Unboxed: 11 natural products to boost hiking and camping fun

Salsa Queen Freeze-Dried Mango Pineapple Salsa

With their quick-cooking qualities, tacos are a favorite meal of campers everywhere. But carrying a whole jar of salsa into the backcountry is a hassle. Enter: Salsa Queen’s excellent line of freeze-dried salsas. Made using whole food ingredients, with just a few ounces of water these portable packets reconstitute into a flavorful topping. We’re particularly excited about the fruity Mango Pineapple flavor, which contains tomatoes, pineapple, mangoes, Anaheim peppers and more.

Gear Hugger Heavy Duty Degreaser

In addition to five backpacks, 10 puffy jackets and about 12 bikes, the garages of outdoor gearheads also contain a bevy of maintenance products made of harsh chemicals. Gear Hugger encourages outdoor enthusiasts to clean up their garage with effective cleaners, degreasers and lubricants made with healthier—and more sustainable—ingredients. The Heavy Duty Degreaser, for example, is made with upcycled agave from tequila manufacturing. Spray it directly onto your bike and watch stubborn oil, dust and grime melt away.

Gear Hugger won the Natural Products Expo East Pitch Slam in 2022 and a NEXTY Award for Best New Natural Living Product at Expo East 2023.

ShuBug Active 12-Hour Insect Repellent

Nothing ruins an outing in nature like swarms of mosquitos. However, conventional bug spray may be dangerous to humans, pets and wild creatures. ShuBug is on a mission to improve the outdoor experience with a non-irritating formula. Made with walnut oil, coconut MCT oil, geraniol (derived from geranium), and lemongrass, peppermint and rosemary oils, this American-made product repels mosquitos, ticks and other pests for 12 hours.

HiBAR Solid Oil Cleanser

Personal hygiene often takes a backseat on camping trips. HiBAR’s Solid Oil Cleanser is a portable, two-in-one bar that cleanses, hydrates and soothes skin. Made with jojoba oil, blue tansy, turmeric root extract and hyaluronic acid, simply swipe this bar on your face and rinse (or wipe clean) with a damp cloth. It’s also a great plastic-free option for your home bathroom.

Canary Peppermint Toothpaste Tablets

Even natural toothpaste products still come in a squeezable plastic container. Canary’s Toothpaste Tablets are an exciting innovation for sustainably minded brushers: Simply crush a tablet or two between your teeth and brush as normal with a wet toothbrush. For backpackers obsessed with making their pack as light as possible, these tablets are a godsend.

Sayso Old Fashioned Ready-to-Make Cocktail Sachets

There’s little better than enjoying an adult beverage around a campfire. Make yours extra special with these Sayso Cocktail Sachets. Similar to a tea bag, inside of the Old Fashioned you’ll find demerara sugar, molasses, cinchona bark, gentian root, orange peel, ground clove and crystallized ginger. Steep it in whiskey or cold water for a delicious cocktail or mocktail and enjoy!

Wype Natural Toilet Paper Gel

Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice when nature calls. Wype’s doctor-formulated toilet paper gel is designed to serve as a sustainable swap for wet wipes, which often contain non-flushable plastic fibers and dubious chemicals. We love the portable packaging, too.

Send Bars Salted Peanut Recovery Bars

With their ability to pack a ton of nutrition and calories into a small space, bars are the OG outdoor food. We like Send Bars not only because they contain whole food ingredients like dates, peanuts, pea protein, hemp seeds, spinach, chaga and ashwagandha, but also because the company is founded by pro rock climber Sasha DiGiulian. Clearly, she knows a thing or two about crafting a nourishing nosh for recreating in nature.

Nomad Nutrition Southwest Breakfast Skillet

Twenty years ago, freeze-dried backcountry meals were little more than mush. More recently, there has been an explosion of ready-to-make meals formulated by chefs who value healthful and delicious ingredients. Nomad Nutrition, based in British Columbia, Canada, makes plant-based dehydrated meals that prioritize protein, nutrition and taste. We love this Southwest Breakfast Skillet, which combines tofu, plant-based sausage, potatoes and onions for 19 grams of protein. Notably, Nomad is mindful of sodium content: This package contains 290 mg of sodium. Other brands can contain upwards of 800 mg.

Country Archer Ancestral Beef Blend Meat Sticks

In its new line of Ancestral Beef Blend products, Country Archer includes nutrient-rich organ meats such as liver and heart in premium grass-fed beef jerky sticks. A 2024 NEXTY Award finalist for Best New Meat, Dairy or Animal-based Product, we love how Country Archer uses animal odds and ends that for the past several decades have been considered scraps. The sticks are available in two flavors, Original and Spicy.

Fishwife Smoked Rainbow Trout

Tinned fish doesn’t sound sexy. But a can of flavorful, protein-packed, portable fish is an optimal way to have a quick meal or snack while camping, bikepacking or hiking. This Smoked Rainbow Trout from Fishwife is sourced from the only ASC-certified trout farm in America, and packed and canned by a First Nations-owned cannery in British Columbia, Canada. It contains olive oil, garlic, golden yellow sugar and hardwood smoke for a delicious flavor. We think the packaging is just adorable, too.

Fishwife Smoked Rainbow Trout

Tinned fish doesn’t sound sexy. But a can of flavorful, protein-packed, portable fish is an optimal way to have a quick meal or snack while camping, bikepacking or hiking. This Smoked Rainbow Trout from Fishwife is sourced from the only ASC-certified trout farm in America, and packed and canned by a First Nations-owned cannery in British Columbia, Canada. It contains olive oil, garlic, golden yellow sugar and hardwood smoke for a delicious flavor. We think the packaging is just adorable, too.