Outdoor Retailer Overlanding: 2018 Tools for All-Terrain Adventure

From rooftop tents to on-the-go power solutions, this year’s Outdoor Retailer show was full of quality overland travel gear. Take your car camping up a notch with these exciting new products.

There was a wide selection of cool overland adventure vehicles around the Outdoor Retailer show this year. Many were on display to highlight exciting new products, or sometimes just bring attention to a booth space. Overland-oriented products are hot right now, and the outdoor industry is looking to cash in on the trend.

Let’s dive into a closer look at some of the specific overland products from around the show. Some came from established overland brands while others were first-timers in the outdoor market. And others represented crossover products from long-established outdoor brands.

Tepui HyBox, Rooftop Tents

Tepui is a Santa Cruz, California-based company that specializes in rooftop tents (RTTs). It has also gone into camp furniture and complementary gear storage/transport bag businesses. Its core business is all about overlanding and car camping.

There’s a reason the Tepui HyBox received a Best In Show GearJunkie award this year: It’s an idea many had thought about but none had brought to market. The HyBox is a combination RTT and gearbox. It will hit the market this fall and run about $2,800.

Besides the HyBox, Tepui also showed off a line of camp furniture that is perfect for the overland lifestyle. And it rounded off the new product offerings with a slim-line RTT and a new gear storage bag made from recycled RTT covers.

iKamper X-Cover

The new iKamper X-Cover soft-shell RTT eliminates the need for a separate cover when the tent is collapsed on the roof. This is a first in the RTT segment that eliminates extra weight, setup/breakdown hassle, and the havoc a dirty cover blowing in the wind can cause on a vehicle’s paint job.

The X-Cover will include built-in crossbars, sell for around $3,000, and be available in early 2019.

Maxtrax Mini

Maxtrax has established itself as the leader in traction boards around the globe. Its latest product is the Maxtrax Mini. The Mini sports a very similar design to the original full-size Maxtrax, just smaller and lighter.

If you adventure off the beaten path, you’re going to want a quick and easy way to regain traction in sandy, snowy, and muddy conditions. The Maxtrax Mini offers a lightweight, small solution that is particularly perfect for use with crossovers, wagons, and side-by-sides.

The Mini will be available in late summer for a bit more than $200.

Rightline Gear Door Step

It’s always a pain to load gear onto a roof rack on tall crossovers, wagons, and SUVs. But Rightline Gear has you covered with its new Door Step product. This step quickly and easily hangs off your door striker plate, offering a secure and stable step to easily access your roof.

The step is rated at 400-plus pounds, offers high visibility so you’re less likely to slam it in the car door, and offers a padded back so as not to scratch the paint. It will hit the market in September and retail for $45.

Lifesaver Jerry Can

Lifesaver has been offering its 4.9-gallon Jerry Can water filtration system for more than 11 years now. While the product (and its tech) is tried and true around the globe, the brand made some slight tweaks for 2018. While these changes were mostly to appease military buyers, they benefit us all.

The main upgrade is the flow rate: The new filter design allows for a max flow of 2 gallons per minute. And Lifesaver offers the system in a variety of new colors. The black Jerry Can is particularly good for use as a solar heated shower, especially when used with the optional $30 shower attachment.

Both the 10,000-liter ($190) and 20,000-liter $230 Lifesaver Jerry Cans, in all colors, are available now.

Kelty GYST

Kelty wants to help you “Get Your Shit Together.” The GYST is a collapsible storage bin system for your vehicle. It’s made of polyester fabric and has a metal frame and an interior that’s easily wiped down for cleaning.

The Kelty GYST bags will be available in spring 2019. The Big G is 14 x 28 x 17 inches and will go for $90. The Original G is 14 x 19 x 15 inches and will go for $40.

MPowerd Luci Solar String Light

Lighting up the back of your pickup, the inside of your adventure van, or the camp picnic table is now easier than ever. MPowerd’s line of Luci solar-powered lights has now expanded beyond the inflatable units we all know and love.

The new Luci String Lights offer 20 hours of light, three brightness levels, and a flashlight on the bottom. And, of course, they are fully solar powered — but they can also be recharged in two hours through a USB port. A nice added feature is that the lights can charge your phone and other small electronics.

The Luci Solar String Light will be available in August for $35.

Opinel Nomad Cooking Kit

Eating right while overlanding is key to fueling the adventures ahead. Opinel has been making quality knives for ages and now offers a nice, compact cooking kit.

The Nomad Cooking Kit has a cutting board, No. 12 serrated knife, No. 10 corkscrew knife, and No. 6 folding peeler. It’s wrapped up in a handy microfiber towel/storage pouch, and the cutting board and knife handles are all beech wood, harvested from sustainable tree farms.

The Opinel Nomad Cooking Kit will retail for $85 and hit the U.S. market in September.

Kovea Phantom Torch

Always get the charcoal going or that wet campfire started. At 5 ounces, the Phantom Torch is lightweight — but not compact. Its long reach makes sure you don’t singe those arm hairs or eyebrows.

Kovea just released the Phantom Torch, and it’s competitively priced at $55.

More Power! Dometic, Midland

Keeping your gadgets powered up on your overland adventures is a necessity. Whether it be your GPS, 12-volt fridge, laptop, drone, camera gear, or just cell phone, you’re going to want to keep the electrons flowing.

Not surprisingly, there was a wide range of products on display at OR this year for just this purpose. The following two units stood out from the crowd.

Dometic PLB40

The new Dometic PLB40 is truly designed for overland life. It can run a Dometic CFX fridge for a full 48 hours on a single charge. It offers a 40-amp-per-hour lithium-ion phosphate battery that recharges in five hours off a 110-volt outlet and is rated to a massive 2,000 full recharge cycles.

The 14.5-pound unit offers two USB outlets, a two-pin threaded 12-volt outlet for a fridge, and a standard 12-volt outlet. The PLB40 will be available in early 2019 for $749.

Midland PPG1000

The Midland PPG1000 offers a whopping 1,000-watt output from a 925-watt-hour battery. While this product has been on offer for over a year now, Midland showed off a fully updated unit at OR that will be available in October.

This 27-pound unit is housed an upgraded durable waterproof case and has an added interior LED light and built-in USB-C ports. While not inexpensive, at $1,099, it offers massive power for those big adventures.