Camping during a hunt in the Alaska wilderness demands the best gear. Here are our editors’ favorite camping gear items for 2020.
This is the best camping gear for hunting in Alaska for 2020
MSR MiniWorks EX Water Filter msrgear.com If you are a backcountry angler, hunter or hiker, then you know the importance of having a good water filter when traveling in the wild. This is a good one. It’s compact and lightweight, and can filter a liter of water in 60 seconds. It’s 99.9999% effective at removing bacteria like E.coli and salmonella, as well as protozoa including giardia and cryptosporidium. The system is rated to filter 2000 liters in its lifetime, which far exceeds what most of us will do with it. The filter combines a ceramic surface and carbon core; the combination removes dirt, silt, bacteria and protozoa while maintaining the taste of the water. |
Big Agnes Anvil Horn 0° Sleeping Bag bigagnes.com This sleeping bag is a must-have. Our tester really liked how his body stayed warm throughout the whole bag and not just in certain pockets. Having the option to insert a sleeping pad in the bottom was nice. He stated that he is a toss-and-turn sleeper and by having the air pad attached to the bottom of the sleeping bag that falling off was very hard to do. This system came with multiple storage bags which is nice when storing. The larger net bag was used to keep the bag fluffy while storing. The smaller bag is handy when needing to pack it away. When put in a stuff sack, the sleeping bag compresses to a very small size and is lightweight. The zipper system is also very well constructed, and snags were minimal. In the regular-size bag, there was plenty of room for our tester to move around. |
Sea to Summit Expander Travel Liner seatosummit.com This sleeping-bag liner is handy to have while camping. It can make your sleeping bag warmer and it’s soft and comfortable. During warm nights, you can us the liner as your blanket. Most often, we’d use the liner as a bottom blanket and drape the sleeping bag over the top. |
Hilleberg Nallo 3 GT hilleberg.com This 3-man tent offers tons of vestibule space and is very lightweight for an all-season tent, weighing only 6 pounds 13 ounces. It’s made with Kerlon 1200 fabric and has 9 mm poles. We like that Hilleberg tents perform great, are easy to set up, and are built to handle bad weather. |
SJK Slumberjack Tough Cot slumberjack.com This cot is solid and sturdily built. It is easy to set up. It provides a firm rest as is; or can be used with a sleeping pad if desired. It is quiet, comfortable and a great choice. |
SJK Nightfall 1 Person Tent slumberjack.com At 3.45 pounds, this lightweight shelter is a nice option to have on backpacking hunts. The three-season tent provides 17.4 square feet of space with a 44-inch-tall peak, which is plenty of space for one person. The vestibule gives you another nine square feet of space for gear, and we like that the rain fly stretches all the way to the ground. You can also disconnect the inner tent body and just pitch the outer shell (rain fly) for an even lighter shelter. The tent packs down to a slim 19” x 5”. |
HydroFlask 128 oz Oasis hydroflask.com This extra-large container allows you to transport enough liquid for many people, and keeps liquids cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 hours. We like the two integrated lids feature—the larger one makes it easy to fill and clean the vessel, while the smaller one allows you to pour liquids into drinking vessels. It weighs five pounds, comes in several colors and is supported by a lifetime warranty. Make a pot of coffee in the morning, go on a morning stalk, and come back to basecamp and enjoy hot coffee. |
Katadyn Vario Filter katadyn.com This filter eliminates all the things you don’t want to drink in your water: sediment, bacteria, protozoa, cysts, algae, and spores. It improves the taste of the water by removing impurities and chemicals, and most importantly makes the water safe to drink. It fits directly onto a Nalgene bottle and filters about one liter per minute. It uses a ceramic filter that is rated for 2000 liters, and is lightweight and portable. We never head to the bush without a filter like this. This is one of the best personal water filters on the market. |