July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. Not because I’m ultra-patriotic, but because it’s the perfect time to lean into a summer adventure thanks to the warm weather, extra days off, and a nationwide invitation to celebrate. My family, friends, and I always go up to a piece of off-grid mountain property north of Santa Fe, New Mexico that sits along a trout stream and spend the long weekend camping, cooking, drinking, fishing, laughing, and slinging horseshoes.
Many of you will also head out to get some fresh air, escape the heat, and make a few memories and we have you covered with gear recommendations for your trip. As always, many of the biggest retailers are offering July 4th sales and we’ve combed through thousands of items to find a handful we’ve tested and love and that are discounted enough to make a real difference. Here’s our list.
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We’re leading with a Yeti cooler because it’s time to get one if you haven’t already. Maybe you’ve shied away because they’re too expensive, or because they’re sort of a cliche at this point. But we’re here to say that the investment is actually worth it. Plop down the cash, minus a nice July 4th sale discount, and buy yourself a cooler that will last so long you can pass it on to your kids, and is so effective it will keep your food and beer cold all weekend without blinking. Bonus: Yeti just launched the Big Wave Blue colorway that is so cool it seems to have its own temperature-lowering effect.
I’ve tested a lot of rain jackets, and in my not-so-humble opinion, Outdoor Research makes the best ones, hands down. Thanks to smart material choices and amazing tailoring, their jackets are light, bombproof, look great, and function no matter what. All of that is true with the Helium, which weighs a scant six ounces, but is fully taped and won’t let a drop through, even in a monsoon downpour. It comes with nice features like elastic cuffs and an adjustable hood, and the Pertex Shield Diamond Fuse outer material—which is engineered to be extra abrasion resistant—keeps it durable. When you’re not using the Helium at your campsite or on a backpacking trip, it stows into its own chest pocket and packs down to the size of an apple.
Tent shopping can be maddening because there are so many damn choices. But if you want a great two-person, three-season tent, this is the one. Thanks to a rectangular footprint and 40 inches of headroom the Hubba Hubba 2 feels plenty big for two people and even a dog, while two vestibules under the fly are perfect for gear storage. The Hubba Hubba 2 isn’t the lightest tent on the market, but at three pounds, four ounces it’s still light enough for a backpack, and for that weight you get lots of durability. I’ve shared this tent with a frantic dog who never tore anything up, and also sat inside as the tent got pounded by summer rainstorms and easily shrugged them off.
Coleman made the two-burner camp stove famous and many brands have since taken the idea and run with it. I like Eureka’s version because each burner pumps out a generous 10,000 BTUs, enough to boil a big pot of water in just a few minutes. After thousands of presses, the automatic ignitor on mine still works great so I don’t have to worry about matches. And at just four inches thick, the stove packs down well into a camping box or pull-out kitchen. I’ve only had my version for five years, but I’m sure my family will be using it for at least 50 more.
When I first saw this 27.5-inch square I thought, “Why would anyone want such a small camping table?” If you’re car camping, why not bring something with more surface area? But then I took this table on a trip, along with a longer, rectangular folding table, and immediately realized its use. We used the bigger table for cooking and prep, and this smaller table became a much-used water station where we washed hands, did dishes, and refilled water bottles. By keeping the water away from the other table no one ever felt crowded, and it was nice to have all things wet sectioned off to a corner of the camp. I’ve found the table to be steady enough to hold 50 or more pounds of water, and it’s easy to set up, break down to the size of a small tent, and store away.
Home Depot makes this July 4th sale deal a mess to understand but here’s what you need to know. You’re buying two rechargeable batteries that will power any Ryobi products including drills and lawn mowers, and you get the fan for “free.” We love this bundle because it’s great to have the batteries for when you have a couple of hours of weed-eating to do, and the fan is great to have because it pumps a lot of air but doesn’t take up a lot of room. I’ve used the fan to keep my dogs cool when they ride in my camper shell, and it’s also been pulled out at camp when mid-day temps demanded a little extra moving air.