5 Essential Wearables For Camping

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Camping is an excellent time to put down the electronics and take a break — especially from your smartphone and its endless notifications. But there are still instances where you might need something like it. For example, to reach out to emergency contacts or check in, to look up GPS maps or track your whereabouts for safety, or even simply to keep in tune with your body and monitor your vitals. Enter wearables. Think smartwatches, fitness trackers, headlamps, warming jackets, and more.

The essential items that you might wear or carry on your person to use precisely when you need them, to start a fire, survive, or simply enjoy your remote experiences. They're not quite outfitted for the trappings of everyday modern life, but they offer just enough to get you by, tent-side or in forested areas. In other words, not quite a super high-tech travel trailer for next-level smart camping or glamping. But instead, something like a cool solar-powered USB-C gadget you can find on Amazon and use, or charge, anywhere. Like a solar camping fan, a wearable flashlight, or an emergency radio. There are lots of ideas, but here are some of the most essential items to bring on your next trip.

There are some excellent phones for hiking, travel, and going off-grid, if that's what you really want. But if you're trekking out into the middle of nowhere and spending a bunch of time in the remote wilderness, there's a high likelihood you will be out of contact for a while with minimal to no signal. That's when something like the Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus really comes in handy. It's an incredibly capable stand-in for a smartphone at $500 or so full price. It's meant primarily for emergencies and SOS. The rugged design can withstand outdoor use thanks to an IP67 water-resistance rating and a capable rechargeable lithium battery that lasts up to 350 hours. It's in a handheld form, but there's a backpack tether, bike mount, and other ways to wear it.

The most important feature is that it supports not only emergency calls, with access to Garmin's Response 24/7 staffed international coordination center, but also voice messaging, texting, and photo sharing. You can send a friend or family member pictures of your last known location, for instance. It offers global satellite coverage with live tracking for your location and the option to share — so friends and family always know where you are. Basically, it's your lifeline in any potential emergency or stranding situation.

Music is the language of the soul. Even out in the wilds, it's good to have some tunes, from classical to country and everything in between. It's easy enough to put your music on a Bluetooth-enabled device, like a portable media player or tablet, or even a wearable like a smartwatch, but if you don't want to wear headphones or earbuds, you'll need a speaker. There's a surprising amount of wearable speaker options available on Amazon, with clip-on attachments, lanyards, and unique cases. A solid call-out is the Monster Blaster Micro. At around $40 at full price, with over 250 reviews and a 4.2-star rating, most people agree it's a great choice.

It's a tough, rugged speaker, IPX7 water-resistant, with a clip-on design and lanyard. You can nestle it snugly on a collar, jacket, outer pocket, you name it. It's ultra-lightweight at a mere 3 ounces, and delivers 12 hours of battery life on a single charge. You can also connect two speakers in tandem using the True Wireless Stereo mode for more immersive campground audio. Grab another for your friend, travel companion, or partner, and you can have a campground party. You can also use it for hands-free calls when you're back home, or on a jobsite or someplace similar.

Most people can get away with a watch without GPS. In fact, you don't really need GPS in a smartwatch that's always connected to your phone. But if you're spending time outdoors, camping, away from chargers and outlets, you'll want something tough enough to withstand a beating with a long-lasting battery that has enough power to last until you get back to civilization. The Apple Watch Series 11 is great, there's no arguing against that. And no shade whatsoever on other traditional smartwatches. But a great model for the outdoorsy type is the Garmin Instinct 3 Tactical Edition with solar charging. Available in 40mm, 45mm, and 50mm sizes and priced around $500 at full price, this watch was built to power through thanks to a fiber-reinforced polymer case and a metal-reinforced bezel.

It features dual-position GPS (multi-band with SatIQ), with a ton of fitness and outdoor tracking modes, a built-in LED flashlight, health tracking, a three-axis compass, and a barometric altimeter. Plus, all of that comes with extended battery life. It charges via solar — three hours per day in 50,000 lux conditions will give it a nice battery boost. For the uninitiated, that simply means it needs a lot of time in direct sunlight. Despite its somewhat precarious charging, this thing is a beast. It currently has nearly 200 reviews on Amazon, with a 4.6-star rating, meaning users swear by it.

When it starts getting dark, and you're trying to light a fire, or keep one going, collecting extra wood, navigating your campsite, or needing to relieve yourself, you'll need light. A headlamp is the perfect camping companion. They're lightweight, keep your hands free, and provide plenty of light in front of you or in the direction you're looking. You can also adjust the strap on your head to direct the light elsewhere, or wrap the band around your arm or use it in any number of unique configurations. You could even strap it to your backpack. The Lepro LED rechargeable headlamp is a good option at only $16 full price, though it's often on sale for cheaper. The brand is well-known for its smart lighting solutions. This headlamp has over 19,000 reviews with a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.

It's USB rechargeable, comes with a USB-C charging cable, and the battery lasts up to 30 hours of continuous use. There are three white brightness levels — high, low, and strobe — and two red light modes, including one that stays on and another that flashes for SOS. The brightness rating is up to 300 lumens, which Lepro says can stretch up to 500 feet away. The band is lightweight and comfortable, while the entire system is IPX4 water-resistant against heavy rain or splashes.

Even if you don't get this particular model of headlamp, it's an essential tool to have outdoors, while camping, biking, hiking, or doing just about anything else in the dark. It's also really good to have handy at home for power outages and blackouts.

Mostly as an alternative, if you didn't want to spring for a smartwatch, you could swap it for a smart ring, many of which offer the same fitness-tracking and monitoring features. There are actually a few things smart rings can do that smartwatches cannot because of how they're worn. Of course, there are a few smart rings out there, but the RingConn Gen 2 is a good place to start. It comes with no subscription fees, 12 days of battery life, heart-rate, sleep, and health tracking, and it's also waterproof up to 100 meters.

It's $299 at full price and comes in several ring sizes and styles. Matte black is probably ideal for the outdoors. Plus, with the ultra-thin design, you'll barely feel it while trekking through the woods or lugging your gear to the campsite. Just remember to keep your smart ring clean so it can work as intended and you'll be good to go.