Cool Shit Monday: Outdoor Adventures

It's still cold.  I feel like I will be saying this for many, many months to come and it's boring.  It's like I'm in some Groundhog Day as a poor retail assistant whose only opening gambit with a customer is to discuss the weather.  I'm not sure why I insist on torturing myself by putting up things that remind me of summer when we are so far away from it.  But a bit of escapism never hurt anyone.  As long as you wake up before 'delusional', you'll be fine.  So come with me on a camping adventure!  I know some people hate camping, but here is some seriously cool shit that even the most anti-outdoor person would have to covet on some level.

You might be in the cold and rain, the person in the tent beside you might snore like a chainsaw, and the ants might have got into your Fruit Bursts, but these amazing Field Candy tents will make it all ok because you will be the coolest kid in the campground.  How could you be sad about being snuggled up inside a tent that looks like corduroy and has buttons??  YOU COULDN'T, I TELL YOU!

 

When I was a kid, cooking marshmallows over a bonfire ranked right up there with the best activities ever.  It was one of the pinnacles of childhood - fire + lollies = hullo!  We used to occasionally try smooshing the marshies between SuperWines but I was mostly just into pulling the charred outter of the marshy off with my teeth, then sucking the melted centre off the stick (trying to avoid bark etc).  I knew about smores from American TV shows but never fully appreciated their awesomeness until some American friends of mine made them for me with the proper ingredients - Graham Crackers, Jumbo White Marshmallows, and delicious chocolate (I prefer dark chocolate).  Food combo magic.  These ones below use homemade marshmallow which sounds pretty great to me.  Just make sure you don't get chocolatey fingers on your lovely quilty tent.

From Jenny Steffens Hobick

Sensible footwear.  There's a phrase that makes my lip curl distastefully.  Thankfully, Native shoes are sensible AND stylish.  Check out their hiking boots below.  I can't tell you that much about them as apparently they are so cool they don't need to give you product information, you should just be grateful to buy such coolness.  I do know that they're made of some special stuff that moulds to your foot.  Sounds gross but I'm sure it's useful.  I had a wander through their website and they have some seriously awesome casual shoes but these ones fit my theme best.  I feel like I'd want one of each colour to show them to best effect.  It's a shame I don't have 5 feet.  Not really actually.  I don't need five feet, no need to be greedy.  I'll just take the black ones.

Sleeping bags are not usually described as 'sexy' or 'hot' so when I heard about these I was dubious.  But I am now on board the Sexy Hotness Sleeping Bag bandwagon.  Especially after I saw the photo of the dude taking a leak against the tree in his SH bag.  They're not the highest rated sleeping bags (in terms of temperature) but they brag that they don't need it as they get 'cosy' once you're inside.  You can zip multiple bags together, or just unzip around the erogenous zone for... easy access.  The purple version also sports a karma sutra lining.  Love it.  You'll also have noticed that you use the middle zippers so you can walk around in your SH Bag instead of having to do the potato sack race hop.  It's all good news really.

So it's not exactly Glamping, but it is fun.  Get your smore on people and get ready for a camping adventure.

PS.  Friday's Frock post is still coming.  The weekend went a little differently than I had planned...