For those of us getting outdoors this summer.
If you haven’t been shopping for camping gear in a while, let me just tell you things have changed. It could be argued that some of this is for the best, but in some cases, products on the shelves seem a little outrageous. Pre-packaged, sharpened marshmallow sticks are sold — case in point. I’ll admit I’ve never tried store-bought marshmallow roasting sticks, so perhaps I should reserve judgment. Just the same, are we at a point in society where we need to buy sticks whose sole purpose is to hold a sticky, sugary confection above a fire for a few seconds? Perhaps pre-made marshmallow sticks save campsites to a degree by reducing the wood scavenging that leaves so many campsites looking unnaturally open and bare, but still, I have a hard time with this one. Can’t campers bring a bug free stick (watch out for invasive beetles, etc.) that they took two minutes to craft into a marshmallow skewer? Stepping off my soapbox, the topic of camping gear is nonetheless a ripe area for discussion. The 4th of July is the kickoff to the high season for camping, and in today’s hyper-marketed world, there is a lot of gear facing new campers or those in need of new supplies. Some of that gear may be great. Some is not. Additionally, some camping equipment is very well suited to one use or purpose but not another. – From Kennebec Journal