground or a dispersed wilderness site, vehicle-assisted camping can be more fun with the right gear. We asked our staffers and members for their most recommended items available at REI Co-op, ranging from necessary gear to nice-to-have tchotchkes that make life at camp a lot more comfortable. Find the perfect additions to your car-camping kit among these 15 staff picks.Staff PicksFind our quick recommendations here or read on for the full breakdown of our favorite car camping gear.Best Camp Shower: NEMO Helio Pressure ShowerBest Power Solution: Goal Zero Yeti 200X Portable Power StationBest Camp Lighting: MPOWERD Luci Solar String LightsBest Outdoor Shelter: REI Co-op Trailgate Vehicle ShelterBest Rooftop Tent: Thule Tepui Foothill TentBest Sleeping Pad: HEST Dually MattressBest Sleeping Bag: NEMO Jazz 30 Sleeping BagBest Camp Stove: Eureka Ignite 2-Burner Camp StoveBest Cooler: Dometic CFX3 35 Powered CoolerBest Servingware: Hydro Flask Serving Bowl with Lid - 3 Qt.Best Water Dispenser: Dometic GO Hydration Water FaucetBest Camp Table: REI Co-op Camp Roll TableBest Car Storage: REI Co-op Pack-Away BinsBest Trash Container: Sea to Summit Trash Dry SackBest Gear Organization: Nite Ize Gear Line Organization SystemLivingSleepingEatingOrganizationLeave No TraceAs humans who love being outside, chances are good that you've already heard of Leave No Trace. It sounds basic, but it actually means more than just picking up your trash while recreating outside. Instead, it can be viewed as a respectful way to interact with the natural world by ensuring that we leave wild spaces better than we found them (no matter how far from the road you've traveled).More specifically, Leave No Trace is a guiding set of principles to help protect the planet from the more than 150 million visitors recreating each year. To do this, longtime REI Co-op partner and stewardship organization Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics developed an easy-to-understand framework dubbed the Leave No Trace Seven Principles. These principles cover a range of practices that are all designed to minimize impact from almost any recreational activity.Learn more about Leave No Trace and the Seven Principles here.MethodologyWe asked our co-op staff, members and customers to share their favorite gear for vehicle-assisted camping. They reported back with their top choices for everything from tents and sleeping bags to camp stoves and lighting solutions. These are their picks for the best items for car camping currently available at REI.
