Camping gifts are easy to get wrong: the person who loves camping usually has a lot of gear already, and a lot of what’s sold as “camping gifts” is a novelty they’ll never take on a trip. This guide is different: every pick is something we’ve bought, used and reviewed, and we’d happily give any of them.
They’re sorted by price, from stocking fillers under $25 to the big ones, so you can jump to your budget. The prices are what we paid; check the current price on the button, because they move around a lot before Christmas.
Stocking fillers under $25
Small, useful and the kind of thing that lives in a pack for years. The JOTO waterproof phone case is one of our highest-scoring products, for $11: it kept a phone completely dry underwater in fresh and salt water, and it weighs 50 g. The Boundless Voyage titanium spork puts a spoon, a fork and a serrated edge in one sturdy $13 tool.
For the camp kitchen, the Sea to Summit folding spatula opens to a full 23 cm, folds to 12 cm and is safe on non-stick pans. For the fire and the dark, the Workpro folding saw is sharp out of the box and slices through wrist-thick branches, the RKR ferro rod throws strong sparks in any weather and comes with 13.7 m of paracord, and the Olight i3E EOS is a 19 g keychain torch on a single AAA battery that twists on, so it never switches itself on in a pocket.
Gifts under $50
This is the sweet spot for a camping gift: enough to buy something properly good, without needing to know which model fits their car. The Boundless Voyage titanium hip flask is our favourite in this band: 200 ml of pure titanium that adds no metal taste, with a funnel and a cotton pouch, and it weighed 75 g. The Sea to Summit Detour mug holds 475 ml, is sturdy when open and collapses to a flat disc; ours has had over a year of use. The Ti Artisan titanium water bottle is a pure titanium 750 ml bottle that weighs 147 g, with a leak-proof lid and a sleeve that doubles as a small cook pot; it can go straight on a stove.
For sleeping and the dark, the Naturehike Yugu pillow is a 90 g inflatable with a shape that supports the neck, and it packs smaller than a can of soft drink. The Wuben G5 is the pocket light we’d give a gadget lover: 54 g, up to 400 lumens, a head that rotates 180 degrees, a magnet, a clip and seven colours of light. The INIU power bank is a really small 20,000 mAh bank with a percentage display and a carry cord that doubles as a USB-C cable, good for about four phone charges.
For the glovebox and the towel bag: the Flissa folding pocket knife has a strong tanto blade, a solid liner lock, a glass breaker and a seatbelt cutter. The Gerber Fire Starter puts a ferro rod, a steel striker and a 100 decibel whistle on one lanyard, with a water-resistant tinder compartment, and weighed 79 g on our scale. The Kathmandu microfibre towel dries in well under an hour and packs into a phone-sized pouch; it’s the towel we take on every trip. And for anyone who drives the back roads, the Hema Australia Road & 4WD Handy Atlas puts the whole country, with 4WD tracks, campsites and fuel stops, in a spiral-bound book that fits the seat pocket. If they already have a knife, the Roxon M2 mini multitool and the Boundless Voyage titanium grill for cooking over a fire are two more we’d pick in this band.
Gifts from $50 to $150
Here you’re buying something that changes how they camp. The Sea to Summit Frontier UL dinnerware set is one of the highest-scoring products we’ve reviewed: a plate, a bowl and a cup that weigh 197 g together and collapse flat to under 2.5 cm. The Wacaco Minipresso NS2 makes a real espresso with rich crema from a capsule anywhere there’s hot water, in a 290 g tube. For the coffee drinker who camps, it’s the gift.
For light and evenings: the Black Diamond Spot 400 is a 78 g head torch with 400 lumens, a red light and IPX8 waterproofing, which runs on AAA batteries or a rechargeable pack. The Stedi Micro Touch flood light has white and amber LEDs you switch and dim with a touch, so the back of the car gets exactly the warm light you want; it’s wired to the car, so it suits someone with a 12V setup. The Kings portable steel fire pit is 3 mm laser-cut steel that packs flat and keeps the fire off the ground, for campgrounds that only allow contained fires.
For the 4WD owner, the CampBoss Boss Air tyre deflators are four automatic deflators with a laser-etched scale that stop on the pressure you set, so airing down for sand or corrugations takes a couple of minutes. For comfort, the Nakie hammock comes with tree straps and carabiners, is rated to 225 kg and is made from recycled bottles, with a lifetime warranty, and the Naturehike Sea Star high back chair has 3 cm of padding, a tall back and two recline angles for long evenings at camp. The Olympus 10×21 binoculars and the Sea to Summit Camp Mat SI are two more in this band we’d be happy to unwrap.
Gifts from $150
Big gifts need a bit of homework: make sure they don’t already have one, and for anything that mounts to the car, check it fits. The Victorinox SwissChamp is the safe choice: 33 tools in one Swiss Army knife, and ours is still solid after five years in the glovebox. The Sea to Summit Boab sleeping bag is a roomy synthetic bag with a comfort rating of 2 °C that opens flat into a quilt and compresses to about 10 litres.
For the 4WD: a pair of Maxtrax MK2 recovery boards, Australian-made with cleats that grip straight away and a lifetime warranty, is the gift most 4WD owners want and put off buying. The Olight Marauder Mini is 7,000 lumens with a 600 m spot, a wide flood and red, green and blue light: a torch for the car rather than the pocket, and a showpiece.
And if the budget is big: the DJI Mini 5 Pro is a sub-250 g drone with a 1-inch sensor that shows far more detail in low light, obstacle sensing all round and a remote with its own screen. The Kings Grand Tourer Lite is our own rooftop tent for over a year: a low hard shell that opens in about 25 seconds and stays dry in heavy rain. It needs a roof rack rated for 70 kg, so for this one, ask first. The Kings Big Daddy swag is the classic Australian alternative for someone who camps on the ground.
Before you buy
Check what they already have: most campers have a head torch and a knife, so a second one only works if it’s clearly better than theirs. Small things that wear out or get lost (a spork, a dry bag, a towel, a pillow) are safe gifts even then.
Watch the delivery dates. Amazon’s cut-off for Christmas delivery is usually a few days before the 25th, and the big outdoor retailers get busy from Black Friday on, so order the big items early. For anything that fits a particular car, like a rooftop tent, an awning or a fridge slide, a gift card from the retailer is the safer bet, or ask them straight out.
If you’re buying for someone who’s just getting started, our 4WD for beginners guide and the camping checklist show what they’ll need first.
