All of the Best Camping Gear Releases of 2020

This story is part of our end-of-year series This Year in Gear rounding up the most notable releases of 2020. For more stories like this, click here.

The outdoors served as an escape in 2020 in ways that nobody would have imagined. Our conception of space flipped on itself as parks — city, state and national — offered refuge from confinement inside. Camping has never been more popular, and there were gear shortages to prove it. That said, a look back at the year’s best gear releases proves that the camping world has no lack of creative ways to make life outdoors as enjoyable as it’s ever been.

Rungu Dualie

eBike Generation

Presented by eBike Generation

If you’re a hunter, you know the feeling of trekking for hours carrying heavy equipment, only to arrive at your location already tired. The Rungu Dualie is an electric hunting bike that won’t scare off wildlife, as it’s completely silent. But beyond its stealth nature, the Rungu features a rather unique front suspension design with two fat tire wheels. This makes it one of the most stable off-road ebikes in the world. And if your hunts take you deep into the backcountry, the Rungu has an option for fitting a second battery, which allows you to double its range on a single charge.

Price: $4,399

Yeti Trailhead Camp Chair

Yeti’s second chair accordions into a far more portable bundle than its predecessor but doesn’t hold back on durability, with tensioned seat fabric that can support up to 500 pounds. It also locks open and has wide feet that won’t sink into the ground, and yes, it has a cupholder.

Price: $300

Patagonia Macro Puff Quilt

Patagonia

It makes sense that Patagonia would turn one of its best and warmest insulated jackets into a blanket, but the Macro Puff Quilt was delightfully surprising nonetheless. It’s stuffed with PlumaFill, an ultralight and ultra-warm synthetic insulation, and measures 83 by 69 inches.

Price: $249

Hydro Flask Trail Series

Hydroflask

The problem with insulated water bottles is that they’re typically a lot bigger than their actual capacity. So, Hydro Flask cut back the bottle bulk without losing any of the cold-keeping or heat-retaining properties that make its vessels ideal for adventures that take you far from the nearest faucet.

Price: $45+

Big Agnes Salt Creek SL2

Big Agnes

We could laud the Salt Creek for maxing out its space while maintaining a backpack-friendly weight, but what we really like is that it has doors on three sides, which makes hanging out inside it feel more like hanging out outside. That’s what camping is all about, after all, right?

Price: $300

Hillsound BTR

Hillsound

BTR stands for “better than a rock,” but that’s a major understatement. With telescoping legs that lock automatically and a comfy fabric seat, this minimalist camping stool can contend for the best seat in the house at any base camp.

Price: $55+

Montbell Seamless Down Hugger WR #3

Montbell

With innovative down insulation it calls Spider Yarn, Montbell made a seam-free sleeping bag that maxes out warmth through subtraction instead of addition. A super-breathable Gore-Tex shell adds protection from the elements.

Price: $589

Rab Mythic Ultra Sleeping Bag

Rab

Another notable sleeping bag innovation is Rab’s Thermo Ionic Lining Technology, present in the Mythic Ultra series, which reflects heat at the body. Again, the result achieves more warmth without extra weight.

Price: $650

Yeti Roadie 24

Yeti

Yeti also upgraded its smallest hard-sided cooler this year to be a little lighter but hold a lot more — 20 percent more — and carry more efficiently with a new strap.

Price: $200

Primus Firestick

Primus

Camping stoves don’t have to be as big as briefcases, and Primus is proving it. The Firestick is about the size of a roll of quarters but weighs less than one — the titanium version is a mere three ounces. Despite that, it cranks out enough BTUs to get your ramen water boiling in no time.

Price: $120

Stanley Stay-Hot Titanium Multi-Cup

Stanley

Stanley’s high-end range of insulated camping drinkware is its sleekest yet, thanks to Grade 1 titanium that comes in two gleaming finishes. The Multi-Cup is the most affordable of the set — but watch out, it’s still $80 — and the most versatile with a shape that’ll slide down into your backpack’s last cranny.

Price: $80

CamelBak MultiBev

Camelbak

CamelBak also rolled out versatile drinkware with its modular MultiBev. It’s an insulated bottle that includes a spare cup and a lid for it too. The bottle earned CamelBak a coveted Red Dot design award.

Price: $50

Matador Waterproof Travel Canister

Courtesy

Flashy, innovative gear tends to overshadow smaller essentials, but it’s often those things that can make or break a camping experience. Matador’s new canisters fit that category. Made of aluminum, they offer an elegant and affordable waterproof solution for stashing things like pills or matches.

Price: $8-18

Decathlon Quechua 2 Second Easy Tent

Decathalon

Despite massive popularity in Europe, Decathlon and its camping brand Quechua are newcomers to North America. Innovations like a tent that you can pitch in seconds with a pull cord system are likely to build its rep quickly here too.

Price: $199

BioLite HeadLamp 750

Biolite

BioLite put a lot into the HeadLamp 750 — eight modes, a rear light, a cord that you can connect to an external battery for endless illumination — but it’s a smart brightness management system that makes it really shine brighter, literally and figuratively, than the competition.

Price: $100

Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer UL

Mountain Hardwear

A few companies managed to nab enough bales of rare 1,000-fill down to make super-ultralight jackets this year. Mountain Hardwear’s is a fantastic example — shove it into your camping bag as an emergency warm layer that, at just 6.67 ounces, won’t weigh you down in the slightest.

Price: $375

Good To-Go Chicken Pho

Good To-Go

Dehydrated camping food doesn’t get much better than a pouch inspired by Vietnamese street food.

Price: $10-15

Osprey Aether Plus

Osprey

Osprey didn’t need to update one of its most popular backpacking bags, but it did. Improvements include a revamped suspension system, back panel and hipbelt, plus a mechanism to fine-tune the fit on the go.

Price: $260+

Kammok Arctos

Kammok

Only one camping quilt can keep you cozy down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit and function as a poncho when you want to crank up the camp vibes to match that heat.

Price: $359

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