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October 2025

Camping Gear for Families: 5 Underrated Gadgets

Best Camping Gear for Families: 5 Underrated Gadgets

Camping with a family changes everything, including your gear, which can make or break your trip. Here, a seasoned outdoorsman, former backpacker and Dad shares some lesser-known camping gear gadgets for families for happier, more comfortable campouts.Since I became a Father, the days of doing what I want and when I want, especially when it comes to camping trips, are long gone.

In my single days, I used to pack up my Amigo 4X4 with a small tent, a few buddies and all the fancy gear my job at REI afforded, and hit the rugged road.

Today, instead of packing up my car and 60-pound backpack to go it alone or with my other childless friends, I now have two extra bodies (my kids) to account for, and a lot more gear!

Luckily, I have a willing wife who instigates many of these trips, and she bears 50% of the responsibility. However, introducing kids into the mix makes things more complicated.

However, these days I wholeheartedly embrace car camping, something I would have snubbed in my 20s.

This has come from necessity, as well as comfort and practicality. I don’t have to figure out how to pack as minimally as possible and our family can bring extra gear to enhance the whole experience.

There are many things you need for a family camping trip, ranging from a large enough tent space for everyone, warm sleeping bags, food preservation equipment, first aid, etc.

In this post, I’ll focus on five simple and often underrated camping gear items for families that have made our camping trips much smoother and more enjoyable — at least from my perspective. 

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Helpful Camping Gear For Families (that also makes Dad’s life easier)

1 & 2. Biolite Camp Stove 2+ and/or EcoZoom Versa 

I have had the BioLite Camp Stove for about three years, and it has become a cornerstone in our camping gear arsenal.

One of the main things I love is how quickly it can boil water without a gas canister.

Why is that important to me? Caffeine!!!

After getting all the gear together, packing up the car, driving to the campsite, unloading the car, setting up the tent, getting a fire going for dinner, helping with the cooking, s’mores making and cleanup, and not getting the best first night's rest, I need my caffeinated beverage first thing in the morning…and quick.

The BioLite Stove 2+ does the trick and is easy to set up. The quickest way to ensure a fast and consistent boil using this stove is with wood pellets.

Because the car is a huge storage chest, I can bring things like a small bucket of wood pellets and eco-friendly fire starters like these. These are simple conveniences you don’t have the luxury of when backpacking.

With these items, I can get the water boiling fast and have 1 liter of water boiling within 10 minutes without building a fire.

Other things I love about this stove include:

  •       It does not require specialized gas canisters
  •       It can charge small devices like lanterns and headlamps (discussed next) from the heat generated by the stove
  •       With the grilling accessory, it can serve as an extra cooktop and is excellent for making toast
  •       It’s small, light, and compact, making it easy to pack up and take anywhere

Here’s how the charging feature works: the heat generates electricity with the thermoelectric generator that is located on the front of the stove. This generator captures electricity and stores it in a battery. 

The generator also features a fan that automatically activates to blow air into the burn chamber, ensuring the fire inside burns hot and quickly.

I look forward to using this backpacking one of these days, but for now, it serves a perfect niche in our car camping endeavors.

Another stove that deserves honorable mention from the same company is the Eco Zoom Versa. I haven’t used this one as much, but it is an excellent stove, and I plan to incorporate it more.

It takes a little more time to get going, but once it's up to speed, it heats a pan quickly and boils water efficiently.

The main advantage of the Eco Zoom Versa over the BioLite Camp Stove 2+ is that it accommodates larger pots, can use coal (not recommended with the Camp Stove 2+), as well as wood, and when it gets going, it boils water within 15 minutes.

The main disadvantages compared to the Camp Stove are that it is much larger and heavier, making it less portable.

One last point about these stoves is they are absolutely fantastic in an emergency when the power goes out.

When Hurricane Helene hit our area in 2024, all power, water, and internet were knocked out for at least three weeks.

We were scrambling to take care of our family’s needs as well as all the neighbors around us who weren’t as prepared—your classic nightmare situation.

These little stoves saved the day. We could cook and boil water using the wood we had all around us in our surrounding forests, and having hot drinks at the ready was a great comfort.

It was the perfect stove for an emergency and I would recommend these to anyone.

Related: How To Teach Kids To Build A Campfire Safely: A Step-by-Step Guide

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3. AlpenGlow 650 by Biolite

There is always a need for lighting in any camping situation, especially with kids who need their bedtime stories, require nighttime bathroom trips, and may not appreciate the dark.

Enter the AlpenGlow by Biolite.

(Obviously, I have fallen in love with this company. Obsession is the right noun here, but they offer a solid range of anything related to light and electricity on the go.)

The AlpenGlow 250 has an internal rechargeable battery. You don’t have to worry about bringing extra batteries, and it integrates seamlessly with the BioLite CampStove 2+ to recharge.

For its compact size, it puts out a good amount of light (250 lumens), and its convenient hook lets you hang it from anything, including the top of the tent for bedtime stories.

At the low light setting, it can burn for up to 200 hours.

It also features multicolored LED lights with a variety of settings that can entertain the kids for a little while while you’re preparing dinner.

The AlpenGlow 250 is small, compact, and the best overall size. In an ideal world, I would have a fleet of these, but for now, one is sufficient.

If you want more options or greater/lesser light output, BioLite offers two other sizes.

The AplenGlow 250 is the medium range that really fits all of our needs.

4. Battery Car Jump Starter (Battery Backup)

Do your kids enjoy playing with the interior lights in your car? Mine do, and that’s how I realized the necessity of a battery car jumper starter (especially while out in the wilderness).

Additionally, leaving the hatch open in some cars and SUVs can drain the battery, potentially leaving your vehicle dead in the woods.

After experiencing this first-hand, we made a small investment in a portable car battery and I make sure we have it with us on every trip.

The other benefit is that it serves as a small secondary electricity source to charge small devices, such as your phone and lantern.

One quick tip about these batteries: make sure to research the correct battery size and amperage for your car's battery. 

If you don’t know what size you need, consult your local auto parts store, which will save you a ton of time on research.

Related: Camping With Toddlers---It's Possible! Here's How

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5. Headlamps

I know headlamps are a no-brainer, but let this serve as a friendly reminder of how essential they are.

From arriving late at the campsite (which happens almost all the time with our kids) and needing to set up camp in the dark, to using the bathroom in the middle of the night and cleaning up after cooking, the small convenience of hands-free light is something you don't want to do without.

As with lanterns, the kids love running around with them for an after-dinner play (make sure they don’t blind you when asking for a before-bed snack!)

When purchasing a headlamp, prioritize functionality over brand. I prefer mine to be dimmable and rechargeable.

And they don’t need to cost a lot. You can find a high-quality one at the hardware store or Amazon for $15 or less.

Some offer red light options, which is excellent if you are camping on the beach where sea turtles come up to nest. When the hatchlings are making their way to the ocean, the red lights don’t disorient them, and they can go on their way uninterrupted and find the ocean with no problem.

We learned this at Edisto Beach, SC, and going out at night has been a fun adventure with the kids. BTW, they have great camping options there.

Additionally, red light is more conducive to promoting sleep, so we utilize this function at night.

I have liked these by Black Diamond, but Biolite also offers many options.

Final Thoughts On Camping Gear For Families

My wife and I dream of the day we can purchase a camper and really go out into the woods in style. But until then, we will continue to keep going with our kids until they don’t want to have anything to do with us.

As a gearhead, my tendency is to be overprepared, and thus I overpack. But every trip is an opportunity to get better and more efficient.

I’m likely to have this perfectly dialed in once the kids are off to college, but in the meantime, I hope these five camping gear essentials make your family's camping trips as fun as ours.

Cheers to the adventures of fatherhood!

Looking For More Camping Tips & Advice? 

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