We’ve entered the fall season, and in midst of pumpkin spice lattes, and brown leaf litters, the bug for trekking and hiking is reaching an all-time peak. I wouldn’t really classify myself as a hiking lover, but I do know there are quite a few outdoor enthusiasts, who love embarking on a good old hike once in a while. Being physically and mentally prepared on a hike of any sort is extremely critical – whether it’s creating the right mindset or the perfectly equipped backpack. And, I do believe a great set of hiking accessories play a major role in a successful hike! From an inflatable camping light that goes from a lantern to a tube light, to a trekking pole’s clever design that lets you adjust it with a simple button-push – these handy and innovative product designs are the best companions you could have on your trekking/hiking adventures! These are must-have essentials for all adventure lovers and thrill-seekers!
Everglow Light Tube by Klymit stands out from the rest for a design that’s both functional and highly useful in a number of situations. Klymit being an outdoor gear company very obviously has tailored this inflatable light for camping and adventure enthusiasts, but I can think of dozen other uses as well! The inflatable function, you can literally expand the light like a balloon, solves two inherent purposes – diffusing the light so that it doesn’t hurt the eyes and spread easily, and the other is of course the portability aspect. A pocketable design that is ideal for any adventure, or even at home for emergency use. The flexibility of the form factor permits it to be used as a hanging LED light – stick it to your base camp ceiling to use as a lantern, or attach like a hanging light to the awning.
Unlike its predecessors, the ATP-01 sports a height-adjusting mechanism operated by a single push of a button. The button comes built right into the handle of the pole, allowing you to push to activate its adjusting system, letting you expand or collapse the pole’s height in mere seconds. Moreover, it can be done with gloves on, and its slightly recessed design means you’ll never press the button by accident. The button activates a series of pins that snap-in position at 5-centimeter increments, locking the height in place, and numbers on the side of the pole let you easily read its height to know the length at a glance. Along with its nifty height-adjusting feature, the ATP-01 also focuses on creating a pole that’s constructed to be qualitatively better. Quick-adjust straps along the handle let you easily secure the pole right to your wrist (so it doesn’t accidentally slip or get blown away), and easy-to-swap baskets on the base let you rapidly switch between terrain types.
St. Terre’s series of jackets are described as performance outdoor apparel that’s voguish enough to wear in the city too. The jackets are durable enough to weather a storm as you trek on rough terrain, or the pitter-patter of a gentle drizzle as you rush out to get some shopping done at the local 7/11. The jackets, designed by apparel industry experts at St. Terre, come in a variety of styles, from The Hurson (the brand’s flagship puffer which they absolutely swear by) to windbreakers, parkas, and even a sleeveless jacket for a bit of variety and also a perfect piece for layering. All the jackets are weatherproof, warm, and feature an abundance of features. They’re durable, are styled with either muted or vibrant colors (depending on your aesthetic needs), and come with embroidered details, brass fixtures, YKK zips, and St. Terre’s logo – a white stork known for embarking on rough journeys to migrate to more comfortable climates (sound similar?)
Katipo got its name because its shape and form resemble that of a Katipo spider. It is an Australian redback spider that is small in size with long legs that bend at angles which inspired the stove’s own leg stand and tiny size. The Katipo is a stainless steel stove that folds into a portable size of 50 mm wide and 120 mm long, and when opened it is 180 mm in diameter. “Each leg has a cutting edge that stops its motion by a stopper pin and opens to the angle of 120° and thus produces an equal opening to them all perfectly” explains Elad Achi. Apart from the product proportions, even the colors of the stove were inspired by the spider’s red and black body. The stove’s red and black look comes from a ceramic-based color that is heat resistant. It is the perfect size when you want to go on a long hike or camp in nature and have warm meals.
Working on just one axis to cut out your hand’s jitter, the CliqueFie Sway gives you shake-free footage that doesn’t need to be optically stabilized in post-production. The slim little gimbal runs without a battery and is perfect for small-time creators or even enthusiasts who like taking videos when they are out and about. A finalist at the iF Design Award, the Sway’s sleek design is perhaps its biggest highlight. The product relies on a foldable design, with plain cylindrical surfaces that have a minimalist style that makes the product look simple to use and lightweight enough to carry. The gimbal itself is smartly designed to work without a battery and a motor by utilizing the strength of gravity to help cancel out any hand-jitter, resulting in smoother videos.
The Samla by WESN falls well within the archetype of your pocket knife. It comes with a friction hinge and can be deployed by simply pushing on a lever with your thumb to open the blade. The blade itself comes crafted from a high-durability Sandvik 14C28N Stainless Steel with a sheepsfoot design, making it ideal for chopping, slicing, carving, whittling, all the activities you’d find yourself doing in the outdoors. It sits within a handle made from either titanium or rosewood (depending on the variant you pick) with beveled edges, making it comfortable to hold and maneuver around. Opening the Samla is ridiculously simple too. The blade’s tang sticks out of the front, acting as a lever that lets you open the blade when you want. A friction hinge gives the blade just the right amount of resistance as you open it, and the absence of a locking mechanism means you can open and close the blade with just one hand, highlighting Samla’s simple yet sophisticated user experience.
The All-Day Adventure Flask by Hibear helps you expand your options when it comes to drinking in the outdoors. To begin with, it comes with an insulated stainless steel body, functioning as a thermos that keeps your drinks hot or cold for hours. The flask itself works as intended, but its split-body design lets you quickly unscrew the top of the bottle and invert it, turning it into a wide-mouth pour-over kit for your coffee. Just line it with a filter, fill it up with your grounds and you’ve got yourself some fresh coffee… but wait, the same setup works well for decanting wine too, aerating it to bring out its flavors and notes. The bottle’s internal glass finish prevents your wine from tasting like your pour-over.
On purely an aesthetic front, the lab.inc backpack is every bit an urban classic. Its design is simple yet sophisticated and tries to blend in while standing out. The bag boasts of an all-black exterior that’s punctuated by a strap that vertically cuts through its volume. Designed to help the bag and the wearer stand out, the strap comes with a replaceable design that can be swapped out based on your mood or need. You can choose a bright vibrant-colored vegan leather strap to provide visual contrast against the black backpack or a reflective strap that’s perfect for biking or trekking in the dark. lab. inc also offers a third strap variant made from Bananatex® – a durable, waterproof, sustainable fabric made entirely from the banana plant.
Designed as a heavy-duty carabiner-leash, the GPCA X Clip PRO is, well, for heavy-duty dogs. It comes with a CNC-machined 360clip that easily clips onto any dog collar or harness, offering a better user experience than traditional clasps, which are fiddly and fragile at best. The 360clip is thicker and comes machined out of solid stainless steel. It clips onto any D-ring with absolute ease, and a diamond-knurled grip makes it easy to maneuver for humans, allowing you to slip it on or off with ease. The 360clip even supports a special no-pull leash looping formation, formulated via the GPCA team. By simply allowing you to loop the leash around the dog’s front legs before clipping it to the D-ring, the no-pull formation forces the dog to turn sideways every time they pull too hard against the leash.