While it’s ironic to discover the best new outdoor gear while walking the floors of a windowless convention center, I was excited to attend the inaugural Switchback show in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this month. After two days of pounding the sticky trade show floor, here’s the gear that got me most excited.
Lifestraw Escape Purifier
[Launching August 5, 2026]
You can find tons of different water filtration tools for backpackers but none for the car camping/overland crowd. Lifestraw is about to launch one. The Escape is a 5-gallon jug fitted with a purifier inside and a pressurization pump up top (sort of like a beer keg). You can fill it with water from any source—a river, a pond, or a stock tank—pump it up, open the nozzle, and it will provide clean water at a flow rate similar to your kitchen sink. Because it’s a purifier and not just a filter, it gets rid of viruses in addition to bacteria, microplastics, silt, and more. Those worried about the end times will also love this unit and will keep it in their basement near the canned food cache.
Mimikai Mosquito and Tick Bug Spray
Deet and Picardin have long been the go-to ingredients in bug sprays even though both are pretty nasty. The natural bug sprays usually don’t work very well. But Mimikai, a brand new company, says they’ve found a much more friendly anti-bug ingredient that’s derived from wild tomatoes and is just as effective as the harsher chemicals at repelling mosquitoes and ticks. We have yet to put it to the test, but the spray has been years in the making and is the first new EPA-registered repellent in 25 years, so it can’t be total snake oil.
Gossamer Gear Piku Sling
$75 at Garage Grown Gear $75 at Gossamer Gear
Most sling bags are fashion accessories or only made to hold your everyday carry. The Piku, on the other hand, is a full-on adventure pack. Thanks to the roll top, it can hold enough gear for a full-day adventure in the backcountry and comes with a little pad you can pull out and sit on for lunch. On a civilized vacation, it will hold your water bottle, a rain jacket, and other necessities, and then expand to hold whatever treats or souvenirs you buy during your day. Two included straps allow the Piku to mount on your handlebars for bikepacking adventures. Made from 100-denier recycled nylon, it’s tough as nails but only weighs 8.9 ounces.
Neve Smoothie Pouch
Neve founder Nora Fierman, an adventurous skier and mountain biker, was always looking for the best way to quickly and efficiently fuel on long backcountry adventures. Gels were fine but kinda gross, and regular apple sauce packets didn’t pack enough punch. To fill the gap, she invented her own smoothie pouches that are loaded with all the stuff you need for big, all-day outings like naturally sourced carbs, fats, and sodium, plus tons of other beneficial ingredients found in beets and boysenberries. We tried a few pouches at the show, and they are delicious, so no one should have a problem downing a couple to prevent bonking.
Akaso Seemor-200 Night Vision Goggles
These see-in-the-dark goggles aren’t intended for bad-guy hunters but for nature lovers. A variety of technologies, including infrared, let you scan a forest and immediately see things that otherwise would be hidden in the dark. Bird watchers will love using them to track owls, and I can absolutely see my kids spending hours tracking creatures in the woods after dark outside the house or on a backpacking trip. If you do see something poke through the trees, it’s easy to record the animal in 4K video so you can share your experience.
Birkenstock CT
[Launching August, 2025]
The Birkenstock Boston Clog has had more than a moment for the past year or so. Aging boomers down to high school students are now rocking these sandals, and stores can’t keep them on the shelves. Now the company is about to launch the same style of clog but with an off-road PU sole so that you can wear them to work, on vacation, and even up a trail. They’re not full-on hiking shoes, but the meaty sole will provide enough grip to get you off the pavement, and Birkenstock aficionados will undoubtedly love the chunky look. Like all Birks, the CTs come with a wildly comfy, contoured footbed and a high-quality leather upper.
GiantMouse Ace Jutland Slipjoint Brass Knife
Most knives these days are packed with as many features as possible: locking mechanisms, innovative blade designs, and more. We loved this knife from GiantMouse because it relies on simplicity and quality. Instead of a lock, there’s a slipjoint that provides a little resistance when you close the blade but still allows you to snap it shut (like your grandpa’s old knife that you played with as a kid). There’s no clever way to open the knife, just a small slit for your fingernail. It isn’t cheap at $225, but you get high-quality components, including a beautiful brass handle and an edge-holding S90v steel blade.
Craggy Portable Metal Ring Toss Game
The ring toss game has been around for a long time, but this version is made from metal and folds down for easy transport. That means it can live in your car at all times and get pulled out during every camping trip or tailgate. If you’ve ever played this game, you know how addicting it can get, for kids and adults—it’s easy to spend hours battling back and forth as you perfect your technique. Seventy bucks is a lot for a game, but after it’s been used for hundreds of hours of fun, the cost will seem like a pittance.
