Victoria
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Buying outdoor gear for someone else is harder than it looks, and the reason is simple once you see it. Most of the best-known camping gear is fit-critical, and fit depends on a body you do not have. A pack has to match a torso length, not a height. A sleeping bag has to match how someone sleeps. Boots are a whole conversation. Get any of those wrong and you have given somebody a return trip.
So the rule that makes this easy: buy the gear that has no fit. Stoves, lanterns, chairs, hammocks, coolers, power, cooking kit — none of these care about the body of the person using them, all of them get used on every trip, and most campers under-buy on exactly these because they spent the money on the pack.
The second rule: for an experienced camper, a wear item or a consumable beats a new toy. Everyone has a stove. Almost nobody has replaced the sleeping pad they have been quietly resenting for four years.
Safety, because two of these matter
- Never cook or run a stove, lantern or heater inside a tent, a vestibule, a van or a closed car. Camping stoves produce carbon monoxide, which is odorless, and people die of this every year. If you are gifting a stove, say this out loud when you hand it over. It is the single most important sentence in this guide.
- A sleeping bag temperature rating is not a comfort rating. The number on most bags is closer to a survival limit than a temperature at which you will sleep well, and the convention differs between makers. Assume the comfortable figure is meaningfully warmer than the number printed on the bag.
- A sleeping bag does not work in a hammock. Lying in a hammock compresses the insulation underneath you flat, which removes it — this is why hammock campers use an underquilt or a pad. Gifting a hammock to someone who will sleep out in it without mentioning this is setting them up for a cold night.
- Lithium power stations and headlamps do not like heat. Do not leave them in a car in summer, and do not gift a battery product that has been stored in a hot garage for a year.
The gifts with no fit problem
A stove — the most used object on any camping trip
Here is the thing nobody tells you: BTU is close to useless as a comparison. It measures fuel burn rate, not how fast your water boils or how evenly your pan heats, and a high-BTU burner with a poor wind screen and a bad pot support will be beaten by a lower-rated stove that keeps its flame. Wind protection and simmer control are what separate a good camp stove from a frustrating one.
- Coleman Classic Propane 2-Burner — the default for car camping for decades, and hard to get wrong as a gift (our full guide)
- Camp Chef Everest 2X — the upgrade: genuine simmer control and much better wind performance (our full guide)
A chair, which sounds boring and is the most appreciated gift on this list
Camp chairs are what people sit in for four hours every evening of a trip, and most campers own a sagging one from a supermarket. The specification that decides everything and that nobody checks: seat height. A chair that sits very low is comfortable to sink into and difficult to get out of, which matters more every year and matters a lot for anyone with knees or a back. Check whether they want a low lounger or something they can stand up from easily.
- GCI Outdoor Freestyle Rocker — rocks on uneven ground, sits at a height adults can get out of (our full guide)
- Helinox Chair One Highback — packable enough to carry, for someone who walks in (our full guide)
A hammock, with the two rules that make it comfortable
A hammock is a truly delightful gift and it is almost always hung wrong. Two things fix that. The 30-degree rule: hang the suspension at roughly thirty degrees from horizontal rather than pulling it tight, because a tight hammock multiplies the force at the anchor points and folds the person in it into a banana. The diagonal lay: lie across the hammock rather than along its centerline, and your back goes flat. Those two sentences are the difference between a hammock someone uses all summer and one that goes in the shed.
Also: wide webbing straps rather than rope. Rope cuts into bark and damages the tree, and many parks now specify a minimum strap width.
- ENO DoubleNest — the standard for good reason; buy straps with it (our full guide)
- Wise Owl Outfitters hammock — the value option, and usually comes with straps included (our full guide)
A cooler, for the car camper
A rotomolded cooler is one of those objects that seems absurd until someone uses one, and then they never go back. It is also a gift that lasts a decade or more. If they carry it any distance, wheels matter more than capacity.
- YETI Tundra 45 — the reference point, and rarely discounted deeply (our full guide)
- RTIC 52 QT Ultra-Light Wheeled — wheels and less weight, which is what long trips actually need (our full guide)
Power, for anyone who camps with a phone, a camera or a CPAP
The number that matters on a power station is watt-hours, not watts. Watts is how fast it can deliver; watt-hours is how much is in there. A station rated at a large number of watts with a small battery runs a laptop impressively and briefly. For camping, watt-hours and weight are the two figures to compare.
- Anker SOLIX C1000 — the sensible size for camping rather than home backup (our full guide)
- EF ECOFLOW DELTA 3 — if they also want it for power cuts at home (our full guide)
Gifts that are fit-critical — buy these only if you know the measurement
These are excellent gifts for someone whose gear you know, and risky ones otherwise. If you are determined, a gift card plus going shopping together is the right form of this gift.
A pack
The critical measurement is torso length, not height — the distance from the bony bump at the base of the neck to the top of the hip bones. Two people of the same height routinely take different pack sizes, and a pack that does not match a torso puts the weight on the shoulders instead of the hips, which is what makes people hate backpacking.
- Osprey Atmos AG 65 — superb if the size is right, which is the whole caveat (our full guide)
A sleeping bag
Depends on the temperatures they camp in, on whether they sleep hot or cold, and on whether they are a side sleeper — a mummy bag is miserable for someone who sleeps on their side. And remember that the pad underneath does more for warmth than the bag above.
- Kelty Cosmic 20 — a good all-round bag if the temperature range suits them (our full guide)
- NEMO Forte — synthetic and cut for side sleepers, which is unusual and useful (our full guide)
A tent
Tent choice depends on how many people, how far they carry it, what weather they camp in, and how much they mind pitching something complicated in the rain. For a family who car camps, it is a safer gift than for a backpacker.
- Coleman Sundome — the safe, cheap, works-fine answer for casual camping (our full guide)
- CORE Instant Cabin — for a family, and the instant pitch is worth more than it sounds in bad weather (our full guide)
Small gifts that get used every trip
- A new sleeping pad, if you know they are still using the thin one. This is the most under-replaced item in camping and it affects sleep more than the bag does.
- Wide hammock straps for someone who owns a hammock and is still using the rope it came with.
- Fuel canisters, unglamorous and always needed.
- A repair kit — tent pole splint, patches, seam sealer, spare buckles. Nobody buys this for themselves and everybody eventually needs it.
- A proper headlamp with a red mode, because red light does not destroy night vision or wake the tent next door.
- A pack towel and a dry bag. Small, cheap, used constantly.
- A vacuum flask. Hot drink at six in the morning without lighting the stove is a genuine luxury.
- A tarp. The single most useful piece of camping equipment relative to its cost, and one almost nobody owns.
Frequently asked questions
What is the safest camping gift to buy for someone else?
Anything without a fit: a stove, a chair, a lantern, a cooler, a hammock, a power bank, a tarp, fuel, a repair kit. Avoid packs, boots and sleeping bags unless you know their measurements and how they sleep.
Is a high BTU camping stove better?
Not reliably. BTU measures fuel burn rate, not boil time or evenness, and wind protection and simmer control matter far more in practice. A moderately rated stove that holds its flame in a breeze beats a high-rated one that does not.
Can you use a sleeping bag in a hammock?
Not effectively. Your weight compresses the insulation underneath you, which removes most of its value. Hammock campers use an underquilt hung below, or a sleeping pad inside. This is a real cold-weather safety issue, not a comfort preference.
What temperature rating should a sleeping bag have?
Warmer than the coldest night they expect, because the printed number is closer to a survival limit than a comfort figure and conventions vary between makers. And the sleeping pad underneath contributes more to warmth than most people realize.
How do I size a backpack for someone?
Torso length, measured from the prominent bone at the base of the neck to the level of the top of the hip bones — not height. If you cannot measure it, do not buy the pack.
What do you buy a camper who has everything?
A wear item they have not replaced: a sleeping pad, hammock straps, a new stove regulator, fresh fuel, a repair kit. Or a tarp, which almost nobody owns and everybody wishes they had the first time it rains.
Is a power station worth it for camping?
For someone who camps with a camera, works remotely, or needs a medical device, yes and it is transformative. For someone who camps to get away from screens, it is a heavy box. Compare watt-hours and weight, not watts.
Our call
Buy the gear with no fit. A good camp chair is the most quietly appreciated gift on this page; a stove with real simmer control and wind protection is the most used; a hammock with wide straps is the most enjoyed, provided you pass on the thirty-degree rule and the diagonal lay. For the car camper, a rotomolded cooler lasts a decade.
Leave packs, boots and sleeping bags to them unless you know the measurements. And if you are giving a stove, say the sentence out loud: never inside a tent, a vestibule or a vehicle. Carbon monoxide has no smell, and that one line is the most valuable thing in the box.
Also worth reading: our guide to the best air mattresses, including the two free fixes that stop guests sleeping badly on one.
Also worth reading: our guide to the best Bluetooth trackers — including why the finding network matters far more than the tag.
Also worth reading: our guide to the best heated jackets and vests — including why heating your core warms your hands better than heated gloves do.
