with summer winding down and fall around the corner, the weather is slowly transitioning from sweltering to refreshing. The idea of taking camping trips, hikes, bike rides, and other outdoor activities feels more exciting than it does dreadful. To help, we found a variety of great deals on camping gear, cameras, plus Bluetooth speakers this weekend, and plenty more. That way, you can focus on enjoying the great outdoors.
Busy getting ready for the new school year? Check out our roundup of Best Back-to-School Deals for discounts on gear for students, teachers, and parents.
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Outdoor Gear and Fitness Tracker Deals
Photograph: Amazon
Use code BONUS to see the discount at checkout. This is our favorite budget family tent. It’s easy to quickly set up and offers 85 square feet of living space. The center is 6 feet tall, and while it does slope off toward the walls, there’s still plenty of room for a family of five plus gear. It’s worth noting, however, that while it stands up to light rain, we don’t recommend using this in heavy downpours without a rainfly (sold separately).
This is a more affordable fire pit listed in our Best Portable Grills guide. It’s not as well made as some of our top recommendations but it’s more than capable of cooking burgers and veggies for a family of five, plus it doubles as a fire pit—a great accessory for camping trips. This is the lowest price we’ve tracked, but stock is running low.
These are a hybrid of trail and climbing shoes, which are great for multi-terrain adventures. They offer a mix of walking shoe comfort and climbing shoe grip, as well as underfoot support and a dual-lacing system. Made of breathable and waterproof fabric (Gore-Tex) and 1.6-mm suede leather, you don’t have to worry about durability either.
The Leatherman Wave+ is our favorite multi-tool. It has 18 tools built-in, including two stainless steel knives (one of which is serrated, making it great for cutting through fibrous material like rope), a wood-and-metal file, Phillips screwdriver bits, scissors, a wire stripper, an 8-inch ruler, a bottle and can opener, and more. It’s an excellent accessory to have on hand, and this is the lowest price we’ve seen yet.
We love these shorts. You can wear them on bike rides, outdoor hikes, and any other kind of outdoor activity. They’re super comfortable, quite stretchy. And, when it gets too cold outside, you can wear them indoors instead. Yes, these jorts are that comfy.
The Suunto 9 Peak is a great adventure watch. You can use it to track the weather, and your heart rate, and check turn-by-turn directions. It has great battery life too. With up to 170 hours of GPS tracking, you can rely on it to get you through multiple days in the wilderness without the need for a charger. We also like that it’s compact and has an attractive aesthetic.
WIRED senior associate reviews editor Adrienne So says this is the first of Amazfit’s watches she actually liked wearing. It feels durable, has a beautiful display, and packs onboard GPS. However, she did have a few complaints, including unreliable Bluetooth notifications and the inability to measure her blood oxygen levels or control music. Some of the complex training metrics need improvement too. It’s currently at the lowest price we’ve seen so far.
Action Camera and Camera Gear Deals
Photograph: GoPro
Even though the GoPro Hero9 is a few years old, it’s still a highly capable action camera with great stabilization. It packs a 23.6-megapixel sensor (the same one that’s in the Hero10), shoots 5.3K video, captures 20-MP still images, and can extract 14.7-MP images from 5K video. We only recommend the GoPro Hero9 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) if it’s on sale—particularly when it dips lower than $300—making this an excellent time to buy.
The Insta360 One RS (8/10, WIRED Recommends) can be used as both an action camera and a 360-degree camera. In addition to the camera, you’ll also get interchangeable lenses, including a dual-lens 360-degree camera and a 4K lens. It’s more versatile, and there are other upgrades to choose from.
There’s nothing more distracting than a great video that’s been plagued by bad audio. This is our favorite portable shotgun mic for those who shoot footage on their phone. It’s super small and plugs into a phone’s 3.5-mm jack (or dongle). The audio quality isn’t outstanding, but it’s better than the mic on your phone and can pick up clean sound from a distance. It dipped lower to $49 back in April, but this is still a solid deal.
Not only do we love the awesome design on this bag, but it’s comfortable to wear as both a cross-body or fanny back. It’s fairly roomy too. With a 2-liter capacity, you can also use it to carry a slim point-and-shoot, a compact mirrorless camera, or your phone. There’s a main compartment with a thin sleeve where you can keep an item in addition to your camera, as well as two front pockets for spare batteries or keys.
This is a great bag to have if you carry around a lot of small accessories and tools that can easily get lost at the bottom of your bag. It’s great for cables and adapters, spare batteries, solid-state drives, and more. Made of water-resistant 350-denier recycled nylon, it’s held up well for us over time.
Bluetooth Speaker Deals
At under 4 inches tall, this Bluetooth speaker from Sony (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of the smallest and easiest speakers to take with you anywhere. This is our go-to speaker for bike rides thanks to the built-in strap and its ability to sit flat in a bike basket. It gets up to 16 hours of battery life and is IP67-rated for dust and water resistance. You can link multiples together for stereo sound.
If you’re looking for a portable and compact speaker, look no further than JBL’s Clip 4. It’s small and waterproof, making it super convenient to take with you everywhere. It comes with controls for volume, playback, power, and Bluetooth too. And with an included carabiner clip, you can attach it to your bike or pack.
For music fans, we recommend the Marshall Stockwell II. With a front-facing woofer and a tweeter on each side, it delivers smooth, balanced, and refined sound. It’s also durable—the front and back are covered with a steel grille and there’s a splash-resistant silicone finish. At three pounds, it comes with a handy strap for carrying around. If you’re looking for a speaker with extra portability, the Marshall Emberton is also on sale for $120 ($10 off).
With an IP67 waterproof rating, the Tribit Stormbox can handle the elements. It’s a great speaker for backyard gatherings, hikes, or trips down the river. It packs dual-firing drivers and passive radiators in a 7-inch long pill shape, offering impressive sound clarity. There’s also an extra bass button that adds some surprising (but slightly muddy) thump. This deal only applies to the black color.
