@hoyt

The CampMeld: Why I’ll Never Camp Without It Again If you’ve spent more than a few nights under the stars, you know that camping gear falls into two categories: the stuff that’s "good enough," and the stuff that makes you wonder how you ever lived without it. This year, for me, that life-changing piece of gear is something called the CampMeld — and believe me, after a month of testing it out on trails, in deep woods, and even at a few rainy music festivals, I can confidently say it’s earned a permanent place in my pack. So What Is the CampMeld? At first glance, the CampMeld looks like a sturdy, oversized cutting board — about 18 inches wide, a half-inch thick, and covered in a tough, grippy texture that reminds me of high-end hiking boot soles. But once you turn it on (yes, turn it on), you realize it’s so much more. The CampMeld is a smart camping surface — a multi-tool, stove, heater, cutting board, and food dehydrator all built into one. It even acts as a mild camp light when needed. Imagine if your camp kitchen, your portable power source, and your emergency survival kit had a baby. That’s the CampMeld. Setting It Up First off, it’s absurdly easy to use. You charge it with a little solar panel (included) that clips onto the back of your backpack during the day. It takes about five hours of sunlight for a full charge, but it stores enough energy for three or four days of normal camping use. There’s just one button. Hold it down for two seconds and the CampMeld wakes up with a soft green glow. Tap once to switch between modes: cooking, heating, light, or dehydration. It’s the kind of simplicity you dream about when you’re fumbling around in the dark after hiking twelve miles. Oh, and it weighs just under three pounds. I was worried it would feel like lugging around a concrete slab, but it’s surprisingly well-balanced and slots neatly into my pack next to my sleeping pad. Cooking Mode: My New Best Friend I didn’t even realize how much I hated dealing with fiddly camp stoves until I used the CampMeld. In cooking mode, the top surface heats up to an even 350°F (adjustable up to 450°F with a simple slider on the app, but more on that later). It’s like having a nonstick griddle wherever you are. No propane canisters. No windshields. No fuss. I made pancakes on it one morning just for fun — and they turned out golden brown and perfect. Later that evening, I seared trout I caught from the river just twenty feet away. It even managed a surprisingly decent stir fry when I brought some pre-chopped veggies in a bag. The surface cleans easily with just a damp cloth. There’s a clever little heating pulse that sanitizes the surface at 500°F if you want a deep clean (no chemicals needed). It cools down fast, too — maybe ten minutes after shutting off. Heating Mode: A Pocket Campfire Switching to heating mode turns the CampMeld into a low-temperature radiant heat source. It’s not enough to warm a whole campsite, but if you place it under your camp chair or inside your tent’s vestibule, it gently radiates enough warmth to keep the chill at bay. One cold night in late March, when frost started forming on the ground, I set the CampMeld under my hammock and draped a wool blanket over the sides. It was like a personal sauna. No smoky smell, no fire danger, and no gathering wood in the dark. The best part? It automatically adjusts its temperature if it senses too much fabric covering it, preventing overheating or fires. (I tried smothering it with an old hoodie to see what would happen — it cooled down instantly.) Dehydrator Mode: A Pleasant Surprise Honestly, I thought the dehydrator feature was a gimmick. Who has time to dehydrate stuff when you’re out camping? But then I found myself using it almost every day. Drying wild herbs, preserving extra apple slices for the next day's hike, even drying my socks when they got soaked — it’s a slow process (overnight, usually), but it works. The low, steady airflow and mild heat are perfect for delicate items. At a two-week base camp, I started prepping my own homemade trail mix ingredients: dried strawberries, diced pineapple, jerky. By the end of the trip, I wasn’t just camping — I was living out there, and it felt incredible. Light Mode: Unexpectedly Handy You wouldn't think you need another camp light, but the CampMeld gives off a soft, warm ambient glow that’s perfect for hanging around camp at night. Not the harsh blue LED blast you get from headlamps, but a cozy, firelight-like shine that feels human. Better still, the light automatically dims if it senses that everyone has left the area (it detects body heat). It saved me from draining my headlamp batteries many, many times. Other Clever Features App Control: There’s a free app that connects over Bluetooth for adjusting temperature settings, setting dehydration timers, or even locating your CampMeld if you somehow lose it (it pings out a little beacon noise). Waterproof and Dustproof: Rated IP67, meaning it can survive rainstorms and even a quick dunk in a river (don’t ask me how I know that). Emergency Mode: If you really get stuck, it has an emergency distress beacon that flashes an SOS pattern in bright light, visible for miles at night. The Downsides? There are a few minor gripes. If you forget to charge it, you’re out of luck — there’s no manual backup. It also doesn’t get quite hot enough for serious high-heat cooking like blackening fish or searing steaks. And while it’s durable, I wouldn’t recommend dropping it onto jagged rocks from a great height. (Treat it like you would a good laptop.) Finally, at $349 retail, it’s not cheap. But then again, it replaces a stove, a heater, a light, a dehydrator, and half your kitchen utensils. When you think of it that way, it starts to sound like a bargain. Final Verdict The CampMeld is the kind of gear you don’t realize you need until you have it — and then you wonder how you ever managed without it. It’s not just a tool; it genuinely makes camping better. Warmer nights, simpler meals, fewer hassles. If you love the outdoors but hate fiddling with a million different gadgets, the CampMeld will feel like a revelation. It’s a quiet kind of magic — the kind that turns surviving in the wild into actually thriving. Next trip? The CampMeld is coming with me. No question.

News Feed

Learn More

Buy Now