Category: Outdoors

Pop Goes The Campfire

Campfire Popcorn Popper Extension Handle

A stick goes a long way at a campfire. You can use it to roast a marshmallow or even cook a hot dog. As delicious as these campfire classics may be, their everlasting popularity has got to be due in part to the lowly stick. (After all, every campfire has one.)
However, while great for hot dogs and s’mores, the stick isn’t very useful for many other cooking tasks—unless of course, it has a wire holder on the end of it.

Perfectly designed for Jiffy Pop, the Campfire Popcorn Popper Extension Handle offers an easy way to introduce a new campfire classic. Long enough to be safely held over the fire, the business end of the ‘stick’ is fashioned into a loop, providing a clever way to bring the movie-night treat into the great outdoors—with no need to root around the surrounding area for the perfect stick.

The Cooler Has The Bottle Opener

HomeWetBar Port-o-Cooler Bottle Opener and Cap Catcher

It’s an age-old question uttered at every ‘que: Who has the bottle opener? First uttered moments after the first beer was bottled, the question has always resulted in a momentary pause in action as everybody looks around for the elusive tool. Eventually, somebody will fess up and exclaim, “Oh, I have it”. Fortunately, many years of bottles being opened have resulted in numerous advances in bottle opener technology. The best openers, of course, are the ones that don’t go anywhere.

The HomeWetBar Port-o-Cooler Bottle Opener and Cap Catcher isn’t likely to wander off with any freshly opened bottles. Easily attaching directly to a cooler (or anything else, really) via double-sided tape or mounting screws, the bolted-down bottle opener isn’t going anywhere the beer isn’t. Every get-together has one, and now that guy will just have to find something else to wander off—just keep him away from the grill.

Handy Holders Keep Drinks Off The Grass

Handy Holder Beverage Holders (Set of 2) by Picnic Plus

Grass is misleading. It looks like it should be all soft and fluffy, but in reality it’s sharp and pointy. And hardly as evenly-spaced as it looks. Along with sand (grrr…), grass has a tendency to just get in the way. However, cover it with a large blanket, and now you’re talking. Just add some warm weather and cool beverages and you got yourself an afternoon that can’t be beat. Until you try to set down your drink on bumpy grass or hot sand (grrr…).

For some of us, the Handy Holder Beverage Holders (Set of 2) by Picnic Plus makes perfect sense. Spiked into the ground, the hand-shaped 12-inch stainless-steel helper stabilizes your drink for you. As an added bonus, ice-cold beverages stay cooler longer, safely suspended up over the terrors of grass and sand.

Also available for wine.

Pressed For Tea? Press Your Own

Tovolo Tea Press Infuser

There are a great deal of options available to any on-the-go caffeine aficionado. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean the right choice is always available. More so than any other group of people, coffee and tea-drinkers know exactly how they take it, and their preferred option simply isn’t always available. For tea-drinkers, if this happens more often than not, perhaps it’s time to explore other options (without eliminating your favorite blend).

Continue reading Pressed For Tea? Press Your Own

Burgers In A Grill Basket?

Cuisinart Hamburger Basket

Okay, enough. Grill baskets are great, but when we start making them for hamburgers, well then that’s when it has gone too far. There are those grill grates sitting there after all. Usually. Most of the time. Not always when camping, I guess. Or at a bonfire. And those grates at the park can be kind of nasty, I suppose… All right, you win Cuisinart Hamburger Basket, I take it back. You can exist. Even if it’s just to show that more than just hot dogs and marshmallows can be held over a campfire.

***UPDATE 7/10/15*** Well, looks like Cuisinart got hungry for something else — the product link above was outdated. The good news is they have a basket for grilling more than just burgers now. Now all your food can enjoy the grill with the Cuisinart Simply Grilling Nonstick Grilling Basket.

The Picnic Tote That (Thankfully) Doesn’t Know When To Say When

Bottle Bag by Reisenthel

If you see someone walking around with one of these bags—follow them! Chances are they’re going to the best picnic in the park. Holding nine bottles of wine at a time, the Bottle Bag by Reisenthel makes it easy to transport wine to any occasion. Featuring individual compartments that keep each bottle secure while en-route, the foldable bag with padded Velcro handle is sure to be the number one picnic accessory of the year—certainly the most appreciated by those in attendance.