We put 10 of the best tent stakes on the market through months of experiments and real-world use. 

At the end of our tests, our top pick was the MSR Groundhog. It’s strong, durable, lightweight, and the best option if you want one stake that can do it all. 

The burly Coleman 10-in Steel Tent Stake was our top pick for car camping. You wouldn’t want to carry a set of these very far, but they were simply unmatched in their ability to keep a tent in place.

Read on for our full reviews and for tips on how to figure out what type of tent stake is right for you.

Top Pick: MSR Groundhog

The MSR Groundhog is a staple for most backpackers, and for good reason. Through all of our tests, it stood out as the most versatile of all the stakes we tested.

At 0.46 oz each, the Groundhog is plenty light for backpacking, but also strong enough for just about anything you can throw at it.

In our holding strength test, it held well over 50 lbs of force. The only stakes stronger than the Groundhog were also twice the weight (or more!).

These are durable enough to be driven into harder ground with a rock, hammer, or camping hatchet if need be. Despite months of hard use, we’ve only ever had one minor bend in one Groundhog.

Some reviewers have said that the Groundhogs tend to bend or break at the narrow neck. We’ve put the Groundhogs through a lot of use and never had an issue with this, though.

As for price, they aren’t cheap. But they won’t break the bank, either.

We think they are a solid investment, especially for backpackers who need a balance between weight and strength, or for anyone who wants one set of stakes that they can use just about anywhere.

Best for Car Camping: Coleman 10-in Steel Tent Stake

Talk about bomber! For car camping, you couldn’t ask for a stronger stake than the Coleman 10-in Steel Tent Stake.

Plus, it’s also one of the cheapest tent stakes we tested.

The Coleman held an average of just under 90 lbs in our tests, making it by far the strongest stake we tested.

In fact, during our strength test, we actually had to stop and go find some 110 lb paracord because our 3mm cordage kept breaking before this stake failed.

In our durability test, we genuinely tried to bend or break the Coleman Tent Stake, but could barely even scratch it.

You could wail on this beast all day with a rock or a hammer and it would barely feel it.

One negative is that the plastic top seems fairly weak compared to the rest of the stake. We never had issues with it breaking, but we did have it slide out of place and down the stake a couple of times

Multiple other reviewers mentioned that the plastic top broke, and we could see how a misplaced blow from a hammer could easily do just that.

Of course, no one would ever call these lightweight — if you need a set of 8, you’re looking at well over a pound!

As long as you only have to carry them 20 feet from the car to the tent, though, the Coleman 10-in Steel Tent Stake is awesome, and a great addition to anyone’s camping gear stash.

Best Snow Tent Stake: REI Co-op Snow Stake

All three of the “extreme” stakes we tested (the REI Co-op Snow Stake, the MSR Blizzard and the MSR ToughStake) were in the same ballpark when it came to strength.

So our top choice here came down to minor details:

The REI Snow Stake is the lightest and cheapest option and outperformed the MSR Blizzard just barely when buried as a “deadman” anchor.

We generally bring a few of these for key stake-out points, and have weathered some pretty epic blizzards with four REI Snow Stakes and four MSR Groundhogs.

We were curious if this could double as a regular stake in a pinch, so we tested it in the ground.

While it held very well in both hard ground and soft soil, it was very difficult to press into the ground, and bent much quicker than a regular stake would.

We don’t recommend it for regular camping. But for camping on snow, the REI Co-op Snow Stake is affordable and reliable, and is our stake of choice.

Best Ultralight Tent Stake: MSR Carbon-Core Tent Stake

The MSR Carbon-Core Tent Stake is not only the lightest stake we tested — it’s crazy light. A set of these feels like next to nothing in your hand.

Despite that, they were durable and much stronger than we expected for the weight.

We expected them to bend or break easily, but they showed hardly any signs of wear throughout our field testing and durability testing.

Of course, you pay for it — these are expensive tent stakes.

We aren’t big fans of the shape of the top. It was too easy for the cordage to slip off, and there is nothing there to really catch the tent lines.

We had to re-do our holding strength tests multiple times because the cordage kept slipping off before the stake actually came out of the ground.

As long as you take extra care to make sure that the angle of pull is perpendicular to the stake and not upwards at all, they’ll work. But we found it a little bit annoying how difficult it was to get the cordage to stay on them.

If you want the lightest tent stakes out there, and don’t mind paying a premium, these are pretty sweet. Apart from being slightly annoyed at the cordage slipping over the top of the stake if we weren’t careful, we loved them.

Reviews of the 6 Other Tent Stakes We Tested

REI Co-op Steel Stake

The REI Co-op Steel Stake is the cheapest stake we tested.

If you are looking for an inexpensive, strong, and durable set of stakes, we think this is a great option.

Just don’t plan on bringing them backpacking — each stake is a solid 2.7 ounces.

The REI Steel Stake took second place in our strength test, holding an average of 74 lbs at a 45-degree angle.

Out of all the stakes we tested, it immediately felt the toughest with its simple, solid, and heavy steel construction. Our durability test confirmed our initial impression: this stake is basically indestructible.

What we didn’t like was that it was difficult to get this stake in and out of the ground. The blunt tip didn’t drive very well through the soil and almost always required a couple of good hits from a hammer.

The top of the stake, while it held onto tent lines with no problem, offered virtually no grip to pull the stake out.

Despite those minor annoyances, as far as car camping tent stakes go, these are a close second to the Coleman 10-in Steel Stake. They’re a great choice for anyone who wants a set of cheap but incredibly strong car camping stakes.

MSR Blizzard Tent Stake

The MSR Blizzard Tent Stake makes for a super solid snow anchor, holding an average of 65 lbs of force when buried as a deadman anchor.

The main reason this didn’t win our “Best Snow Tent Stake” award is that, at less than half the cost, the REI Snow Stake outperformed this one just slightly when buried as a deadman, though the difference between the two was minimal.

At 1.12 oz, the MSR Blizzard Tent Stake is also slightly heavier than the REI Snow Stake, which weighs just an ounce.

We tried using this as a regular stake and found that, like the REI Snow Stake, it bent very easily. These definitely aren’t meant for anything other than snow (and loose sand) camping.

On the whole, this is a great snow stake that we would trust 100% through the harshest of winter conditions. We just don’t think it’s worth the premium price when compared to the REI Snow Stake.

MSR ToughStake

The MSR ToughStake is a unique design, which we were excited to try out.

It’s a steep investment, though. The ToughStake was the most expensive option we tested.

In snow, it didn’t outperform the REI or MSR Snow Stakes as significantly as we expected. It held a max of 78 lbs when buried at a 45-degree angle, to the REI Snow Stake’s 69 lbs.

That’s impressive, to be sure, but for its price and weight, we expected the ToughStake to leave the other two snow stakes completely in the dust.

We’re not sure if the slight difference in holding power in snow is enough for us to justify the weight and high cost.

We suspect that you could make up that gap fairly easily by just burying the MSR or REI stakes a little bit deeper, or piling more snow on top of them.

(In fact, an MSR Groundhog buried about 4 feet deep outperformed any of the snow stakes. It took a couple of tries to get it positioned right and we had to bury it about twice as deep, but we found that how well you bury a snow stake affects the holding power about as much or more than the actual stake itself.)

We tested the small version, and MSR also sells a larger medium version. At 5.5 ounces each, these are pretty hefty to bring backpacking.

Still, they get good reviews, and might be worth considering if you’re expecting a full-on blizzard. We suspect that with the extra surface area, they’d hold incredibly well once you got them buried and set in the snow.

While we didn’t have a chance to test the MSR ToughStake in deep sand, other reviews rate it highly for that purpose. We’d definitely consider a set of these for a windy day at the beach.

Overall, this was a fantastic stake in snow — just not great enough that we’d buy and carry a full set of them when there are cheaper and lighter snow stakes that work nearly as well.

REI Co-op Aluminum Hook Tent Stake

The REI Co-op Aluminum Hook Tent Stake did much better than we expected.

We have at least a dozen cheaper aluminum hook stakes that have been mangled and destroyed over the years, so we were pleasantly surprised that this stake held its own.

It’s the cheapest stake in our test that we’d consider bringing backpacking, weighing only 0.5 oz per stake.

It held a respectable 45 lbs in our holding strength test, putting it around the middle of the pack.

While we did manage to bend this stake slightly in our durability test, it held up better than expected. We didn’t have any issues with it during our field testing, despite driving it into some rocky soil.

If you’re looking for a cheap set of reasonably lightweight backpacking tent stakes, you could do a lot worse than the REI Co-op Aluminum Hook Tent Stake.

MSR Groundhog Mini

We liked the idea of the Groundhog Mini more than we liked the stake itself.

Initially, it seemed awesome. After all, we love the full size Groundhog, so a stake that’s smaller and lighter and still has most of the Groundhog’s holding power seemed perfect.

In practice, though, we found just the opposite.

While it is significantly smaller, the Mini is only .11 oz lighter than the full-sized Groundhog. That translates to a weight savings of 0.66 oz for a set of 6.

In our holding strength test, the Mini held barely half of the force that the full-sized Groundhog held, and was one of the weakest stakes we tested.

It’s not bad, by any means. We just don’t see much benefit of going with this one over the full-length Groundhog.

We’re all about shaving weight from our packs, but when it comes to gear as crucial as tent stakes, we’ll sacrifice less than an ounce for significantly stronger gear.

Vargo Titanium Tent Stake

We loved the light weight and slim profile of the Vargo Titanium Tent Stake.

Unfortunately, it was the least durable and weakest stake in our tests, holding only 27 lbs at its best.

One of the Vargos bent significantly in the first few days of our field testing, and another bent pretty early on in the durability tests.

Although some reviewers have said they were able to simply bend the stakes back, those of us without superhuman strength had trouble with this and were stuck with crooked stakes.

The Vargo Titanium Tent Stake’s narrow, needle-like diameter did make it easier than some of the thicker stakes to drive into hard-packed ground. If you often camp in very hard soil, this stake may be worth considering.

We were also very, very glad for the fluorescent orange coating on the head of the stake. The coating chipped very easily, but there were multiple times when these tiny stakes would have completely disappeared on us if it weren’t for that coating.

The Vargo Titanium Tent Stake was easy to use, tiny, and extremely light, and it served us well on fair-weather camping trips. It just doesn’t have enough holding power for us to rely on it in anything worse than a light breeze.

Summary

Here are the best tent stakes:

• MSR Groundhog
• Coleman 10-in Steel Tent Stake
• REI Co-op Steel Stake
• REI Co-op Snow Stake
• MSR Blizzard Tent Stake
• MSR ToughStake
• REI Co-op Aluminum Hook Tent Stake
• MSR Carbon-Core Tent Stake
• MSR Groundhog Mini
• Vargo Titanium Tent Stake

How to Choose the Best Tent Stakes for Your Needs

There is no one-size-fits-all tent stake. What’s perfect for the car camper on soft, grassy campsites is going to be useless for the backpacker who frequently sets up camp in rocky or snowy locations.

Below, we break down the different types of tent stakes, the different properties to look for, and how to figure out what’s best for you.

Types of Tent Stakes

Shepherd’s Hook: The Shepherd’s Hook is the classic tent stake. Depending on the diameter and construction, these can be quite strong.

Y-Stakes: Shaped like a “Y,” these stakes pack a lot of surface area into a fairly light weight, giving them excellent ability to grip the soil.

J-Stakes (aka V-Stakes): A lot of tents come with aluminum J-Stakes (also sometimes called V-Stakes). These are lightweight, and have a lot of the same advantages of Y-stakes, although we’ve found them to be slightly weaker.

Nail Pegs: Essentially, these are shaped like large nails that you drive into the ground. They usually have some sort of pull cord or plastic top to help you get them out of the ground.

Snow/Sand Stakes: These stakes have a much higher surface area and often have multiple holes that are meant to fill up with sand and snow and help anchor the stake down. They are specifically designed to hold in loose sand/snow conditions when most other stakes won’t, but aren’t very useful in any other condition.

Other: From spirals to screws to fabric designed to be buried under the snow, there are dozens of other varieties of tent stakes. Most are extremely specialized, though, and not too common.

Material

Aluminum is the most common material for tent stakes, especially in the backpacking world. It’s light, relatively inexpensive, and, while it does have a tendency to bend, it’s plenty strong enough when used correctly.

Steel is the material of choice for most car camping tent stakes. Steel stakes are definitely not light, but they are some of the strongest stakes out there.

Titanium and Carbon Fiber are relatively new on the market for tent stakes. While extremely light and strong, tent stakes made with these materials are also extremely expensive.

Weight

For backpackers, weight is crucial. However, having the lightest tent stakes on the trail doesn’t do you any good if they don’t actually hold your tent down, or if they turn themselves into a pretzel as soon as they touch a pebble in the soil.

Even for a full set, ultralight tent stakes will probably only save you around an ounce or less.

Our two cents: when it comes to tent stakes, campers and most backpackers shouldn’t sacrifice too much performance for the minimal weight savings.

Holding Strength

How much force a tent stake can hold, and how durable it is, is probably the most important consideration, especially if you often camp in less than ideal conditions.

To give you some idea of how strong your stakes need to be, we did some calculations.

We used a wind load calculator to determine that 40 mph winds would put somewhere from 30 to 45 lbs of pressure on a tent stake (depending on how big your tent is, how many stakes the load is distributed among, the elevation, and a number of other factors). 60mph gusts would range from 50 to nearly 100 lbs.

We’re not engineers, so these are loose estimates. But make sure whatever stakes you bring are more than strong enough to withstand any conditions you may encounter. Consult our test results below for an idea of each stake’s holding strength.

How We Tested

Holding Strength Tests in Ground & Snow

We wanted to know how many pounds of force each stake could hold, so we used a pull scale to measure the force at which each stake popped out of soft, grassy ground.

We were also curious if putting stakes into the ground at a 45-degree angle really is stronger, so we tested each stake at 45 degrees and at 90 degrees.

For the snow stakes, we tied cordage through the holes of the stakes and buried them at least 2 feet deep in moderately dense snow, in a typical stake configuration (buried at about a 45 degree angle toward the direction of pull) and as a deadman (buried horizontally).

Testing notes:

• The MSR ToughStake is not intended to be buried as a deadman anchor, so we did not test it in this way
• For each test, we took the average of three measurements. We attempted to keep the direction of pull at around 45 degrees from the ground, to simulate the direction of pull from a tent rainfly or guyline.

Durability Test

We wanted to know how easily each stake bent, so we found a spot next to a large rock and pressed the stakes in diagonally toward the rock.

Once the stake hit the rock, we continued pressing on them with the toe of our boots for around 30 seconds each. After that, we gave each one a solid 10 taps on the top with a rock.

Testing notes:

• We did not perform this test on the MSR Blizzard and REI Snow Stakes. They bent when we pressed them into the soft, slightly rocky ground where we did our strength tests.
• We also did not perform these tests on the MSR ToughStake, since it is not intended to be pressed into the ground at all

Field Testing

We replaced our usual tent stakes with these for nearly four months. From camping on snow in the Tetons to camping in sandy Southern Utah, to camping in rocky Redwood forests along the California Coast, we tested these stakes in a variety of conditions.

The post 10 Best Tent Stakes appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put six of the best solar-powered camping lanterns to the test. After over three months of experiments and real-world testing, the MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0 led the pack as our top pick. It was bright, long-lasting, quick to charge, and its mobile charging ability was respectable.

The Goal Zero Crush Light and the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 were tied for runner-up. Both charged quickly, were extremely light-weight and compact, and produced pleasant light that we loved hanging out under.

Read on for our full reviews, and information about how to choose the right solar-powered lantern for your needs.

Note: If you’re looking for a regular camping lantern, check out our guide to the best camping lanterns.

Top Pick: MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0

The Luci was the original collapsible solar lantern, and in our opinion, it’s still the best. The MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0 was our top all-around pick.

This light has it all: great features, excellent ambiance and light quality, a quick-charging and efficient solar panel, and surprisingly decent mobile charging capabilities.

At 150 lumens, the Luci Pro was the brightest lantern that we tested. However, we found ourselves using its lower settings more often, especially in the tent. Its warm white LEDs put out a comfortable, diffused light with great ambiance.

We were also impressed with how quickly its solar panel charged. It would charge itself up enough to run for a few minutes just from ambient light and indirect sunlight indoors.

We also loved that its handle can unsnap, allowing for easier hanging.

While the mobile charging capabilities can’t really compare to a dedicated solar charger or portable battery pack, it still impressed us. When fully charged, the Luci Pro gave a 34% boost to a phone in 1 hour and 32 min before being completely drained.

That may not sound super impressive, but it’s twice what the other mobile charging lantern (the Suaoki) could handle. Even when completely drained, the Luci Pro could charge a phone from sunlight alone.

Its mobile charging could be a little finicky, and there were a couple of times, charging under the sun, where we couldn’t get it to register on our phone. We suspect that it was because it wasn’t drawing enough power from the weak early-winter sun at the time.

If you want to have the capability to occasionally top up your electronics throughout a trip, the Luci Pro’s charger does the trick.

The cons? It’s heaviest lantern we tested. It’s also the priciest as of this writing. But considering that you get a solar lantern and a solar charger in one, it’s not a bad deal.

Overall, we were impressed with this light, stoked on its mobile charging, and would recommend it to anyone looking for an awesome, durable, high-quality solar lantern.

Runner-up: MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0

What the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 lacked in features, it more than made up for in quality, performance, and simplicity.

Some might see the lack of any USB port as a negative, but we actually liked the simplicity of this light. A true solar lantern, it runs 100% off of the sun, and it does it well.

Its 75 lumens were more than bright enough for cooking or setting up camp, while its low setting was perfect for reading or hanging out in the tent.

Fully charged, the Luci Outdoor 2.0 lasted just over 6 hours on high in our tests, and has a claimed runtime of up to 24 hours on low.

Its three-light battery indicator tells you roughly how much charge it has. Plus its solar panel charged extremely efficiently.

In our testing, we placed each light under sunlight and artificial lights for the same amount of time, then measured how long they stayed on in high power. In both tests, the Luci Outdoor 2.0 lasted the longest out of all the solar camping lanterns while still putting out usable, bright light.

Like the Luci Pro Outdoor, our top pick, it has an adjustable strap to make it easier to hang up without a hook or carabiner, a feature which we loved.

The only cons we can come up with are that it’s a little on the heavy side, at 4.4 oz. And the snaps on its adjustable strap can be difficult to open and close.

Its light was also a slightly harsher, cooler white color than the Luci Pro. We didn’t mind the cool white LED light, but preferred the warmer tones of the Luci Pro and the Goal Zero Crush Light (reviewed below).

Those complaints are minor, though. For the price, the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0 is a bargain. No frills — just a durable, high-quality, solar-powered camp lantern. We can definitely get behind that.

Best Lightweight Solar Lantern: Goal Zero Crush Light

Weighing only 3.2 oz, the Goal Zero Crush Light was not only the lightest solar lantern that we tested, but also one of our overall favorites.

This lantern had a lot of positives. For us, the biggest selling point, other than its light weight and compactness, was the light quality.

Its warm, yellow-orange color blended right in with the campfire and never felt jarring or out of place around the campsite like the bright white LED lights often did.

This was the light we most often found ourselves reaching for to cook dinner or hang out in the tent, purely because of the warm, cozy light.

The candle-light mode, which flickers and dims the light randomly to mimic a candle, was a nifty idea. It’s pretty unconvincing, though.

After playing around with the setting for a couple of minutes, we found that we had zero reason to actually use it. Still, it does nothing to diminish the rest of the light’s awesome properties, so we’re indifferent to it.

Although the Goal Zero Crush Light had overall shorter runtimes than most of the other lights in our tests, it actually kept a good bit of power in reserve after it shut off.

Once the other lights shut off, they were completely done, drained, and unable to turn back on until they were recharged. Once the Goal Zero shut off on high power, we could turn it back on and usually get another hour or more out of it on low power.

Especially since the Crush Light doesn’t have a battery indicator to tell you when it’s getting low, it’s nice to know that it won’t just abruptly shut off and leave you completely in the dark.

Its solar panel worked remarkably well, considering that it was the smallest panel of all the lanterns in our test. The Crush Light charged up fairly quickly in direct sunlight.

There really were only a few negatives with this light. First, it could be difficult to actually crush, requiring some coaxing for all of the folds to snap into place.

Second, it lacked any kind of battery indicator, leaving you guessing as to its state of charge. It does have a light next to the USB port that turns red when it is charging (either through USB or sunlight) and green when it is fully charged.

Finally, it was the only lantern without some sort of bottom or cover. If you happened to have it hanging in your tent directly above you, the LEDs could be a little binding when you looked up.

We’d recommend this light just for the ambiance alone, as it had such a cozy, natural quality to the light.

Combined with the fact that it was the lightest and most compact light we tested, and that it performed very well in out tests, we think this is a top choice not only for backpackers, but for anyone looking for a simple solar lantern to bring a little light to your nights in the backcountry.

Reviews of the 3 Other Solar Camping Lanterns We Tested

LuminAID PackLite Nova USB

The LuminAID PackLite Nova USB had a lot of good qualities, but enough negative ones that it didn’t make it into our top picks.

Like the two MPOWERD Luci lanterns, it has a battery charge indicator and an adjustable strap to make for easier hanging.

It also lasted impressively long in our runtime test, getting beat out only by the BioLite SunLight (reviewed below).

It feels well-built and durable, and the snaps on the adjustable strap were much easier to use than the Luci’s straps.

Its solar panel didn’t impress us though. It regularly took over an hour in direct sunlight to get enough power to even turn on. To be fair, once it did build up enough power, it stayed on for a respectable amount of time.

We could excuse its slow charge time, considering that it outlasted many of the other solar lanterns when it came to runtime. Unfortunately, this lantern puts out a harsh white fluorescent light reminiscent of the flickery office lights we prefer to escape when we go backpacking. It was by far the least pleasant illumination for our tent and campsites.

If you don’t mind the harsh white of its LEDs, the LuminAID PackLite is a solid, well-constructed camping lantern. Our three award winners, though, give you a little more bang for your buck, and are overall much more enjoyable to light up your campsite with.

BioLite SunLight

The BioLite SunLight was the only non-collapsible solar lantern that we tested, and it had some of our favorite features.

The color and ambiance of the light was awesome. We loved the dimmable white light, and the ability to choose from a variety of different lights.

Its “party mode”, where it slowly cycles through different colors of light, was a fun feature when we were hanging around camp after a good dinner.

It’s extremely compact, lightweight, and lasted an incredible 13 hours and 10 minutes in our runtime test. As a rechargeable USB camping lantern, we absolutely loved it.

Unfortunately, its solar panel was one of the weakest in our test, and since this is a review of solar camping lanterns, that weighs pretty heavily.

It took three hours under full sunlight for the BioLite to even have enough power to turn on in reserve mode, a low-power mode that limits its functionality to just a dim white light.

For reference, both Luci lights and the Goal Zero light turned on within a minute, and usually within seconds, of being in sunlight.

Even after more than five hours in full sunlight, it did not have enough power to get out of reserve mode. However, when we plugged it into a USB charger for a couple of seconds and then disconnected it, it immediately turned on in full power mode and worked for over an hour.

We find it hard to imagine that the solar panel, in five hours of full sun, couldn’t generate the amount of power produced by a couple of seconds on a wall charger.

We’re not sure if we got a lemon with some weird glitch that requires a boost of USB power to get out of reserve mode, or if the solar panel is just extremely inefficient. Whatever the reason, we were disappointed.

If you plan to primarily keep the light charged via USB and use the solar panel to give it a boost every now and then, this is still a good option, and an all-around fun light to have.

We liked it, and would recommend it with the caveat that, based on our tests and experience, it is super inefficient at charging with sunlight alone.

Suaoki LED Camping Lantern

We wanted to add a budget pick into our test. The Suaoki LED Camping Lantern, with mostly good online reviews, seemed like a good bet.

Unfortunately, this was by far the poorest quality and worst performing lantern that we tested.

The cheap materials started to show wear almost immediately, with the plastic crinkling and starting to tear after the light was expanded just a few times.

The solar panel seemed to work sporadically. During our test, it charged the lantern up enough for around half an hour of runtime in 90 minutes of sunlight.

In another instance, though, the Suaoki sat in full sunlight for over three hours without building up enough power to turn on.

Although its overall runtimes look pretty good based on the numbers alone, it lost brightness very quickly. Most of its runtime was light that would barely be usable for close-up tasks like reading, let alone cooking or setting up camp.

This lantern features mobile charging capabilities, but it only gave our phone an 11% boost before it was completely drained. It also was unable to charge the phone from solar power alone.

We did like that when it was collapsed, the light was channeled into a focused flashlight beam, which was a neat feature.

This lantern — and countless duplicates — litter Amazon and are available for cheap. Even at the Suaoki’s low price, we think anyone interested in solar lanterns would be better off spending a few extra dollars for the Goal Zero Crush Light or the MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0.

With its flimsy build and poor performance, and with so many better options out there in the same price range, we just don’t see any reason to recommend this light to anyone.

Summary

Here are the best solar camping lanterns:

• MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0
• MPOWERD Luci Outdoor 2.0
• Goal Zero Crush Light
• LuminAID PackLite Nova USB
• BioLite SunLight
• Suaoki LED Camping Lantern

How to Choose the Best Solar Camping Lantern for Your Needs

Types of Solar Lantern

Compressible: Some inflate like a balloon, some squish like an accordion, but compressible lanterns are the most common type. They can collapse down to less than half an inch thick.

Fixed: There are various types of “fixed,” i.e. non-compressible, lanterns. They range from traditional lanterns to small blocks like the BioLite SunLight.

String lights: Relatively new on the scene, solar-powered string lights are like a string of Christmas lights. They let you spread the illumination out around your campsite.

USB rechargeable: When they first came on the scene, solar lanterns were 100% solar-powered. The trend has moved toward lanterns that can be charged up either through solar panels or a USB port. Many solar lanterns that you will find are USB-rechargeable in addition to solar-powered. These lanterns can be compressible, fixed, or string lights.

Solar Charging Time

Most lights charge within a couple of hours on a wall charger. Under the sun, though, it’s a different story. If you plan on using your solar lantern primarily off the grid, then you need to know how long it will take to replenish those photons.

Most manufacturers will state how long the light takes to reach full charge in sunlight. However, that doesn’t tell the whole story.

We have found that some lights may take a long time to reach their full capacity, but within less than an hour can pick up enough charge to run on low through an evening. Other lights take hours to even charge up enough to turn on.

Light Quality

The lights we tested ranged from warm and soft to cold and harsh. All other characteristics aside, this was one of the biggest factors in how much we actually liked using these lights.

We recommend taking into consideration the quality of light that you prefer (warm or cold, diffused or sharp) and making sure the light you get suits your preferences.

Lumens

Lumens are a measure of how much light a lantern produces at its light source. The lights we tested ranged from 60 to 150 lumens.

We found that 60 lumens was more than adequate for cooking, hanging out, and doing various tasks around camp. The extra brightness is nice to have, but certainly not necessary.

Mobile Charging Capabilities

Some solar lanterns also have the ability to function as a solar charger for your mobile devices. While this is a neat feature to have, it’s important to realize that their charging capacity is very limited.

They’re great for occasionally topping up your mobile devices, but not sufficient for regular heavy use.

Solar Camping Lantern Alternatives

Not interested in any of the above options? No problem — here are some alternatives:

• Battery-powered camping lanterns
• Camping flashlights
• DIY solar lantern (made from a mason jar!)

How We Tested

Runtime Test

We gave each light a full charge and then used a timelapse camera to measure how long they lasted on their highest setting.

Solar Panel Testing

We wanted to know how efficiently the solar panels charged the lanterns. We made sure that each light was fully drained, placed them under direct sunlight for 90 minutes, then measured how long they lasted on their highest setting.

We also performed the same test under the controlled environment of artificial light (full spectrum fluorescent plant lights).

Testing notes:

• Of its 95-minute runtime after charging under sunlight, the Goal Zero Crush Light lasted 5 minutes on high and 90 minutes on reserve low lighting
• The Suaoki LED Camping Lantern emitted an extremely dim light when charged under sunlight and artificial light. Most of its runtime was light that would barely be usable for close-up tasks like reading, let alone cooking or setting up camp.
• We left the LuminAID PackLite Nova USB under artificial light for an additional 8 hrs. It lasted around 45 min.
• We also left the BioLite SunLight under artificial light for an additional 8 hrs. It still did not turn on.
• All of our testing was performed in late autumn and early winter. We suspect that under much stronger summer sunlight the lanterns would have longer runtimes relative to their time in sunlight.

Mobile Charging Test

Two of the lights had two-way USB ports, allowing for mobile charging capabilities. We wanted to know how well they could charge a phone from their internal reserves alone.

We made sure both lanterns were fully charged, and measured how much of a boost they gave a phone before the lantern was fully discharged.

Mobile charging results from full charge:

• MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0: 34% boost in 1 hour 32 min
• Suaoki LED Camping Lantern: 11% boost in 47 min

We also wanted to know how well these two lanterns could charge a device off of sunlight alone. After the lanterns were fully drained, we brought them out to a sunny spot.

Mobile charging results from sunlight:

• MPOWERD Luci Pro Outdoor 2.0: Almost immediately began charging our phone, although at a slower rate and occasionally losing charging capacity
• Suaoki LED Camping Lantern: Did not charge our phone at all

Field Testing

We used these solar lanterns to light up our nights for over 3 months on various camping and backpacking trips throughout the Southwest, and occasionally around home for some extra light.

We put each one through multiple charge and discharge cycles, on both USB and solar power, over the course of our testing.

The post 6 Best Solar Camping Lanterns appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put seven of the best camping knives to the test. After months of field testing and rigorous experiments, our Top Pick was the Morakniv Companion. This affordable knife is tough, versatile, and can handle any camp task with ease.

For those who plan to abuse their camping knife with heavy-duty use, we loved the KA-BAR Becker Campanion. It’s a serious, durable, well-made knife for larger camp tasks like splitting firewood.

The Schrade SCHF 36 Frontier won our Honorable Mention award for being an incredibly tough, well-thought-out, and affordable heavy-duty camping knife.

Note: If you’re looking for smaller, lighter knives you can take on a backpacking trip, check out our guide to the best backpacking knives.

Top Pick: Morakniv Companion

The Morakniv Companion was our Top Pick all-around for a camping knife. It’s simple, versatile, and compact, and it performed all the essential camp chores we needed and then some.

This knife almost immediately became the first knife we’d grab for just about anything around camp. We’re honestly not sure how we ever got by without it.

It had one of our favorite grip shapes, with a rubber handle that nestled perfectly in any size hand.

The blade was one of the sharpest right out of the box and sliced like a dream through tomatoes, onions, and whatever other veggies we put it up against.

The stainless steel is easy to clean and maintain, making this knife perfect for going from whittling wood to chopping vegetables.

For its affordable price, this knife held up amazingly well to intensive tasks. We’ve used this knife on a few occasions to clean freshly-caught fish. One of our testers once made an entire backpack frame out of Juniper branches with a Morakniv Companion.

We didn’t have a lot of negative things to say about this knife. It’s clearly not designed for really heavy-duty tasks, so if you’re looking for something you can use to bring down small trees in a survival situation, check out our recommendation below.

The Companion also requires fairly frequent re-sharpening. After a month of testing, it had dulled slightly, and we got a small bend in the edge from chopping on a hard surface. Still, the blade is easy to work and resharpen to a razor edge.

If you’re only going to buy one camping knife to do everything, this is it.

Product Specs

• Weight: 4.2 oz
• Blade Length: 4.1″
• Material: Sandvik 12C27

Best for Heavy-Duty Use: KA-BAR Becker Campanion

The KA-BAR Becker Campanion is a beast of a knife. Weighing a full pound and with a solid full-tang construction, this knife is ready to rumble right out of the box.

It feels well-balanced and basically indestructible, and all of our testing confirmed that impression.

We were able to plow through a 2″ thick branch in less than 10 seconds with this knife. The only other knife in our test that came close in woodcutting ability was the Schrade Frontier, which took longer to get through a slightly thinner branch.

The KA-BAR Becker was also excellent at batoning through firewood. It split multiple hard cedar logs better than some of the camping hatchets we tested.

We loved that the steel extends slightly beyond the handle, making a perfect hammer for tent stakes.

The knife is made of 1095 Cro-Van steel, which is very hard and durable. However, it isn’t a stainless steel, so rust is a potential issue and this knife requires a bit of maintenance.

The coating is durable and held up to abuse without chipping or wearing. It did, however, pick up a lot of gunk from chopping through wood and was hard to completely clean. This was the last knife that we’d want to prep our food with.

Its thick blade made it one of the slowest in our cutting speed test, but that thickness is what makes it tough enough to chop through firewood and tree branches.

Another minor gripe with this knife is that the sheath is extremely tight. When we first got the Campanion, multiple people tried and failed to remove the knife from its sheath until we used a hairdryer to soften the plastic.

Even after working the plastic to loosen it, popping this knife out of its sheath still takes a considerable amount of effort. This seems to be a common issue with a particular batch of sheaths.

If you want a tough-as-nails knife that can chop like a machete, split wood like a hatchet, and hold up to hard work around camp, then the KA-BAR Becker is the perfect option.

Product Specs

• Weight: 16 oz
• Blade Length: 5.25″
• Material: 1095 Cro-Van

Honorable Mention: Schrade SCHF 36 Frontier

The Schrade SCHF 36 Frontier is a lot of knife for the price.

It’s a burly, full-tang knife that also comes with a sharpening stone, a ferrocerium rod and striker, and a decent sheath to hold it all.

We loved the finger notch directly beneath the blade. It provided a comfortable, ergonomic hold for more precise tasks.

When chopping through branches and splitting firewood, it did impressively well for a knife that we were able to find on sale online for not too much. It didn’t feel quite as solid as the KA-BAR Becker, though. The Schrade lacked some of the heft that made the Becker such a powerful tool, and it took us a little longer to get through branches and firewood.

Its coating wasn’t as durable as the KA-BAR’s, and we noticed a few chips and scratches after a month of use. It also wasn’t as well-suited to hammering in tent stakes with its rounded base.

Like the KA-BAR, this knife’s wide blade isn’t really designed for food prep. It can handle it, but it’s made to be a workhorse camp knife, not a kitchen knife.

Still, this knife doesn’t mess around. For the price, you get a high-quality and tough knife, as well as a decent sharpener and fire starter. If you’re looking for a heavy-duty knife without the KA-BAR’s price tag, this is a safe bet.

Product Specs

• Weight: 12.3 oz
• Blade Length: 5″
• Material: Powder Coated 1095 High Carbon Steel

Reviews of the 4 Other Camping Knives We Tested

Spyderco Endura 4

The Spyderco Endura 4 is an incredibly sharp and durable folding knife that feels solid and well made.

The Spyderco Delica 4, which is essentially a smaller version of the Endura 4, was our Top Pick for backpacking knives. We liked this knife for all of the same reasons.

The Endura 4 opens and closes with a smooth, snappy feel. Its thumb hole makes for easy one-handed opening.

It’s razor sharp right out of the box, and just as comfortable carving wood as it is slicing open packaging. It was right at home boring holes in wood, carving out notches for improvised tent stakes, and slicing through thick cordage with its serrated edge.

It wasn’t the most comfortable knife to use for food prep — the grip and style just didn’t lend themselves well to chopping vegetables. But the Endura 4 has a very generous handle, and it’s well-suited to people with large hands.

If you want a tough, sharp, and well-made folding knife for around camp, you can’t go wrong with the Endura 4.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3.6 oz
• Blade Length: 3.75″
• Material: VG-10

Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife

Billed as a survival knife, the Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife comes with a myriad of tools, including a whistle, a sharpening block, a ferrocerium rod, and a (very) basic survival guide.

If you’re looking for a decent and versatile knife, it’s a solid option.

It was far from the sharpest camping knife in our test, but its long blade and partial serration made it lightning fast at heavy-duty cutting tasks.

It also has a hard metal pommel on the end that can be used as a hammer, which came in handy for pounding in tent stakes. A number of other reviewers mentioned a lack of durability in the pommel hammer. Despite putting it through the wringer on tent stakes, tree stumps, and even a couple of rocks, we didn’t have any durability issues.

This blade is not as heavy-duty as either the KA-BAR Becker or Schrade Frontier. Still, it’s a much more versatile knife.

Its partial serration worked well for sawing into branches, while its stainless steel construction handled food prep and other basic camp tasks passably well. It also worked extremely well for fire starting with its included ferro rod.

The Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife is a jack of all trades, master of none. It wasn’t as powerful for heavy-duty use as some of the other knives in our test, nor was it as comfortable in the camp kitchen. But overall, it’s a good camping knife that manages to be both tough and versatile.

Product Specs

• Weight: 14.7 oz
• Blade Length: 4.8″
• Material: 7Cr17MoV

Light My Fire Swedish FireKnife

The Light My Fire Swedish FireKnife lives up to its name.

It was far and away the best at getting a fire started, sending an impressive shower of sparks onto our tinder with minimal effort. We liked the way that the included ferrocerium rod locks into the handle for storage.

For tasks other than fire starting, though, this knife was nothing special.

While the handle and grip felt very similar to the Morakniv Companion, the blade itself was a little lacking in comparison. In our paper test and cutting speed test, it was consistently a touch behind the Morakniv.

Where we really noticed the difference was in food prep. The FireKnife didn’t slice anywhere near as smoothly and effortlessly as the Morakniv.

Overall, we think it’s a decent knife with a lot of similarities to the Morakniv, but its main strength is the ability to start a fire. If that’s your priority, this is an excellent knife to have. Otherwise, we’d recommend the Morakniv Companion over the FireKnife.

Product Specs

• Weight: 4 oz
• Blade Length: 3.63″
• Material: Sandvik 12C27

Kershaw Clash

We’ve always been a fan of Kershaw knives. The Clash is one of their entry-level, affordable models.

Its blade is impressively sharp, and the partial serration makes it a mean cutting tool despite a comparatively short blade. It also has a comfortable and natural grip.

It didn’t feel quite as stable or solid as the Endura 4, and the assisted open felt slightly clunky. The materials didn’t seem to be quite as durable as other knives in our test, either. The Clash showed noticeable wear on the clip, the assisted open lever, and the handle after a month of use.

It did passably with food prep tasks, although the partial serration and short blade gave us a pretty limited edge to work with for cutting veggies.

The Clash’s retail price isn’t the cheapest, but we’ve regularly seen it online at a steep discount. When on sale we think it’s a worthwhile purchase. It’s a solid knife and worth having in your pocket around camp.

Product Specs

• Weight: 4.3 oz
• Blade Length: 3.1″
• Material: 8Cr13MoV, bead-blasted finish

Summary

Here are the best camping knives:

• Morakniv Companion
• KA-BAR Becker Campanion
• Schrade SCHF 36 Frontier
• Spyderco Endura 4
• Gerber Bear Grylls Ultimate Fixed Blade Knife
• Light My Fire Swedish FireKnife
• Kershaw Clash

How to Choose the Best Camping Knife for Your Needs

Types of Camping Knives

Fixed Blade – For camping knives, where weight and size aren’t a huge issue, fixed-blade is our preferred style. Quality fixed-blade knives are stronger and more durable than folding knives. A good full-tang fixed blade knife (where the steel of the blade extends all the way to the end of the handle) is a simple and virtually indestructible tool, ideal for heavy-duty or survival usage.

Folding – Compact, easy-to-carry, and lightweight, folding knives have the benefit of being able to slip into your pocket for easy access. Although fixed-blade knives are generally easier to use for food prep and more stable for heavy duty camp tasks, there’s a lot to be said for the convenience of a good folding knife.

Tang

You’ll often see knives described as half-tang or full-tang. In fixed blades, tang refers to how far the steel of the knife extends into the handle in one solid piece.

Half- or quarter-tang knives are fine for most camp tasks, and if they’re well made they can be very stable.

Full-tang knives offer much greater stability and durability for heavy-duty tasks. You may also see “rattail tang” or “stick-tang” knives, which means that the steel of the blade narrows to about a centimeter in width and extends the length of the handle.

Material

Most knives are made from steel, but the market is filled with hundreds of varieties, each with its own unique characteristics. It’s beyond the scope of this article to describe all the varieties, but it’s worth taking a minute to research a steel type to see if its qualities suit your needs and usage.

In general, softer steels will shape easily into a razor edge and will be easier to sharpen, but they tend to be less durable and lose their edge quicker.

Harder steels, on the other hand, are more durable but difficult to sharpen.

A lot of high-quality knives are made from non-stainless steels. Non-stainless steels can be easier to sharpen in the field without any specific tools, and they usually retain their edge better.

However, they are prone to rust and require a little more maintenance. Stainless steel, on the other hand, is easy to maintain but generally harder to sharpen.

Blade Coating

Some blades have a coating over the steel. This hardened material protects the blade, increases durability, and adds visual appeal to the knives.

However, coatings make it impossible to use the spine of the blade on a fire starter, forcing use of the blade itself if no other striker is available. These coatings can also be hard to clean, and (depending on how durable the coating is) they can chip or grind off as you sharpen the knife.

Fire-Starting Ability

Pretty much every knife is capable of sparking a fire on a ferrocerium rod, but some are a lot better at it than others. Some knives have special edges carved into their spine specifically for the purpose of striking a spark. With others, especially knives with a coating, you may have to use the blade. This can damage the blade if done too often.

How We Tested

Paper Test

Before anything else, we tested each knife’s sharpness right out of the box. A sharp knife should be able to slice through a piece of standard printer paper cleanly with minimal effort. The more snagging and catching, the duller the knife.

Cutting Speed Test

Thick cardboard is a challenge for knives due to its abrasive and inconsistent surface. We timed how long it took to cut through a 2-foot section of cardboard with each knife.

Ferrocerium Rod Test

We measured the number of strikes it took on a ferrocerium rod to get a ball of dryer lint to ignite. If we were unable to get a spark from the spine of a knife, we used the blade.

Chopping & Splitting Wood

Only a few of the knives in our test were tough enough for heavy duty tasks like splitting firewood or chopping through branches. We pushed these knives to their limits and describe the results in the reviews above.

Field Testing

We brought these knives on camping trips (and even a few backpacking trips) for over a month, using them for camp tasks from chopping food to splitting firewood. We made sure to spend some time with each knife whittling wood, chopping vegetables, and cutting cordage.

The post 7 Best Camping Knives appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 6 of the best backpacking headlamps through months of experiments and real-world testing.

After all that our top pick is the Petzl ACTIK CORE. It was the most versatile headlamp we tested. It’s bright, lightweight, and intuitive to operate. Plus it can be used with either the included USB rechargeable battery pack or standard AAA batteries.

The Petzl TIKKINA is our budget pick. It’s a solid, reliable light for anyone who wants a simple, inexpensive headlamp.

Read on for our full reviews and for buying advice on deciphering headlamp specs to find the one that’s right for your needs.

Top Pick: Petzl ACTIK CORE

This light ticked all of our boxes for features and specs, and was our top all-around pick.

The ACTIK CORE had all the features and settings we needed — including a spotlight (low, medium, and bright), a red light, and a red strobe — while still being intuitive to use.

We liked that it can be used with Petzl’s included rechargeable battery pack or with standard AAA batteries. The emergency whistle and reflective headband were also welcome features.

Of the rechargeable headlamps, the ACTIK CORE lasted the longest in our runtime tests. It also maintained a consistently brighter light than any other headlamp for 120 minutes, before dropping to a lower mode.

No headlamp is perfect, and there were a few drawbacks with this light. The lack of a locking feature was a bit of a bummer, though we never had issues with it accidentally turning on in our packs.

Also, in our water resistance tests, a few small droplets made their way inside of the casing. However, the design of the casing directed the water away from the batteries.

Based on these results it seems possible that with prolonged exposure to rain the batteries could get wet and problems could arise. Still, it did rank among the top of the pack in water resistance.

The other big drawback is the price tag. It’s the priciest headlamp we tested. While we really liked the features and the light quality, the lightweight plastic feels cheap for the price.

Regardless, the beam quality, brightness, and runtime combined with this headlamp’s impressive versatility make it our favorite for anything from backpacking to trail running to cooking dinner around camp.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 350 lumens
• Max beam distance: 95 m
• Battery: CORE USB rechargeable battery (included) or 3 AAA
• Weight: 3.2 oz
• IP rating: IPX4

Best Ultralight Headlamp: Nitecore NU25

At only 1.9oz, the Nitecore NU25 is the best headlamp for ultralight backpackers who don’t want to sacrifice performance.

It’s plenty bright for everything you need, and was also one of the most intuitive lights to use. One button cycles through the white lights and a second button cycles through the red lights.

We were also impressed with this light’s ruggedness. It feels solid despite its light weight, and it was the top performer in our water resistance test (tied with the Petzl e+LITE).

The NU25’s beam distance fell short of the ACTIK CORE, and its 360-lumen “turbo” mode can only be activated for 30 seconds at a time. Its 190-lumen “high” setting is more than adequate for most tasks, though.

It was also the only headlamp we tested that didn’t have removable batteries, limiting its usefulness for backpackers who don’t typically carry a portable battery pack or solar charger.

Overall, the NU25 is an excellent option for its weight and price. It’s our recommendation for ultralight backpackers in search of a good rechargeable headlamp.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 360 lumens
• Max beam distance: 81 m
• Battery: Built-in USB rechargeable battery
• Weight: 1.9 oz
• IP rating: IP66

Best Value: Petzl TIKKINA

The Petzl TIKKINA is an impressive light for just the price. It’s lightweight, simple, and plenty bright for all but the most demanding uses.

The TIKKINA’s lone button simply cycles through low, medium, high, and strobe settings, making it one of the easiest headlamps to operate.

It’s not the brightest light, but its 150-lumen high beam casts more than enough light for night hiking.

We were a little disappointed that it doesn’t have red light or strobe functions. Red light is good for nighttime use because it doesn’t bother our eyes the way white light does, and some hikers find it to be an important feature.

The TIKKINA also didn’t hold up very well in our water resistance test. About a minute into the test, we could see that water was leaking in under the clear plastic front. When we opened up the battery compartment, there were large drops of water on the battery connectors and throughout the compartment.

It doesn’t do great at keeping water out, but the TIKKINA is simple, bright, lightweight, and affordable. As long as you avoid getting it too wet, it’s a great all-around backpacking headlamp for the price.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 150 lumens
• Max beam distance: 55 m
• Battery: 3 AAA or CORE USB rechargeable battery (sold separately)
• Weight: 3 oz
• IP rating: IPX4

Honorable Mention: Petzl e+LITE

It wasn’t a top pick, but this ultralight headlamp is still pretty awesome.

The e+LITE’s dispersed floodlight beam made it perfect for use around camp. Its 50-lumen max setting was on the dim side for active tasks like route finding, though.

It also held out exceptionally well against water, earning a 10/10 rating in our water resistance test.

Instead of a button, this light uses a switch that rotates through all of the settings. In general, we liked the simplicity of this, although at times it was easy to overshoot the setting we wanted.

For minimalist, ultralight backpackers who don’t expect to have very extensive lighting needs, we could see this being a go-to headlamp. Most other users will find it just a bit too limited for general use, but an excellent backup in a pinch.

Long-Term Test Notes

99Boulders owner and editor Alex Beale has been using the Petzl e+LITE as his personal backpacking headlamp for over a year.

Its biggest advantage, he says, is its weight. On his kitchen scale it clocks in at a mere 0.95 oz, or 27 grams. It is truly ultralight.

The main drawback is it isn’t very bright. Alex says on backpacking trips it’s bright enough for normal camp chores but too dim for his taste when it comes to night hiking. He also prefers a brighter headlamp for car camping.

Over his year of using the e+LITE he hasn’t had any durability issues with it and expects it to last for years to come. It’s a minor inconvenience that it uses CR2032 batteries because they’re not the most common, so he recommends stocking up on replacements in advance.

Alex says he’d recommend the e+LITE to hardcore ultralight hikers who mainly need a headlamp for typical camp chores such as prepping dinner, washing dishes, and filtering water.

If you want a light that can also be used for night hiking or car camping he instead recommends a brighter headlamp.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 50 lumens
• Max beam distance: 10 m
• Battery: 2 CR2032 batteries
• Weight: 0.95 oz
• IP rating: IPX7

Reviews of the 2 Other Backpacking Headlamps We Tested

Black Diamond ReVolt

Although it didn’t win any awards, the Black Diamond ReVolt is a solid light, albeit with a few drawbacks.

When we say solid, we mean solid. Of all the lights we tested, this one felt the burliest and most durable. At 3.5 oz it was also the heaviest headlamp we tested.

We loved the amount of control over the exact brightness and concentration of the beam. The ReVolt also has a spectacular floodlight setting which casts a wide, clear beam nearly 180 degrees.

The ability to switch on the wide-angle beam on the light’s highest setting is awesome, too, especially for trail finding purposes.

However, all these features come at a cost: the ReVolt was by far the most complicated headlamp to use. It took one of our testers the longest to figure out how to use all of the functions on this light, and he rated it as the least user-friendly.

In our opinion the ReVolt and Spot also have the lowest beam quality of the lot. They each have a yellow spot in the middle and discoloration at the outer edges (see photos in the testing section below).

We were also a little disappointed with how this light (and the Spot) handles water, since Black Diamond bills it at waterproof.

When we opened the battery compartment after our water resistance test, we saw droplets of water on the batteries and around the edges of the battery compartment. The ACTIK CORE and e+LITE, despite lower IP ratings, had much less water around the battery compartment.

Although the light continued to work when fully submerged, the batteries and battery compartment are not watertight. Once we dried everything out, the light had no issues that we noticed.

We also think it’s worth noting that the ReVolt gives out 300 lumens with alkaline batteries, while the included rechargeable NiMH batteries only give you 175 lumens on the max setting. This is clear on the included instructions, but would be easy to miss if you’re buying the ReVolt online.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 300 lumens
• Max beam distance: 80 m
• Battery: USB rechargeable battery (included) or 3 AAA
• Weight: 3.5 oz
• IP rating: IPX8

Black Diamond Spot

Since the Spot is very similar in function to the ReVolt, most of what we said above applies here.

The floodlight and the minute control over brightness are great, but we saw the same yellow spots in the beam, and found the single button control confusing to operate.

Its 200 lumens were plenty bright, and it did great in our runtime test, staying bright for well over 20 hours.

Interestingly, about 20 minutes into our runtime test, the Spot shut itself off. There is no automatic shut-off feature that we’re aware of, and nothing touched or disturbed the headlamp during the test.

We suspect a loose battery connection, since the middle of the light’s 3 AAA batteries is extremely loose and often falls out as soon as the battery cover is opened. We didn’t have any other reliability issues with the Spot, though, so we’re willing to write this off as a fluke.

As with the ReVolt, our water resistance test showed that the battery compartment got wet within seconds of being submerged. The light did continue to work underwater, and had no problems after it was dried out.

Black Diamond bills the Spot and the ReVolt as waterproof, but, as our tests showed, that definitely doesn’t mean they’re watertight.

Product Specs

• Max light output: 300 lumens
• Max beam distance: 80 m
• Battery: 3 AAA
• Weight: 3.1 oz
• IP rating: IPX8

Summary

Here are the best backpacking headlamps:

• Petzl ACTIK CORE
• Nitecore NU25
• Petzl TIKKINA
• Petzl e+LITE
• Black Diamond ReVolt
• Black Diamond Spot

How to Choose the Best Backpacking Headlamp for Your Needs

Types of Backpacking Headlamps

Ultralight: These can weigh as little as 1 ounce, and are ideal for minimalist and ultralight backpackers. Their light weight and small size also makes them a good choice for backup or emergency lights. The light weight usually involves sacrificing brightness or features.

Ultrabright: These tend to be the exact opposite of ultralight. They are heavier, sometimes outright bulky, and are often designed with people who have extreme lighting needs, such as cavers or mountaineers.

Technical: These aren’t quite as intense as high-lumen, ultrabright varieties, but they come with a number of specific features catered to certain uses. They may give you a high level of customization to suit various tasks, or have specific types of light beam catered to technical uses such as climbing or trail running.

All-purpose: Simpler and cheaper than any of the specialized headlamps above, these lights aren’t super bright or super feature-heavy, but are perfect for anything from searching around your shed to hanging out around camp.

Lumens

Lumens are kind of a big deal in the headlamp world, but they can be misleading. More lumens aren’t necessarily better.

Lumens are simply a measure of the total light output. What they don’t tell you is how focused that light is, how high- or low-quality it is, or how long it will last.

We’ve found that lights with similar advertised lumens can be drastically different in terms of how bright the beam actually appears.

Most activities don’t require as many lumens as you think. 300-lumen beams are nice if you’re looking for a distant trail marker or trying to see what’s watching you from behind the trees. For hiking and for most tasks around camp, 150 is more than adequate.

Beam Distance

Beam distance is the maximum distance at which a certain level of light can be detected. In other words, how well focused are all those lumens?

Lumens and beam distance are both measured with brand new batteries in the headlamp. Both degrade very quickly. That means that, unless you intend to change your batteries every few hours, you’ll want to choose a light that exceeds the lumens and beam distance you think you’ll need.

Beam Quality

The quality of the beam of light is a little more subjective and hard to measure, but it can make a big difference in usability. How clear and crisp is the light? How tightly focused is the spotlight? Are there artifacts or discoloration affecting any parts of the beam?

Beam Modes

Floodlights provide dimmer illumination to a wider area. This mode is ideal for close-up tasks, like reading or administering first aid.

Spotlights concentrate light into a more powerful beam that reaches a much farther distance. This is the setting you want for hiking at night, or scoping out that noise outside your tent. Most headlamps have spotlights with a few different brightness levels.

Red light keeps your night vision intact. It’s ideal for stargazing or rummaging around without waking up your tentmates.

Strobes are an important emergency feature. Headlamps can have either white or red strobes. Strobe mode conserves energy and can be seen from quite a distance.

Runtime

Also sometimes called “burn time or “usable light,” runtime is how long the light functions at each setting.

Take stated runtimes with a huge grain of salt — different manufacturers measure them differently. Know that the beam distance also quickly degrades to a fraction of its claimed distance.

IP Ratings

IP ratings are an international standard for classifying the degrees of protection against both solids and liquids in electrical enclosures.

The first digit tells you how protected the item is against solids such as dust (replaced by an X if it’s not tested). The second digit tells you how protected the item is against liquids.

For most backpackers, a rating of IPX4 is sufficient. This means the headlamp has been tested to function in splashing water, such as hiking during a rainstorm. You’ll still probably have to let the light dry out afterwards.

Don’t confuse a high IP rating with a headlamp being waterproof. In nearly all of the lights we tested, some water made its way into the battery compartment.

Also, keep in mind that these ratings are based on room-temperature fresh water. Ice cold, muddy lake water or hot water may cause more immediate damage.

Weight

The headlamps we tested ranged from 0.9 oz to 3.5 oz, measured with batteries and headband. There are definitely heavier headlamps out there, but with so many great, bright, fully-featured options for less than 4 oz, we don’t see any point to add more weight to your pack than necessary.

We recommend thinking of weight in terms of your lighting system, not just the headlamp itself. Unless you are going on an overnighter, you will need to pack spare batteries or some kind of recharging method, all of which factor into your lighting system’s total weight.

We also recommend focusing more on features, durability, and reliability first, and weight second, since the weight difference is fairly minimal among high-quality headlamps.

Backpacking Headlamp Alternatives

Here are some backpacking headlamp alternatives that we’ve also tested and reviewed:

• Backpacking flashlights
• Camping flashlights
• Camping lanterns
• Solar camping lanterns

How We Tested

Runtime Test

We gave each headlamp a full charge or a new set of batteries, and placed them on high in a dark room. We took a photo every 10 minutes for 10 hours and compared runtimes and brightness levels over time.

Here’s a time lapse of the test. From left to right: Black Diamond ReVolt, Nitecore NU25, Petzl TIKKINA, Petzl ACTIK CORE, Black Diamond Spot, Petzl e+LITE

Note: the Spot turned itself off after about 20 minutes. We turned it back on at the 40-minute mark.

Water Resistance Test

All of the headlamps we tested were rated at least IPX4, which means they should be able to withstand water spraying or splashing from nearly any direction.

We used a spray bottle to spritz the headlamps from about 2 feet away for 2 minutes. Then we checked to see if any water had gotten into the battery compartment and gave them a rating from 1 (no water protection at all) to 10 (seems watertight).

The Spot and ReVolt are the only lights rated to be fully submerged in water (IPX8), so we went one step further with these lights and submerged them, on high setting, in a bowl of water.

We could immediately see air bubbling up from them and found that both battery compartments had flooded within seconds, though the light never wavered. After we dried out the compartments and batteries, both lights worked without any apparent issues.

Usability Test

We gave each headlamp to a tester who had not used them before and asked him to perform the following functions: turn it on high, turn it on low, turn it on red (if the light had one), and turn it off.

We timed how long it took to cycle through these settings, and asked him to give the headlamp a usability rating from 1 (hardest to use) to 10 (easiest to use).

Beam Quality

We shined each setting of each light onto a white wall to examine beam quality, color, and artifacts.

Field Testing

We used these headlamps during camping and backpacking trips along the California Coast, in the desert southwest, and in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains.

We also made sure to dedicate time with each headlamp to night hiking and attempting close-up tasks such as cooking or setting up camp.

The post 6 Best Backpacking Headlamps appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 6 of the best backpacking mugs to the test to see which ones held up to the rigors of backcountry life.

After nearly a month of testing, the TOAKS Titanium 450ml Double Wall Cup is the one we recommend. Its great insulation, durability, and well-thought-out construction made it our go-to mug.

The GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpacker Mug was a surprisingly fierce contender for how cheap it is, holding its own in both insulation and weight with the much pricier titanium mugs.

We highly recommend this mug as a budget option. It’s a great alternative to splurging on titanium.

Read on for our full reviews.

Note: If you’re looking for insulated camping mugs and thermoses, you’ll find our reviews and recommendations in our guide to the best camping mugs. Or if you’re looking for a mug that’s part of a complete set of dinnerware, check out our guide to the best mess kits for camping and backpacking.

Top Pick: TOAKS Titanium 450ml Double Wall Cup

Serious coffee drinkers need look no further.

Although at 4.7 oz this was the heaviest mug we tested, the TOAKS Titanium 450ml Double Wall Cup was still our Top Pick.

It’s solid, durable, well-made, and a pleasure to drink out of. It’s really everything you need in a backpacking mug.

It tied with the Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug as the best performer in our heat retention tests, keeping water hot for 48 minutes without a lid and for 1 hour 56 minutes with a lid.

It also had the perfect amount of heat radiating out of the sides to warm our hands on chilly mornings.

TOAKS offers a titanium lid that weighs 0.5 oz. Although the lid is designed for heat retention rather than drinking, it’s a nice addition to keep coffee warm between sips.

It’s a pricey backpacking mug, but we think the durability and quality design warrant the investment. This quickly became our favorite for sipping coffee in the morning and scarfing down ramen on cold nights.

Best Value: GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpacker Mug

For an affordable price you get a lot of bang for your buck with the GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpacker Mug.

Not only is it our Best Value pick, it was one of our overall favorites, beating out most of the expensive titanium mugs.

The mug is made of clear polypropylene (a type of plastic) with a cloth sleeve for insulation. It’s also the only mug we tested that comes with a lid.

We initially thought the webbing handle was kind of silly, but we quickly came around to it. It makes it easy to hold the mug when it’s full, and it’s awesome for clipping the mug to your pack.

In our heat retention tests, the Infinity Backpacker Mug kept water hot for a whopping 1 hour 47 minutes with the lid on. That’s only 10 minutes behind the double-wall titanium mugs (and you have to buy the lid for those separately).

We also consistently felt the least amount of heat radiating out the sides of this mug, though it was still just enough to warm up our hands on cold mornings.

The main drawback to this mug is it’s not as durable as the titanium mugs. After only a few weeks of use the rim started to show some scratches and signs of wear. The cloth sleeve also collects grime and is hard to clean.

But ultimately those are pretty minor complaints. For not a lot of money you get a mug almost a full ounce lighter than the two double-wall titanium mugs we tested that insulates nearly as well. We’re impressed.

Best Single-Wall Mug: Snow Peak Ti-Single 450 Mug

Single-wall mugs don’t insulate as well as double-wall mugs, but a lot of backpackers prefer them for the versatility of being able to cook in them.

They also don’t weigh as much. At only 2.4 oz, the Snow Peak Ti-Single 450 Mug is impressively light.

Without a lid, this mug kept water hot for 42 minutes. To compare, the Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug kept water hot for 48 minutes.

It definitely didn’t provide a nearly as enjoyable coffee drinking experience as the more insulated backpacking mugs, though.

When filled with boiling water, it was way too hot to hold without the handles and prone to burning lips.

(Burnt lips is a common problem with single-wall mugs. Snow Peak makes a product called Hotlips to solve it.)

In chilly weather, the Ti-Single 450 Mug cooled off too fast for us to actually enjoy sipping our hot beverages. But that’s the nature of single-wall mugs.

We didn’t have the issues with the handles or the easily scratched coating which we describe below for the Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug. The handles were easy to flip in and out. They stayed firmly in the position where you put them, which is exactly what we wanted.

For backpackers looking for a minimalist, ultralight single-wall mug, the Snow Peak Ti-Single 450 Mug is our top choice.

Reviews of the 3 Other Backpacking Mugs We Tested

Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug

Snow Peak gets a lot of rave reviews in the backpacking community, so we were excited to test the Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug.

After doing so, we think this is a good double-wall mug with a few minor issues.

First, the good: It’s 0.5 oz lighter than the TOAKS double-wall mug (though slightly more expensive).

Its performance in all of our tests was almost identical to the TOAKS double-wall mug. It kept water hot for 48 minutes without a lid and for 1 hour 57 minutes with one.

We like that Snow Peak offers a coffee mug style lid, which you can actually drink from. However, at 1.1 oz — and with pretty consistent negative reviews — we’re not sure it’s worth it.

And now the bad: Our biggest gripe was that the handles don’t seem to be attached tightly enough. They flop and flap around quite a bit.

It got irritating when the handles constantly banged against the side of the cup. Sometimes they crossed over each other and got stuck.

Also the Ti-Double 450 Mug’s coating scratches off easily. The mug started to show wear significantly sooner than the other titanium mugs we tested.

Neither of these issues affect the mug’s functionality, but for such an expensive mug we’re a little disappointed.

Still, the mug itself is well-made and solid, insulates very well, and is 0.5 oz lighter than the TOAKS double-wall cup.

It’s not a bad mug by any means. If you’re counting every ounce, then weight alone might tip the scales toward this one for you. We just didn’t think it quite lived up to all the hype.

TOAKS Titanium 450ml Cup

Even though the TOAKS Titanium 450ml Cup didn’t win any of our awards, it’s a solid single-wall mug and a great value option.

It’s well-designed and the uncoated titanium looks super sleek. We also like that TOAKS included measuring lines on the side of the cup.

At the end of the day, though, we preferred the Snow Peak Ti-Single 450 Mug to this one because it performed slightly better in our heat tests and is slightly lighter.

Is that slight difference enough to justify the higher price? That’s up to you.

We liked this mug a lot and would be happy to add it to our lightweight backpacking kit.

Sea to Summit X-Mug

The Sea to Summit X-Mug was the most packable mug we tested and nearly the lightest.

It weighs 2.7 oz and collapses down to a flat disc. If packing space is your biggest concern, then it might be the right option for you.

The space savings is nice, but since we generally either clip our mugs to the outside of our packs, nestle them into our other backpacking cookware, or stuff them full of dry goods (like a zip-lock of instant coffee), they don’t take up too much extra space anyway.

The X-Mug is made of silicone which didn’t insulate very well. The mug kept water hot for only 27 minutes without a lid. We also found it awkward to hold and drink out of when full of hot water.

If a simple, collapsible mug/bowl is what you’re looking for, this does the trick. As a dedicated coffee mug, we found it lacking. With the other great options out there we don’t see much of a place in our packs for this one.

Summary

Here are the best backpacking mugs:

• TOAKS Titanium 450ml Double Wall Cup
• GSI Outdoors Infinity Backpacker Mug
• Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Mug
• Snow Peak Ti-Single 450 Mug
• TOAKS Titanium 450ml Cup
• Sea to Summit X-Mug

How to Choose the Best Backpacking Mug for Your Needs

Types of Backpacking Mugs

Single Wall: These backpacking mugs are about as simple and versatile as you can get. They sacrifice a lot in performance, though. The single layer of insulation doesn’t do a whole lot to maintain your drink’s temperature. Still, they are the top choice for backpackers prioritizing weight savings and versatility above all else since they can double as cook pots.

Double Wall: With two layers of material as insulation, these mugs do one thing, and they do it well: insulate. They’re generally twice as heavy and twice as expensive as single-wall mugs. Placing them on or near a heat source will damage them, so you’ll also have to bring another form of cookware. The extra few ounces are well worth it for backpackers who often camp in cold weather or are just really serious about their morning coffee.

Collapsible: Typically made of silicone, these mugs compress down to a disc that easily slides anywhere in your pack. Weight and space savings are the real benefit to these mugs. They don’t do much for insulation, and don’t hold a candle to a real mug when it comes to usability.

Material

Titanium is durable and extremely light, making it perfect for backpackers who count every ounce. It comes with a premium price tag, though.

Stainless steel is probably the most common material for backpacking mugs and cookware, especially for backpackers on a budget. Stainless steel can last decades if cared for properly, but can be twice the weight (or more!) compared to the equivalent titanium product.

Aluminum is lightweight and supremely affordable. However it’s not very durable and not great at insulating. It also has high heat conductivity which makes it difficult to handle aluminum mugs and cups with hot liquids in them.

Plastic is cheap and light and can insulate well. It’s not as durable as metal cups, but for the price it holds its own. For budget-conscious backpackers, high-quality plastic mugs can be a great buy.

Silicone is relatively new to the game. It’s light, flexible, and inexpensive, which can make it a good option for some, though it’s not as durable or versatile as metal. It also doesn’t insulate well. Many collapsible backpacking mugs are made of food-grade silicone.

Is Titanium Worth the Price?

Titanium is a popular material for backpacking mugs and cookware. It’s lightweight and incredibly strong, yet it will cost you a lot.

We know plenty of backpackers who have gotten along just fine for years without titanium, so is it really worth the price tag?

We’re big fans of investing in gear that’s durable and will last for decades. For mugs, that means either stainless steel or titanium.

With steel, you pay for that durability in weight. With titanium, you pay for it in cash. But the weight savings are substantial — titanium is nearly 45% lighter than steel.

For backpackers who put a lot of miles on their gear, we do think titanium is a worthwhile investment. It’s certainly not a necessity, but 30 miles past the trailhead you’ll probably be thinking a lot more about those few extra ounces on your back than the amount of money you saved.

How We Tested

Heat Retention Test

We used a food thermometer to time how long water in each mug took to cool from boiling (204°F at 4000′) to 120°F.

Note: TOAKS and Snow Peak sell lids separately for their mugs. We did not have the specific lids from those manufacturers, but used a lid that fit closely, so these tests are an approximation. Since the Sea to Summit X-Mug does not have a compatible lid, we omitted it from the “with lid” test.

Heat Conduction Test

In this test, we wanted to know how much heat you could feel through the walls of the mug. We filled each mug with boiling water, held it for 30 seconds (if we could!) and ranked them from 1 (almost no heat) to 10 (too hot to hold).

Field Testing

We brought these mugs camping in the southwest desert and backpacking in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains to test them out in various conditions and with our backpacking coffee makers. We also used them as much as we could in our daily lives over the course of four weeks.

The post 6 Best Backpacking Mugs appeared first on 99Boulders.

After performing heat and ice retention tests on six of the best camping mugs, using them in our daily lives for over a month, and field testing them on a car camping trip along the California coast, we think the Yeti Rambler is top option — especially for weekend warriors who want a mug that’s just as suited to the morning commute as it is to hanging out around camp.

The Rambler is rugged, insulates exceptionally well, and offers some protection against spills. Plus the lid design was our favorite out of all the mugs we tested.

Alternatively, for people who want the camp mug that insulates the best, we recommend the Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug. It kept our coffee steaming hot for over 11 hours and was completely spill-proof.

Read on for our full reviews.

Note: If you’re looking for lightweight mugs you can take backpacking, check out our guide to the best backpacking mugs. Or if you’re looking for a mug that’s part of a complete set of dinnerware, check out our guide to the best mess kits for camping and backpacking.

Top Pick: Yeti Rambler

The Yeti Rambler struck the perfect balance between excellent insulation, spill-resistance, and usability.

This was the mug we found ourselves wanting to use every day, whether commuting to work or hanging out around camp.

The stainless steel construction feels durable and solid, as does the plastic lid. The color coating provides a little extra grip and — despite being knocked around quite a bit during our adventures — has yet to show any signs of wear.

While it wasn’t the top performer in our insulation tests (that honor went to the Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug), it still did excellent, keeping water hot for well over 7 hours, and ice for over a full day.

Our favorite feature of this mug was its lid — the magnetic tab was easy to open and close, but held securely when shut.

It’s definitely not spill-proof, but we found that, even when left tipped over on its side for a few minutes, only a small trickle of liquid spilled out.

Really, we couldn’t find anything to criticize about the Yeti Rambler. It’s durable, spill-resistant, does an excellent job at insulating, and was our favorite mug to actually drink from.

Best Insulated Camping Mug: Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug

We love that Stanley kept their iconic design and classic olive green color. This mug looks and feels bomb-proof.

When it comes to insulation, the One Hand Vacuum Mug blew the competition right out of the water.

In our heat retention test, it took this beast over 11 hours to drop from boiling down to 120 degrees — almost 3 hours longer than the next in line.

It fared almost as well in our ice tests, with 3.7 oz of ice left after 28 hours at room temperature.

A full two days later, there were still a few small chunks of ice knocking around. This was also the only mug we tested that was completely spill-proof.

So why wasn’t it our Top Pick?

Our issue with this mug was the lid. The design requires that you push a button on the side of the lid, which activates a spring mechanism that lowers a small foam tab, allowing liquid to flow out.

To drink, you have to hold the mug at the top and keep the button depressed. This comes down to personal preference, and we were split between not minding it and finding it awkward to drink out of.

The lid is by far the most complex mechanism of any that we tested, and other reviewers have had issues with one of the many moving pieces breaking after a few weeks or months of use.

While we personally didn’t experience this, we could certainly see it being an issue. (It does seem that Stanley will send a replacement lid under their lifetime warranty if this happens.)

We also found that this mug was so good at insulating that it was hours before our morning camp coffee was even drinkable. The only way to let it cool down faster was to completely remove the lid — a recipe for a major spill.

In the end, we preferred to sacrifice a bit of insulation performance for the comfort and ease of use of the Yeti Rambler. But if you want a mug that’s airtight and guaranteed to have your coffee still piping hot after your day of adventuring, this is your mug.

Budget Buy: RTIC Coffee Cup

The RTIC Coffee Cup is our budget pick. It’s a surprisingly cheap camping mug.

It did surprisingly well in both heat and ice retention, and the stainless steel construction feels solid and durable.

We were also impressed at how spill-proof this thing was. Despite our best attempts, we couldn’t get more than a few tiny drops to leak out when it was fully closed. Not bad for a budget mug.

We were disappointed with its lid design, though. The flip tab is so tight that to open it you almost need to set the mug down and use two hands to steady it.

The tab also didn’t flip back all the way and had a tendency to poke you in the nose while drinking.

While we had the same issue with the Hydro Flask Coffee Flask, it was more pronounced with this mug.

Finally, the seal on the lid just wasn’t quite tight enough. Boiling hot beverages actually created enough pressure to push the lid up slightly, although not enough to cause a leak.

If you can get past the design flaws in the lid, we think the Coffee Cup’s performance and solid construction justify RTIC’s price tag.

Reviews of the 3 Other Camping Mugs We Tested

Although these mugs didn’t win any awards, competition was fierce, and they are still excellent options.

Hydro Flask Tumbler

Hydro Flask makes a great product, and their Tumbler mug is no exception.

It’s got a sleek, stylish design and despite the lack of any kind of closure on the lid, it absolutely crushed it in all of our insulation tests. It was also easy and comfortable to hold and drink from.

Performance-wise, it was a toss-up between the Hydro Flask Tumbler and the Yeti Rambler, our Top Pick. The Tumbler had slightly better heat retention and ice test scores.

However this is the last mug that you want to knock over, as it results in an immediate spill catastrophe.

It’s a great camping mug with a beautiful design and excellent performance — a solid option as long as you’re not a total klutz.

Hydro Flask Coffee Flask

We love the sleek designs and bright, peppy colors offered by Hydro Flask.

The narrow Coffee Flask was actually our favorite design. It was the most comfortable to hold and fit the easiest into just about any cup holder it encountered.

With its completely closed thermos-style lid, this mug is fairly spill-proof. We managed to get a few drops to come out after literally shaking it upside down, but we didn’t worry too much about spills while carrying it around in a bag or backpack.

It kept pace with the Hydro Flask Tumbler and Yeti Rambler in the heat retention tests, keeping drinks piping hot for a little over 7 hours.

It fared respectably, though not quite as well, at retaining ice.

We weren’t huge fans of the flip lid. Even though it latches all the way back, it still tends to bump you in the nose while you are drinking. We also found that liquid seemed to hang onto the tab and ended up getting on our noses.

That might sound like a minor nitpick, but after a couple hours of wiping coffee off of your face every other time you take a sip, it gets annoying.

Our annoyance with the lid was enough for us to bump this one down in the rankings. Otherwise this is a stylish, durable, and high-performing mug.

GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Camp Cup

We liked the design and style of this mug, and enjoyed sipping our morning coffee from it.

However, its performance just didn’t stack up with the other camping mugs we tested.

The Camp Cup took only 2 hours and 14 minutes to drop from boiling to 120 degrees. After four hours, it had lost nearly half of the ice we put in it. Within 12 hours, all the ice had melted.

In comparison, the RTIC mug held heat for over twice as long. And it had almost 2 oz of ice left after 15 hours at room temperature.

Still, we liked the design, and actually enjoyed using this mug more than the RTIC. The handle on the mug limits its use — it’s impossible to get it into most cup holders — but it’s pretty nice to use around camp.

If this mug was just a little cheaper to reflect its performance, we’d probably have already bought a few of them to keep in our car camping box.

Summary

Here are the best camping mugs:

• Yeti Rambler
• Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug
• Hydro Flask Tumbler
• Hydro Flask Coffee Flask
• RTIC Coffee Cup
• GSI Outdoors Glacier Stainless Camp Cup

How to Choose the Best Camping Mug for Your Needs

Types of Camping Mugs

Tumbler: Tumbler-style coffee cups are the most popular and versatile. They tend to be tall and tapered toward the bottom, shaped similar to a water glass.

The lack of a handle makes them fit easily into cup holders. While usually not completely spill-proof, their lids prevent total spills and help retain heat and cold.

Thermos/Flask: These tend to be completely spill-proof and prioritize insulation over ease of drinking. They are best for people who want to keep their drink hot or cold all day long.

Mug: Certain camping mugs are closer in design to the classic ceramic mug. They are shorter and broader with a built-in handle. The handle makes them more comfortable to hold, but it also prevents them from fitting in most cup holders, limiting their use.

Brand-specific: Some camping mugs come included with mess kits or camping cookware sets. They usually fit snugly into the set’s other containers or cookware, making packing them a cinch. However, they aren’t that good at insulating and are sometimes awkward to drink out of.

Lid Type

We found this to be one of the most important features, as the design of the lid determined not only how spill-proof the mug was, but also whether or not we actually enjoyed drinking out of it.

Lidless mugs are the simplest and easiest to drink from. However, they provide no protection against spills.

Lids with a tab that slides or twists are usually very easy to open and close, and offer some protection against spills.

Flip lids, where a piece of plastic latches down over the hole and can be flipped up, tend to be fairly spill-proof. If the tab doesn’t flip back far enough, though, they can bump you in the nose while drinking.

Some camp mugs also have their own unique lid designs. For example, the Stanley Classic One Hand Vacuum Mug opens by pressing a button on the side of the lid, and Hydro Flask sells a lid with a built-in straw for enjoying cold beverages.

Material

Stainless steel is one of the most common materials for camping mugs because of its durability and relatively low price.

While some people can taste a metallic tang from their stainless steel mugs, high-quality stainless steel shouldn’t change the taste of your hot beverage. All of the mugs we tested were stainless steel.

Plastic is cheap and lightweight. Generally, though, it doesn’t insulate as well, isn’t as durable, and can impart a funky taste to drinks — not to mention the potential for it to leach chemicals into your beverage.

Ceramic and glass are fairly inexpensive materials that won’t impart any taste into your drinks. They make good everyday mugs, but we don’t recommend them for camping for lack of durability.

Insulation

All of the camping mugs we tested used a double-wall design, with two layers of material surrounding your beverage. Single-wall mugs are out there, but they are fairly uncommon for camping mugs, since they are less durable and offer little insulation.

The top performing mugs combine double-wall construction with vacuum insulation between the two layers. The vacuum minimizes heat transfer and greatly improves insulation.

How We Tested

Heat Retention Test

We filled each mug to the brim with boiling water (204°F at 4,000’ elevation), and timed how long it took to cool down to 120°F using a cooking thermometer.

We also filled all of the mugs with boiling water at the same time and measured the water temperature after four hours.

A mug’s ability to keep your coffee hot is really its main function, so we weighted these test results heavily in our scores.

On the whole, through the Heat Retention Test and Ice Test described below, the trends that emerged were pretty apparent: the Stanley mug was significantly ahead of its competition, the two Hydro Flasks and the Yeti were all pretty much on-par with each other (well within the margin of error for our experiments), the RTIC did surprisingly well for such an inexpensive mug, and the GSI was consistently in last place.

Ice Test

Although most people we know drink mostly hot beverages out of their mugs, keeping drinks ice cold is still an important feature. We filled each mug with ice, and, after 15 hours and 28 hours, poured off the melted water and measured how much ice remained.

Note: All the ice in the GSI Camp Cup melted by 12 hours into the test.

Spill Test

For this super scientific test, we filled each mug with water and then knocked it over. Those mugs that didn’t immediately disgorge their contents we turned upside down, shook, and did generally everything we could to get them to spill.

Field Testing

We brought these mugs car camping along the California Coast with us to test how practical and easy they were to use in common camping situations and with our camp coffee makers. We also used them on our daily commutes and around home.

The post 6 Best Camping Mugs appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 9 of the best camping cookware sets to the test to determine which one is worthy of your campsite feasts. After months of rigorous testing and field use, the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper was our Top Pick and our favorite all-around set to use.

The Lodge Dutch Oven Combo was our favorite set for serious chefs due to the high-quality cooking power of the versatile cast-iron combo.

Finally, the Snow Peak Personal Cooker was our pick for Best Value. Although small for group camping, it’s high-quality, affordable, and perfect for 1-2 people.

Read on for our full reviews and recommendations, as well as tips on how to pick the right camping cookware set for your needs.

Top Pick: GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper

For groups ranging from 2-4 people, there wasn’t a more complete or better quality cookware set in our test than the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper.

With two pots, the largest of which holds 3 liters, plus a 9″ skillet, we had ample space to cook up some incredible meals for up to 4 people.

It was one of the quickest to boil water in our test, bringing 1 liter to a rolling boil in just over 3.5 minutes. The skillet was also one of our favorites.

While the Lodge Dutch Oven Combo and the MSR Ceramic 2-Pot Set did a slightly better job cooking an over-easy egg, the Pinnacle’s skillet was much easier to clean up than the cast iron and easier to use as a skillet than the MSR pot.

The pots didn’t do quite as well with heat retention, but that’s not as big a priority for us as the skillet quality and the boil time.

The GSI Outdoors Pinnacle had the best features and extras of all the cookware we tested, with a full set of plates, mugs, and bowls. We love that it comes with a lid for each pot.

The simple and easy-to-use pot gripper was one of our favorites and worked effortlessly every time.

Our biggest complaint was that the plastic tab holding the lid wasn’t the most durable, and it broke off of one of the lids while we were washing it. We also thought that the bowls and mugs were a little bit awkward to use. The quality and versatility of the cookware easily won out over these concerns.

Overall, if you’re looking for a top camping cookware set that has everything you need to cook for up to 4 people, it doesn’t get any better than the GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3 lbs 10 oz
• Material: Non-stick coated, hard anodized aluminum
• Max Capacity: 3 L
• Serves: 4 People

Best for Serious Chefs: Lodge Dutch Oven Combo

There’s nothing quite like a good cast iron for when you’re serious about camp cooking. The Lodge Dutch Oven Combo proved itself to be a versatile take on cast iron cookware.

It was hands down the best in our skillet test. Though it took the longest to heat up, once it was piping hot the skillet held a consistent, even heat that left us with a perfectly cooked over-easy egg. Despite no non-stick coating, we managed to not even break the yolk.

Naturally, cast iron is about as durable as it gets. This was the only cookware in our test that could go right on the fire.

It’s not perfect, though. For campfire cooking, we prefer dutch ovens with legs to allow you to place coals underneath without directly touching the iron. This gives more even heat and eliminates hot spots, which we struggled with while trying to cook directly on coals with the Lodge Dutch Oven Combo.

We were also disappointed by the pre-seasoning. Despite baking in another coat of seasoning soon after we got the cast iron set, we still found rust to be more of an issue than with other Lodge cast-iron cookware we’ve used. Be prepared to re-season this set and to give it a little TLC to prevent rust.

Still, a good cast iron is a staple around the campsite, and the Lodge Dutch Oven Combo offered a versatile take that we found ourselves grabbing often.

Product Specs

• Weight: 13 lbs 8 oz
• Material: Cast Iron
• Max Capacity: 3.02 L
• Serves: 2-4 People

Best Value: Snow Peak Personal Cooker

We loved the Snow Peak Personal Cooker for solo camping or simple 2-person meals. It’s small, with a max capacity of only 1 liter, but it would be hard to find a better bang for your buck.

The stainless steel pots are much thicker and more durable than we expected. In fact, they blew every other pot away when it came to heat retention, keeping a liter of water warm for almost an hour and a half.

The thin stainless steel skillet was the set’s biggest weakness. It was one of the worst in our skillet test, making a difficult-to-clean mess of an egg.

We also had a hard time removing the lids while cooking. There’s no handle on them and no way to grasp them with a pot gripper, so we typically resorted to carefully nudging them off with a stick.

Those are minor complaints, though. This was one of the most affordable sets in our test, and we’re impressed with the value you get for your money.

Product Specs

• Weight: 20.5 oz
• Material: Stainless Steel
• Max Capacity: 1 L
• Serves: 1-2 People

Reviews of the 6 Other Camping Cookware Sets We Tested

MSR Ceramic 2-Pot Set

The MSR Ceramic 2-Pot Set is simple, with two pots, a pot gripper, and a lid. What it lacks in features it makes up for by being well-made and versatile.

We loved that, at a max capacity of 2.5 liters, it’s large enough to cook up meals around camp while remaining light enough to justify bringing backpacking.

The ceramic non-stick coating worked exceptionally well. This was the easiest cookset in our test to clean.

Although it doesn’t come with a skillet, its pot was one of only two in the test that could cook a perfect over-easy egg without breaking the yolk.

The included pot gripper was stable and easy to use, although we did find that removing it required pushing down, which could tip the pot over if you weren’t careful.

This is an excellent set that gives you a lot of versatility and one of the best non-stick surfaces we’ve ever used on camping cookware.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb
• Material: Aluminum coated with nonstick ceramic
• Max Capacity: 2.5 L
• Serves: 2-4 People

GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Base Camper

If you want a more budget-friendly, no-frills version of the GSI Pinnacle (our top pick), we highly recommend the Bugaboo Base Camper.

The Bugaboo uses more affordable materials on its pots and pan to keep the price down. The lids and pot gripper are identical.

As far as performance goes, there was virtually no difference between the Bugaboo and Pinnacle in our tests.

While the Pinnacle Camper comes in only one size, GSI Outdoors offers the Bugaboo Base Camper in three sizes. (We tested the medium version.)

Although the pots were the same size as the Pinnacle, the skillet was only 8″. We found it a little small — we had to cut our bacon strips in half to get them to fit. Not the worst thing in the world, but we prefer a more generous skillet.

Overall, we recommend this as a more budget-friendly alternative to the Pinnacle.

Product Specs

• Weight: 2 lbs 10 oz
• Material: Nonstick coated aluminum
• Max Capacity: 3 L
• Serves: 3+ People

Sea to Summit X-Pot

The Sea to Summit X-Pot is an intriguing concept. Primarily made of silicone but with a hard anodized aluminum base to conduct heat, the pot compresses down to barely half an inch thick.

It’s a cool piece of gear perfect for space-conscious campers and backpackers who are serious about cookware.

How did it hold up in our tests, though?

It was more or less in the middle of the pack as far as cooking ability and heat retention.

Keeping any open flame away from the silicone sides takes some care, and it led to a drop in boil time as we couldn’t simply blast our stove on high like we did with other cookware.

The silicone handles can get extremely hot if you don’t remember to fold them up while you’re cooking.

For convenience and ease of use, we generally preferred more traditional pots over this one. It required a lot more attention and care during use and didn’t perform quite as well.

Still, if space is at a premium, or if you want something that can double as a large group backpacking pot, this is a cleverly designed and quality cook pot.

Product Specs

• Weight: 11.5 oz
• Material: BPA-Free heat-resistant Silicone; hard anodized aluminum base
• Max Capacity: 2.8 L
• Serves: 2-4 People

Primus PrimeTech Stove Set 2.3L

The Primus PrimeTech was unique in our test in that it was its own self-contained stove, with two pots that could also be used on a traditional camping stove.

The nonstick coating inside of one of the pots did an excellent job at cooking an egg. The pot also was one of the fastest in our test to boil water.

While the gap in its lid may have led to more heat loss, we loved how easy it made it to grab the pot with the gripper without having to touch the lid.

Overall, this cookware set is excellent quality and versatile enough to be used car camping or in the backcountry. Especially if you like the built-in stove, it’s a solid addition to a camp setup.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb 15 oz
• Material: Anodized aluminum with nonstick ceramic coating
• Max Capacity: 2.3 L
• Serves: 1-3 People

MSR Alpine 2-Pot Set

The MSR Apline 2-Pot Set was by far the simplest no-frills camping cookware in our test. It has two straightforward stainless steel pots and one lid that can double as a skillet.

This set also included the MSR Panhandler Pot Lifter, our favorite pot gripper.

Performance-wise, we were impressed with the pots. They were the fastest to boil water and held onto that heat for nearly an hour. The set’s lid can double as a skillet, but like most thin stainless steel skillets, it was prone to hot spots, sticking, and uneven cooking.

We didn’t like that there was no way to grip the pot while the lid was on. It may not sound like a big deal to have to remove the lid, move the pot, and then put the lid back on, but it gets fairly annoying when you find yourself doing it multiple times over the course of cooking a meal.

Considering that you only get two simple stainless steel pots, one lid, and one pot gripper, you don’t get a ton for your money. The value of this set comes in the fact that it will almost certainly last forever.

If that’s what you’re looking for — a no frills, simple, and durable camping cook set — then the MSR Alpine 2 Pot Set is a solid choice.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb 10 oz
• Material: Stainless Steel
• Max Capacity: 2 L
• Serves: 2-4 People

MalloMe Camping Cookware Mess Kit

The MalloMe is a popular budget option, and we wanted to see how it held up.

While it has everything you need to get you through a camp meal, it was our least favorite cookware to use.

It did fairly well at heat retention but had the worst skillet in our test. The skillet had multiple hot spots and burns while cooking an egg, and the results weren’t appetizing.

The pot was second to last in our boil test, taking nearly 5 minutes to boil a liter of water.

Gripping the low plastic top of the lid brings your fingers just millimeters from the metal. When this set was heated up, we had a hard time removing the lid without burning our fingertips.

We weren’t impressed with the extras that come with the set, either. The bowls were ridiculously tiny to actually eat from. The ladle came in handy a couple of times, but we could have done without it.

The Snow Peak Personal Cooker is in a comparable price range and is much more durable, easier to use, and better performing. We recommend it over the MalloMe for anyone looking for a cheap camping cookware set.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb 12 oz
• Material: Aluminum
• Max Capacity: 0.9 L
• Serves: 1-2 People

Summary

Here are the best camping cookware sets:

• GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper
• MSR Ceramic 2-Pot Set
• GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Base Camper
• Sea to Summit X-Pot
• Lodge Dutch Oven Combo
• Snow Peak Personal Cooker
• Primus PrimeTech Stove Set 2.3L
• MSR Alpine 2-Pot Set
• MalloMe Camping Cookware Mess Kit

How to Choose the Best Camping Cookware Set for Your Needs

Types of Camping Cookware

Mess Kits – Mess kits have not only pots and pans, but also dinnerware, mugs, and other extras that you need to eat your meal. For someone who wants the ultimate convenience of all their camp kitchenware nestled into one set, these are perfect.

If you want to read more mess kit reviews, check out our guide to the best mess kits for camping and backpacking.

Group Cook Sets – These sets feature larger pots and pans suitable for group cooking and base camping. They tend to be simpler than mess-kit style cookware, focusing solely on providing you with the pots and pans you need to prepare food. You might have to buy camping mugs, dishes, and utensils separately.

Individual Cook Sets – These small-capacity sets work well for one or two people. They’re often small and light enough to double as backpacking cookware and are a great choice for anyone who does a lot of solo camping or cooks simple meals.

Material

Anodized Aluminum is ideal for cooking, as it conducts and distributes heat well, leading to less burning and fewer hotspots. It strikes a good balance between affordability, performance, and durability, making it the most common material for camping cookware.

Stainless Steel is the most durable and affordable of all the materials used in camping cookware. It doesn’t spread heat as evenly as aluminum and is prone to hot spots, which means it’s not always the best performing when cooking.

Silicone is a relatively new material used to make dinnerware and some cookware. The main benefits are its light weight and ability to compress. In cookware, it’s combined with a metal base to allow heat conduction, but it requires extra care to keep silicone away from open flame.

Teflon or Ceramic Coatings are common in camping cookware. Teflon nonstick coating has been popular in kitchen cookware for a while and can make cooking and clean-up a breeze. Ceramic coatings offer the same benefits. Since Teflon sometimes gets a bad rap health-wise, many turn to ceramic nonstick coatings as a more health-friendly option.

Cooking Capacity

How much cooking volume do you need for your camping trips? Do you typically cook for 1 or 2 people over a small backpacking stove? Or are you whipping up group feasts for all your friends?

The maximum capacity of the set’s largest pot can serve as a guide to how well-suited it is to your needs. Consider also how its pieces work together (or don’t) to allow you to cook a complex meal.

For example, some cook sets have two pots but only one lid, limiting your ability to effectively cook in both pots at once. Some cook sets have a lid that doubles as a skillet, further limiting the ability to cook multiple items at once.

Camping Cookware Alternatives

Here are some alternatives to the camping cookware sets in this guide that we’ve also tested and reviewed:

• Backpacking cookware sets
• Mess kits

Camping Cookware Accessories

Add to your camp kitchen with the following accessories:

• Camping stove
• Camping mug
• Camping knife
• Camping utensil
• Camping coffee maker
• Pot gripper

How We Tested

Boil Test

We wanted to know how long each pot took to boil 1 liter of water over high heat.

Heat Retention

We measured how long it took 1 liter of water in each pot to cool from boiling down to 140 degrees.

Skillet Test

Eggs are notoriously tricky to cook well. They stick and burn easily and make a perfect test for each skillet’s ability to cook over a flame. Using an MSR Pocket Rocket stove on its low to medium setting, we placed a quarter-sized drop of vegetable oil in each skillet and did our best to cook the perfect egg.

We ranked the camping cookware sets with skillets based on the amount of sticking and burning, plus the quality of the cooked egg, where 10/10 was the best score.

Field Testing

We used each of these cookware sets on our camping trips throughout Utah’s deserts and mountains. We also used them in our home kitchen as much as possible to test them out under various conditions and cooking a wide variety of meals.

The post 9 Best Camping Cookware Sets appeared first on 99Boulders.

Electrolyte Powder	Score	Form
Top Pick: Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Drink Mix	5/5	Loose Powder
Runner-up: Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Drink Mix	4.5/5	Loose Powder
Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier	3.5/5	Powder Packets
Gatorade Endurance Formula Powder	3/5	Loose Powder
Sweetest Electrolyte Powder: Ultima Replenisher Mix	2.75/5	Loose Powder
Dr. Price’s Electrolyte Mix	2.75/5	Powder Packets
Nuun Sport Drink Tablets	2.5/5	Tablets
Emergen-C Electro Mix	0.5/5	Powder Packets

We put 8 of the best electrolyte powders to the test on our adventures for over a month. To keep ourselves honest, we then put them through a blind taste test. At the end of it all, the Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Powder is our Top Pick.

Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Mix came in a close runner-up. Both had a cool and refreshing flavor with no artificial taste, and left us feeling hydrated and ready to keep adventuring.

If you have a sweet tooth, we recommend Ultima Replenisher Mix. Although it had an artificial sweetener taste, it was by far the sweetest in our test, and was our “guilty pleasure” way to replace lost electrolytes.

Read on for our full reviews and for advice on choosing the right electrolyte powder to fuel your adventures.

Top Pick: Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Drink Mix

In our blind taste test, Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Powder won the day. It got rave reviews for its refreshing flavor and lack of artificial taste.

One tester described it as “very mild, but super tasty and refreshing.” Another said it “tastes like electrolytes, no weird flavors or fake sugar.”

It dissolved very easily, with just a few shakes of a Nalgene, and it never separated out or settled to the bottom of our water bottles.

During our (admittedly subjective) hydration test, Vitalyte felt like it was one of the most hydrating mixes. Maybe it was because its light and unassuming flavor made it so easy to down an entire bottle.

Whatever the reason, we found ourselves reaching for Vitalyte most often, especially when temperatures hit triple digits.

This electrolyte powder does have a very mild flavor and was one of the least sweet in our test. (If you’re looking for something sweet, check out the Ultima Replenisher Mix, reviewed below.) If you’re looking for a refreshing and healthy way to rehydrate after a long day on the trial, though, Vitalyte really hits the spot.

Product Specs

• Score: 5/5
• Form: Loose Powder
• Nutrition: 1 Scoop (12.5g): 40 cal, 10g carbs (10g sugars), 68mg sodium

Runner-up: Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Drink Mix

Skratch Labs Hydration Drink Mix was a close runner-up to Vitalyte. It has a similarly refreshing flavor, though it’s noticeably sweeter.

Our taste testers liked the real sugar and the fact that there’s no artificial sweetener or fake taste. One tester said it had a “good balance of sweet and salty flavors.”

This mix has about the same amount of sugars as our Top Pick when you account for the differences in scoop size. We liked that it’s much higher in sodium, making it a better choice if you’ll be doing long days on the trail or sweating it out in extreme heat.

Skratch’s electrolyte mix was a win for our testers, and it’s perfect if you prefer a sweeter and fruitier flavor that’s still refreshing and crisp.

Product Specs

• Score: 4.5/5
• Form: Loose Powder
• Nutrition: 1 Scoop (22g): 80 cal, 21g carbs (19g sugars), 380mg sodium

Sweetest Electrolyte Powder: Ultima Replenisher Mix

Ultima got mixed reviews, but we all agreed on one thing: it was by far the sweetest in our test.

As one of our taste testers said: “I weirdly really like it, because it reminds me of drinking Kool-Aid.”

It does have a strong fake sugar flavor and aftertaste. We also didn’t think it felt as hydrating as our top two powders, mainly because the aftertaste left us oddly thirsty for some water to wash it down.

The mix also had some issues with consistency. It liked to clump up, and no amount of mixing or shaking could get it to fully dissolve. The powder was quick to settle to the bottom of our water bottles when left sitting for a few minutes.

Our consensus was that the Ultima was much too sweet to be our go-to hydration mix, but would make a nice treat for satisfying a sweet tooth every now and then.

Product Specs

• Score: 2.75/5
• Form: Loose Powder
• Nutrition: 1 scoop (3.4g): 0 cal, 0g carbs (og sugars), 50mg sodium

Reviews of the 5 Other Electrolyte Powders We Tested

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier

Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier is aptly named — we felt that this mix was one of the most refreshing and hydrating in our test.

It also packs a lot of sodium into each packet. That came through in the taste in a good way, with our testers saying it was “sort of sweet and salty, maybe a little more on the salty side,” and that it “has a nice balance of salty, sweet, and sour flavors.”

We also liked that there was no artificial taste with this mix.

Overall, it’s a great-tasting and hydrating option, excellent for anyone who needs to replace a lot of lost sodium during long, active days.

Product Specs

• Score: 3.5/5
• Form: Powder Packets
• Nutrition: 1 packet (16g): 8 cal, 12g carbs (11g sugars), 500mg sodium

Gatorade Endurance Formula Powder

The Gatorade Endurance Formula Powder fell in the middle of the pack in our blind taste test. No one loved it or disliked it.

It wasn’t super sweet, though it had a slightly artificial flavor to it. One tester thought the flavor was reminiscent of Jolly Ranchers.

While not quite as refreshing or hydrating as some of our top powders, it has a mild flavor that went down easy and left us ready to keep adventuring.

Product Specs

• Score: 3/5
• Form: Loose Powder
• Nutrition: 1 scoop (24g): 90 cal, 22g carbs (13g sugars), 300mg sodium

Dr. Price’s Electrolyte Mix

Our tasters thought Dr. Price’s Electrolyte Mix was similar to Liquid I.V. in that it had a great sweet and salty balance with a little bit of sourness to it.

It fell a few points in the rankings for having a somewhat artificial flavor and not as good an overall taste.

Overall, though, we liked this one, and we felt that it did a good job of keeping us hydrated.

Product Specs

• Score: 2.75/5
• Form: Powder Packets
• Nutrition: 1 Packet (2.7g): 5 cal, 2g carbs, 200mg sodium

Nuun Sport Drink Tablets

Nuun’s flavors were hit and miss with our tasters. We liked the Tropical flavor the best, with Fruit Punch a close second.

Some of the flavors, particularly the Grape, tasted too mineral and medicinal. While they all had a salty flavor, we agreed it wasn’t quite as well-balanced with the sweet flavors as our top picks. Overall, the taste just didn’t quite hold up to other electrolyte mixes in our test.

Still, we liked the tablet form. They dissolve easily and quickly and have a nice fizziness to them. Nuun also has a good amount of sodium and other nutrients.

Nuun Flavor Rankings

Flavor	Score
Tropical	2.5/5
Fruit Punch	2.5/5
Strawberry Lemonade	2/5
Grape	1.5/5

Product Specs

• Score: 2.5/5
• Form: Tablets
• Nutrition: 1 tablet (5.5g): 15 cal, 2g carbs (1g sugars), 300mg sodium

Emergen-C Electro Mix

We’re not sure what was going on with Emergen-C Electro Mix, but we know it was our taste testers’ least favorite.

One taster said it “doesn’t really have a sweet, salty or fruity flavor. It’s kind of medicinal and just…gross.” Another said it reminded him of Alka-Seltzer. Its flavor was almost bitter and strongly mineral.

With 0g sodium, it’s also not a great option for endurance, although it is packed with potassium, magnesium, and calcium.

We like mineral water and don’t mind a strong mineral flavor or a little bit of fizz. But the flavors in Emergen-C’s Electro Mix didn’t work for us. It left all of our tasters cringing and reaching for something else to get the taste out of our mouths.

Product Specs

• Score: 0.5/5
• Form: Powder packets
• Nutrition: 1 packet: 10 cal, 3g carbs (0g sugars), 0g sodium.

Note: As of this latest update, it appears Emergen-C Electro Mix has been discontinued.

Summary

Here are the best electrolyte powders:

• Vitalyte Electrolyte Replacement Powder
• Skratch Labs Sport Hydration Drink Mix
• Liquid I.V. Hydration Multiplier
• Gatorade Endurance Formula Powder
• Nuun Sport Drink Tablets
• Ultima Replenisher Mix
• Dr. Price’s Electrolyte Mix
• Emergen-C Electro Mix

How to Choose the Best Electrolyte Powders for Your Needs

Taste and consistency are important considerations, but there are other things to think about when choosing a good electrolyte powder.

Sodium

When you sweat, you lose on average 1g of sodium per hour, though this can be much higher. Although we often think negatively of sodium, your body needs it to function properly. When it gets too low, you can suffer cramps, fatigue, and in extreme cases, a dangerous condition called hyponatremia.

So replacing lost sodium is important, especially when you’re active for hours at a time or in high heat. For long days on the trail, or days in extreme heat, look for an electrolyte drink with a high sodium content.

Other Minerals & Nutrients

You lose a lot of other minerals when you sweat, including potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Low levels can lead to decreased performance, cramps, and sometimes more serious long-term issues. Some electrolyte powders also contain a plethora of other vitamins and minerals.

Sugars

Sugar gets a bad rap in the diet world, but on an active day, sugar is your friend. It helps give you an energy boost and fuel your trip. Most electrolyte powders are fairly high in sugar. They’re intended to be consumed when you are highly active, and the sugars will get burned off quickly.

Some powers contain artificial sweeteners and have a lower sugar and carbohydrate content. These may be better to drink when you are less active, like when you’re lounging around camp and rehydrating on a hot day.

How We Tested

Blind Taste Test

We made each mix according to the instructions on the packet and had our testers sample the mixes. Each tester gave each mix a rating out of 5 and wrote down any comments that they had.

Hydration Test

In this admittedly subjective test, we wanted to know how much of a difference we felt drinking an electrolyte mix compared to regular water. Over the course of 8 days, we rehydrated with one Nalgene of each electrolyte mix, noting how well-hydrated we felt compared to drinking regular water.

Field Testing

We used these electrolyte powders to fuel our adventures for over a month. We took them with us on day hikes, trail runs, backpacking trips, and even a few days of paddling around on nearby lakes.

All of these adventures involved spending most of the day outside in the sun and heat, with temperatures reaching triple digits at one point. We made sure to drink at least one Nalgene of an electrolyte mix each day.

The post 8 Best Electrolyte Powders & Mixes appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 10 of the best camping and backpacking coffee makers to the test by brewing countless cups of coffee at camp, on the trail, and even at home. After months of testing, the AeroPress came out on top. It’s easy to use once you get the hang of it and made the best tasting coffee.

For groups of three or more, we loved the Planetary Design Table Top French Press. Its rugged, durable build and large volume are suited for just about any group camping trip.

The GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip, at a mere 0.32 ounces, is truly ultralight. Plus, it makes a good cup of coffee. It was an obvious pick for best backpacking coffee maker.

Read on for our full reviews and for tips on how to choose the best camping coffee maker for your needs.

Top Pick: AeroPress Coffee Maker

The AeroPress was our Top Pick all around. It was the clear winner in our blind taste test, with both of our testers listing it as the best tasting coffee of the bunch.

It’s also the quickest way to get your morning caffeine fix. Brewing takes just over 2 minutes (not including the time to boil water). Cleaning it is extremely simple and only takes a few seconds.

It’s compact enough to slip into anyone’s camping kit. Although it’s a little heavy for backpacking, we’ve brought it on a couple short over-nighters.

With all the included tools, it weighs in at 9.5 oz. But you can easily get by with just the main body and a few filters for 6.3 oz.

Since the AeroPress is designed for making 1-2 cups at a time, it’s best for small groups. (To make two cups, add an extra half scoop or so of ground coffee and let the water drain from the “4” mark to the “2” mark a couple times before creating the suction, letting the coffee brew, then pressing it out.)

It does have some drawbacks. We found that it could be a little finicky and lead to underextracted and slightly sour coffee.

Turning the AeroPress upside-down and letting the coffee sit for 1-2 minutes before flipping it over and pressing led to a more balanced cup. It can take some playing around with the timing to get the taste you want.

Another drawback is that the AeroPress requires specific coffee filters. Still, the AeroPress comes with a generous supply of them, and they are tiny and easy to pack. The filters included in the box have lasted us nearly a year of making coffee most mornings, so you don’t have to replace them too often.

You can also buy a metal filter, but we’ve found that those just don’t work as well.

The AeroPress quickly became our all-around favorite way to make a quick, delicious cup of camp coffee. We highly recommend it. Pair it with a good camping coffee mug or mess kit and you have all you need to start your mornings off right in the backcountry.

Long-Term Testing Notes

99Boulders owner and editor Alex Beale has been using the AeroPress as his coffee maker both at home and on camping trips for over a year.

He loves it, he says, and now rarely makes coffee any other way. The AeroPress makes a great cup of coffee, and he loves how easy it is to clean compared to a standard French press. He’s even converted his girlfriend and her two roommates, who now use it as their main coffee maker at home as well.

Alex says the AeroPress is best for making 1-2 cups of coffee at a time. He’s used it to make coffee for groups of 3-4 people, but it takes time. It requires making a cup or two with one batch of grounds, then pressing them out, refilling the chamber with fresh ones, and repeating the brew process.

Over his year of daily use he hasn’t had a single durability issue. The black base is strong enough to withstand him pressing about as hard as he possibly can. And the brew chamber is a durable plastic that hasn’t warped at all despite being subjected to boiling hot and ice cold water, sometimes one right after the other.

Alex agrees that the AeroPress is the best camping coffee maker out there. He warns that it might become the only coffee maker you’ll use.

Product Specs

• Weight: 9.5 oz
• Type: Press
• Capacity: 1 cup

Best Backpacking Coffee Maker: GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip

The GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip weighs just 0.32 oz and makes a surprisingly good cup of coffee. Need we say more?

If you’re not sold yet, we’ll add in that it doesn’t require bringing any filters, packs down to virtually nothing, is easy to clean (we could rinse the grounds off with less than 1/4 liter of water), and fits on pretty much any backpacking cup or mug.

Plus, our taste testers rated it among their favorite tasting coffee in our blind taste test.

The Ultralight Java Drip isn’t perfect. It would be pretty easy to break one of the plastic clips, leaving you in a pinch.

Also, once the basket was full of grounds and water, it started to get a little top-heavy. We usually had to hold onto one of the plastic legs to keep it from toppling right off of our mug.

Those issues are pretty minor, considering that for the low price and barely a third of an ounce you can forever say goodbye to instant coffee on your backpacking trips. Paired with a lightweight backpacking stove and your favorite coffee, this is all you need to make coffee on the trail.

Product Specs

• Weight: 0.32 oz
• Type: Drip
• Capacity: 1 cup

Budget Pick for Solo Campers: Primula Coffee Brew Buddy

We were initially skeptical of the Primula Coffee Brew Buddy’s design. It dips down into the cup and acts more like a tea bag than a pour over.

We quickly came around. The Primula let the coffee stay in contact with hot water longer to get a more balanced flavor. It was one of the best tasting coffees in our blind taste test.

(Alternatively, the biggest issue that we had with other pour over coffee makers was that the coffee tended to be sour and underextracted.)

Combine that with the fact that it’s simple to use and extremely compact, and the Brew Buddy looks even stronger.

It can be an exercise in patience to try to pour boiling water from a camping pot into the small basket. It can only hold a little bit of water at a time, and if you overfill it, it quickly overflows onto the flat top and makes a mess.

Still, this is a quick and easy way to make a good cup of coffee. It’s also just light enough and small enough for backpacking.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3.52 oz
• Type: Drip
• Capacity: 1 cup

Best for Big Groups: Planetary Design Table Top French Press

The Planetary Design Table Top French Press is our pick for the best camp coffee maker for large groups because of its durability and easy-to-use design.

Once you’ve got your water boiled, you can whip up 6 cups of pretty darn good coffee in just under 5 minutes.

It’s clearly a well-designed and well-thought-out product. We loved the sleek style, the large handle, and the easy-to-push plunger.

It was the easiest of the French press coffee makers to use and clean.

The Planetary Design Press was around the middle of the pack in our blind taste test. The coffee it made was nothing special, but it was pretty much impossible to mess up and make a bad cup.

As with all French press coffee makers, if you don’t pour the coffee right away, it tends to get increasingly bitter as it sits.

With a group of 4, it didn’t take much to go through a full 6 cups of coffee. With smaller groups, we could easily just make a smaller amount of coffee to avoid drinking bitter coffee.

Planetary Design has a winner here with a stylish, well-designed, and easy-to-use camping brewer.

Product Specs

• Weight: 2 lb 4.3 oz
• Type: Press
• Capacity: 6 cups

Budget Pick for Groups: Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite 8-Cup Percolator

Given its affordable price, the Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite 8-Cup Percolator impressed us.

As long as you let it percolate long enough (at least 1 minute per cup) and don’t leave it at a hard boil while it percolated, it’s hard to mess up.

It also makes a lot of coffee at one time. Plus, it just looks cool sitting around your campsite.

Although we really liked it, it had some negatives that put it behind Planetary Design as our go-to for groups.

It was the slowest of the coffee makers we tested, taking an agonizing 21 minutes to make a full 8 cups of coffee. It was also the least convenient to clean, with multiple parts that require a lot of rinsing.

We had mixed feelings about the glass knob on the lid. It allows you to see when the coffee starts to percolate, and it feels pretty durable. But glass and camping just generally aren’t a good mix.

Even though you have to wait a while, the Farberware made the largest amount of coffee. You could also leave coffee sitting in it for as long as you wanted — it didn’t turn bitter like the French press coffee did.

Overall, the Farberware Percolator is an inexpensive and reliable way to make a lot of coffee in one go while you’re camping.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb 11.5 oz
• Type: Percolator
• Capacity: 8 cups

Reviews of the 5 Other Camping Coffee Makers We Tested

GSI Outdoors Collapsible JavaDrip

Sept 2020 Update: It appears GSI Outdoors has discontinued the Collapsible JavaDrip. For the time being it can still be found at some online retailers.

Of all the pour over coffee makers that we tested, the GSI Outdoors Collapsible JavaDrip was the easiest to use.

It wasn’t overly sensitive to the ground size or to the finesse of pouring techniques, and it was easy to get a reliably decent cup of coffee. In our blind taste test, testers rated it as average.

We also loved that it used the standard cone filters that you can find at pretty much any convenience store. Plus, it packs own to a tiny disk. If space is a concern, this is perfect.

While we liked the idea that it could make 1-12 cups, we never found ourselves making more than 1 large cup at a time.

The reason was that we just didn’t have a container narrow enough for this to sit on top of and large enough to hold 12 cups of coffee. We basically ended up just using it as a single serve coffee maker.

This is a great choice if you want a compact, easy to use, and straightforward coffee maker.

Product Specs

• Weight: 4.8 oz
• Type: Drip
• Capacity: 1-12 cups

ESPRO Travel Press

For convenience and taste, the ESPRO was a winner for us.

We loved having our coffee maker built into a completely self-contained mug. It was extremely easy to use and fairly easy to clean.

It didn’t make as much coffee as we expected, though.

A lot of the bottom of the mug is taken up by the grounds. We were usually disappointed to find ourselves drinking the last sip way sooner than we thought we should be.

If you like to slowly sip your coffee, this definitely isn’t the mug for you. By about 10 minutes in, the coffee turned extremely bitter (a problem common to all of the French presses).

Still, if you want a quick and convenient way to whip up your coffee and bring it on the go, this is a neat little mug.

Product Specs

• Weight: 12.3 oz
• Type: Press
• Capacity: 1 cup

GSI Outdoors JavaPress

We were mostly lukewarm to the GSI Outdoors JavaPress. It just wasn’t quite as easy to use or well-designed as the Planetary Design French Press.

We also noticed more grounds and grit in the last cup than in the other French press camping coffee makers.

It was fairly low on the list in our blind taste test. One tester commented that the brew “tasted like cowboy coffee,” meaning it was a little gritty and bitter.

If you like the French press style and want something less expensive and more packable than the Planetary Design, this is still a decent option.

Product Specs

• Weight: 12.8 oz
• Type: Press
• Capacity: 30 oz (~4 cups)

Hario V60 Plastic Coffee Dripper

The Hario V60 looks simple, but it was one of the touchiest coffee makers in our test.

It’s capable of making a really great cup of coffee, but more often than not, we ended up with mediocre or bad coffee. The Hario V60 was an unequivocal last in our taste test.

It has a much larger hole at the bottom than any other pour over coffee maker in our test. If you have coffee that’s ground too coarse or you pour your water over too quickly, you end up with seriously weak coffee.

Using finely ground coffee led to more consistent taste, but we just couldn’t get it to reliably make decent coffee.

We read a lot of strategies and recommendations, the most important of which was to use a slow and consistent pour. That was easy enough with a kitchen kettle, but it’s tough to do with a camping pot.

On the plus side, the V60 was extremely easy to clean up. It’s also fairly inexpensive.

Overall, unless you plan on camping with a gooseneck kettle to get a perfect, consistent pour, the V60 may be better left in the kitchen.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3 oz
• Type: Drip
• Capacity: 1 cup

Bialetti Moka Express, 9-Cup

We loved the Bialetti Moka Express as an everyday coffee maker on the stovetop, but it didn’t hold up as well camping.

The 9-cup size refers to espresso cups, not regular 8-oz coffee cups. This makes about 18 oz of very strong coffee, or just enough to fill one large coffee mug.

It made delicious coffee with a rich, strong flavor, though we preferred diluting it with about 1/3 hot water.

The Bialetti has potential as a camping coffee maker, but it’s finicky on a camping stove. We burned a few pots of coffee beyond drinkability trying to get the right heat level.

It also requires the additional step of boiling water separately, unless you want to drink 18 oz of straight espresso (we’re not judging).

Still, if you’re willing to learn the right heat levels, and you make sure to get it off the heat at the right moment, the Moka Express can make a really stellar cup of coffee.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1 lb 12.3 oz
• Type: Percolator
• Capacity: 9 espresso cups (~18 oz)

Summary

Here are the best coffee makers for camping and backpacking:

• AeroPress Coffee Maker
• GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip
• Primula Coffee Brew Buddy
• Planetary Design Table Top French Press
• GSI Outdoors Collapsible JavaDrip
• ESPRO Travel Press
• Farberware Classic Stainless Steel Yosemite 8-Cup Percolator
• GSI Outdoors JavaPress
• Hario V60 Plastic Dripper
• Bialetti Moka Express, 9-Cup

How to Choose the Best Camping Coffee Maker for Your Needs

Types of Camping Coffee Makers

Press – These work by letting the coffee grounds sit in hot water for 4-5 minutes, then using a plunger to separate the grounds from the water. In most cases, the plunger will press the grounds to the bottom and leave the coffee at the top. Some presses instead press the water out through the grounds.

Percolator – Percolators sit on a stovetop. Boiling water generates pressure which forces the water through coffee grounds. These have the benefit of not requiring water to be boiled in a separate pot.

Pour over – These are closest to the classic drip coffee makers, except that you gradually pour hot water over the grounds yourself. They tend to be the simplest designs and the easiest to use and clean.

Ease of Use

It’s pretty annoying to get to your campsite and realize that you forgot the very specific coffee filters you need for your coffee maker. It’s just as bad to deal with finicky coffee makers that requires precise ground size, water temperature, or technique.

Our preferred camping coffee makers are simple and straightforward to use. Unless you’re a connoisseur who has spent hours perfecting your pour over technique with a backpacking pot, make sure you choose a coffee maker that can make a decent cup with whatever supplies you have at camp.

Ease of use also means ease of cleanup. Will you usually be at campsites with a spigot and running water, or will you be trying to clean your coffee maker by pouring water out of a Nalgene?

Taste

Even with the exact same grounds, the taste of your final cup can vary dramatically based on the type of coffee maker you are using.

Make sure you choose a coffee maker that isn’t too finicky, or that you are willing to invest the time to learn its quirks and techniques to make a good cup.

Brew Time

It’s hard to be patient while you’re waiting for your morning brew, so you may be tempted to go with the quickest way to get your coffee. If you’re the type who typically drinks 4 or 5 cups in a morning, it may be worth it to wait longer and have a large pot ready to go.

Packability

If you are car camping and have infinite room, we recommend making your choice based on taste and ease of use rather than packability. For backpackers or campers with limited space, it’s worth sacrificing a little taste or convenience for durability and packability.

How We Tested

Blind Taste Test

We brewed a cup or pot with each coffee maker, then had two of our expert coffee drinkers do a blind taste test with each cup. We used the same type of grounds and kept the ratio of grounds to water the same for each coffee maker.

Brew Time

We measured the brew time for each coffee maker on a camping stove from the time that we picked up the coffee maker to the time we had hot coffee in our mugs.

We did not include the time needed to boil water in our brew times, as this will vary drastically depending on what type of stove and camping cookware you are using. The exception is the two percolators, which boil their own water.

Ease of Use & Cleanup

We spent some time using and cleaning each coffee maker in typical camping scenarios, then rated them based on ease of use and ease of cleanup (where 10 is the easiest).

Field Testing

We used these coffee makers to brew our morning coffee every day for over a month. We also brought them with us camping and backpacking in Utah’s deserts and mountains to get a feel for how they worked in the field.

The post 10 Best Coffee Makers for Camping & Backpacking appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 5 of the best camping coolers through months of field testing and rigorous experiments to test their insulation, durability, and camp-worthiness. The premium Yeti Tundra is our Top Pick. Although expensive, it was the top performer in all of our categories.

RTIC’s Hard Cooler finished as a close runner-up, lagging only slightly behind the Yeti in most of our tests. It’s worth a close look if the Yeti is out of your price range.

For the budget minded, the Igloo BMX 25 is our Best Value pick. It isn’t as spacious or durable as the Yeti or RTIC, but it’s a great drink cooler that kept our beer ice cold during our weekend camping trips.

Read on for our full reviews and our tips on choosing the right camping cooler for your needs.

Top Pick: Yeti Tundra

Many a time have we wandered through our local REI and, upon seeing the price tag on a Yeti, wondered, “Why would someone spend that much on a cooler?”

It turns out the answer is simple: because it’s the best. In all of our tests, the Tundra was the winner.

As far as durability, there isn’t much on this cooler that can break. With the rotomolded design, it’s essentially two large pieces joined together by a heavy-duty hinge at the back — which we don’t think we could break if we tried.

The rope handles are tied tight to bolted attachment points, and the rubber gasket inside as well as the rubber feet on the bottom are attached securely enough that we couldn’t pry them off.

Every component of this cooler, from the bolts holding the rope handles in place to the rubber latches, feels well-manufactured. The materials look and feel high-quality.

We’ve tested thousands of dollars of outdoor gear over the years, and we’ve developed an eye for quality. While testing the Tundra, it became clear: Yeti didn’t cut any corners when making this cooler.

Considering that the Tundra product line is certified as bear-resistant by the IGBC (when used with bolts or padlocks), we’re not surprised by its durability.

Also unsurprisingly, the Yeti came in first in our insulation test. We dumped 20 pounds of ice into it and after 48 hours only 3.5 liters of water drained out.

We liked that the Yeti came with a dry goods basket. Since you’re paying a hefty premium for this cooler, it’s nice to get a few extras.

As for drawbacks, the Tundra is heavy. We tested the Tundra 35 which weighs 20 pounds when empty. Still, the handles were comfortable to hold and relatively easy for one person to carry. The rope handles made carrying this cooler with two people a breeze, although the hard rubber could be a little uncomfortable when the cooler was fully loaded.

Overall, we found little to say against the Yeti Tundra. It’s expensive, but if you want a top-of-the-line camping cooler, this one is well worth the investment.

Product Specs

• Size Tested: Tundra 35
• Available Sizes: 35, 45, 65, 75, 105, 110, 125, 160, 210, 250, 350
• Empty Weight (Tundra 35): 20 lbs
• Features: IGBC certified bear-resistant when used with bolts or padlocks, dry goods basket included, drain

Runner-up: RTIC Hard Cooler

RTIC makes a rotomolded cooler very similar in design to the Yeti Tundra but with a noticeably lower price tag.

We were impressed with this cooler. It performed respectably in our ice retention test, though not quite as well as we had hoped. 4.5 liters of water drained out after leaving 20 pounds of ice inside for 48 hours. That’s a liter more than the Yeti.

RTIC bills its cooler as bear-resistant, but it isn’t certified bear-resistant by the IGBC as of this writing. Still, the RTIC barely flinched at our durability tests. We have a hard time imagining a bear getting through its defenses, especially with padlocks through the corners.

The only place where it lost points for durability was in the rubber components. The latches had noticeably more give than those of the Yeti. They held the lid securely, but we could pry it open a few millimeters, which wasn’t the case with the Yeti.

The rubber gasket and rubber feet weren’t quite as securely attached, and we felt that both could have been pried off with some effort. This may or may not be an issue with long-term durability, but the slight difference in quality compared to the Yeti was noticeable.

Although the handles are made of a foam that feels cheaper than the Yeti’s rubber, they were actually more comfortable to carry. We wouldn’t call this cooler easy to carry for one person, especially given how heavy it was when loaded up, but it’s manageable. With two people, it’s a breeze.

RTIC makes dividers and baskets that you can purchase separately. None are included with their coolers.

RTIC coolers are by no means cheap. With a price tag that’s still well into the triple digits, the RTIC 45 didn’t quite make the cut for our Best Value award. Still, if that Yeti price tag is pushing your budget, this is a top cooler for camping that’s nearly as good as our Top Pick for much less money.

Product Specs

• Size Tested: RTIC 45
• Available Sizes: 20, 45, 65, 110, 145
• Empty Weight (RTIC 45): 25 lbs
• Features: Drain

Best Value: Igloo BMX

The Igloo BMX comes in 25-quart and 52-quart sizes. The BMX 25 that we tested was an excellent drink cooler, perfect for packing along extra brews on a camping trip or leaving in the car to have some cold drinks after an adventure.

We liked that the BMX wasn’t as heavy and bulky as the Yeti and RTIC. The top handle made the cooler easy for just one person to carry, even when it was fully loaded.

The BMX did exceptionally well in our insulation tests, finishing just behind the Yeti. We attribute some of its better performance to it being the smallest cooler in our test, but we were still impressed.

During testing, we set out for a weekend adventure with an 18-pack of beer and about 15 pounds of ice in the BMX. At the end of the weekend, we still had a small amount of ice left. We were pleasantly surprised by how well the Igloo insulated.

The BMX finished toward the bottom of the pack in our spill and durability testing. While the cooler’s body and latches felt solidly constructed and held up well, some of the plastic components weren’t quite as well-made. In particular, we felt like the hinges on the lid would be easy to break if the cooler were pushed open too far.

The lack of a drain is also a bummer, although the 52-quart version does have a drain.

Overall, the BMX is a solid cooler at a great price. Even the 52-quart model can be found for a third of what our other award winners retail for. The Best Value award is well deserved.

Product Specs

• Size Tested: BMX 25
• Available Sizes: 25, 52
• Empty Weight (BMX 25): 11.29 lbs
• Features: Fish ruler

Reviews of the 2 Other Camping Coolers We Tested

Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

We loved the sleek, retro look of the Coleman Steel Belted Cooler. But while this cooler impressed in some ways, it suffered from a disappointing lack of durability in some of its smaller components.

In our insulation test, the Steel Belted Cooler held onto ice for nearly as long as the pricier and burlier RTIC 45. If you’re on a budget and insulation is your top priority, this cooler is not a bad choice.

It’s also more portable than the Yeti or RTIC. The cooler’s small size is easy to move around with just one person, even when fully loaded.

While the steel of the body felt solid, stable, and durable, the rest of the cooler was slightly lacking in build quality. The biggest issue was the latch. While we initially thought that the swivel mechanism was super cool, the plastic component on the lid that it latches into popped out with very little force.

Nothing broke, and we could simply press it back into place, but each time we did this it got noticeably looser. By the end of our testing, it had loosened to the point that simply lifting on the handle was enough to pop the lid open, making the latch essentially useless.

The side handles aren’t the most durable, either. It didn’t take much pressure to hear the rivets straining. There were also a couple of spots on the cooler where it appeared that the insulation (or something) oozed out from the seams. It wasn’t a major issue, but it also wasn’t a reassuring thing to see on a cooler.

It has a drain on one side, but other than that, the Coleman Steel Belted Cooler doesn’t have much in the way of features.

We liked this cooler and thought it insulated well for the price point. It nearly won our Best Value award, but we were disappointed by the durability issues with the latch and the poor quality of the components and manufacturing.

Product Specs

• Size Tested: 54 qts
• Available Sizes: 54 qts
• Empty Weight: 15 lb 11 oz
• Features: Drain

Coleman Xtreme 5 Cooler

The Coleman Xtreme finished dead last in all of our tests. But it still has some redeemable qualities.

What we did like about this cooler was the large volume. The thin walls meant that it didn’t take up much more space than the smaller 45-liter RTIC, despite having roughly 50% more room inside.

The Xtreme’s light weight also made it relatively easy to carry, though we couldn’t get past the awkward plastic handles. They felt frighteningly fragile when carrying the cooler. We had to resort to an awkward waddle when carrying it with two people due to their short design.

The insulation was better than we expected, but still not on par with the premium coolers in our test. Coleman claims that the Xtreme holds ice for 5 days. We could see that being the case only if it were filled with a lot of ice.

In our ice retention test, about 15 of the 20 pounds we put in it had melted after 48 hours. Don’t be surprised if all the ice you put inside the Xtreme melts during a weekend camping trip.

Although this cooler was the cheapest in our test, the Igloo BMX can be found for not much more. The Xtreme will do the trick for backyard cookouts, or for someone who doesn’t store much perishable food at camp. But we think that, for most people, it’s worth the investment to get a cooler with a latching lid, more durability, and better insulation.

Product Specs

• Size Tested: 70 qt
• Available Sizes (qts): 28, 62, 70, 100
• Empty Weight (70 qt): 11 lb 6 oz
• Features: Molded drink holders, drain, fish ruler

Summary

Here are the best camping coolers:

• Yeti Tundra
• RTIC Hard Cooler
• Igloo BMX 25
• Coleman Steel Belted Cooler
• Coleman Xtreme 5 Cooler

How to Choose the Best Camping Cooler for Your Needs

Types of Coolers

Hard-sided coolers are the most common type of cooler used for camping. They combine durability with quality insulation, they usually have a drain to keep your food from getting soggy, and (an extremely important consideration) they can double as a camp seat.

Rotomolded coolers are a subset of hard-sided coolers. Rotomolded is short for rotationally molded, a process in which heated plastic is slowly rotated inside of a mold, allowing it to form into a shape of perfectly uniform thickness. The result is an incredibly durable and high-performing cooler.

Generally only high-end coolers are rotomolded. The process is time-consuming and expensive. The disadvantages (other than the premium price tags) are that rotomolded coolers tend to be heavier and bulkier than other coolers.

Soft-sided coolers are perfect for carrying drinks or lunch. They have the benefits of portability and lightness.

The thought of a soft-sided cooler might bring to mind your old soggy lunch box, but modern soft-sided coolers have come a long way. Many premium models are fully leak-proof and can hold their own against the insulation of hard-sided coolers. They’re perfect as a supplemental drink cooler or for toting snacks on short camping trips. They shine where portability and convenience are priorities.

Electric coolers are basically portable mini-fridges, and they’re best for those who are truly serious about their cooling needs. Electric coolers are expensive and only make sense if you have a generator running full-time during your camping trips.

Size & Capacity

Coolers range in size from 6-pack sized to a whopping 350-liter beast ready to hold a quartered elk. Your needs will probably lie somewhere between those extremes.

30-40 liters is perfect for short camping trips or for one person.

For longer getaways, anything shy of 50 liters is likely to feel cramped, especially when you factor in that at least half of that space should be reserved for ice.

We’ve found that for most weekend warriors, 60 liters is the sweet spot that allows plenty of room for food and drinks for two to three people.

Notice that we listed size and capacity separately. That’s because rotomolded coolers tend to be substantially larger than a more basic hard-sided cooler of the same capacity. Their thick walls can quickly eat up a lot of vehicle space without any added storage space.

Trip Length

If you typically go on quick overnighters, or you just need a cooler to keep some drinks chilled around camp, you probably don’t need to invest in premium insulation. Even the cheapest cooler will hold ice and keep your drinks cold for a day or so.

On multi-day trips where restocking ice isn’t an option, or when your camp cooking involves raw meat or other highly perishable ingredients, keeping your cooler at a safe temperature is crucial.

Cooler Features & Accessories

Drain: We think a drain is a must for anything but the smallest coolers. Your food will be submerged quickly without one.

Locking mechanism: A locking mechanism for the lid is important, not just to prevent spills but also to ensure a good seal and insulation.

Dry goods basket (aka cooler basket): Cooler baskets keep your food suspended above the ice. They’re useful for keeping food dry.

Cooler divider: Dividers help keep your food and drinks organized in your cooler. Some brands make dividers that double as cutting boards when not in use.

Handles: every cooler we tested has handles, but we liked some designs more than others. The rope carry handles on the Yeti and RTIC were our preferred design for two-person carry. A large single handle was easiest for one-person carry. Plastic handles like those found on many cheap coolers were flimsy and made transport difficult.

Bear-resistance: The Yeti Tundra line is certified bear-resistant by the IGBC when used with bolts or padlocks. The RTIC is marketed as bear-resistant but not IGBC-certified as of this writing. Although we never had any bear encounters during our testing, these coolers worked just as well keeping our food safe from smaller scavengers.

Other features, like a fish ruler or molded drink holders, may be useful for specific situations. We rarely used them while camping, though.

How We Tested

Ice Retention Test

We filled each cooler with 20 lbs of ice and left them outside in temperatures topping 90 degrees. After 48 hours, we measured the volume of liquid that drained out of each cooler to determine how much ice remained. Lower volumes of drained water indicated more ice retention and better insulation.

Spill Test

With about two liters of water in each cooler, we flipped, rolled, and shook them to see how watertight they were. We gave them a rating out of 10, where 10 was no water spilling out and 1 was no seal at all.

Durability Testing

We put each cooler through the wringer to see how they would hold up to serious abuse. We rolled each cooler around on the ground; sat, stood, and jumped on top of each one; and tried to pry the lids open to see how durable the components were. At the end, we rated each cooler’s durability out of 10.

Field Testing

We used these coolers as much as possible on our car camping trips, day trips, and cookouts for over a month to see how they held up to real-world use.

The post 5 Best Camping Coolers appeared first on 99Boulders.

We put 9 of the best backpacking knives to the test. From chopping veggies to whittling wood, we used these knives throughout our backpacking trips and daily lives while performing a series of rigorous tests. Our all-around top pick is the Spyderco Delica 4 for its perfect balance of compact design and durability.

The ESEE Izula II won the day for heavy-duty and survival usage. For lightweight backpackers, the Spyderco Honeybee is a remarkable knife for its size and easily the best ultralight backpacking knife we tested.

The classic Opinel No8 is our best value pick and an incredible knife for the price. Finally, the Deejo Wood 37g won an honorable mention for its beautiful design and high-quality blade.

Read on for our full reviews and tips on how to choose the right backpacking knife for your needs.

Note: If you’re looking for knives you can use while camping and aren’t as concerned about weight, check out our guide to the best camping knives.

Top Pick: Spyerco Delica 4

The Spyderco Delica 4 blew us away in nearly every aspect of our testing.

This knife combines a light weight of only 2.5 oz with a razor sharp blade and a remarkably comfortable, solid grip.

The Delica 4 opens and closes smoothly, and its thumb hole makes for easy one-handed opening. The knife feels extremely solid and well made.

It was one of the sharpest knives right out of the box and sliced through a sheet of paper like butter.

When it came to whittling wood and boring holes, the short blade and raised thumb notch made this knife feel easy and intuitive for detail work. No other knife in our test felt as precise and solid in-hand as the Delica 4 (although the Izula II was close).

After our tests, we couldn’t detect any noticeable change in the sharpness of its blade.

It was also hands down the best in our test at starting a fire with a fire starter. The sharp edges on its spine struck a spark with little effort and left no wear to the knife itself.

We couldn’t find many drawbacks with the Delica 4. One minor one is that its short blade wasn’t the greatest for slicing food.

We’ve seen this knife on sale at many online retailers. If you shop around, you can likely find it for less than its retail price.

It’s still an investment, but if you want to buy one backpacking knife that you can use on every adventure, the Delica 4 is it.

Product Specs

• Weight: 2.5 oz
• Blade Length: 2.875″
• Material: VG-10 Steel
• Lock: Back Lock

Best Heavy Duty Backpacking Knife: ESEE Izula II

The ESEE Izula II was the only fixed-blade knife in our review.

It’s designed for wilderness and survival usage and made by Randall’s Adventure and Training, which started as a jungle survival school in the Peruvian Amazon. In other words, this knife is legit.

Its blade wasn’t the sharpest right out of the box, but it was the thickest and most durable. It even held up to some mild batoning (splitting wood) without chipping or wearing the coating. It’s no camp hatchet, but it’ll do in a pinch.

If you get the Izula with the handle and sheath, it’s a touch on the heavy side for backpacking.

One of the beauties of this knife, though, is how customizable it is. The handle is easy to remove, leaving you with a barebones knife of only 2.2 oz. The sheath adds another 0.8 oz.

Even without the full handle, the Izula was comfortable to hold. A simple paracord wrap made it even better.

The MSRP is a little steep, but we’ve regularly seen the Izula on sale.

All in all, we were impressed. If you’re in the market for a fixed-blade knife that’s light enough for backpacking, capable in survival situations, and fun to own, this is your knife.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3.2 oz
• Blade Length: 2.63″
• Material: 1095 High Carbon Steel
• Lock: N/A

Best Ultralight Backpacking Knife: Spyderco Honeybee

The Spyderco Honeybee packs a lot of punch into a tiny package.

In our paper test, it was one of the sharpest knives we tested.

It was one of the slower knives in our cutting speed test, but that was mainly because of its tiny size. The blade still sliced easily through 2 feet of cardboard.

The Honeybee was capable of whittling wood, although it was awkward and hazardous due to the lack of a locking mechanism. Still, it can get the job done if you really need it to.

It was able to strike a spark on a ferro rod, though not easily and with noticeable wear to the back of its blade.

We pushed this little knife into much more heavy-duty use than it was intended for. While it did show some wear and weaknesses, it was more capable than we expected.

It’s far from the easiest knife to hold. The handle is slick, and combined with the minuscule size, it requires a careful grip.

For weight-conscious backpackers who recognize that a knife is still an essential part of their kit, or for anyone who wants an ultralight backup knife, the Honeybee is a sweet little piece of gear at a great price.

Product Specs

• Weight: 0.56 oz
• Blade Length: 1.625″
• Material: 3Cr Steel
• Lock: No

Best Value: Opinel No8 Stainless Steel Blade Folding Knife

Opinel is a French knife that’s become iconic. For the price, this is an incredible knife.

Its 3.35″ blade was the second longest in our test and gave it a lot of cutting power.

Although it wasn’t super sharp right out of the box, it held up to all of our cutting tests surprisingly well. We could cut through a length of cardboard much faster than with some of the sharper knives. We loved slicing and chopping food with the Opinel.

The Opinel uses the unique “Virobloc” safety lock, where a metal ring twists to lock the blade either open or shut. We loved its simplicity. You could easily see when the lock was engaged, and it felt safer than some of the frame locks.

As we were whittling, we noticed a little bit of play in the blade. It tended to move back and forth against the lock slightly, though not enough to bother us.

The Opinel No8 is our best value pick, but it doesn’t feel or perform like a budget knife. It’s a capable tool, worthy of adding to your backpacking and camping arsenal.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1.6 oz
• Blade Length: 3.35″
• Material: 12C27 Sandvik Stainless Steel
• Lock: Virobloc Safety Ring

Honorable Mention: Deejo Wood 37g

The Deejo Wood 37g is a sleek, lightweight, and well-designed knife with an amazing blade.

It wasn’t the sharpest knife in our test, but it more than made up for it with its long blade.

It excelled at slicing through…well, pretty much anything. Paper, cardboard, vegetables, cordage, the Deejo made quick work of it all.

Because of its minimalist design, the Deejo Wood 37g initially felt a touch flimsy. It impressed us with how durable it actually was, though.

The blade wasn’t as stable as the Delica 4 during tasks like whittling wood or boring holes, and we could feel a small amount of give in the handle. But it was nothing that had us concerned.

It didn’t play well with a ferro rod, taking 10 strikes even on the blade to light our tinder. Those are minor shortcomings for a knife that is lightweight, compact, functional, and beautifully designed.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1.3 oz
• Blade Length: 3.74″
• Material: 420 Stainless Steel
• Lock: Frame Lock

Reviews of the 4 Other Backpacking Knives We Tested

Kershaw Leek

In our testing, the Leek was the sharpest right out of the box. It sliced through a sheet of paper like nobody’s business and excelled at food prep.

Its assisted open is sharp and snappy, and the frame lock felt solid and reliable. The tip lock that holds the knife closed is a nice added safety feature.

The Leek was the heaviest knife in our test (not counting the ESEE Izula II, which could be customized for lighter weight). While we loved its performance and solid feel, it would be hard for us to justify dedicating 3 oz in our pack for it.

The slick handle also wasn’t the best for tougher tasks that require a precise, stable grip.

Overall, this is a great pocket knife with an extremely sharp blade. While the MSRP is on the high side, it’s frequently on sale for less.

We think its design, style, and weight make the Leek better suited to everyday carry than the backcountry. Though it can hold its own in most backpacking tasks.

Product Specs

• Weight: 3 oz
• Blade Length: 3″
• Material: Sandvik 14C28N
• Lock: Frame Lock, Tip Lock Slider

Petzl Spatha

The Petzl Spatha is our top pick in our guide to the best climbing knives, so we wanted to see how this lightweight, affordable knife held up to backpacking tests.

The verdict?

Compared to the other knives in our test, it’s just…decent.

It didn’t handle whittling or fire starting as well as most of the other knives we tested, nor was it the sharpest or quickest at cutting.

We did really love the large carabiner hole for clipping the knife to our packs for quick access.

If you already have (or plan to buy) the Spatha for your climbing gear, it can capably double as a backpacking knife.

If you’re buying a knife specifically for backpacking, we recommend the Opinel or Deejo, which are a similar weight and price point, over the Spatha.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1.51 oz
• Blade Length: 2.84″
• Material: 12C27 Stainless Steel
• Lock: Back Lock

Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket Knife

We’ve had our share of cheap knock-off “Swiss Army Knives,” so when we opened up the real deal, we were absolutely amazed at the quality.

The Classic SD’s blade is razor sharp. Despite its tiny size, it made short work of 2 feet of cardboard in our testing.

When it came to anything beyond basic slicing, though, it just didn’t hold up.

We did manage to get a fire started. Striking the back of the blade with the knife closed eventually produced a spark, but it started to melt the plastic.

Striking the blade itself gave us sparks, but we stopped pretty quickly to prevent damage to the thin blade.

The Classic SD handled cutting thin cordage really well. However, cutting or carving wood, chopping veggies, and most other camp tasks were awkward at best.

The Classic SD could also be called a multi-tool. In addition to the blade it has scissors, tweezers, a toothpick, and a nail file.

Throughout our testing, we just never found an instance where we needed the scissors or file and couldn’t just as easily use a knife.

Overall, this is a great little tool for carrying around town and having on hand. For backpacking, though, we found that its tools weren’t super useful, and we preferred a larger, more capable blade.

Long-Term Test Notes

99Boulders owner and editor Alex Beale has used the Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD as his pocket knife and ultralight backpacking knife for nearly two years.

The knife is a solid option for ultralight backpackers with minimal needs, he says. But it’s incapable of any heavy duty cutting work. On backcountry trips he mostly uses the blade for opening food packages and the scissors for cutting his nails.

He’s long since lost the tweezers and toothpick, which he says is easy to do. The knife’s red plastic sides even fell off at some point. (Coincidentally, some hardcore ultralight backpackers intentionally remove the plastic sides to shave a little weight.)

These days he keeps the Classic SD on his keychain for simple everyday tasks and takes it with him on short backpacking trips.

Product Specs

• Weight: 0.7 oz
• Blade Length: 1.25″
• Material: Stainless Steel
• Lock: No

Gerber Paraframe Mini

We were stoked to test the Gerber Paraframe Mini. Its low price point and light weight made it seem like a shoe-in for our best value pick.

Unfortunately, it didn’t hold up.

Right out of the box, the blade was by far the dullest. In our paper test, it did more tearing than cutting. In our cardboard cutting test, we were basically ripping the cardboard rather than cutting it.

It was also the least comfortable knife to hold. It’s a small knife, and we don’t expect it to be as comfortable as knives with a more generous handle, but it never felt stable in our tester’s hands. The lock was also surprisingly difficult and awkward to release.

Its compact size is an advantage, but for a budget backpacking knife, we’d choose the Opinel No8 over the Gerber Paraframe Mini.

Product Specs

• Weight: 1.4 oz
• Blade Length: 2.22″
• Material: High Carbon Stainless Steel
• Lock: Frame Lock

Summary

Here are the best backpacking knives:

• Spyderco Delica 4
• ESEE Izula II
• Kershaw Leek
• Spyderco Honeybee
• Opinel No8 Stainless Steel Folding Knife
• Deejo Wood 37g
• Petzl Spatha
• Victorinox Swiss Army Classic SD Pocket Knife
• Gerber Paraframe Mini

How to Choose the Best Backpacking Knife for Your Needs

Types of Backpacking Knives

Folding – Most backpacking knives are folding knives. They are compact and don’t require the added weight of a sheath.

Fixed Blade – Although heavier, quality fixed-blade knives can be stronger and more durable than folding knives. A good full-tang knife (where the steel of the blade extends all the way to the end of the handle) is a simple, virtually indestructible tool, ideal for heavy duty or survival usage.

Material

Most knives are made from steel, but there are hundreds of varieties out there, each with its own unique characteristics.

It’s beyond the scope of this article to describe all the varieties, but it’s worth taking a minute to research a steel type to see if its qualities suit your needs and usage.

In general, softer steels will shape easily into a razor sharp edge and will be easier to sharpen, but they tend to be less durable and lose their edge quicker.

Harder steels, on the other hand, are more durable but harder to sharpen.

Locks

A lock that holds the blade in the open position adds stability to the knife and prevents it from slipping closed onto your fingers.

Frame Lock – A piece of the frame will slide over behind the blade to hold it open. This frame lock is pressed to the side with the thumb to release the blade. These allow for one-handed closing of the knife.

Liner Lock – Similar to a frame lock, here a small metal liner inside the frame holds the blade open. It is pushed to the side to release the blade.

Back Lock – A piece of metal along the back of the handle holds the knife open. It is released by pressing on the back of the handle. This type of lock can be very stable, but it requires two hands to close the knife.

Other – Some manufacturers have unique methods of locking a blade open or closed. For example, the Opinel No8 uses a small ring of metal to block the blade from closing, and the Kershaw Leek uses a tip slider to hold the blade closed.

No Lock – Many small knives don’t have room for a locking mechanism. Using a knife with no lock requires extra care, and these knives generally won’t feel as stable.

Fire Starting Ability

If you carry a fire starter (aka ferrocerium rod) backpacking, the ability to strike a spark with your knife will be crucial. Some knives are much better at it than others, and some require using the blade which can eventually damage it.

With folding knives, we prefer knives that can easily strike a spark from their spine while closed for safety reasons.

How We Tested

Paper Test

Before anything else, we tested each knife’s sharpness right out of the box. A sharp knife should be able to slice through a piece of standard printer paper cleanly with minimal effort. The more snagging and catching, the duller the knife.

Ferrocerium Rod Test

We measured the number of strikes it took on a ferrocerium rod to get a ball of dryer lint to ignite. If we were unable to get a spark from the spine of a knife, we used the blade.

Cutting Speed Test

Thick cardboard is a challenge for knives due to its abrasive and inconsistent surface. We timed how long it took to cut through a 2-foot section of cardboard with each knife.

Field Testing

We brought each knife with us on our camping and backpacking trips, and used them for daily activities for over a month. We made sure to spend time whittling wood, cutting cordage, and chopping food with each knife.

The post 9 Best Backpacking Knives appeared first on 99Boulders.

Jerky	Score	Cal/Ounce	Protein/Ounce
Top Pick: People’s Choice Beef Jerky Old Fashioned Original	5/5	90	16g
Best Value: Oberto Thin Style Original Beef Jerky	4.5/5	70	15g
Best Turkey Jerky: Think Jerky Free Range Sriracha Honey Turkey Jerky	4/5	60	10.7g
Country Archer Original Beef Jerky	3.75/5	70	11g
Best Meat Bar: Wild Zora Meat & Veggie Bars	3.5/5	110	9g
Perky Jerky More Than Just Original Turkey	3.5/5	80	10g
Jack Link’s Original Beef Jerky	3/5	80	11g
Krave Sea Salt Original Beef Jerky	3/5	80	8g
Chef’s Cut Smoked Beef Original Recipe	2.5/5	90	10g
Epic Bars	2.5/5	113	6g

It’s hard to beat the satisfying, rich flavor of beef jerky in the backcountry. We did a blind taste test of 10 of the best beef jerky brands to see which one deserved a spot in our food bags when camping or backpacking. The simple and authentic flavor and texture of People’s Choice Beef Jerky won our Top Pick.

With so many options out there, we expanded our test to include some non-beef jerkies, including turkey jerky and meat bars.

Oberto Thin Style Original Beef Jerky surprised us and earned a nod for Best Value. Think Jerky Free Range Turkey Jerky was our top turkey jerky, while Wild Zora combined jerky, veggies, and spicy goodness into our top meat bar.

Read on for our reviews and recommendations on the best beef (or turkey) jerky for your next adventure.

Top Pick: People’s Choice Beef Jerky Old Fashioned Original

Our testers agreed that People’s Choice had the best taste and texture of the bunch. It was dry without being the least bit tough or chewy, with a deliciously deep beef flavor.

One taster said it “tastes like a well-done steak, in a good way.”

It was also by far the best for throwing in camp meals to rehydrate, as it didn’t add any flavor other than beef.

One of our testers regularly makes homemade beef jerky, and said the People’s Choice tasted remarkably like authentic fresh-from-the-oven jerky.

With an ingredient list of only beef, water, and seasoning, it was also the brand with the cleanest label. It was the only jerky in our test with zero sugars, and it had the highest amount of protein (16g!) per ounce.

If you prefer soft, tender, and sweet beef jerky, this may not be the best option for you. But for an authentic, nothing-but-beef-jerky experience, the People’s Choice hit all the right notes.

Product Specs

• Score: 5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 90 cal, 2.5 g fat, 0g carbs, 16g protein

Best Value: Oberto Thin Style Original Beef Jerky

Oberto was our surprise runner-up. For a big-name brand, it delivers a surprising amount of flavor and great texture with a relatively clean ingredients list.

There are noticeably more preservatives and non-natural ingredients compared to our Top Pick, and the flavor definitely has a slightly more artificial aftertaste.

Still, it’s rich, meaty, and remarkably satisfying. It has a simple, beefy flavor with just a touch of sweetness.

The Oberto jerky is drier than most of the other brands we tried. We thought this was a good thing, though we’re aware opinions vary.

Product Specs

• Score: 4.5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 70 cal, 2g fat, 2g carbs, 15g protein

Best Turkey Jerky: Think Jerky Free Range Sriracha Honey Turkey Jerky

The rich, spicy flavor of this turkey jerky immediately jumped to the top of our taste testers list.

One tester described it as “a great balance of sweet and spicy.” Another one thought the texture of the turkey was perfect: “Not too soft or too chewy — really good.”

Although this jerky is on the low end calorie-wise, it makes up for it with 10.7g of protein per 1 oz (each 1.5 oz packet contains 16g of protein).

If you’re in the mood for a uniquely tender and flavorful turkey jerky, this one got rave reviews from our testers.

Product Specs

• Score: 4/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 60 cal, .66g fat, 5.3g carbs, 10.7g protein

Best Meat Bar: Wild Zora Meat & Veggie Bars

Our taste testers agreed that it’s difficult for a meat bar to compete with the texture and flavor of great beef jerky. Regardless, the Wild Zora meats bars did a good job of holding their own.

The Parmesan Beef was our favorite of all the flavors, with a hearty, savory flavor and a pleasant dry texture that was closer to jerky.

The Apple Pork also got good reviews, with one tester saying the combination of spices “tastes like Christmas.” Another said, “It’s weird, but in a good way. I feel like I shouldn’t like it, but I actually really do.”

We also liked that these bars had a more varied nutrition profile than pure beef jerky. They have added nutrients, fiber, and more calories per ounce.

Overall, we preferred Wild Zora’s texture over Epic Bar. We’d be happy to break into most of these flavors along the trail.

Wild Zora Flavor Rankings

Flavor	Score
Parmesan Beef	3.5/5
Apple Pork	3/5
BBQ Beef	3/5
Taco Pork	2.5/5
Chili Beef	2.5/5
Curry Turkey	2.5/5
Mediterranean Lamb	2/5

Product Specs

• Score: 3.5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): Parmesan Beef: 110 cal, 5g fat, 7g carbs, 9g protein

Reviews of the 6 Other Beef Jerky Brands We Taste Tested

Country Archer Original Beef Jerky

Although we have a penchant for dry savory jerky over the tender sweet stuff, Country Archer stood out with the best texture and flavor of the sweeter jerkies in our test.

It doesn’t have a super strong flavor or too much sweetness to it, but it’s a good balance between a rich meatiness and smoky flavors.

If you like chewy, tender jerky with a touch of sweetness, then Country Archer is a great choice. The Original flavor has 5g of sugar per one ounce serving.

Product Specs

• Score: 3.75/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 70 cal, 1g fat, 6g carbs, 11g protein

Perky Jerky More Than Just Original Turkey

Perky Jerky Turkey Jerky has a sort of melt-in-your-mouth tenderness and a sweet, succulent flavor.

Not surprisingly, it’s high in sugar: of its 8g of carbohdyrates, 7g are sugar. It still packs 10g of protein into each ounce, though.

While one taste tester thought it was too tender, another liked the texture, describing it as “super juicy and soft.”

Overall, this is a delicious and satisfying turkey jerky. If you like tender jerky that balances sweet and savory, then this should be on your list.

Product Specs

• Score: 3.5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 80 cal, 0.5g fat, 8g carbs, 10g protein

Jack Link’s Original Beef Jerky

In our blind taste test, our testers were just lukewarm on Jack Link’s.

“Tastes like gas station jerky,” one tester said. Another described it as “standard cheap jerky.”

No one thought it tasted particularly bad , but no one loved it either. It’s soft, tender, and on the sweet side, with a weak beef flavor.

We wouldn’t go out of our way to pick up a bag of Jack Link’s, but we also wouldn’t complain if it was all that was available.

Product Specs

• Score: 3/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 80 cal, 1g fat, 6g carbs, 11g protein

Krave Sea Salt Original Beef Jerky

We were surprised that Krave came out close to the bottom of the pack in our blind taste test. We thought it’d be a top contender, but its flavor just didn’t compare with the other brands.

“Tastes like cheap jerky, nothing special,” one tester commented. We didn’t get any sea salt flavors, or much of any flavor other than just sweetness.

Krave has nearly the lowest amount of protein per serving of any jerky in our test. With a whopping 9g of sugars to every 8g of protein, you’re getting more sugar than protein in each 1 oz serving.

We didn’t dislike it, but wouldn’t go out of our way to buy it again.

Product Specs

• Score: 3/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): 80 cal, 1g fat, 9g carbs, 8g protein

Chef’s Cut Smoked Beef Original Recipe

Chef’s Cut was a miss for our testers. While we can enjoy a good chewy, succulent jerky, we think this one is too soft.

The flavors just weren’t quite there for us, either. One tester described the smell and flavor as “off-putting and kind of artificial.”

Smoked Beef Original was our favorite flavor, although our testers agreed it had a “weird aftertaste.”

The Smoked Beef Chipotle Cracked Pepper didn’t have a taste that was distinct from the original flavor, except for an added spiciness.

None of the Chef’s Cut flavors were a hit with testers, and we found the super soft texture didn’t sit well with our palates.

Chef’s Cut Flavor Rankings

Flavor	Score
Smoked Beef Original Recipe	2.5/5
Smoked Chicken Breast Honey Barbecue	2/5
Smoked Beef Chipotle Cracked Pepper	1.5/5
Smoked Turkey Breast Teriyaki	1.5/5

Product Specs

• Score: 2.5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): Original Recipe: 90 cal, 2.5g fat, 6g carbs, 10g protein

Epic Bars

The flavors of Epic Bar were hit and miss in our testing, and we preferred the texture of Wild Zora. Most of the bars are oily on the outside, and many are dry and cakey on the inside.

We were excited to try the variety of unique meats and creative flavor combinations, but we thought the flavors were generally unbalanced.

In the Currant Mint Lamb, for example, the sweetness of the whole currants totally overpowered the flavor of the meat and mint. In the Apple Beef, on the other hand, we had a hard time detecting any sweetness or flavor at all from the fruit.

Although there were a few flavors we’d try again, the combination of texture and unbalanced flavors landed the Epic meat bars last on our list.

Epic Bar Flavor Rankings

Flavor	Score
Apple and Uncured Bacon Beef	2.5/5
Currant Mint Lamb	2.25/5
Uncured Bacon and Cranberry Bison	2.25/5
Sriracha Chicken	2/5
Almond Cranberry Turkey	2/5
Wild Boar with Uncured Bacon	1.5/5
Habanero Cherry Walnut Beef	1/5
Pork Maple with Uncured Bacon	1/5
Sesame BBQ Seasoned Chicken	1/5

Product Specs

• Score: 2.5/5
• Nutrition (per 1 oz serving): Apple and Uncured Bacon Beef: 113 cal, 8.6g fat, 2.6g carbs, 6g protein

Summary

Here are the best beef jerky brands:

• People’s Choice Beef Jerky Old Fashioned Original
• Oberto Thin Style Original Beef Jerky
• Think Jerky Free Range Sriracha Honey Turkey Jerky
• Country Archer Original Beef Jerky
• Wild Zora Meat & Veggie Bars
• Perky Jerky Turkey Original
• Jack Link’s Original Beef Jerky
• Krave Sea Salt Original Beef Jerky
• Chef’s Cut Smoked Beef Original Recipe
• Epic Bars

How We Tested

Blind Taste Test

We conducted a blind taste test with a panel of foodie backpackers. Testers sampled each jerky then rated it and wrote down any comments about its taste and texture.

Field Testing

For over a month, we brought these jerky brands along on our backpacking trips as a snack and addition to rehydrated meals.

The post 10 Best Beef Jerky Brands appeared first on 99Boulders.