Finally, summer’s here and the weather is great for playing and staying outdoors. Camping can be made even cooler if you’ve got the right gadgets to keep you cozy, clean and well-directed — unless you like roughing it, then all you’ll need is a backpack, a can of beans and a Swiss Army knife. But if you’re like me, you want a few conveniences without feeling weighed down by all kinds of junk.
I like to keep it as uncomplicated and compact as possible. But hey, maybe it’s your style to drag along the foldout cook top stove complete with waist-high counter and cutting board setup and bring extraneous items like tent decor and a welcome mat for outside the entrance. Seems like a lot of baggage, but whatever works for you. 
Besides your tent, sleeping bag and backpack, here are some interesting gadgets to get you going:
Brunton Camping Combo Kit
From $94.19
Features a stove, lantern, spork eating utensil and canister stabilizer with three extended legs with rubber grips keep stove/lantern steady all in an ultra-compact, lightweight design. The 11,000-BTU burner boils 1 liter of water about 4 minutes and the lantern burns for 8.5 hours.
Swiss Army Victorinox 53203 Huntsman
From: $23.40
Because these classic gadgets come in handy more often than not, this model comes with large and small stainless steel blades, corkscrew, can opener, small and large screwdrivers, bottle opener, wire stripper, wood saw, reamer with sewing eye, multi-purpose hook, tweezers, toothpick, key ring and scissors. It’s 3.5 inches long when closed. It’s surprising how easily key items like corkscrews and can openers get forgotten. Keep this with your camping gear and you don’t have to worry.
Guide Gear Pop-up Room and Solar Shower
Okay, okay, so it’s not hardcore, but how cool is this? Easy to set up, made with 70 denier/190T polyester material, fiberglass pole frame and 5-gallon PVC Solar Shower. Bring your own water and the sun will do the rest. Feels great after a long hike, not to mention makes sharing a tent a bit easier on everyone’s noses.
Notebook Portable Flat-Folding BBQ: $24.99
We’ve seen the typical campsite grill *shudder* but lugging the full-size BBQ from home is just too bulky. This non-networking “notebook” looks like a ready solution. The compact, sturdy metal design comes with a built-in grill rack and uses charcoal or wood.
Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx GPS Receiver
From: $283.99
Hiking’s fun but getting lost isn’t. Something like this all-purpose upgradeable handheld locator can help with that. It has auto routing, turn-by-turn guidance and gives your bearings while you stand still. It lets you upload up your own digital maps for better reference, has a waterproof and a large, color TFT display for easy viewing, day or night. Up to 20 hours of battery life.
Image Source: Campist.com
Find at Smarter.com: Shop for more handheld GPS systems and portable BBQs.
Discounts on Swiss Army knives.
