Outpost: Vehicle Rack Compatibility

National Camp at Home Day was started two years ago as a way to experience camp when travel restrictions were in place, but it lives on today as a reminder to pause wherever you are and take a step outside. Sounds pretty simple, right? That’s because it is! On March 27th, we celebrate outdoor restoration at home. Whether you’re too busy to plan your next camping trip, you’ve got little ones at home that aren’t quite ready for the backcountry, or you’re just looking for a reason to set up your tent and roast some marshmallows, this day is for you. Take a break from the weekly hustle and bustle and experience the magic of basecamp. 1. Prep your gear for spring adventures. The backyard and the living room are great places to double and triple check that all your gear is still in tip top shape and that no crucial pieces are missing. Maybe your bugnet has a hole that you didn’t notice before (shoot!), or you accidentally left an apple core in your sleeping bag and it’s been developing a special kind of funk (tarnation!). We get it. Sometimes when you get home from a long weekend, you just wanna shove your gear in the closet and move on. Hopefully you won’t find any surprises in your gear box, but if so, the 27th offers an opportunity to sort things out ahead of time.     2. Explore a new local park. We all have that one local spot that we’ve yet to explore. It’s been on our list for over a year, and we’ve still yet to go. Hopefully National Camp at Home Day is just the motivation you need to stop making excuses and go check it out. Go find a new hammock spot, hike on a new trail, or play a round of disc golf. Take a cold beer along, and you really can’t lose.     3. Have an adventure themed movie night. The best way to get amped about your next big adventure? Settle in and have a low-key adventure movie night! Sure, we’d all rather be out exploring our favorite national park for days on end, but when all you have is a Sunday night, it can be pretty restorative to live vicariously through someone else for an hour and a half. We’ve put together a list of our favorite films to stream right now, and we hope you’ll find them just as inspiring as we did.     4. Enjoy a cocktail on your balcony. Again, the goal here is to just get outside. Plain and simple. We really can’t think of anything better, especially as beautiful spring weather rolls into the Lone Star State, than taking an hour or two to decompress outside with a book and a cocktail. The bar is low, people. Like low low. But we believe the restoration these moments can provide is huge. Take a deep breath, shut the laptop, set down your phone, and crank some tunes on your outdoor patio. This is the fresh air, and the delicious cold beverage, you deserve. Plus, we've got   the perfect cocktail recipe for ya!     5. Invite friends over for a cookout. Honestly if we could just get rid of kitchens, we would. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true, but man…cooking over an open fire? There’s really nothing better. Not only do you have the benefit of outdoor cooking, but once the fire is piping hot, you’ve also just created the perfect place to gather for you and your friends. Cook some steaks, bust out the marshmallows, maybe even pass a bottle of whiskey around the fire if you’re feeling extra frisky. National Camp at Home Day only comes once a year, so you might as well enjoy it the right way!     6. Plan your next far flung adventure. We’re calling on the crazy adventure planners of the group with this one. There’s no better place than fireside with a bottle of your favorite spirit to get your best buds to commit to the next big camping trip. We even have a cool segue that’s sure to win the crowd over: “Wow, camping at home is so fun! You know what would also be fun? Going camping in Montana!” Talk about a seamless transition. Now you’re ready to pitch your next big backpacking or river trip.    Want to get more out of National Camp at Home Day? Discover amazing deals, a gear giveaway like no other, and much more here.

Barton Springs, July 2018 AUSTIN, TEXAS –– In 2016 a couple of Kammok employees wanted to do an early morning bike/run/swim before work. They thought it'd be fun to get tacos after, told their friends and it soon became an Austin community event. Thus, the Taco Tri was born.  On the first Thursday of each month, the brave early-morning souls of the Kammok community come together before dawn to ride bikes along Lady Bird Lake to the Violet Crown trailhead, followed by a dip in Barton Springs pool. Pedestrian Bridge on Town Lake July 2019 Although a triathlon at first glance seems intimidating, the event is inclusive of everyone with a casual social bike ride, go-at-your-own-pace trail jog, and a splash in the pool. No laps required, unless of course you wanted to. No matter how much you challenged yourself or came because your friend was there, everyone had the same motivation: do it for the love of tacos.  It's a requirement to seal the triathlon off with a taco. Kammok HQ's resident taco food truck, Granny's, supplied breakfast tacos for every participant after the pedal back to Kammok.    Pre-COVID gathering at Granny’s for Tacos In 2020 when everything went virtual, so did Taco Tri. In October of that year we launched the Kammok Taco Tri Strava Club. It has now become a world-wide Kammok community event tracked through Strava. Each month anyone who wants to run, bike or swim in their own part of the world can join the club, track their activity, and connect with others around the globe who are doing the same thing. We also have given prizes to some ambitious folks to did all three activities, conquered the highest elevation, and went the longest distance.  Mike Lane, Winner of The Highest Elevation Gain in Granada, Spain   Dana Bruhis, Winner of Completing Virtual Taco Tri running and biking in Colorado  Every first Thursday of the month, the Taco Tri will live on virtually (for now). Here's how you can participate in the upcoming event: Join the Kammok Taco Tri Strava Club Say "I'm in!" to the upcoming Run and Bike events. (Strava does not support Swim event at this time, however we will still be able to see your activity if you do this!) Complete at least one of the three activities, and track your activity on Strava.  Finish at your favorite taco spot, or make them at home. Starting for our May 2021 event, we will be sending a limited edition Taco Tri sticker to every new participant! Say you're doing the Taco Tri by filling out this short Finisher Registration to receive your sticker after the event.     

Early in 2020, the quarantine blues laid heavy on our hearts and across the community. Our favorite parks closed, adventure travels were taken off the map, and spending time outside was put on indefinite hold. It’s no surprise if you picked up bread baking as your new hobby or turned your home into a lush nursery for house plants. Our conversations in the office kitchen moved to video calls where we expressed our woes and reflected what it meant to spend time outside in a world where you had to stay home. Going out was not an option, but there was nothing stopping us from bringing camp to our homes. The thought of pitching a tent in the living room, streaming a campfire video, and playing ambient critter noises seemed downright ridiculous in all the right ways we needed. And so we simply declared March 27th as National Camp at Home Day.  We rallied our community of Outsiders and our fellow outdoor brands to challenge themselves, to get creative, and join us for a global camp-in. From living room pillow forts to backyard basecamps, we called on the community to bring the magic of camp to our homes.The story is short, but the impact was huge. On March 27, 2020, over 2,600 campers and campsites joined us for the first-ever National Camp At Home Day.   #NationalCampAtHomeDay Join the community on March 27, 2022 for National Camp at Home Day. Get ready to break out the headlamps, sleeping bags, tents, and camp stoves. We’re calling on everyone to bring the magic of camp to your living room or backyard.  How to Participate Lead a camp. Rally the crew to participate at camp! Invite your friends and family, and settle in for ghost stories around the campfire or an adventure-themed movie night. Share your adventures. We want to see how you camp at home. Share your campsite photos with us by using #NationalCampAtHomeDay in your caption and tagging @kammok. Learn from the community. Join our Time Outside Facebook Group and get inspired by fellow campers across the world.   Learn more about this year's National Camp at Home Day, including our huge sale and giveaway, here.

As many as 300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease from infected ticks each year, according to CDC modeling. Much of the Eastern half of the country has a large chunk of these cases.  However, only a small fraction of Lyme cases are reported to federal health authorities. Elsewhere in the United States, people contend with potentially fatal tick-borne illnesses like Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Mosquitoes inhabit every corner of the country, spreading potentially serious pathogens like West Nile and Zika viruses and general bite-induced misery. Meanwhile, fire ants terrorize backyards in the southern United States. And they’re joined by too many other insect pests to name. In this year of social distancing, backyard camping is a great way to spend time with your family and enjoy the outdoors. The good news is that suppressing outdoor pests isn’t as difficult or costly as you might imagine. And there are natural ways to get rid of these annoyances. These natural backyard pest control solutions will increase your enjoyment while keeping your kids and pets safe from harm. 1. Moisture Control and Standing Water Management Mosquitoes love standing water. It’s where adults breed and lay their eggs and where larvae spend their lives before transitioning to adulthood. They don’t need much water, so it’s important to identify and control sources of moisture and standing water, even if they don’t seem troublesome. You can’t do much about standing water beyond your property lines. If you live near a pond or swamp, you’ll need to get used to mosquito activity. But you can follow these tips to make your yard as inhospitable to breeding mosquitoes as possible: Dump and Scrub. The CDC recommends dumping standing water from human-made vessels, such as birdbaths and flower pot saucers, at least once per week and thoroughly scrubbing the empty containers. No soap is required, though nontoxic insecticidal soaps can help. Add Oil. If you don’t want to dump the water, drizzle about one teaspoon of olive or vegetable oil into standing water. The oil kills larvae without harming birds or plants. Add Vinegar. Another solution if you don’t want to get rid of the water is to add vinegar to standing water sources. You want to achieve a ratio of about one part oil to five parts water, so this isn’t practical for larger bodies of water, but it should work fine for your birdbath. Mosquito Dunks. These “bacteria bombs” kill mosquito larvae without harming kids or pets. Add them to standing water and let them work their magic.   2. Brush Management Standing water is to mosquitoes as dense underbrush is to disease-carrying ticks. During the cool season, ticks retreat to leaf litter for warmth and protection. They lurk on grasses and ground-hugging vegetation in warmer months waiting for unsuspecting mammals to brush by. Homeowners keen on making their backyards safe for camping need to reduce or eliminate places for ticks to breed and ultimately to find new victims. Here’s how: Edging. Take a trimmer to high weeds and brush along the perimeter of your yard at regular intervals throughout the growing season. Mowing. Mow your lawn regularly, keeping grass ankle-high or lower. Gravel Borders. Create a gravel barrier at least 3 feet wide between your yard and surrounding wooded areas. If this is impractical, use wood chips instead. Stacking Wood. If you keep firewood or downed wood on your property, stack it neatly to discourage tick-carrying rodents from setting up shop. Raking. Rake your grass and cultivate areas to remove leaf litter, grass clippings, and other tick-friendly habitats. 3. Fire Ant Suppression Years of steady northward expansion have brought invasive fire ants, known as red imported fire ants, into contact with backyard campers across a broad swath of the southern United States, from central Texas to Virginia. According to the World Health Organization, fire ants sting as many as 60% of people living in colonized areas. Backyard campers eager to avoid joining their ranks can try two eco- and people-friendly remedies to suppress their colonies: Hot Water. This remedy is only kid- and pet-friendly when kids and pets aren’t around. For each mound you’d like to treat, you’ll need to heat several gallons of water to a near boil, then pour it slowly onto the mound to drench and hopefully penetrate the soil. This measure will also kill nearby grasses, but that may be a small price to pay. Organic Treatments. Though they’re not as effective as EPA-regulated chemical pesticides, two compounds do work to suppress fire ant colonies: d-limonene (citrus oil extract) and spinosad (a microbial byproduct). Follow package instructions carefully. 4. Encouraging Predation Insect-loving predators are the ultimate backyard pest control solution. Bats are voracious consumers of mosquitoes and other biting flies. They’re polite enough to do their work at night too. To encourage them to frequent your yard, Good Housekeeping recommends doing the following: Plant Night-Blooming Flowers. A night-blooming garden should draw night-feeding insects, which in turn will encourage bats to hang out. Popular options include primrose, honeysuckle, dahlia, and raspberry. Put Up a Bat House. Place a bat house (whether purchased pre- or partially assembled or built from scratch) on a south-facing second-story wall or exposed pole near your yard’s edge. The optimal height is 15 to 20 feet above the ground. Final Thoughts Your backyard is yours to enjoy. You shouldn’t have to live in fear of it. Nor should you feel compelled to invest in drastic pest control solutions that could put your children and pets at risk. Thankfully, these kid-friendly pest mitigation solutions really do work. Get started today, and look forward to making your backyard yours once more. Jeremy Kallen is a freelance writer and outdoor enthusiast who uses a number of strategies to watch out for ticks and pests.