Top 6 Green Wilderness/Camping Gadgets
By Rebecca Paul (from Inhabitat) on August 4, 2011
In these fast-paced times when we're forever attached to our inboxes and social networks, you may find yourself wondering, "Why didn't everyone just major in email?" Taking a break from all that endless virtual chatter is necessary for survival, and camping - an activity accessible to almost everyone - is a great way to get away from that glowing screen and back to dirt (remember how much fun dirt used to be?). What better way to ease our overstimulated minds than to set up camp, build a fire and sleep under the stars? However camping does require a small amount of equipment - and we would be hypocrites if we didn't also consider our camping carbon footprint - so we've rounded up our six favorite camping gadgets that will make your next outdoor adventure as light as possible upon the earth. 
The Solar Camcorder With all of the fun you'll be having on your outdoor camping adventure you'll want to be sure that you have the right equipment to capture every wilderness memory. With the Solar Camcorder you can do just that -- but without having to fumble around with bulky chords and chargers. This camera comes equipped with a flip-up solar panel that doubles as a sunshade, and every hour of sunshine equals 12 minutes of extended battery life. The camcorder's 12 MP image sensor with 8X digital zoom makes it perfect for capturing videos in HD, and also takes digital images with a resolution up to 4000 pixels x 3000 pixels.
See more from Inhabitat:
10 Tech Tips for a Green + Healthy Workplace
5 Apps To Stop a Temper Tantrum in its Tracks
Lighten your backpacking load with the BioLite CampStove, which will be available in March of 2012. Leave the petrol behind - no canisters of fuel are needed for this bad boy. Powered by the underbrush you find along the trail, the Biolite can heat a liter of water in 2.5 minutes. In addition, it's set for travel in more ways than one -- the stove is collapsible for easy packing, weighs only 1 lb 10 oz, and it can also charge your cell phone and LED lights!
Mother nature is an unpredictable force, and good campers know they need to be prepared for anything. The Swiss Tech BodyGard 12-in-1 Self-Powered Emergency Tool comes with an array of tools that can help you out of most emergencies -- and the best part is that it's powered by a built-in hand crank, so you are the only battery it needs. The BodyGard is both a flashlight and radio as well as an alarm system, compass mirror, and much more.
When you're in the great outdoors far away from electric streetlights it's incredible how dark the night can be - so it's essential to bring along a handy light source to illuminate your campsite. The Solar Light Cap is a clever solar-powered hat that soaks up the sun's rays during the day and provides hands-free illumination at night while you're making dinner, cleaning your campground, or just having some fun.
Enjoy the comfort of a warm, refreshing shower while you're miles away from the nearest faucet. The PVC-free Sun Shower is chorine-free and azo-free, causes no dioxin, heavy metal or phthalate pollution in its production, and releases no chlorine-based chemicals throughout lifespan. Now, that's an ecologically minded product that we're happy to shower praise upon.
Set your night of camping on fire with the LightCap 300 - a solar-powered lantern and BPA-free water bottle. Flashlights can be cumbersome and heavy to lug around, however the LightCap 300 snaps on top of an existing water bottle to transform it into a lantern - just the thing you need while you're taking a star-lit hike through the woods.
How can you use gadgets to greenify your next camping adventure?
See more from Inhabitat:
10 Tech Tips for a Green + Healthy Workplace
5 Apps To Stop a Temper Tantrum in its Tracks
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Inhabitat is an online magazine devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and design towards a smarter and more sustainable future. Written by a young tech-savvy team designers and design journalists, Inhabitat delivers fresh content daily, showcasing emerging work from the cutting-edge of the global design community. Rebecca Paul is a designer, portrait painter, installation artist and writer. Rebecca is currently living in Brooklyn and has shifted her career path to focus on sustainable design and architecture. She plans to pursue her Masters degree in industrial design, so she can further her contribution to the field.
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