FAVORITE RV PRODUCTS
We’ve been going to the Outdoor Retailer show for quite a few years now. It’s not open to the general public, so it’s one of those perks of doing our Fit RV thing. We started going back when it was in Salt Lake City. Then it moved to Denver, and we still went. And now it’s back in SLC again. But wherever the venue, the idea behind the show is the same. A showcase for everything new, cool, and up and coming in the outdoor industry.
This year, we spent our time there trolling the show for the product we thought would be hits for RVers. We came up with six. Check them out in this video!
HEAT-IT INSECT BITE RELIEF
This is a pretty cool gizmo that I instantly appreciated considering that I’m a certified mosquito magnet. The idea is to relieve the itching and pain of insect bites by applying gentle heat to the area. The heat is provided by their device, which itself is powered by your cell phone. It’s a pretty cool idea, and no, it doesn’t drain your phone battery. You can read more about it on their website: heat-it.com. And you can buy them directly from Amazon, here.
TICK MITT
RVers love to travel with their pets, but nobody loves ticks. The Tick Mitt is an easy and fun (for the pet) way to check for and remove ticks that haven’t embedded yet. You just run the mitt over your pet (or yourself, or your friend… you get the idea), and the microfiber mitt snatches the ticks like Velcro. The dog we tried it on at the show just thought it was its lucky “everyone wants to pet me” day. You can find out more about it at TickMitt.com, and you can buy them directly from Amazon at this link.
SURVUE SMART BICYCLE TAIL LIGHT
Anything that makes cycling safer is going to be a hit with us, and so the Survue smart tail light is right on target. We’ve seen, and have friends who ride with, radar-enabled tail lights. Those are great, but always produced too many false-alarms for my taste. The Survue is different. It’s an AI-trained smart light, so it only alerts you if a vehicle is going to get close to you… not just if there’s any vehicle back there at all. There are other features like automatic recording of close calls, and changing of the light frequency. It’s not available in stores yet, but you can be one of the first in line by backing the product on Kickstarter, here: get.survue.ai
SOUND SNACKING BARS
When we’re out cycling or hiking, we tend to eat a lot of bars – and we bet you’re the same. But personaly, I’m kind of over bars, and can barely bring myself to eat them anymore. They all taste the same! We found some at the show that were different. Sound Snacking makes their bars differently, using what they call Ultrasonic Agglomeration. In my mind, I compare it to ultrasonic welding, though technically I don’t know if that’s correct. They more or less treat their ingredients with sound waves to get them to stick together – instead of sugar syrups or pastes. As a result, their bars taste quite different (and good). The texture is a welcome departure from the same-old sticky bars. You can check them out at Soundsnacking.com!
AQUA MARINA TPU WATERCRAFT
We’ve had a couple inflatable paddleboards for a while now, and over the years, we’ve dabbled in inflatable kayaks as well. But the folks at Aqua Marina are now making these items even lighter and more durable by constructing them out of TPU. We were so impressed with their TPU kayak that we bought it on the spot! You can get our same kayak now on Amazon.com! It weighs only about 16 pounds for a two-person kayak, and it packs down to about half the size of JUST ONE of our paddleboards. Their TPU paddleboards will be coming out soon, and I expect we’ll go back and get those as well because the difference in weight and folded size is just amazing. When they’re available, you’ll be able to learn more about them at Aquamarina.com!
Side Note: This was such a big deal for us, that it got me working on re-organizing our RV’s gear garage so that we could dedicate a regular space to the watercraft. Look for that project coming up!
KANGAROO TOSS
And finally, campground games! What RVer hasn’t played cornhole a billion times. We found this game, from Lost Boy Entertainment, that will let you switch it up at your next RV gathering. It’s kind of a toss game, kind of a strategy game, and kind of bocce ball. You have to hear the explanation to get it fully. But probably the biggest thing I liked about it is that it doesn’t require an even number of players! 3 players, 5 players. Any number up to 6. So whoever wants to play, can… and you don’t have to do that dragging-someone-reluctantly-onto-the-dance-floor thing to round out your teams.
WANT TO TRY IT?? If you’re coming to Camp Winnebago next week, we’re bringing a set along with us, so you can try it out in person!
You can find Kangaroo Toss, and all their other games at Lost Boy Entertainment.com!
And there you have it, our top 6 finds at this year’s outdoor retailer show. Whether you’re a fellow mosquito magnet, or if you’re just looking for a new game at the campground, we hope we found something you’ll love.