Best Camping & Hiking in 2021 (January Reviews)

To help you find the best camping and hiking gear for all of your summer adventures, we spent multiple hours testing many products over a wide variety of different categories. During our testing, we measured each item’s ability to add usefulness to your pack during both long and short trips. We also measured the products on their portability, durability and weather resistance.

With these features in mind, and after all of our testing was complete, we crowned the Teton Sports Leef sleeping bag as the winner of our top pick spot. It’s durable, lightweight and incredibly warm, with zero-degree performance. It can also be packed up into a tiny compression back for easier packing.

#7 Sawyer Products Picaridin Flying Insect Repellent

Award:BEST BUG SPRAY

WHY WE LIKE IT: This insect spray uses picaridin instead of DEET for a more effective approach to eliminating flying insects like mosquitoes and flies. It also features an incredible spray bottle design that can spray in any orientation.

Pros

• Superior tick and mosquito defense
• Can spray in any orientation
• Fragrance free
  
  

Cons

• Doesn’t repel wasps or hornets
• Not water resistant
• Container smaller than other products we tried

The Sawyer Products Picaridin flying insect spray is incredibly effective because it uses a 20% picaridin formula that’s more effective than DEET at eliminating biting insects and disease-carrying bugs like mosquitoes. Picaridin is also safe for the entire family and even for your gear. The spray works best against ticks, mosquitoes and other biting flies, but won’t be nearly as effective against bugs like wasps or hornets. Sawyer Products lists this spray as fragrance free, but we did notice a slight citrus scent. Fortunately, this isn’t a bad scent at all.

One of the most impressive things about this spray is the actual spray bottle design. For starters, it features a proprietary spray nozzle design that allows you to use the product in any orientation, including upside down. It also sprays incredibly evenly so you don’t need to worry about reapplying over and over again. We do wish that the Sawyer Products spray came in larger sizes, although the six ounce bottle still goes a long way with its overall 12-hour effectiveness on your skin. If you’re using this repellant to gear up for your next walk, maybe consider packing a pair of the best compression socks too.

Keep reading to learn more about these products as well as the other best camping and hiking gear on our list here.