The Joy of Camping With a Pump 💨

The Joy of Camping With a Pump 💨

Derek Tillotson
04/14/2021 7:42pm 3 minute read

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I almost always bring an air pump when I go camping.

I was a few months into prototype testing for the Haven Tent™ when I saw a pump being advertised on Instagram and thought, "Yeah, I need this." It wasn't a very good pump... but it made tent setup that much quicker and more enjoyable.

If you're anything like me, you weigh the time and energy expended with the enjoyment of laying in a hammock and chilling. Anything you can do to reduce the effort part of this equation will lead to more time and more nights outside, finding your Haven.

We've done other things to try to make the Haven mattresses easy to inflate. Our Ultralight pad has a built-in foot pump, and you've probably seen that the stuff sack for our insulated pad seconds as a pump bag... These are great, but there's just something about flipping a switch and watching air rush into the pad.

My first pump only lasted a few months before it gave out. My second wasn't much better. Being in the hammock and air mattress business, I started looking for the best possible pump that we could share along with the rest of our products.

PowerPump sleeping pad pump in hand for scale
I found a pump that was lightweight and powerful, but also worked as a backup battery. 3600 mAh isn't a ton of juice... but the majority of my trips are 1 or 2 nighters, where a single recharge of my phone would really be nice.

The Haven PowerPump only weighs 5.3 oz (150 g) which lighter than my cell phone. So only when I am really going for ultralight will I leave the pump at home. Even then, I will typically bring a backup battery of some kind, so bringing my PowerPump is really easy to justify.

I discovered an added benefit while camping with my nephew last fall. We set up camp at our ranch in Oregon. We planned to burn a nearby slash pile and keep an eye on it overnight.

Easier said than done... It had been raining so despite my Eagle Scout status, I couldn't get the huge pile of debris to ignite. Kind of embarrassing honestly. Until I remembered my PowerPump. Seriously, point this bad-boy at a stubborn fire and you'll be roaring in no time.

Night time fire on a slash pile

Why do I bring a pump with me when I backpack? In my opinion, a little weight translates into a lot of convenience. Bring it along and let the PowerPump do the work!

—Derek Tillotson, Haven Tents™ Founder

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