The Best New Camping Gadgets And Accessories For 2020

The best camping accessories make outdoor life easier – and can be lots of fun to use.

To help you decide how to spend your cash we've put together a selection of some of the best new outdoor kit and caboodle that you will find in the shops in 2020

Easy Camp Backgammon L cool bag
easycamp.com
Expect to pay £20.99
Putting the cool into cool bag, this new offering from Easy Camp features an unusual but striking “backgammon” design. As well as looking good it has plenty of practical features. The contents will stay cool for seven hours, using an 800ml ice pack, and it has a detachable shoulder strap, a front zip pocket and a large top opening. It comes in three sizes: small, medium and large.

CamelBak Pivot Bottle
camelbak.com
Expect to pay TBC
Since 1989, CamelBak has been creating durable and reusable products, reducing the amount of unnecessary single-use plastics in the environment. Lightweight and durable, the new Pivot Bottle is made with Echo, a 10% renewable plant-based material. Recycled content is used to create the retail packaging and the Pivot Bottle ships to stores in a protector made from renewable sugarcane rather than a traditional polybag. The Pivot Bottle is available in one-litre and 0.75-litre sizes, three nature-inspired new colours, and uses CamelBak’s new Carry Cap.

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Kampa Eco-Friendly cleaning fluids
kampa.co.uk
Expect to pay £5-£18
As campers, we care deeply about the planet so any products that are kinder to the environment have to be welcomed. Kampa’s new range of environmentally-friendly cleaning fluids have been designed to meet the growing calls for greener stuff. The products come in bottles with spray attachments that can be refilled from “eco pouches” when they run out. Kampa says this means 80% less packaging and 15% less energy to produce. But it’s not just the packaging that is eco-friendly. Nasty chemicals that are harmful to both the environment and to humans have been removed. And probably the most noticeable aspect of this new range is that it doesn’t feature the horrible chemical smells that are so often associated with cleaning liquids. Instead they have been infused with scents like coconut, lavender, pine and strawberry, so your tent will feel much more pleasant after use. Among the wide range of products is a tent cleaner, PVC window cleaner, a waterless wash, all-purpose cleaner and afterwash, as well as a selection of toilet fluids. 

Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD power bank
goalzero.com
Expect to pay £199.95
In the past, camping holidays were all about switching off, leaving all the distractions of modern life at home and getting back to nature, Of course, for many people, that’s still the case, but these days most of us want to stay connected when we head out to the campsite.Phones, tablets, Bluetooth speakers, USB-powered lights and even laptops are all considered essential items by many campers. Obviously they all need a power source and one of the biggest issues you’ll face is keeping all of your technology charged. Over the past 10 years, Goal Zero has developed an extensive range of products that provide portable power solutions designed for the outdoors – including solar panels, power banks, lighting and an assortment of accessories. The Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD is the newest model in the collection. It has a rugged metal construction and it’s certainly not the most lightweight power bank on the market. It’s perhaps not the choice for lightweight campers or backpackers, where every gram is crucial, but if weight isn’t an issue then it’s ideal. And for all that it’s fairly bulky, it’s still sleek enough to fit into bags where space is limited.

Zoku Pocket Straw
zokuhome.com
Expect to pay £8
Everyone knows that plastic straws are terrible for the environment so the more products like these new reusable stainless- steel straws the better. Reduce your plastic use and waste, turn down disposable straws and use these metal straws instead. Zoku’s Pocket Straw is small and lightweight and telescopes to make it easy to carry and store. It comes with a keyring loop-hole on the carrying case and a cleaning brush.

Outwell Hula cooler
outwell.com
Expect to pay £36.99(M) £49.99(L)
The new Hula range of cooler bags from Outwell has a durable, easy-clean outer fabric with a washable aluminium lining. The medium can hold up to 12 cans and the large will take two-litre bottles. Water-resistant at the base and with moisture-sealed zips, each has an aluminium foil lining. Both sizes have a large zip top opening for easy access, front zip pocket, sealed zippers and an adjustable shoulder strap.

Robens Leaf Meal Kit
robens.de
Expect to pay £23.50
We just love this neat little dining kit from Robens. The hexagonal-shaped bowl contains a cup and a spoon and fork, which can be connected and used in three different lengths. The connector also allows you to clip the cutlery onto the side of the bowl. The wooden lid can used as a cutting board and colander and it’s all held together with a smart-looking elasticated band.

Firepot Beef Stew
firepotfood.com
Expect to pay £6.95
Firepot makes hand-cooked dehydrated meals produced with locally sourced ingredients. With freeze-dried food, ingredients are dried separately and assembled later, but Firepot’s unique dehydration process is designed to provide more taste and texture. All you do is add water. Firepot says its meals – such as the new beef stew – contain up to three times more meat than its competitors, and its vegan range boasts higher levels of protein. And as an added bonus, the packaging is all compostible.

Coleman Performance wheeled cooler
coleman.eu
Expect to pay £49.99
According to the boffins at Coleman, a rounded shape is the most efficient way of keeping things cool. We can’t pretend to understand the science behind that, but we’ll take their word for it. So to improve the performance of the new range of Coleman wheeled coolers, the designers have lopped the corners off to give a more curved shape. The result is a 26-litre cooler box that Coleman says will keep ice frozen for two days.

Hydro Flask Cooler Cup
hydroflask.com
Expect to pay £25
Like all the best camping gear, the new Cooler Cup is two great things in one: it’s a can or bottle cooler, and, with one quick switch, it becomes a cup. As a Cooler Cup, it has a silicone sleeve that lets you snugly slide in a narrow bottle or a can. Pop off the sleeve and you have a standard-sized cup made to keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot.

Easy Camp Adventure coffee pot
easycamp.com
Expect to pay £18.99
If you’re of a certain vintage, this will instantly conjure up memories of those old Western movies where the cowboys would sit round the campfire and drink coffee from a pot heated over the flames. If – like us, of course! – you’re too young to remember them, you’ll simply appreciate the stylish aluminium look of the Adventure. Just like the coffee pots of the old Wild West, this can be heated over the fire and it also comes with a detachable lid, transparent knob to let you see the coffee brew and a percolator.

Helinox Personal Shade
helinox.com
Expect to pay TBC
More coverage than a hat, more ergonomic than an umbrella, the Helinox Personal Shade creates a dedicated shady spot for you to unwind. It attaches to most Helinox chairs, and creates an overhead canopy of SPF 50+ sun protection. It comes with two sets of adapters to fit the frame of most Helinox models and the sides adjust to move with the sun, ensuring the shade is always overhead.

Easy Camp Backgammon picnic rug
easycamp.com
Expect to pay £24.99
Picnics are great, but what do you do when the grub’s all gone? Easy… play a game of backgammon on your picnic rug! Make your own pieces and use the PVC-backed rug as a giant backgammon board wherever you are.

Humangear Go Bites Quattro
humangear.com
Expect to pay TBC
Based on the award-winning GoBites Trio, the new Quattro features the same ultra-thin case but replaces the knife with a pair of travel chopsticks. The set is light enough to take on hiking trips, but substantial enough to do the job required. As well as being ideal for camping this is the sort of kit you can also use in the office or for travelling.

Light My Fire range
lightmyfire.com
Expect to pay Various
Swedish outdoor accessories specialist, Light My Fire, has moved its entire product line to bioplastic – derived from renewable crops including corn, sugar cane and tree cellulose. Sporks are now made from bioplastics derived from GMO-free corn, food containers from sugarcane and wood fibre, and pack-up cups from sugar cane.

Lifesystems mini tweezers
lifesystems.co.uk
Expect to pay £3.80
A compact keyring-sized set of tweezers for removing ticks, that folds into itself for neat storage, making it easy to carry with you at all times. It’s made from stainless steel and comes with a plastic sleeve.

Coleman Performance Jug
coleman.eu
Expect to pay £19.99
Fill it with water (or something a bit stronger) for cold drinks on tap in your tent. The new Performance Jug comes in two sizes, two-litre and 3.7-litre, and features a spout on the top, a carry handle and a small tap at the front.

Gerber CompIEAT
gerbergear.co.uk
Expect to pay £29.99
The new ComplEAT is a nifty gadget that combines all the tools you’ll need for eating and cooking on solo camping trips. It includes a lightweight fork, spoon, spatula and four-function multi-tool that clip together for easy carrying. The spatula has a serrated and silicone edge for cutting and individual parts can be combined to create a pair of tongs. The multi-tool includes a bottle and can opener, peeler and a package opener so you don’t need to carry any additional tools.

Kampa Ebony Cobble dining set
kampa.co.uk
Expect to pay £41.23
For fine dining in your tent, have a look at this new 16-piece dinner set for four from Kampa. Included in the set are dinner plates, side plates, bowls and stackable mugs, all in the same classy-looking black melamine.

Stanley Go Tumbler with Ceramivac
stanley-pmi.com
Expect to pay £24.99
Switching to a reusable coffee cup is a great way to cut your plastic footprint, but the strange metallic taste and smell of stainless-steel insulated mugs can be off-putting. The new Go tumbler from Stanley tackles this issue by introducing a smooth ceramic lip called Ceramivac. It’s designed to make it feel like you’re drinking from a normal mug but with the vacuum insulation that will keep your drink hot while you’re on the move.