The Best New Camping Gear at REI (2026): Tents, Coolers, Bikes, More

Ask astir people what they emotion astir camping, and they astir apt won’t archer you astir however casual it is to acceptable up their structure oregon however agelong the crystal lasts successful their Yeti. Yes, your structure should spell up quick, and your cooler should support things cold, but past thoughts of cogwheel should slice distant arsenic you absorption connected enjoying paddleboarding, hiking, oregon speechmaking successful a hammock.

The concealed to occurrence is cogwheel you tin acceptable and forget. REI's latest camping cogwheel promises to bash conscionable that—and does truthful without costing a fortune. The Co-op’s 2026 enactment of camping and hiking cogwheel features immoderate caller products, on with updates to aged favorites. I’ve spent the past fewer months putting galore of the company’s items done their paces, and the pursuing emerged arsenic my favorites.

A Sturdy, Family-Friendly Car Camping Tent

The Westward 6 is simply a spacious, cross-pole design, family-friendly structure for three-season camping. It comfortably sleeps 2 adults, 3 kids, and 1 dog. It could theoretically acceptable six adults, though this would consciousness crowded. Setup is comparatively simple, acknowledgment to the color-coded poles. After you've completed the process erstwhile oregon twice, you’ll beryllium capable to acceptable up your structure successful 10 minutes flat. One caveat: If you're expecting inclement upwind during your camping trip, you should walk the other clip to involvement the tent, particularly the guylines connected the rainfly. But adjacent with this other step, setup is astir arsenic elemental arsenic it gets.

The 77-inch highest tallness means you won't request to crouch arsenic you determination astir inside, and the immense beforehand vestibule provides abstraction to store soiled gear, which helps support the tent’s interior cleaner. There are plentifulness of retention pockets astir the structure for stashing gear, positive a clip suspended successful the halfway that tin enactment a heavy-duty lantern. With 2 doors, which each besides person windows, there's plentifulness of ventilation erstwhile you request it, and the tent’s airy bluish colour keeps things comparatively cool, adjacent successful nonstop sunlight. The bug-proof mesh paneling connected the walls, doors, and windows besides helps with somesthesia control, allowing lukewarm aerial to vent retired the apical of the structure alternatively than turning the full happening into a greenhouse. For smaller groups, there's besides the Westward 4, which is fundamentally the aforesaid large tent, conscionable a smidge smaller.

A Luxury Camping Pad for Less

REI's Westward Dreamer Self-Inflating Bed is the champion woody astir for a luxury campy pad. My apical prime campy pad, the Therm-a-Rest MondoKing, is somewhat amended astatine insulating vigor (boasting an R-value of 7 to the Dreamer's 6.7), but for summertime use, the $60 cheaper Dreamer is the amended buy. This updated mentation (it was antecedently called the REI Camp Dreamer XL) present includes a repair kit and an improved valve system, which makes fine-tuning its ostentation level overmuch easier. (Pro tip: Don't overinflate these oversized pads, arsenic they're much comfy erstwhile they person immoderate give.)

The Dreamer conveniently comes with a duffel-bag–style worldly sack that makes it easier to transportation astir (and gathering it into the container isn’t excessively tough). The included ostentation sack is 1 of the bigger and amended options you'll find successful a pad similar this. It requires astir 4 bags afloat of aerial to get the pad to a bully steadfast start, which you tin past set to your penchant by letting retired aerial until it’s astatine your perfect level.

A Warm Sleeping Bag

My favourite sleeping container for car camping, REI's Siesta Hooded 20 is an impressively versatile bag, acknowledgment to its treble zipper system. There's a full-length zipper, which means you tin crook it into a quilt connected warmer nights, and there's besides a 2nd partial-length zipper connected the different side, truthful you tin person much airflow erstwhile you privation it. The Siesta's 20-degree-Fahrenheit standing makes it lukewarm capable for usage successful 3 seasons successful astir places. And dissimilar astir rectangular bags, the Siesta has a hood, which helps connected those acold nights.

Thanks to the Siesta’s warmth and wider shape, you tin skip buying a restrictive mummy container for a travel to your section campground. Why cramp yourself if there’s nary need? The Siesta's rectangular chopped makes for a overmuch roomier, much comfy bag. The Siesta is made of recycled polyester throughout, with a polyester filling. Despite that, the lining connected this container is noticeably softer than galore others we've tested.

A Lightweight Sleeping Bag

When the Siesta would beryllium overkill—as would beryllium the lawsuit close now, successful the mediate of July—the Campwell 30 is simply a large option. REI’s full budget-friendly Campwell enactment proves that thousands of dollars’ worthy of cogwheel and show covering aren’t prerequisites for outdoor adventuring. Rather, you conscionable request worldly that’ll support you lukewarm and dry. The Campwell 30 sleeping container tin bash conscionable that, handling your summertime camping trips, nary problem. It's plentifulness warm, you tin wholly unzip it to usage similar a treble quilt, and it packs down tiny capable to prevention you from worrying astir abstraction successful your trunk.

The Cadillac of Coolers

Who doesn’t privation a Yeti cooler? The brand’s Tundra, the rotomolded Cadillac of coolers, has been astatine the apical of our usher to the champion coolers for years. I similar the Roadie for the wheels. What galore radical hide is that these large coolers get truly dense (the Roadie 60 weighs 68 pounds erstwhile you battalion it with ice—and that’s earlier you enactment successful your food) and without wheels, they're a headache. Get the wheels, spot me.

The wheels are unthinkable too. Even connected bumpy ground, the Roadie conscionable rolls smoothly around. The Yeti is rather simply the champion mode to support things acold for each your outdoor adventures, whether that means a time astatine the beach, a week-long camping trip, oregon a roadworthy travel that lasts each summer. If you don't request the family-size capableness of the 60, you could opt for the smaller Yeti Roadie 48 oregon Roadie 32. All 3 models stock the aforesaid basal plan with the grip connected the agelong broadside and an included handbasket to store adust goods distant from your ice.

Summer Sun Protection

I loathe wearing sunscreen. So erstwhile I’m outside, I marque definite to deterioration a prima hoodie, similar REI's Sahara Shade hoodie. Or I utilized to, earlier my girl stole excavation from me. Now she wears it portion teaching sailing during the summer, since boats thin to beryllium abbreviated connected shade. The Sahara Shade uses REI's ShadeFactor50, a UPF50+ cloth that's besides nice, soft, and light. It's besides stretchy, allowing a bully scope of movement, and its thumbholes support the sleeves from riding up and exposing your arms.

The archetypal mentation is inactive available, but I deliberation this year’s caller styles, which I selected present (regular-fit men's and straight-hem women's), are a spot nicer. The thumbholes are redesigned, and there's besides present a ponytail spread successful the hood.

Moar Power

When you're trying to enactment from the road—whether that means overlanding full-time oregon conscionable for a fewer days—you request a reliable powerfulness strategy that tin grip each of your idiosyncratic devices, a portable fridge, a h2o pump, a Starlink device, and more. Goal Zero's newest mentation of its Yeti 1500 portable powerfulness presumption has everything you need: a battery, a complaint controller, and a 2,000-watt inverter. It adjacent has automatic powerfulness switching if you bash person entree to enactment power.

This is 1 of the best-built and toughest powerfulness stations I've tested. It's stood up good to beingness successful a vehicle. It was specifically designed to past high-vibration environments, similar surviving successful your van oregon off-road vehicle. The artillery uses lithium robust phosphate, which has a longer rhythm beingness than different chemistries (Goal Zero claims 4,000 complaint cycles to 80 percent).

A Fantastic Bike for Kids

I person 3 kids, and implicit the years, I've bought a full of 8 bikes for them. The Rev 24 is, hands down, the champion of the bunch. It’s a amazingly well-designed, well-built motorcycle for the price, with a bully frame, a assortment of disposable colors, prime Shimano and Tektro components, and a sleek look. With 24-inch wheels and 2.6-inch tires, the Rev 24 is simply a susceptible motorcycle for astir 8- to 12-year-olds (it should acceptable children successful the 4'2" to 4'10" tallness range). I was a small skeptical of the worth of 2.6-inch tires connected a 24-inch wheel, but my lad loves that helium tin rotation implicit surfaces helium couldn't connected narrower tires. The Rev 24 has decidedly accrued his assurance arsenic a rider, particularly connected rougher terrain.

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