Best camping gear is essential for a comfortable hunting trip. From convenient cooking setups to keeping everyone cozy, having the right gear makes all the difference. Here are the top picks from the Editors at Hunt Alaska magazine for the best camping gear.
Best Camping Gear
Yeti Tundra Haul Wheeled Cooler
This is our first experience with a wheeled Yeti cooler and we are impressed. It’s a tank— built to last. The heavy-duty handle makes it really easy to roll the cooler, which weighs a meaty 37.5 pounds empty. Interior dimensions are 19.1” x 11.4” x 14.1”. We found the cooler rolled smoothly over a mixture of terrain including gravel, grass, asphalt, and wood. We used an Arctic Ice Tundra Series XXL Pack to keep food cold for several days within the Tundra Haul. The handle folds down flush onto the cooler making it easier to pick up the Tundra Haul when needed.
Draft Top Lift
This is a cool product for several reasons. It takes the entire top off a canned beverage. This allows you to enjoy the full aroma and smooth pour of your favorite beverage, whether it’s an IPA, RTD, seltzer or canned coffee all without needing a glass or wasting a plastic cup. It also makes it possible to pour or drink without the usual foam-creating glug-glug-glug from a can opened the traditional way. It will also allow you to add spirits to a soft drink, or garnishes, or ice, right in the can.
Souper Cubes
This innovative product offers an excellent solution to the question of how to portion and freeze foods. Souper Cubes are heavy-duty, food-grade silicone trays (with lids) that come in a range of different portion sizes including 2 tbsp, 1/2 cup, 1 cup and 2 cups. We’ve used them to freeze tomato sauce, deer stew, chili, fish stock, and pesto sauce. The 2-cup size is the one we’ve used the most. Once your portions freeze, you can either store them in the container with the lid on them in the freezer, or as we do, remove them from the container and store in Ziploc bags or wrapped in plastic and then vacuum sealed.
Pelican Personal and Elite Coolers
Scott Haugen had this to say, “I first used the Pelican 14QT Personal Cooler on dog training sessions and big game scouting trips last summer. I was so pleased with its ability to keep things cold and frozen, I stepped up to their 70QT Elite Cooler. I’m glad I did. Now both coolers serve specific needs while I’m hunting, camping, and dog training. The Elite is one of the best performing big coolers I’ve ever used, be it on extended hunts, weekend outings, or defrosting freezers at home. The latch and seal systems are solid and efficient, and I love the non-skid feet, rugged handles, and durable design built for protection and performance.”
Cascade Mountain Tech Ultralight Camp Table
This portable camp table weighs just over 2 pounds, and the packed dimensions are 22” x 4.7”. When assembled, the dimensions are 21.2” x 20.7” x 14.8”. This little table is surprisingly strong, with a weight capacity of 50 pounds. When assembled, the table has a taut, polyester-fabric top. The table top includes 2 built-in cup holders. This table is easy to carry when packed and comes in a nylon carry bag with a shoulder strap.
Stone Glacier SkyTarp 10
Hunt Alaska author Eric Hershey had good things to say about this Stone Glacier tarp. “This versatile lightweight tarp adds minimal weight to your pack with major benefits. The tarp itself weighs only 13.5 ounces and comes with all the necessary guy lines and stakes for numerous configurations. On a sheep hunt this past year, the tarp was crucial for providing a dry area to hunker down from the rain without being confined to the tent. It was tested to the limits, but held up flawlessly when a torrential downpour moved through camp. After bagging a sheep, I suspended the tarp over the meat each evening to keep it cool and dry on the trek out.”
