8 Pieces Of Camping Gear Worth Buying From Dick's Sporting Goods (And 4 To Skip)

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You want to prepare for any camping trip you're about to go on. Regardless of whether it's a simple trip to a campground with designated locations or a wilderness hike with your friends, your gear is crucial. You want to bring the best tools with you that you know are going to work. There are multiple items and pieces of camping gear that you can get at Dick's Sporting Goods, like Swiss Army Knives, but it can take time to wade through the best gear.

We've gone through to find eight pieces of camping gear that you can get from Dick's Sporting Goods before you go on your next outing. We also found four that you should probably skip buying for several reasons, which is what we go into in our methodology at the end. While you're at Dick's Sporting Goods, there are also a handful of gifts you can get for friends or family members who are camping enthusiasts.

A comfortable camping chair can be great to have at a campsite anywhere you go, providing optimal comfort while you enjoy nature next to a pond, lake, or when sitting close to a warm fire. The Yeti Trailhead Camp Chair is a comfortable choice to bring on a trip, although it might be hard to beat a heated camping chair.

Capable of holding up to 500 pounds to give it a heavy-duty feel while you sit in it, it is UV-resistant to help prevent it from being damaged while sitting out under the sun, and it folds up to fit inside a carry bag to carry around when traveling. It also features an adjustable cup holder you can place on either armrest, and the cup holder's size can change to accommodate a drink from 10 ounces up to 30 ounces. The chair's broad and oversized feet assist in helping to prevent any sinking, providing more stability for whoever sits in it across the different types of ground that might show up at a campsite. The chair weighs 13 pounds, marking it as one of the heavier camping chairs you can grab. Still, the premium weight reflects the premium price and quality.

It's available for $300, comes in charcoal or navy tones, and has a 4.7-star customer rating.

For anyone who likes to bring a portable campfire to a campsite rather than rely on the ones provided, smokeless fire pits are a potential option. The Breeo X24 Smokeless Fire Pit is a reliable choice for anyone who wants to bring a campfire with them when they go camping and ensure everyone's clothes don't get covered in ash or heavy smoke before heading home from the trip. We'll have to consider adding it to our best smokeless fire pits list.

Made from heavy-duty gauge 304 stainless steel or Corten steel, which makes it rust-resistant, the Breeo X24 has a 24-inch-long pit, capable of comfortably fitting up to four camping chairs around it and distributing heat. The fire pit has an 'X' formation on the bottom to help regulate airflow, giving the fire plenty of air to continue operating, despite the walls surrounding it. It's also where more of the smoke gets out, helping to protect everyone sitting around it. The firepit is heavy, weighing 62 pounds, so expect at least two people to carry it when bringing it camping or to sit at a campsite.

The Breeo X24 is available for $599 in corten steel, or $799 in stainless, and it has a 4.9-star customer rating. 

Backpacks and travel equipment are useful tools to bring with you for camping trips, regardless of whether you're going on a small trip or a hiking escape with a few friends. When you want to bring a reliable outdoor backpack with you, the Yeti Crossroads 27L backpack can be a suitable asset for handling the weather.

It's made from 700D, water- and abrasion-resistant nylon, ensuring everything inside it stays protected. The straps have robust padding, ideal for carrying it for several hours through difficult terrain. It has a large primary compartment where you'll be able to put most of your things, along with a padded laptop vault for your more precious items, with an in-reach quick-access pocket on top. There are also interior side pockets for your water bottles to keep them contained and in one place. The backpack itself weighs less than four pounds, making it easy to carry without anything in it, but it is burly and sturdier than an average backpack you might carry outside of camping trips.

Available for $230, it comes in a range of colors and has a 4.7-star customer rating.

Any camping trip would not be finished without bringing a tent, and having one large enough to accommodate multiple people can sometimes be hard to find. The Core Equipment 6-Person Instant Cabin Tent can fit up to six standard sleeping bags at max capacity or two queen-sized air mattresses for a smaller number of campers who prefer a bit more comfort. Both are viable options, as it all comes down to how you enjoy camping.

The tent is 11 feet in length, nine feet wide, and 72 inches tall. The nearly 600-cubic-foot tent is made from durable polyester, with pre-attached poles that make setting up this tent exceptionally easy, and it should take no more than 60 seconds. There's a taped rainfly that is removable if the weather is nice, and it has zippered panels on the doors and windows to provide for the occupants. When you're moving it, the six-person tent comes with a carry bag a single person can sling over their shoulder, making it easier to transport and keep everything together.

The Core Equipment 6-person tent is available for $229 and has a 4.6-star customer rating.

Bringing plenty of light with you when you go camping makes everything easier, but you need different types of light based on what you're doing. Having a lamp around a table as you talk or play games is essential, and having a flashlight to take with you when walking around can help protect you from tripping. The Nebo Poppy 2-in-1 light gives you both a lantern and a spotlight in a single device.

This water- and impact-resistant device can transform into a lantern that shines light in 360 degrees around it. Alternatively, you push that light down and have it shine a more focused beam directly in front of you, enabling you to light your path forward. You can switch where the handle is based on which light you're using, with a vertical handle for the flashlight and a horizontal placement on top when it's a lantern. Both modes have dimmable light options, allowing you to adjust the brightness for what you need, rather than a single bright light for every use.

You can get the Nebo Poppy 2-in-1 light for $19.99, which has a 4.6-star customer rating. It also comes in blue, orange, black, or purple.

Coolers are helpful camping tools to keep your perishables within reach next to a fire or a camping table, and to make sure they stay good for a trip. Not every cooler needs to be massive, though, and if you want a reliable smaller cooler, there's the Yeti Roadie 15 Hard Cooler, compact and ideal for holding beverages or bringing packs of ice.

The Roadie 15 Hard Cooler is 17 inches wide, 14 inches tall, and 11.2 inches deep. While not large enough to protect your meals, it's great for keeping up to 22 cans inside it, or 16 pounds of ice if you want a dedicated container for them. You can also fit small portions of food inside it, but don't expect to fit an entire trip's worth in it. The container, by itself, weighs less than 10 pounds and comes with an adjustable strap to make carrying it a simple task.

You can get it for $200. It comes in a wide range of colors and has a 4.7-star customer rating. While it might be one of the more expensive coolers you get, there's a reason for that – they're made with quality construction methods and materials.

Boiling water can be a time-consuming process while you're camping, even if you have a nearby campfire to help make it easier. Rather than relying on having a campfire ready, there's the Jetboil Flash Cooking System. It comes with a 1-liter cooking cup that you put on top of the heating element and fuel compartment, locking it all together after you've turned it on.

The electric heater can boil half a liter of water in 120 seconds, allowing you to prepare your meal in a short time and ensuring you'll be able to eat in multiple camping conditions. The liquid container features heat-triggered color changing to signify when the water is boiling, to help prevent you from using too much fuel and being wasteful while camping. You'll be able to make enough food for one or two people. When it's done, you can place a top on it to save for later, or use the drink-through to enjoy the contents through the pour spout and strainer.

You can get the Jetboil Flash Cooking System for $129.99, and it has a 4.8-star customer rating.

It's easy for cans or bottles to be left out and forgotten about when you're camping, as you might get pulled away from other activities. The outdoor elements of a hot afternoon or a cold evening could also ruin a beverage before you've properly enjoyed it. To help protect your cans from these elements, there's the Yeti 12-ounce Rambler Colster Can Insulator, built to protect your beverage so you can always come back and enjoy it.

You slide any can you're drinking from into the can insulator, and it keeps your drink cold for longer periods of time. The insulator won't be covered in any condensation, making it easy to pick up and grab wherever you leave it without the mess. It goes beyond other koozies, as it's made from stainless steel and weighs less than half a pound.

You can get the Yeti Colster Can Insulator for $25, and it has a 4.7-star customer rating. You can pick one out from a wide array of color choices and designs.

Automatic and motorized pumps are a great item to bring with you on a camping trip. There are several items that you need to pump up, and using a manual one is reliable, but it's exhausting. If you're looking for a pump, the Intex Quick-Fill Rechargeable Pump might not be the product you're looking to bring with you. While it's advertised as being able to inflate air beds easily and coming with three interconnecting nozzles to work quickly, customers who purchased it highlight that they had trouble relying on the battery. 

Some say that it died after a single use, or others only used it a handful of times before it stopped working. There are several reviews of the product working fine, but the reliability of the device's battery fails quite often, even if someone has recently charged it. Not only did it stop working, but it also stopped charging entirely. When it comes to camping, reliable products are entirely necessary because you can't afford for something to suddenly break down. If you're looking for an electric air pump, there are a few options available for you to get on Amazon.

Bringing a reliable fire starter with you is a good way to ensure you can always make a quick fire, regardless of your current conditions. Even if you're going on a simple camping trip at a park, it's a good tool to have at your side. However, a product you might not want to have as a fire starter to get one going is Coghlan's Magnesium Fire Starter. It's a small device that has a magnesium strip and a small serrated blade that you use to strike it, creating a quick flame on your leaves or pine needles to get a fire going.

Although the magnesium strip is good and is one customers find useful, the striker is the real problem and is why some don't recommend it. The striker is small and eventually begins to fail. Without it, someone has to bring a sharp knife or tool with them to strike the magnesium. Finding a different product that comes with a more reliable striker is a safer option, so these two always function together rather than forcing you to bring a second tool to make it work.

Multi-tools are a great asset to bring anywhere, and they excel when you're at a campground. You can expect to use nearly every tool available to you, with plenty of options to improvise. Still, a multi-tool available at Dick's Sporting Goods that you might want to avoid is Gerber's Dime Multi-tool. The dime is a smaller product, under three inches long when closed, and weighs less than a quarter of a pound. It comes with 10 tools, including pliers, a fine-edge blade, a bottle opener, and scissors, to name a few.

However, customers warn about the durability of the product. Some used it perfectly fine for several days, but after falling once, parts of it began to break. This could be due to the product's smaller frame, but others have problems with specific tools, such as the sharpness of the scissors, the screwdriver heads breaking, or the wire cutters not properly cutting. There are a handful of problems that make Gerber's Dime multi-tool a less-than-recommended item to bring camping.

Having water with you while you're camping or hiking is something you should always prioritize. You'll always want to have it at the ready, and being able to drink it while you're walking or doing activities keeps your body properly hydrated. The CamelBak Crux Reservoir is designed for you to use while you're on the go, but it might not be something you want to take with you. It can hold up to 70 ounces of water on your back, with a hose that you bring up to your mouth to drink from.

Although a useful design, customers point out that the durability and seal on this model might not be good. Many who have purchased and used it find that the product frequently leaks. They find it unreliable when they try to use it, and several have tried to find the source of the leak to plug it, but can never seem to identify the root cause. It's happened multiple times that many should not rely on this product to take out in the wilderness.

When picking out camping items for this list, we consulted the various reviews offered by customers in their first-hand experiences. Each product we recommended has at least 100 customer reviews (some even have thousands of reviews) that are above a 4.6-star rating. We also went through professional reviews to help reinforce why these products were preferred camping choices, and how they could be useful to bring with you. The items selected are also crucial choices that those going on intense hikes and recreational excursions can appreciate, offering a range of recommendations. As for products to avoid, we likewise relied on customer feedback to highlight negative aspects of these items.