Campfire Essentials

Welcome to the Camping Gear resource center. This site is designed to help you quickly and easily find the latest Camping Gear reviews, Camping Gear tutorials, and Camping Gear videos and Camping Gear for sale. The Camping Gear information on this site is updated hourly, so if you are interested in Camping Gears, bookmark this site so you can visit often.

Camping Trips : Camping Tips: Equipment Uses

AccuSharp 001 Knife Sharpener

Finally, a Knife Sharpener anyone can use! No more messy oils or stones. In about 10 seconds, sharpen knives, (even serrated knives), cleavers, axes, machetes, and many other cutting tools. The large ergonomic handle fits either hand safely and securely. The full length finger guard protects your fingers. Sharpening blades are Diamond Honed Tungsten Carbide for years of reliable use. AccuSharp Knife Sharpeners will not rust and can be cleaned with soap and water or in the dishwasher. Replacement sharpening blades are available. Sportsmen, Cooks, Craftsmen, Gardeners, and many more, all need the easy-to-use, affordable AccuSharp line of knife and tool sharpeners.

Victorinox 8-Inch Chef's Knife, Black Fibrox Handle

The chef's knife is a kitchen staple, with a wide straight edged blade ideally suited to cutting and chopping fruits and vegetables, herbs, and so on. Some may find the 10" length too awkward and unwieldy, and for those people we recommend this slightly shorter knife. R. H. Forschner is a division of Swiss Army Brands, Inc, renowned for the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife. These knives are specially ground and tempered so that they can be resharpened over and over again, keeping a sharp edge throughout their lifetime. State of the art technology blended with old world craftsmanship produce cutting instruments of excellent quality, at reasonable prices. Forschner Victorinox Fibrox knives have earned high marks in a well-known cooking magazine which stringently tests kitchen products.


Intex Raised Downy Queen Airbed with Built-in Electric Pump

Raised Downy Air Bed Queen Size with Built in Air Pump 120 Volt The convenience of a portable air bed with the comfort of sleeping on a raised platform bed. This bed is plush with the top covered with waterproof flocking helps keep the sheets in place. The indentation on the sides help secure standard fitted sheets. Features: - Quality tested 20.8 gauge (.053mm) waterproof flocked top with 15 gauge (0.38mm) vinyl beams and 16 gauge (0.41mm) sides and bottom - Dual-chamber construction. The lower chamber functions as the box spring form on a traditional bed providing extra firmness and support. The upper chamber functions as a mattress. - 60" x 80" (152cm x 203cm) queen-sized mattress is raised 22" (56cm) from the floor for convenience. - Cozy flocked mattress top - Deflates completely for travel and storage - Weight capacity: 600lbs. (273kg) - Includes duffel bag with shoulder strap - Shelf box with carry handle Mfg No: 66717E Manufacturer: Intex


Intex Pillow Rest Twin Airbed with Built-in Electric Pump

Inflated size: Twin 80"x40"x19.5"; raised 19.5" (50cm) from floor level. Constructed of quality tested 20.8 gauge (0.53mm) waterproof flocked top and sides with 16 gauge (0.41mm) vinyl beams and bottom. The 20.8 guage (0.53mm) super-thick & waterproof flocked top and sides give this airbed a 300 lb weight capacity. Includes a powerful built-in ac electric pump that auto-inflates the bed in approximately 2 minutes. The built-in pump allows quick and easy inflation with the touch of a switch while the built-in pump's air release valve allows gradual air release to achieve your desired level of firmness for the ultimate in comfort. This inflatable airbed is very comfortable comfortable! The top of this bed is made of a cozy flocked fabric for comfort and while this airbed accepts fitted sheets the flocked fabric top makes them obsolete. The head of this airbed has a built-in pillow. Features patent pending dual chamber construction that utilizes double I-Beam and Wave-Beam layered architecture through two virtually independent air chambers connected by four flow-through ports that provide firmness, support and stability. This airbed was designed for use indoors as well as outside. At 19.5" tall it is high enough to keep you off the cold floor while it is still low enough to fit in most large camping tents. Folds easily for storage or travel and comes with a space saving duffle bag.


Intex 110-120 Volt AC Quick-Fill Electric Pump

Quick Fill Electric Pump 120 Volt AC The Quick Fill AC Electic pump makes very quick work of pumping up the airbed when you have to accomodate that overnight guest. Three interconnecting nozzles make sure that you can fill just about anything. Features: 80% more air flow UL/CSA listed (110-120 volt) Shelf box Mfg No: 66629E Manufacturer: Intex


Building the Decked Wood Strip Canoe "Bay Hawk". A 3+ Hour Instructional 2 DVD Set with a Complete Set of Building Plans. This Is a Real Paddlers Canoe Made for Protected Waters and Enough Dry Stowage to Pack Your Camping Gear or Just the Days Lunch.

The Bay Hawk double paddle covered wood strip canoe is a paddling pleasure and a piece of art to look at. This boat has all the characteristics as a touring kayak but with the open, comfortable feeling of a canoe. The video comes with a complete set of plans to build Bay Hawk and all you need to add is building materials and time. This boat is terrific for cruising the bay for a day or pack your camping gear in the dry stowage compartments and take off for a weekend. It will keep pace with the highest performance kayaks and canoes. Isn't it time you enjoyed the water at eye level.


Hike Seattle.com

Great Hikes, Close to Home!
A video guide to the best trails near Seattle, and everything you need to know to get started hiking today.

This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Garmin Portable Friction Dashboard Mount for nüvi Series and StreetPilot C5XX Series GPS Navigators (C530, C550, and C580)

Every Garmin product is designed to meet the most demanding standard: customers' satisfaction. That's why Garmin equipment is manufactured to give you reliable service for years to come, with intuitive features you can grow into over time - all at a price you can afford.


Nikon 7072 Lens Pen Cleaning System

Your binocular or telescope uses highly precise optics. It's important to keep them as clean as possible to assure the best performance. Nikon makes it really easy and simple with the Lens Pen Cleaning System.


Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS Receiver With Heart Rate Monitor

Just when you thought Garmin had cornered the market on powerful, affordable, and effective wrist-mounted GPS devices, here comes the Forerunner 305. The release of this device is a major achievement from a design and technology perspective. This isn't just marketing-speak; the Forerunner 305 is the most accurate, most reliable wrist-mounted performance and GPS tracking tool we've ever tested. Yes, it's that good. While no device this compact can do everything (yet), the 305 pushes the boundaries of what is possible from something strapped around your wrist. The 305 model includes wireless heartrate monitoring and it can also be connected to Garmin's wireless bicycle speed and cadence sensor. If you don't need these features, consider the lower-priced Forerunner 205.

View Garmin's Forerunner demonstration video.

Choose from 12 data fields to display on the 305's screen. View larger.

The design cleverly integrates the GPS antenna and aims it towards the sky when you're running or walking. View larger.

The Virtual Partner function makes your workouts more competitive. View larger.

Choose from three workout modes that help you target your training goals. View larger.

The 305 features rudimentary mapping and location marking functions. View larger.

Design
The 305's design is a radical departure from Garmin's previous generation of wrist mounted GPS devices, which reached a pinnacle with the Garmin Forerunner 301. While the 301 delivered accurate heart rate monitoring, good performance tracking, and decent GPS reception, it didn't quite deliver in the design department. The form factor was bulky and wearing it wasn't much different than duct taping a full-sized GPS device to your wrist.

Not so with the 305. Garmin's engineers obviously burned the midnight oil and have come up with a waterproof design that, while certainly not as small as a sports watch, feels just as comfortable. The curved casing allows the unit's antenna to face the sky when you're running, while the widescreen display is perfectly positioned for viewing when you need it. And the display certainly deserves a few kudos. While it's smaller than the display found on previous Forerunners, its resolution is far higher, offering incredible clarity and crispness.

Garmin has smartly given the 305 a simple button layout and the buttons have a nice tactile feel with good pressure response. The right side houses the menu selection and enter buttons, while the left houses a power/backlight button and a mode button. This simple and elegant solution is a big improvement over the sometimes confusing button functionality of previous Forerunners. View button layout.

The underside of the 305 is pretty nondescript, except for a row of contacts that interface with the included charging and data cradle. The cradle is small and unobtrusive and its single mini-USB port connects to either an included AC adapter, or a USB cable that connects to your PC. In addition to data transfer with the USB cable, you can also charge the 305's embedded lithium-ion battery via a powered USB connection from your computer.

GPS Performance
The big news about the Forerunner 305 is that it features an integrated, high-sensitivity SiRFstar III GPS receiver. What does this mean? It means that the 305's ability to both track, and maintain a lock on, your position is better than anything before it. After an intial battery charge, the tester had the 305 on his wrist and was tracking speed and distance with GPS satellites within 3 minutes. The next time we used the 305, satellite acquisition was nearly instantaneous. A run through dense trees didn't faze the unit either; tracking remained true and steady. Performance on a bike was equally impressive. Whatever witchcraft has been cooked up by the designers of the SiRF technology, we like it!

The simple docking cradle makes charging and data connectivity a snap.

While the Forerunner 305 isn't billed as a GPS navigation device, it does have some rudimentary mapping, waypoint marking, and routing capabilities. In addition to marking locations along your journey, you can zoom in or out of a simple map that displays your current direction and path. There's also a "go to location" feature that routes you back to your starting location, or to any location you have defined. Once you have defined several locations, you can save this information as a route, allowing you to travel the same path in the future. As you'll see below, the 305's new "Courses" feature gives you new levels of control over how you define your favorite runs and rides.

Training Functions
The 305 is first and foremost a training tool, and its ability to organize a ton of data types into a user experience that is intuitive and simple is no small feat. Whiz-bang technology aside, if you can't use it and make it a natural part of your exercise routine, it's worthless. When it comes to these factors -- and here's the take home message on the 305 -- this device is successful where many other devices fail.

The heart and soul of the 305 can be found on the data screens, which give you real-time information about all aspects of your workout. In fact, the 305 can display a dizzying array of data, such as calories burned, distance, elevation, grade, and heading, as well as multiple lap and pace modes. The 305 adds the ability to track heartrate, lap heartrate, average heartrate, and heartrate zones via the included coded heartrate chest strap. With the purchase of a separate wireless cadence and speed meter, you can also track bike performance data.

Thankfully, the device makes it easy to define how much or how little data you want to view during a workout. You can arrange the data that's most important to you and then make that data appear front and center on the device. Indeed, within a few minutes of skimming the manual and fiddling with the device setup, you'll have your most important data displaying just the way you like it. The ability to display heartrate is a big plus, too, as it's a fairly good indicator of excercise output, fatigue, and fitness level. The 305 has all the heartrate functions you'd expect from a full-function monitor, including the ability to set target zones and alerts to maximize the effectiveness of your workouts.

Garmin's Virtual Partner function was cool feature of previous Forerunners and they've decided to keep a good thing going with the 305. If you're the type that performs best when you've got a competitor egging you on, you'll love this function, as it allows you to set up virtual running or biking companions that compete against you.

If you're looking for an complicated workout with a variety of intervals and intensity levels, or just a quick three-mile jog against your best time last week, the 305 has you covered. Navigating to the Workouts menu on the device yields three options: Quick Workouts, Interval, and Advanced Workout. A quick workout is just that; set the distance and time, distance and pace, or time and pace of your planned workout and off you go. Interval workouts are just the same, but they allow you to add repetitions and rest between them. When you really want to get fancy with your exercise, you can step up to advanced workouts, which include goals for each workout step, as well as varied distances, times, and rest periods. You can use the Garmin Training Center software to set up these workouts and then upload them to the device.

Computer Connectivity and Software
Garmin has been outfitting their devices with USB connectivity for some time now -- a welcome move for those who struggled with serial port connections in the days of yore. Thanks to USB, the 305 integrates seamlessly with the Training Center software and we quickly had workout history uploaded and stored on the computer. Not only does Training Center--which is compatible with both PC and Mac--make it easy to track your performance, you can graph data such as heartrate alongside your speed and distance. Over time, this is a great way to view your fitness levels increase, and it also helps you see what types of workouts are necessary to strengthen your weaknesses. For instance, if you see your heartrate begin to spike after a certain distance, you know you need to increase your endurance workouts to train that area of fitness.

In a first for the Forerunner series, the Training Center software also lets you define courses on your computer that you can upload to the device. When course information is combined with uploaded workout information, the Forerunner becomes a complete guide, telling you where to go, when to make a turn, and what kind of workout to do when you're on the road or path. Back on the computer, the software's ability to overlay workout data on maps of the course makes it easy to see where the course offers up the tough hills and the easy recovery spots. Plus, the ability to track historical performance on a given course is a great way to measure your improvement.

The 305 is also fully compatible with Garmin's MotionBased service, which takes your training to another level by connecting your data with the Internet. While we weren't able to use the service, the promise of sharing courses, maps, workouts, and performance data with other users is intriguing. And if you're a serious endurance athlete, you'll be glad to know that the 305 is also compatible with TrainingPeaks.com, an easy-to-use web based training system designed to help athletes train for any event.

Pros

• Radically new design is better in every way
• Amazing accuracy and fast satellite acquisition time
• So simple to set up and use, you will actually use it

Cons

• Okay, it's bigger than a sport's watch -- but so much more powerful

What's in the Box
Forerunner 305, Garmin Training Center CD-ROM, heart rate monitor, docking cradle, expander strap, A/C charger, USB cable, owner's manual, quick start guide.

Custom Search