Isn’t amazing how fast summer goes by? The kids are back in school, and it’s time for the annual REI Labor Day Sale. This year’s event kicks off today, August 22, and ends on Labor Day, September 2. Many items are up to 30 percent off, and REI Co-op members save 20 percent on any REI Outlet item. To get the member discount, add the promo code SAVEOUTLET at checkout.
We’ve rounded up the best deals on all our favorite tents, backpacks, sleeping bags, pads, cookware, outdoor apparel and more. We’ve also pulled in deals from competing sales at Public Lands, Backcountry, and cottage industry retailers.
WIRED Featured Deals
Deals on Tents
REI tents are some of the best deals around, even more so during sales. If you’d like to learn more, see our guide to the best backpacking tents and best car camping tents.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
REI’s Base Camp tent is WIRED’s favorite car camping tent. It’s extremely well designed and proved plenty weatherproof in our testing. The traditional dome tent design, with two crossed poles and two side poles holds up well in wind and the tent floor is high-quality 150-denier (150D) polyester. There’s loads of storage pockets, double doors, great vents, and huge windows, making it comfortable even in summer heat.
The Wonderland 6 is REI’s replacement for the Kingdom 6 and looks to be, for the most part, very similar. We haven’t tested this one, but my almost 20-year-old Kingdom 6 is still going strong. For the most part, it’s made of the very same ripstop nylon used in the Wonderland. With plenty of mesh, this will have better ventilation than the Base Camp above, but the rainfly doesn’t come as low and the hoop design isn’t quite a strong. For summer camping though, this is a great option.
The REI Half Dome 2 is the best budget 2-person backpacking tent. We’ve toted it on many a backpacking trip and found it to be plenty sturdy, quick to set up, and capable of fitting two people and their gear. It even comes with a footprint (which I never bother with, but it’s nice to have it if you have to deal with prickers or pointy rocks). I really like the color options this year too, which blend in with its surroundings rather than stand out.
Deals on Day Hiking Packs and Backpacks
Be sure to read through our guide to day hiking packs. While we haven’t published our guide to ultralight backpacks yet, several of our picks are on sale right now and noted below.
Photography: Scott Gilbertson
I just started testing this pack this summer as part of an upcoming ultralight backpack guide. It’s very comfortable, carrying a 25 pound load without issue. I haven’t lived out of it for more than a night yet, but so far I like it and it’s very reasonably priced. Interestingly, there’s a comment on REI saying that you’re better off going with the Flash 55 and just removing the top lid to save some weight. That’ll save you some cash right now, as the Flash 55 is also on sale for $150.
REI’s Flash 22 pack is a bargain that’s hard to beat. The 22L capacity is just about perfect for day hiking, and there’s plenty of pockets to organize your gear. The side pockets are big enough to hold Nalgene-size water bottles, and there’s a laptop-compatible hydration sleeve, meaning it can double as an everyday carry pack as well.
I’ve always seen the Trail 25 as REI’s answer to the Mystery Ranch Rip Ruck packs. The access is similar, capacity about the same, and both make great hiking and every day carry packs. REI Co-op’s Trail 25 just happens to be half the price when it’s on sale.
Sleeping Bag Deals
Whether you need a cheap car camping bag, or something more robust for Fall and Spring trips, we’ve got you covered. Be sure to read our best sleeping bags guide for even more options.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
REI’s Magma line of down gear are some to the best deals around. The Magma 15 sleeping bag has long been an affordable sleeping bag that’s perfect for shoulder season trips when the temp potentially swing lower than you’re expecting (the comfort rating is 21F). There’s three lengths and three widths, making it easy to get something that’s perfect for your body, and the 850-fill-power goose down (bluesign-approved) packs down nice and small. If you don’t need the shoulder season coverage the Magma 30 is also on sale for $262 ($87 off), and makes a great summer sleeping bag.
I’ve just started testing this as a budget option for ultralight quilts. So far, I’ve been impressed. Like the sleeping bag version above, this is 95 percent of what you get from far more expensive bags. It’s light (20.3 oz. for the medium), packs down small, includes straps to keep it on your sleeping pad, can be completely unzipped and used like a comforter, or snapped up in a proper footbox on colder nights.
The Boost is a hybrid bag that would work for backpacking, but can also be adjusted to a semi-retangular shape to make it more comfortable for car camping. There are arm holes, which makes reading in it a bit easier, and you can reach out to open or close the “WarmZip” center zipper which cinches down the Boost to make it more like a traditional mummy bag.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
The “mummy” design of mummy bags is about optimizing for warmth, not comfort. But let’s face it—most of us are not sleeping in situations where our survival is at stake. Therm-a-Rest has addressed this with what it calls W.A.R.M. fit, which stands for “with additional room for multiple” positions. Indeed, this bag is very roomy for a mummy design. I was able to draw my legs up when side-sleeping and spread out considerably more than with most bags. If you toss and turn through the nights, and don’t want a quilt-style bag, this would be my top pick.
The Siesta is our favorite sleeping bag for car camping. You really shouldn’t need to spend a lot of money on a sleeping bag for car camping. Should your best efforts to cocoon warmth around you fail, there is, after all, a car to retreat to. That’s why we love the REI Siesta Hooded 20—it’s plenty warm and affordable. The Siesta’s rectangular cut makes it a roomier, more comfortable bag and the 20-degree rating makes it enough for three-season trips, and unlike most rectangular bags, the Siesta has a hood, which helps on those cold nights. We also like that you can zip two Siestas together.
Deals on Sleeping Pads
Good sleep in the backcountry can be frustratingly elusive, but one good place to start is with a quality sleeping pad. Whether you’re looking for the ultimate ultralight, ultraminimal packing packing pad, or a nice plush 4-inch thick car camping behemoth, there’s deals on both right now.
The NeoLoft is on the heavy side for someone who is mostly on the ultralight bandwagon, but I can’t seem to leave this pad at home. It’s just too comfortable. I’ve ended up carrying it on every trip I took this summer. It does weigh 25 ounces, but it packs down respectably small (about an inch thicker and taller than a Nalgene water bottle), and inflates to a massive 4.6-inch cushy pad that looks more like a luxury car camping pad than something for the backcountry. I highly recommended it.
This is our favorite all-around backpacking sleeping pad, the Tensor All-Season hits all the sweet spots. It weighs an acceptably light 18.2 ounces, provides a good 3-inches of padding, and has an R rating of 5.4. That works out to the best padding and R-rating for the weight. It’s also mercifully quiet—none of that annoying crunching noise every time you roll over.
If you’re gearing up for a winter trips, this is a good deal on a great winter sleeping pad. The Tensor Extreme Conditions has the highest R-value of any pad we’ve tested, yet somehow manages to pack down to about the size of a Nalgene water bottle and weight just 21 oz. (587 g). It’s one thing to claim an R-value in lab tests though—a sub-zero night on the snow in a Wisconsin winter was the real test. This pad performed extremely well. Paired with a Z-Rest (see below) and a -10F sleeping bag, it kept me toasty down to 4 degrees Fahrenheit.
Photograph: Thermarest
The Z-Lite Sol weighs next to nothing (10 ounces for the small), folds up small enough to lash to the outside of any pack, and can double as a chair, extra padding on cold nights, table, you name it. I am too old and too soft to be the sort of ultra-minimalist who gets by with just a Z-Lite for sleeping, but I still have one around on almost every backpacking trip I take.
The big fat camping pad that started the trend of big fat camping pads, the Megamat is a revelation. Trust me, you have no idea how comfortable tent camping can be until you sleep on a Megamat (or a MondoKing, see below). The 4-inch thick Exped MegaMat is soft and surprisingly firm thanks to the closed cell foam inside it, which relieves pressure and feels about as close to to the mattress in your bedroom as you’re going to get in the woods.
When I sold my Jeep I had to give up some of my overlanding dreams, but this Megamat, which cuts in to fit around the wheel wells of an SUV, has brought some of them back to life. I throw this in the back of my wife’s Rav4, and, while it’s not a perfect fit (check Exped to see which vehicles are supported), it’s close enough that I can get a good night’s sleep in the car.
If you get a Megamat, get this pump to go with it. I love this pump not so much for the inflating (though that is nice too, it speeds things up), but for the deflating. You can get all the air out and the mattress back in its stuff sack in no time with this thing. It’s well worth the money, especially on sale.
Deals on Stoves and Camp Gear
Photograph: Coleman
REI sales are the time to grab this upgrade stove. Sure, the basic version below gets the job done, but the cast iron burners of the Cascade are so much nicer and more durable. The griddle plate is also handy, perfect for cranking out pancakes. My only gripe is that I wish there were an option to get two griddles as I find the grill not nearly as useful.
Walk around any campground in America and you’ll likely see dozens of these, for good reason. They’re easy to use, last a long time, and aren’t all that expensive. The 10,000 BTU burners are plenty to cook on just about any pan you have (I use cast iron pans on mine) and the electronic ignition means you don’t have to keep track of a lighter.
The MSR PocketRocket 2 is our top pick isopro backpacking stove for most people. It’s lightweight (2.6 ounces), but has wide enough arms to support just about any one or two person pot. It’s simple to use, even while wearing gloves, and it’s efficient—at sea level (OK, technically 947 feet), it boiled 1L of water in 3 minutes 47 seconds. You can even get it simmer, though the flame radius is small so fancier cooking isn’t easy. See our next pick if that’s your goal.
If you want to cook in the backcountry, like legitimately cook with ingredients, not rehydrating food, the best stove I’ve tested is the Firebox Nano with the gas burner and diffusion plate. The Firebox Nano is a twig stove, so you have that option as well (I am fortunate to live somewhere I can use this feature), but with summer burn bans in many places, it’s really the gas burner and diffusion plate that are the centerpiece here. Together, they spread out the flame enough that cooking on a 10-inch pan is pretty much like cooking on my stove at home. This is a nearly miraculous achievement for a stove setup this small and light (8 ounces).
This is a backpacking must-have for me. It turns cleanup from a tedious chore to a couple of seconds’ work. I’ve even perfected cleaning burnt pans with it: Boil water in the pan to loosen the burnt bits and scrape them out. It’s not a massive savings, but you might as well grab one while it’s a couple bucks cheaper.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
If you want to bring a chair backpacking, this is one to get. It’s just about the lightest on the market at 18 ounces, and it packs down nice and small. Nemo also solved the main problem with all pole chairs, backpacing or otherwise: the included base pad keeps it from sinking in soft ground.
REI brand’s basic proposition is that it’ll get you 90 percent of the designer item, for 70 percent of the price. It’s a strategy that works quite well and has generated some really great, affordable gear. This chair is a good example of that. It’s not as nice as the Nemo above, but it’s still comfortable (it does wobble a little, side to side when you move) and nearly half the price.
Deals on Outdoor Apparel
Photograph: Patagonia
Patagonia;s Nano Puff series has been a hit since it launched years ago. If you want a technical midlayer that you can also wear around town, this is the jacket to get. The fill is synthetic, but it’s impressively warm and manages to stuff down almost like a down jacket.
REI’s Sahara sun hoodie offers UPF 50+ fabric (a polyester and spandex blend) to protect you from that high altitude sun (or any sun). It’s soft and stretchy so you have a good range of movement, and there are thumbholes in the sleeves to keep them from riding up and exposing your arms. The 3-panel hood has a drawstring you can use the cinch it down and keep your neck covered as well.
The best budget rain jacket you can buy, REI’s Rainier Jacket is impressively waterproof and reasonably long lasting for $70. The durable water-repellent (DWR) is PFAS-free, but still pretty good. You also get taped seams and an adjustable hood, two nice features you generally don’t find in jackets this cheap.
Photograph: Darn Tough; Getty Images
You can’t go wrong with a pair of Darn Tough merino wool socks. There’s a bunch of styles and colors to choose from, but remember to go with more merino than not if you’re hoping to get several days out of them. Anything over 30 percent nylon starts to smell quickly in my testing.
The awesome wool shirt from Fjällräven is about as northwoods as it gets. It’s also nice and warm and soft, at least on the inside, my kids do not like the outside.
