Near Zero

 

As a small business, Outdoor Elements is always looking for opportunities to highlight fellow small businesses with outstanding products and entrepreneurial spirit.

At outdoorelement.com you'll find we have an entrepreneur support page with items for sale from other great and small (generally startup) companies who have innovative and really cool stuff. 
 
In business, we're told to not highlight or link to companies who may be considered competitors, but we are not like other companies. We figure when small helps small, it makes big.
We hope sharing products we love from other entrepreneurs creates brand awareness for small businesses that are obviously also passionate about the great outdoors.
 
And bonus--in this case, we hope it makes your pack lighter. Hope you enjoy becoming familiar with gear from our friends at Near Zero.

 

Meet Scott Jensen and his company, Near Zero.

In 2021, after 15 years of working in supply chain, Scott ventured away from his corporate job to pursue his dream and launch his own business. Near Zero specializes in ultra-lightweight camping gear at affordable prices.

The company was inspired by Scott’s late father, & his passion for the outdoors, and is enabled by his background in international business. Scott's goal is to help families and individuals connect with nature and with each other.

With products like a 1-pound feather-light sleeping bag to ultra-light backpacking tents, outdoor memory making has never been more simple, lightweight, and affordable. Check them out at www.nearzero.co 

I had the opportunity to use the Near Zero Mini Camping Stove and Ultralight Inflatable Camping Pillow. I was pleasantly surprised how well they worked.

I recently used the Near Zero Mini Camping Stove at 11,000+ feet here in Colorado. It performed flawlessly. I typically run around with an MSR Pocket Rocket (which I love). It felt like and worked like a Pocket Rocket…but smaller and lighter. I have used the Pocket Rocket 1 and 2 for years. I don't go camping without it. Even when I go car/van camping with the family, I have this as my backup, and we always end up using it (typically boiling some water while the other stove is busy with a hearty meal). Then I discovered this tiny Near Zero mini camping stove.  


I decided to do a test.

Test setup and givens: As a reminder, I am located near Denver (5280 ft elevation). I used the same fuel (Jetboil), same aluminum canister/pot (by Outdoor Element), and the same amount of water (2 cups ...generally the amount used for any dehydrated meal). It's hard to judge if I set the throttle to the same amount but I tried. I timed the event to measure how fast each stove would boil the same amount of water.

I am completely impressed with the Near Zero Mini Camping Stove!

The MSR Pocket Rocket is 2.6 oz and the Near Zero is 1.6 oz. The Pocket Rocket is about $50 The Near Zero is about $24. I will always love MSR gear...but I can't let my MSR love affair prevent me from giving a newcomer a shot. And at half the price, I'm glad it found its way into my adventures. We are now carrying these mini stoves on our site. Let me know what you think?

See the experiment here (3:30 vid). Did I mess up this experiment in any way?

I also got to play around with the Near Zero Ultralight Inflatable Camp Pillow.

I never used a pillow for camping until my bride forced one on me a few years ago. Note to self, always take advice from Noelle. The lady knows what’s up.

If you didn’t know, sleeping is the key for our super-powers. Good sleep means better memory, better physical performance, an improved immune system, and bonus...you even you lose weight faster and you will be in a better mood. What the heck was I thinking trying to shortchange my superpowers. Here's an article from WebMD on sleep.

Needless to say, this 3oz inflatable pillow was perfect for me. It packs down to nothing and cradles to my head in all the right ways. On top of that, I loved how fast I could inflate this pillow. The Near Zero Ultralight Inflatable Camp Pillow will certainly be in my pack and van for a soft place to land when I'm out adventuring--or just making snow angels 😊

In the future, I’m excited to upgrade my tent next. Has anyone tried Near Zero gear? You might give it a shot. 

Leave a comment