There was a time when camping technology meant remembering spare batteries for the torch.
Now?
You can communicate by satellite, generate electricity from the sun, inflate your sleeping mat with something barely bigger than your thumb and wear a computer on your wrist that knows you're lost before you're prepared to admit it.
Camping has changed.
And while we're firmly of the opinion that getting outside should mean switching off occasionally, some technology genuinely makes spending time outdoors better.
Not more complicated. Just easier.
So we've picked six pieces of outdoor technology worth knowing about in 2026.
And then there's number seven. You can't buy that one.
Yet.
When the phone signal disappears
There is something brilliant about watching the bars of phone signal disappear as you head further into the hills.
Right up until you actually need them.
Satellite communication has quietly become one of the biggest developments in serious outdoor technology.
For walkers, campers and anyone travelling beyond reliable mobile coverage, a compact satellite communicator can provide another way to stay connected when the phone network gives up.
It's the sort of technology you hope you never genuinely need.
Which is exactly why it's worth carrying.
UNROUTED Gear Find
Satellite communicator for trips beyond reliable mobile coverage.
The campsite is becoming its own power station
Running out of power used to mean accepting defeat.
Now you can unfold a panel, point it vaguely towards the British sun and start producing electricity.
Admittedly, the British sun occasionally needs reminding that it's involved.
Portable solar technology is becoming lighter, easier to pack and considerably more useful for camping and campervan trips.
Pair it with a power bank or portable power station and suddenly keeping phones, cameras, watches and campsite technology running for a weekend becomes much easier.
UNROUTED Gear Find
Portable solar power for camping and campervan trips.
Your lungs can officially retire
It's 10:47pm. It's dark. You've driven three hours. The tent is finally up.
And now you're sitting on the floor trying to inflate a sleeping mat using whatever energy you have left.
There is now technology for this. Of course there is.
Tiny rechargeable pumps have become one of those camping gadgets that initially look completely unnecessary.
Until you use one.
The FLEXTAIL ZERO PUMP 2 is exactly the sort of outdoor technology we like.
Small. Useful. Easy to pack. And designed to remove one mildly annoying part of camping.
UNROUTED Gear Find
Flextail Zero Pump 2
A rechargeable pump small enough to forget you packed it.
Like this sort of thing?Get Field Notes from UNROUTED.
New places. Outdoor gear worth knowing about. Stories from off route. And first access to what we're building.
The first 500 sign-ups will receive early access to the first UNROUTED collection in Spring 2027.
The torch got an upgrade
Camping lights have come a long way from the enormous plastic torch your dad kept in the garage.
Rechargeable LEDs now give us smaller lights, longer runtimes and considerably better campsite lighting without carrying a suitcase full of batteries.
A good camping light is one of those pieces of kit that gets used constantly.
Cooking. Finding things in the tent. Walking to the toilet at 2am.
Trying not to trip over the guy ropes you definitely said you'd remember were there.
UNROUTED Gear Find
LE Camping Light
Rechargeable campsite lighting for cooking, tents and 2am wanderings.
Even water has become tech
Clean drinking water is one area where outdoor technology genuinely matters.
Modern portable filtration systems have become smaller and easier to carry, making them increasingly popular with hikers, wild campers and people travelling further away from normal facilities.
It's not the glamorous part of an outdoor setup.
But neither is being incredibly thirsty halfway up a mountain.
UNROUTED Gear Find
Portable water filtration for hiking and wild camping.
The outdoors on your wrist
Outdoor watches have gone from telling you the time to becoming tiny navigation and fitness computers.
GPS. Routes. Altitude. Weather information. Activity tracking. Battery life measured in days rather than hours.
For walkers and campers, they're becoming one of the most useful pieces of technology you can wear.
Although sadly none of them can yet tell you why you ignored the weather forecast and wore trainers.
UNROUTED Gear Find
An outdoor watch for navigation, tracking and long battery life.
06 down. One to go.
But this oneis different.
07 / The one you can't buy
There's still oneproblem we thinkoutdoor tech cansolve better.
Look at what we can already take outside.
Power.
Light.
Navigation.
Communication.
Clean water.
Even inflating your bed has been turned into technology.
But spend enough nights outside in Britain and eventually everything comes back to one very simple thing.
Cold.
And despite all the technology now sitting in our backpacks, cars and campervans, staying comfortable when the temperature drops can still feel surprisingly old fashioned.
So we started asking a question.
What if warmthcould be smarter too?
Portable.
Rechargeable.
Made for nights outside.
No extension leads.
No disposable packs.
No unnecessary complication.
That's probably enough clues for now.
Something warmis coming.
First UNROUTED collection
Spring 2027
We're designing and engineering our first collection around a simple idea.
Technology should help us stay outside longer.
Not give us another reason to stay inside.
The first 500 sign-ups will receive early access to the Spring 2027 drop.
Off route. On purpose.
Some links in this journal are affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, UNROUTED may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. We only feature products we believe are genuinely relevant to the story.
