If you feel like camping but you don’t like dealing with setting up tents – or if you’re in a situation where you’re driving and just really need to pull over and sleep – you can look into the Skeeter Beaters! Using strong magnets, these screens attach to your car’s windows. Once they’re firmly in place, you can open your window and get a nice bit of ventilation just like you would with a tent, and the screens stay where they’re supposed to.

I can’t imagine actually camping out in my car on a regular basis. I’m much happier with a nice tent and a warm sleeping bag in the woods. But I could definitely see how useful this could be for impromptu “I’m going to fall asleep at the wheel and there’s not a single motel in sight” stops.

Source: Trusty Pony // Photo: The Skeeter Beater

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Anyone can pack a flashlight or battery operated lantern to go camping, but that’s just so … old-fashioned. And it’s certainly missing that geektastic flair that comes with a solar powered family sized tent!

The outer panel of the tent soaks up the light from the sun, and uses it to generate power for the evening hours. It uses red LEDs that provide light without the aggravating brightness of a standard light which can hamper your ability to see outside at night – no one wants to trip half-blind to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

(source: TrustyPony // product photo: Backwood Camping Supplies)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Then you order the Sagaform Backpack Grill Barbecue and make sure you’re able to eat anywhere you want. It comes with an 11.5″ steel grill which fits inside a zippered compartment in the backpack. A separate compartment holds utensils, plates, and food. It also has a nice insulated cooler for any food that must be kept cold, as well as the all-important cold beverages.

It’s not cheap at $79.95 but considering the price of a full-blown grill, it’s practically a steal!

(source: TrustyPony // photo: Solutions.com)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

The can, designed like those for sardines, is air-tight, waterproof, and even crush-proof. Inside you’ll find 25 basic survival essentials. There’s a hook and line for fishing so you don’t starve, a compass to find your way, first aid supplies, duct tape, and more. You can even use the can itself to boil small amounts of water.

It’s perfect to stick in your bag before you go camping, just in case.

Buy one for $11.99 at ThinkGeek.

(photo: ThinkGeek.com)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

This is just a fantastic concept, something that combines my geeky nature, my love of camping, and my go-green tendencies. Verdier has created a concept camper that uses hybrid driving capabilities and solar power for the camper. It uses an on-board computer and GPS device to figure out the best place to position the camper’s “Sun Tracker” which then pulls in solar power to operate.

What a fantastic idea. They’re speculating on about $69K if they ever get them onto an assembly line.

I love that it uses solar power, more of our devices should operate that way. And be still my heart, that GPS-calculated tracker for the sun is just brilliant. Talk about optimizing your power!

I’d definitely try one of these!

(source // product photo)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

In fact, that offers two great ideas – it’s rechargeable so you don’t have to spend a fortune on batteries, and it has a tripod base to make it hands-free. What a great little tool to take on your camping travels! You could set it on the ground beside your tent when you’re trying to find the ties and zipper to get inside, you could use it to see what you’re doing when you’re getting out ingredients for tasty s’mores to make around the fire, or if you have a late-night craving for roasted hot dogs or steak, you could use it to light up your cooking area while you prepare food on your little propane stove. If your campground has those little porta-potty bathrooms, it would be handy in there too since they don’t have a light – there is little else as creepy as trying to sit on a “toilet” in the pitch black outdoors!

You can get one from Amazon for $35.

(source // product photo)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

I wish I had known about this Solar Mosquito Repeller that I could have purchased for $14. It clips to your belt, recharges in the sun, and it keeps a bug-free zone of 1-2 meters around your body.

I have no idea how well it works but considering how many bites I got even with the spray, I’d certainly be willing to try a little bit of electronic wizardry to keep the darn mosquitoes away! If your travels include a family getaway to the campground, it might be worth looking into. If it works well it would also be a wonderful option for children who are too young for the chemical sprays.

After the only partial success of the Muskol, my next thought was to just walk around with a can of Raid so maybe I’ll look into the Solar Mosquito Repeller first!

(source // product photo)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Where was this tent when I was packing this time a week ago for a four day getaway into the woods with my family?! Campmor offers up the Eureka N!ergy 9 tent which will sleep up to five people (though I always find one less person than the maximum is best for personal space). It comes with a built in energy system which give you three electrical outlets. You can use them to power up lights, a stereo, laptop, whatever you need.

Now as a big fan of getting away from it all once in awhile, I’m not much into the thought of using a laptop in a tent – I left mine at home and survived just fine. However, as a mother of two young kids, being able to have a small light plugged in would be handy indeed. We used some little lamps, but it would be nice to save the batteries for those inevitable middle-of-the-night bathroom trips and have an overhead lamp inside the tent for getting everyone bundled into their pajamas and sleeping bags.

I’d also be into a small stereo. I don’t blast music lest I disturb others but it’s nice to have a little soft music while you’re cooking over a fire.

It’s actually quite reasonably priced at only $149.90.

(source // product photo)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

These little Cyba-Lite Lanterns are great and they’re similar to the ones my family is using this weekend. You can crank them up by hand and for every one minute that you wind one up you’ll get approximately eight minutes of light. At the same time, if you stick them outside during the day, they can be charged up with solar power, so you can save your energy that way.

Available for purchase here.

(source // product image)

Post from: Geeky Traveller

Remember back in the 80’s (oops, did I just date myself?) everyone had those K-Way jackets, the ones that folded up into a little pouch that you could wear around your waist? This great backpack uses the same sort of idea. It’s a tiny little keychain, one so small you can attach it to your belt loop, but then you can also open it up into a full-sized backpack. That’s insane but so cool!

You could use it to safely carry your keys while you’re heading into a campground and then undo it to turn it into a backpack for day hikes to carry your water, food, and whatever you need to bring with you.

Nothing impresses me quite as much as something full-sized that can be compacted down into something tiny.

Get one for yourself for $9.95.

(source // product photo)

Post from: Geeky Traveller