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Camping and hiking are great times to disconnect. In that spirit, we won’t be giving you solutions to take the Internet with you, but ways to better enjoy your hikes or camping trips with a few great gadgets.

Here it is, the latest installment in GeekWire’s guide to getting your geek on this summer.

garmin etrex 20With Google Maps on your phone all the time, your ability to read a map and actually figure out where you are when there’s no cell signal around might be harder than you’d expect. Garmin makes a pretty great little GPS unit for $180. The Garmin eTrex 20 has a color display that gets 25 hours of battery life via two AA batteries and is operated with five hardware buttons. The rugged waterproof case also helps you find your way while kayaking, mountain biking or enjoying other outdoor activities where a phone might get damaged.

If you’re traveling with a group, people might want to split up and check out different parts of whatever natural wonder is closest. However, coordinating where to meet up or finding your way back together can be tough. Brooklyn-based GoTenna will let smartphones connect via radio frequencies similar to those used in your car radio. You pair your phone with the stick-like antenna and are able to chat and determine locations with other members of your group. You can use it anywhere that signal is tough to find, including festivals and trade shows (CES, cough cough). The GoTenna is scheduled to ship this summer, and if you preorder now you can get two GoTennas for $150.

The Fujifilm X-T1
The Fujifilm X-T1

Just because you can’t immediately slap a filter on it or share it on Snapchat doesn’t mean that you’re not going to want to take pictures. When hiking, you don’t want to deal with a heavy DSLR, while the fixed lens of your smartphone camera is too limiting. You’ll probably want to bring along a mirrorless option instead. We’ve written before about the how great the Sony A6000 is, but it lacks weather sealing and might suffer in rough conditions. Instead, upgrade to the Fujifilm X-T1 with an 18-55mm lens. Its $1,450 price tag might be steep, but you’re getting a solid weather-sealed body with a gorgeous viewfinder, snappy autofocus and a huge sensor for taking absolutely stunning pictures. You’ll also get a great lens in a quickly expanding lineup of lenses from Fuji. Plus, it’s light enough to take pretty much anywhere (look at how small it is!).

biolite
BioLite Campstove

After you get to the campsite, you’ll probably want something warm to eat. With the BioLite you can boil a liter of water in less than five minutes and charge your phone while you’re at it. A small fan helps get the fire burning hot quickly while a thermoelectric generator keeps the fan spinning and generates extra power for your devices. You can also get attachments like this portable grill or a kettle for making coffee. The $130 camping stove is about the size of those wide-mouth Nalgene bottles and provides power to USB devices. Not much power, but enough to take a few more smartphone pictures or power up your rechargeable light.

The Luci Lux
The Luci Lux

The BioLite won’t actually provide much light, and neither will a campfire. If you’re going to walk around anywhere after dark, you probably want a headlamp. The Black Diamond ReVolt headlamp has setting for any use, including close and far lighting, strobe and red light for preserving night vision. And if you want some light in your tent for reading, planning tomorrow’s trek or just making sure you don’t step on your $1,500 camera, a lantern is a great idea. The Luci Lux inflatable lantern is solar powered and collapses to a disk. You can attach it to your backpack to charge as you hike, then blow it up and hang it anywhere for a nice, even light. They’re $20 each, so you might want to stock up to keep the whole site lit.

Keeping hydrated is another important step to a great outdoor excursion, but you don’t want to carry all that water around. Instead, purify the water you come across with the $75 SteriPen. It uses UV light to kill any organisms that may be in the water. Or drink through the LifeStraw Go Water Bottle. You suck the water through an integrated filter to clear out bacteria and debris. The 670ML bottle is just enough to keep you from getting thirsty while not being too heavy to carry around.

Gadgets can be a great addition to your next outdoor adventure, as long as they don’t get in the way. Do you have any must-pack gadgets for your camping or hiking trips? Let us know in the comments.

Have a geeky Memorial Day weekend, everyone.

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