With warmer temperatures comes an increased willingness to get out and go places. Regardless of destination or duration, intelligent gear has the potential to make or break a trip, whether it be easing pre-flight nerves through improved organization or lightening loads with packable camping gear. Below, find 10 staples for well-packed, well-planned, and altogether smarter springtime travel.
Joshu+Vela Duffel
Crafted from water-repellent cotton twill with vegetable tanned leather handles, made sturdier with copper rivets and a brass zipper. Made in San Francisco, Joshu+Vela’s duffel looks to heritage styling, strips it down to its most essential elements and reinterprets it for 21st-century living.
Wildsam Field Guides
Pocket-sized travel guides aren’t all gimmicky. Wildsam’s single-city books zero in on regional nuances, under-the-radar destinations and neighborhoods worth wandering. It’s like having a local friend on speed dial.
CDW X American Trench Band Collar Down Shirt Jacket
The most travel-friendly layer is one that can stand as an outermost jacket, or fit underneath something warmer. This band-collar shirt jacket by Crescent Down Works and American Trench is just that. Made from a water-repellent cotton-nylon blend, with a durable ripstop lining and goose down fill, it checks all of the technical boxes — and looks good, too.
Fortis Marinemaster
First released in 1969, Fortis’ Marinemaster continues the watchmaker’s tradition of horological innovation and good looks. This one dates back to 1972 and features the Marinemaster’s familiar multi-colored kaleidoscope dial, held in a SuperCompressor case, with decompression charts — intended for use by deep-sea divers.
Aer Fit Pack
Easy-access pockets make Aer’s Fit Pack an ideal carry-on and all-day bag. Built from sturdy ballistic nylon, with a polyester lining for durability and moisture protection, it features a separate compartment for shoes or dirty clothes, designated laptop and tablet sleeves, and smaller interior organizers for sunglasses, a wallet, headphones and more.
Bellroy Travel Wallet
The ultimate air travel organizer, with space for 10 cards, designated slots for a passport, cash and boarding passes, plus a pen. Better yet, Bellroy’s travel wallet is still slim enough to fit into your back pocket.
Survival Laces 2.0
Ordinary shoelaces are designed to keep your shoes securely tied. But Wasatch Outdoors’ survival laces aren’t ordinary shoelaces. Crafted from 550 paracord with seven strands of nylon, one strand of fishline and tinder in the laces’ core, plus embedded flint, the U.S.-made cables are sturdy enough to use for building shelter, repairing gear, fashioning traps — and keeping your shoes properly laced.
District Vision Keiichi Sunglasses
District Vision collaborates with professional athletes in order to improve running and all-purpose sunglasses. Made with shatterproof, scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses with anti-reflective technology, the sunglasses are lightweight (thanks to a titanium core) and water repellent, with hypoallergenic, non-slip nose pads.
Kammok Roo Hammock
Sure, you could pitch a tent and slither into a sleeping bag… or you could hitch Kammok’s Roo hammock. Able to withstand carrying 500 pounds, the ultra-lightweight ripstop Gravitas fabric features high-tensile-strength thread with reinforced stress points — and weighs a mere 24 ounces.
Sanborn Firestarter Kit
Eight fire starters, a waterproof match safe and salvaged kindling — because even Eagle Scouts get rusty, and dinner shouldn’t be left up to chance.
