Three great camping deals from REI’s massive 4th of July Sale

REI’s annual 4th of July sale is live, and will run through the end of the day on Monday, July 7th.

Thousands of items are discounted up to 50% off – you’ll find deals on e-bikes to sandals, on camp chairs, electric coolers, hiking poles, tents, inflatable kayaks, and more.

More topically, there are gobs of great deals on the kind of camping gear you’d need to enjoy a heckuva trip into the backcountry.

I spent much more time than I probably should have scouring the sale to cobble together a shortlist of five items that stand out both for their quality and the discount – or, as the headline above stated, three great deals on camping gear from within this particular sale.

ALPS Mountaineering Flicker Sleeping Pad

If you polled backpackers about the least favorite piece of gear they routinely carry, I’d wager you’d find ‘sleeping pad’ as the hands-down leader.

Short of breaking your back to carry a literal mattress into the woods, you’re simply going to have to sacrifice at least a little bit to sleep in the backcountry, and companies have struggled for decades to make pads sufficient enough to not detract from the rest of the overall greatness that is getting outside to camp.

Air pads, in general, are better than foam pads – but air pads tend to leak. Even the expensive ones – often especially the expensive ones – leak. So, finding one that a) insulates well, b) is actually comfortable, c) won’t immediately leak, d) packs small and light, and e), won’t break the bank is an incredibly diffcult ask.

Enter the ALPS Mountaineering Flicker, which is perfectly designed (and priced!) for summer treks. It’s currently listed at 25% off its regular price at just $59.73.

Will it leak air eventually? That’s likely – every air pad I’ve ever owned did eventually. But this one, at that price, will be a lot easier to get value from than its peers – there are some listed for $200-250 even at their discounted price in this sale (and those ones will 100% leak soon, too).

Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass GORE-TEX 15 Sleeping Bag

Bishop Pass sits a hair under 12,000 feet in the southern Sierra Nevada range, one of the classic high-alpine passes along the Pacific Crest Trail (and John Muir Trail) on the border of Kings Canyon National Park and the John Muir Wilderness. California-based Mountain Hardwear aptly named one of its signature sleeping bags after the pass, as this 15-degree rated bag is designed to keep you warm in precisely the kind of place like Bishop Pass.

The GORE-TEX shell keeps this bag water-resistant, and the 650-fill-power goose down mummy bag packs down to a manageable 2 lbs, 10 oz..

While it’s 15-degree rated, this bag also comes with a zipped ventilation system to let you air out the foot section, and its overall zipper is compatible to be zipped-to other Mountain Hardwear bags to form the kind of sleeping bag Transformer super sleeping bag you can use with a snuggle buddy.

Cold rated, but with ventilation enough to make it usable in much warmer conditions, this bag is a steal at a 35% off price of $255.73.

Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL1 Ultralight Tent

With a trail weight under 2 lbs, this BIg Agnes flagship is an ultralight option that packs small enough to help make your 50-60L backpacks usable on week-long trips during the warmer weather months.

It’s a classic one-person UL tent, though – good luck trying to squeeze more than just you and your pack into this space. That said, the mesh storage pockets in the ceiling help maximize storage within the interior square footage, even giving you a place to air-out your stinky stuff when that time of your trek comes around.

The price is knocked down a hundred bucks through July 7th, as this one’s 25% off at just $299.73.

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These are but a tiny portion of the items on sale at REI during this annual event. Over at REI Outlet – where REI usually sells its already-discounted gear – there are even more sales, with some items marked down up to 60% through next Monday.

Get your gear, and #optoutside!

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