The best camping gadgets to keep you warm in the wild

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Gone are the days when a trip camping (or glamping) is considered roughing it. Particularly when you have some of these high-tech camping gadgets.

Quentin Long shared his favourite camping gadgets to keep you warm in the wild on a Today Show segment recently. Here, find a rundown on each of the products featured for you to invest in before you hit the road.

 

If you’re in need of some location inspiration, click here for the the best campsites to visit during winter.

Kookabox

Necessity forces creativity; new flavours come together simply because they are all you packed. The Kookabox is as close to a kitchen as you can get while camping, made of aircraft-grade aluminium for an ultra-lightweight and extreme durable experience. However, for transportation, campers use tandem trailers for extra space and safety for your family and your belongings.

 

This world-first product comes complete with all the bells and whistles of home. Fully functioning, the kit includes a saucepan, frying pan, four stainless steel plates and desert bowls, four insulated stainless steel mugs which can be used for hot or cold drinks, four drinking cups, BBQ implements including tongs, spatula, salad spoons, vegetable peeler and scissors, stainless steel cutlery for four, four stainless steel spice/condiment containers, five litre water tank with electric pump, LED lighting and a chiller/cooler box. Plus, a separate drawer to hold your oils and sauce bottles. You’ll never go without again.

 

Get it from: Kookabox

The Kookabox
The Kookabox is as close to a kitchen as you can get while camping

Fireside pop-up fire pit

This crafty invention is the first truly portable fire pit. It packs up smaller than a camp chair and weighs pretty much the same, but opens up to a 60x60cm gadget that is large enough to keep the whole party warm.

 

Lots of camping accessories these days come with more contraptions than a James Bond car. The Pop-Up Pit however sets up in just under 60 seconds, sans the use of any tools. It folds away in 90 seconds – once your fire is extinguished of course.

 

Get it from: BCF

Warm up your campsite

ALL4Adventure Swivel grill 

Camping doesn’t have to be synonymous with bad food. The Campfire Cooking Grill helps to make light work of good meals in the great outdoors. It’s constructed with sturdy steel and coated with high-temperature resistant paint for good looks and durability.

 

The four independent swivel arms hold two cooking grills and two hanging hooks, giving you plenty of room to cook up a feast for the whole campsite. No one will eat trail mix for dinner on your watch.

 

Get it from: BCF 

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

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Wanderer Hot Water System 

The thing we miss most when camping? Hot showers. This baby from Wanderer Hot Water goes from zero to hot in less than five seconds, is fully portable, provides three litres of hot water per minute, and has a rechargeable battery. The unit can be mounted vertically or attached to the optional shower stand (sold separately) and includes an easy to read LCD. Includes water heater, shower head, water hoses, filter and pump, power lead, gas hose and regulator that easily hooks up to your LPG gas tank for instant hot water. Hot stuff.

 

Get it from: BCF 

Oztent heated sleeping bag

The first of its kind in the world, stay warm in the wild with the Oztent non-electric heat adjustable sleeping bag.

 

We needn’t explain the benefits of a sleeping bag that heats itself. Anyone who has been camping in a colder month will recognise that braving the elements is much easier with some attention paid to detail.

 

The Oztent Redgum HotSpot Sleeping Bag is inspired by aerospace-grade sleep research to maximise your outdoor sleep comfort. Padding is specifically designed to support core muscle sections, and change temperature depending on your preferred conditions. There are five points of active heating that can be adjusted, as well as a soft and comfortable flannelette inner lining fabric.

 

Get it from: BCF 

Selk’Bag

Speaking of unique sleeping bags, have you cottoned on to the Selk’Bag trend yet?

 

In essence, it’s an insulated suit. Hard-core outdoorsy people have been wearing similar looking contraptions for years in sub-zero temperatures; the difference with the Selk’Bag being that they are designed without the inconvenient technical specs.

 

These wearable sleeping bags provide mobility, comfort and warmth for all the outdoor chaos that could be thrown at you. There’s a two-way zipper that grants easy access to pants pockets, and elastic hand enclosures which transition to gloves in a flash.

 

Get it from: Gear supply 

Selk’Bag
Have you cottoned on to the Selk’Bag trend yet?

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Primus Letch Coffee and Tea Kettle

It might not churn out your half-almond milk, half-unicorn tears, single-origin ristretto, but the LiTech Coffee & Tea Kettle does produce a decent cup of rocket fuel.

 

Made from anodised aluminium, it’s lightweight, durable and ideal for outdoor use.

 

Get it from: Primus

LiTech Coffee & Tea Kettle
LiTech Coffee & Tea Kettle produces a decent cup of rocket fuel

Anaconda Solar Mat

For the ultimate solar performance, give the KT Solar 120W Portable Folding Solar Mat a go. There’s nothing much to report about a product like this, particularly because it does exactly what it says it’s going to do.

 

With its unique and compact size, the portable mat can either lay flat or hang via corner eyelets for maximum solar positioning. Featuring six powerful monocrystalline cells in a 20W configuration, it’s the sustainable way to generate and retain energy at the campsite.

 

Get it from: Anaconda

KT Solar 120W Portable Folding Solar Mat
Give the KT Solar 120W Portable Folding Solar Mat a go
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Good food, beautiful nature & history: your guide to a long weekend in West Gippsland

(Credit: Rob Blackburn)

    Carla Grossetti Carla Grossetti
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    From rainforest walks and scenic drives to historic gold-rush towns and standout regional dining experiences, you can find it all in West Gippsland.

    Hover over West Gippsland on Google Earth and you’ll see vast tracts of land spread out like green velveteen around the Toorongo Falls Reserve. It’s a landscape that feels almost impossibly lush for a region sitting little more than an hour from Melbourne.

    Track southeast in late autumn and early winter and you’ll see pockets of the Mt Baw Baw Plateau dusted in snow. In addition to the forests of mountain ash veined with creeks and rivers, there are pastures and farmland cross-stitched together to form pretty patchworks.

    But West Gippsland isn’t defined by scenery alone: in addition to its awe-inspiring nature, a Venn diagram of the region includes gold-rush history and great culinary experiences.  Spend a long weekend here and it quickly becomes clear how often these three overlap.

    Getting there

    Messmates Dining west gippsland
    Spend the weekend eating and exploring in West Gippsland. (Credit: Messmates Dining)

    Getting to West Gippsland involves as easy drive – it’s just over an hour out of Melbourne along the Monash Freeway.

    Not driving? Catch the train from Melbourne on the Gippsland line, terminating at either Traralgon or Bairnsdale, and hop off at Warragul or Drouin.

    Visit historic villages

    Walhalla historic township
    Wander into Australia’s Gold Rush history at Walhalla. (Credit: Rob Blackburn)

    The West Gippsland region is on the Traditional Lands of the Kulin and Kurnai nations, specifically linked to the Bunurong, Gunaikurnai and Wurundjeri Peoples, whose connection to Country stretches back thousands of years.

    European settlement occurred in the 19th century as timber cutters, farmers and gold seekers pushed into the region’s dense forests. Small towns grew around sawmills and railway lines, and many of those gold rush settlements, timber towns and railway villages still shape the character of the region today.

    The most evocative of these is Walhalla Historic Township , a remarkably preserved gold-rush township tucked deep in the mountains. In the late 1800s, it was one of Victoria’s richest goldfields. Today visitors can step inside that history at the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine, where underground tours reveal the scale of the mining operation that once powered the town’s prosperity. Nearby, the Walhalla Goldfields Railway retraces part of the original narrow-gauge line through the valley, offering a slow journey past forest and river scenery.

    Further west, Noojee is a classic mountain village. It’s surrounded by dense forest and waterfalls and has become a natural base for exploring the Baw Baw region. Just outside town, Noojee Trestle Bridge stands as one of West Gippsland’s most striking relics of the rail era. The towering wooden structure is the tallest surviving trestle bridge in Victoria and today forms the centrepiece of an easy scenic walk with wide views across the valley.

    Alpine Trout Farm west gippsland
    Catch your own lunch at Alpine Trout Farm. (Credit: Nicky Cawood)

    At Alpine Trout Farm near Noojee, visitors can fish for trout in mountain-fed ponds before enjoying the catch prepared fresh onsite. It’s a simple experience that reflects the area’s long connection to the surrounding waterways.

    Back in Warragul , the region’s main service town, the story shifts from heritage to modern regional life. With galleries, restaurants and sweeping views across the rolling farmland of Gippsland, the town has become a lively hub linking the district’s past with its evolving food and cultural scene. Drive through the town and you’ll find heritage buildings, old pubs and weatherboard cottages that hint at the area’s early days as a frontier landscape.

    In other towns the past survives in quieter ways – a historic hall here, a century-old bakery there.

    Walks, waterfalls and wild places

    Toorongo Falls in west gippsland
    Stroll Toorongo Falls Reserve. (Credit: Nicky Cawood)

    Even simple roadside stops can feel cinematic in West Gippsland. The region also delivers plenty of opportunities to lace up your walking shoes.

    One of the region’s most rewarding nature escapes lies just outside Noojee at Toorongo Falls Reserve . A network of walking tracks winds through the cool-temperate rainforest where towering mountain ash trees filter the light and the air smells of rich, damp earth. The 2.2-kilometre trail to the viewing platform overlooking Toorongo Falls is short, but spectacular, as the water cascades down over moss-covered rock faces into a cool, green gully in Little Toorongo River.

    Further north, the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort offers year-round adventures. In winter, the mountain attracts skiers and snowboarders. The warmer months are just as compelling, with scenic drives to see alpine wildflowers, mountain bike trails and panoramic hiking routes that open across the plateau.

    Cyclists and walkers looking for a more relaxed pace can follow the Rokeby Neerim Rail Trail , which traces a former railway line through farmland and small Gippsland villages. The mostly flat trail passes rolling paddocks, creeks and historic bridges, making it an easy way to drop it down a gear when exploring the countryside.

    Taste the best eats of West Gippsland

    Hogget Kitchen west gippsland
    Taste the best of the region at Hogget Kitchen.

    For many travellers, the real drawcards of West Gippsland are the food and wine. The region sits in the heart of Victoria’s fertile dairy country, and that agricultural backdrop has helped shape a dining scene where seasonal produce and local provenance take centre stage.

    Hogget Kitchen has helped put Warragul firmly on the radar for serious regional dining in West Gippsland. Here, head chef and owner Trevor Perkins runs the kitchen alongside well-known winemakers William (Bill) Downie and Pat Sullivan. Hogget Kitchen lives up to its promise of exceptional destination dining; what lands on the table depends largely on what nearby farms have harvested that week as well as a wine list from Wild Dog Winery and other Gippsland producers.

    Warragul is also where you’ll find Messmates Dining where the kitchen team is led by Michelin-trained chefs. The Euro-leaning bistro and wine bar brings a polished edge to the local dining scene using produce sourced from across West Gippsland.

    For something more casual, the century-old Noojee Hotel is the kind of hub that every traveller dreams of finding after a long drive. Expect generous pub classics served on the sunny deck in summer or beside the crackle of a log fire in winter.  Nearby, rustic Toolshed Bar, Bistro & Cabins is the place to go for a wood-fired pizza topped with smoked local trout paired with Gippsland wine, making it a rewarding stop for lunch or an overnight stay.

    Time your visit with the Truffle Festival

    Food lovers visiting in winter should consider timing their trip to coincide with Noojee Truffle Festival , running from 10 July to 2 August 2026. The inaugural event celebrates the region’s emerging truffle industry with tastings, special menus and events built around one of winter’s most prized ingredients.

    Start planning your long weekend in West Gippsland at visitgippsland.com.au .