Gear

The Veer Basecamp Is a Portable Play Yard That Sets Up in Seconds

It requires zero assembly and sets up in a matter of seconds.

by Fatherly

Family adventures require flexible gear, items that can fold up small, be assembled quickly, survive the journey, and help make everyone’s lives easier when they arrive at their destination. For parents who love the outdoors but have small children, it can be difficult to pack the right items without loading yourselves up like pack animals. One piece of travel gear to help lighten the load on the way to the great outdoors or grandma’s house, is the Veer Basecamp, which you may have seen literally popping up on Instagram. An outdoor play yard, the Veer Basecamp is a portable base of operations that gives kids a safe, shady place to hang out. Best of all, it requires zero assembly and sets up in a matter of seconds.

Weighing in at seven pounds, the Basecamp comes sheathed in a rain cover and is slim as a tripod. Remove it from the cover and depress the top with both of your hands, however, and it quickly extends, umbrella-style via the help of its pneumatic hub, into a 56-inch wide, 35-inch tall play yard. Made from a flexible fiberglass shell and wrapped in a water-resistant polyester, the enclosed Basecamp has mesh walls that offer complete visibility and a one-zipper front door that grants easy access.

The Basecamp defends from both sun (there’s a removable UPF 50 Sun/Rain cover that offers shade but still helps ventilate on hot day) and insects (the mesh is made to ward of winged things). There’s also two interior on-wall mesh pockets for storage and a specially coated bottom that doesn’t get soggy. The Basecamp is also designed to keep its diminutive inhabitants safe: the JPMA approved shelter has no hard surfaces that kids can knock their heads against and features, among other design niceties, pinch-proof hinges to protect tiny fingers.

The Basecamp is designed brilliantly. As it’s so light and slim, the Basecamp is easy to toss in the back of a car or even into the bottom basket of a large stroller when you’re heading to the beach or the woods. As set up only takes a few seconds (there are also some sandbags included to weigh the base down), there’s no need to wrestle with connectors or curse the lack of missing parts. The Basecamp’s been a part of our travel gear for the past two months and it will remain there for the foreseeable future. It’s excellent.

Buy Now $179