This article is presented in partnership with the team at Huckberry, which provides clothing, gear, and stories to inspire your next great adventure.
You’ve probably got that hardcore friend who dismisses car camping out of hand—"Bro, you can’t appreciate nature until day 13 on the AT when gangrene sets in on your wounded foot and the raccoons start to circle." But sometimes it’s nice to get all the good stuff without doing any actual work—the proverbial "free lunch." Car camping offers the fresh air, the starry nights, and the freedom to brush your teeth without needing to, like, walk.
I happened to camp on California’s Lost Coast last weekend, and realized that while I already owned the "essentials" for car camping, the adventure was way more rad when I had the best versions of these things. For example, I replaced my big plastic tub from Target with a Wolf Pack, and it made a huge difference in the vibes when I could confidently stow my gear in a box specifically designed to protect it.
In that vein, we recently started working with overlanding experts Front Runner Outfitters, and the company products are some of the best we’ve come across—they’ll help you squeeze all the juice from your next car adventure. Read on for a few favorites from the Front Runner lineup along with other outstanding products I’ve found myself relying upon more and more.
A Bullet-Proof Box
As I mentioned above, a great box for your gear makes a world of difference. The Wolf Pack is a heavy duty packing crate that’s designed for trunks and truck beds. It’s stackable and compatible with all the other storage solutions that Front Runner offers. It’s got handles and is built to withstand the weather, so you have one less thing to worry about if things get wet. Ideally that brings your worries to zero, which is exactly the right number for a trip like this.
Front Runner Outfitters Wolf Pack
Heavy duty packing crate built to keep your gear organized. The legend goes that Front Runner Outfitters was conceived around a campfire in Botswana among a group of engineers, manufacturers, designers, and off road racers. After relying on others to supply the gear for their worldwide adventures, and having that gear fail them, the South Africa-based crew decided that if they wanted hard wearing gear done right, they’d have to do it themselves. Built to survive the grueling nature of the African bush it’s developed in, their Wolf Pack crate is a tough, spacious storage box perfect for keeping your adventure gear safe and organized.
ShopA Chef’s Knife That Can Go Anywhere
A knife is a no-brainer and the Hell’s Canyon is my absolute favorite for car camping. It’s basically a durable, badass chef’s knife (designed with the help of Chris Cosentino, the winner of Top Chef season four) that’s perfect for shucking that crate of oysters you brought along, slicing up an amazing Snake River filet, or just skewering hotdogs and eating them directly from the pan which, if I’m being honest, was my play on this trip.
The James Brand Hell's Canyon
The ultimate answer to cookouts and campsite cuisine. When The James Brand built their first ever fixed-blade knife, they noticed people using it for all manner of tasks—especially campsite cookouts. On their second foray into the fixed blade scene, TJB created The Hell’s Canyon, a purpose-built kitchen knife with the perfect dimensions to command any outdoor kitchen. Made from Crucible stainless steel and housed in a Kydex sheath, it’s EDC portability crossed with a versatile chef’s knife design for prepping your next great open-sky meal.
ShopA Sturdy Fold-Up Table
Assistant editor Will Vietze once brought an entire Thanksgiving dinner on a car camping trip. I didn’t bring a Turkey with me, but you’re going to need a table if you want to get on Will’s level. Front Runner has the perfect candidate, a stainless steel beauty with plenty of room for all the pies. Sure, plenty of sites have perfectly serviceable picnic tables, but a foldable table like this is absolutely essential if you’re somewhere remote.
Front Runner Outfitters Pro Stainless Steel Prep Table
The campsite prep table made with restaurant quality materials. The legend goes that Front Runner Outfitters was conceived around a campfire in Botswana amongst a group of engineers, manufacturers, designers, and off road racers. After relying on others to supply the gear for their worldwide adventures, and having that gear fail them, the South Africa based crew decided that if they wanted hard wearing gear done right, they’d have to do it themselves. Built to survive the grueling nature of the African bush it’s developed in, their Steel top Prep Table is made from the same materials as one you may find in a high end restaurant, but designed to travel to the most rural of campsites.
ShopCast Iron Cookware
A cast iron pan is a camping classic, but unlike your forefathers who thought nothing of packing four glass bottles of whiskey and a five pound bag of tobacco in their rucksacks, you might be concerned about the weight. Not with a car! So go ahead and pack a dutch oven, which does all the things that a frying pan will do. I used mine to bake a batch of biscuits while watching the fog roll in through the big trees of Humboldt County. That’s right, biscuits.
Barebones 12" Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Barebones cast iron cookware might just be the best we’ve ever laid hands on. Barebones is all about feeling the dirt in your hands, feeling the stars shining down on you out in the backcountry, and finding time to enjoy the simplest pleasures life and nature have to offer. It makes sense that they love cast iron, being one of the simplest, most no-frills, and best all-around cookware materials in existence. Their cast iron cookware is ergonomically designed, triple-sanded for a smooth finish and pre-seasoned so you can start cooking on it immediately. We love cast iron as much as Barebones does, and we love their cast iron cookware to the stars and back—and we know you will too.
ShopA Utility Axe
As with the cast iron pan, an axe is another classic piece of gear that you probably don’t want to carry on a traditional hike. When you can slide the Agdor splitting axe into your backseat though, you’ll be surprised by how many uses you’ll find, from hammering in tent pegs to splitting all the things that need splitting. Unrelated to the actual utility of the axe, I gotta tell you that wielding this beauty to split kindling made me feel good in a deep, primal way that I didn't even realize I’d been missing.
Hults Bruk Agdor Splitting Axe
A purpose-built axe for splitting firewood, made from solid Swedish steel and American hickory. You know the old saying that goes “It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.” When we’re out in the sticks and find ourselves swinging away with a hatchet, that’s exactly what goes through our heads. Hults Bruk is still based in their hometown of Norrkoping, Sweden, where they got their humble start forging nails and iron bars with water-powered hammers way back in 1697. To this day, the metal they use in their axes is forged in the same ironworks using many of the same time-tested techniques. The Agdor Splitting Axe is purpose-built for splitting firewood, with a splitting pattern on the blade to reduce friction and wedging action that cracks wood open with explosive power.
ShopStraps to Secure It All
Straps might not be the sexiest item on this list but you’re going to reach for them again and again when it comes to car camping. Toss out those old, frayed bungee cords and upgrade your game with these cords that include a ratchet and carabiner clips. It felt incredibly satisfying to secure my gear with these things and I felt totally confident that everything was going to stay put. These might seem like a minor detail but they’re entirely worth the cost.
Front Runner Outfitters Stratchits - Tie Down Straps
Heavy duty tie-downs built to be as strong as they are flexible. The legend goes that Front Runner Outfitters was conceived around a campfire in Botswana among a group of engineers, manufacturers, designers, and off road racers. After relying on others to supply the gear for their worldwide adventures, and having that gear fail them, the South Africa-based crew decided that if they wanted hard wearing gear done right, they’d have to do it themselves. Built to survive the grueling nature of the African bush it’s developed in, their Stratchits feature a bungee cord stretchiness combined with a traditional ratcheting system to keep your gear in place and undamaged.
ShopWe love the products we feature and hope you do, too. If you buy something through a link on the site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Related Reading:
Published
Last Updated
Topics
Shopping Guides