Luxe Hiking Gear and Seek Outside are two popular brands that provide all kinds of camping gear, most notably tents. Any overnight hiking trip requires shelter, and huts or cabins are not always available on the open trail. Thus, you may want to take a few things into account before heading out.
Luxe Hiking Gear and Seek Outside offer a wide range of products, but primarily deal with tents and tipis. They both specialize in single-person shelters but offer more sizable enclosures as well. Differences, for example, include prices as well as different features, like stoves and screen doors.
Now that you have narrowed it down to these two outfitters, which one do you go with? They both have something to offer for everyone. However, one may provide something the other cannot. Take a look at this handy guide to see what works for you.
Luxe Hiking Gear: Overview
According to the manufacturer’s website, Luxe Hiking Gear was founded by Jake “Barefoot Jake” Morrison in the Pacific Northwest. Inspired by trips taken with his grandfather in Washington state’s wilderness, he decided to start creating his own gear to test and use on his excursions. This led to him opening his own full-blown brick-and-mortar store, which grew into a warehouse that ships all over North America. The brand offers:
- Single-person tents, tipis, and shelters that fit up to eight people
- Stoves for cooking in your tent/tipi
- Tarps for flooring and inner-tent nets for protection from bugs
If you are strictly looking for an enclosure for your next camping trip, then Luxe Hiking Gear is for you. They offer just about every type of tent and tipi you could imagine, including simple camping tarps if you simply need something to get you out of the sun or rain.
Tents, Tipis, and Shelters
All of Luxe Hiking Gear’s products are specifically designed to withstand harsh conditions while providing plenty of space. They have been rigorously tested in the winter and measured out to comfortably stand up to six feet tall. Some of these products are designed with stove jacks, which let you add a stove and safely push the smoke out through a smokestack that sticks out of the tent.
This is one of the highlights: being able to cook within the confines of your tent without tempting any unexpected guests over to your campsite with the delicious scent of your quality cooking. Luxe Hiking Gear already did the thinking for you by measuring how to fit everything in your tent. On their website, you can find all sorts of detailed graphs to help you plan what you need.
Stoves for Your Tent
While stoves are not exclusive to Luxe Hiking Gear, they do offer them. Stoves are something that has been implemented into the design of lots of tents, including some manufactured by Seek Outside. Stoves are great for cooking, obviously, but being able to do it from inside your tent is a game-changer. This makes maintaining a fire super simple in bad weather and prevents animals from trying to steal a late-night snack.
Stoves can double as a heat source as well. Think of it as a barebones HVAC system in your tent. Setting up a smokestack to your stove that extends outside of the tent will keep you safe from any unwanted air impurity. This is great for keeping some embers going when you are done cooking for the night and keeping the tent nice and toasty when it is time to turn in before another day of hiking.
Tarps and Inner Tents
Tarps are ideal for numerous reasons, but mainly because these tents and tipis are often floorless. This is a common theme, and any purchase should either be paired with some sort of mat or tarp to keep you safe from any flooding or keeping your feet clean and bugs out of your enclosure.
Inner tents might seem like a laughable concept on the surface, but in reality, it is a nice luxury to have. If your tent or tipi is the house, then the inner tent is the master bedroom. It is a great asset to keep you safe from any bugs, like mosquitoes, or to have room to put your cot or sleeping bags in when it is time to go to sleep.
Are Luxe Tents Good?
In terms of money, it is hard to go wrong with a Luxe Hiking Gear tent. They have nearly everything you would ever need, and their products cost about a quarter of the price compared to those of some other companies. The materials stand up to almost everything Mother Nature might throw your way and have enough features to compete with anything else that might catch your eye.
Although, something that may be desired is more products from Luxe Hiking Gear, like sleeping bags or survival knives. It is a bit of a disappointment that their stores are not one-stop-shops, but it should not take away from the fact that the tents are top-notch and that you will likely spend half the money on one to give you more flexibility on other accessories.
Tents are not the only thing that you need to pack for a camping trip. We all know how frustrating it is when you forget to pack something really important and you’re already miles away from home. Because of this, we came up with the ultimate camping checklist to help you remember which items to pack for a stress-free adventure in the great outdoors.
Seek Outside: Overview
Seek Outside is an American manufacturer that deals with a wide variety of camping and hiking gear. Born in Grand Junction, Colorado, Seek Outside has been making high-quality products since 2009. They started producing gear for family and friends to improve their experiences during the Elk hunting season taking place in the Rocky Mountains. They have a ton to offer, such as:
- Tents, tipis, and backpack tents for day trips
- Stoves, camp/cooking wares, and backpacks
- Knives and sleeping bags
Seek Outside has nearly everything you could ever need for your next outdoor excursion and might have a few things you did not know you needed as well. They also have a ton of material for you to read on their website, as well as a podcast to keep up with.
What They Offer in Tents and Tipis
Seek Outside takes a lot of pride in the materials they use to craft their tents and tipis. They claim to make their enclosures twice as thick as their competitors, making them twice as waterproof and durable. The famous conical shape of these shelters is more than just eye candy; they help suppress wind from any direction.
They are certainly more expensive, but in this case, you get what you pay for. You are purchasing a high-quality product that will last as long as you do, made right here, in the USA. The backpack tents are a great choice too, specially designed to be easily moved and carried if you decide to take a day trip for a hunt or hike.
Stoves, Camping/Cooking Ware, and Backpacks
Like Luxe Hiking Gear’s tents and tipis, you can purchase a shelter from Seek Outside with a centralized area for the smokestack to go. This keeps the stove in the middle and the entire tent warm. The brand sells multiple types of stoves in various sizes. Camping and cooking ware are also readily available, making this store a one-stop-shop.
If it’s your first time in the wilderness, you will definitely need a better backpack than the one you have been using since high school. Seek Outside has got you covered with its fine selection of backpacks designed for the outdoors and a bunch of accessories to customize your own.
Knives and Sleeping Bags
Knives are some of the most versatile tools you can bring when you go camping. Seek Outside makes theirs in the USA out of lightweight carbon, making them an afterthought to carry around. They also insure them for life, so in the event that something goes wrong, they will replace your knives for free, no questions asked.
Sleeping bags are essential for any camping trip, and you can trust that Seek Outside puts the same quality and care into their sleeping bags as they do with the rest of their tents and tipis. Being able to bundle the two together makes shopping for your trip painless and simple.
Conclusion
Both Luxe Hiking Gear and Seek Outside offer great products with rave reviews. If you are trying to decide between the two companies, you will need to determine which features you prioritize for your shelter and how much you are willing to spend.
If you’re still undecided about which gear to add to your camping arsenal, check out our Camping Gear tab where you’ll find our top recommendations for any camping item that you might need such as tents, camping beds, and cookware.
