The camping and hiking kit worth buying, from cast iron to trail maps

The listing covers the things that actually matter in a potjie: cast iron with the heat retention that goes with it, a raised lid edge so you can pile coals on top for baking and roasting, a steam hole, and a sturdy handle. It arrives pre-seasoned, which saves you the first awkward evening. There is a choice of three legs or a flat base, so you can match it to a fire or an oven.

Price-wise it sits mid-range on this shelf, well under the big Kelty furniture and the vehicle shelter. Shoppers rate it 4.9. Cast iron is also the one category here where the thing you buy now is still in the family in twenty years, which makes the money read differently to a folding chair.

If you already own a potjie, skip it. If you own a thin one that scorches everything on one side, this is the replacement.

The catch. Only 15 ratings so far, and the listing describes two versions without making the size and weight plain, so check which variant you are adding to the basket.

Of everything on this shelf, the Lowdown Chair has the weight of shopper opinion behind it: 4.7 from 147 ratings. The spec is honest and specific. A 600D polyester shell, a powder-coated steel frame rated to 158kg, quilted padding, two insulated drink holders and a carry wrap that doubles as a dog mat.

The low, slightly reclined seat is the point. It is a lounging chair, not a dining chair, so if you eat at a camp table you may want something taller. The identically priced OneTigris Dragonhide has an aluminium frame and a lower weight rating, with far fewer ratings; the Kelty is the safer buy at the same money.

The catch. Low seats are harder to get out of, and the listing gives no packed dimensions or chair weight.

The listing is the most detailed of any map on this shelf. Waterproof, double-sided, Cape Town to Muizenberg on one face and Muizenberg to Cape Point on the other, 20m contours, the full Hoerikwaggo Trail, the Cape Camino, current street names and interchange layouts.

Exclusive Books lists a Slingsby Table Mountain map at a slightly higher price with a one-line description. Both are reputable local map lines, but the VertigoGear sheet tells you exactly what you are getting and costs less, so that is where we would put the money.

The catch. No shopper ratings, and note that some VertigoGear products on this shelf are digital downloads, so check the format on the listing before you buy.

The dearest item in this guide, by some distance, and it is a specific tool rather than a general upgrade. Oversized aluminium poles, 210D polyester oxford fabric, reflective guylines and a setup the listing says adapts to tall vans, 4x4s or a standard hatchback.

If your camping is car-based and you keep retreating into the vehicle when the weather turns, a vehicle-mounted tarp changes the trip more than another chair will. Shoppers rate it 4.8.

The catch. Only 21 ratings, and the listing is heavy on adventure language without giving the covered area in square metres or the packed weight.

Every other map here is regional, and most of them are Cape-focused. This one is national, which makes it the natural glovebox companion to a detailed sheet of wherever you are actually walking.

It is the priciest of the road maps on this shelf, though still inexpensive against the gear.

The catch. The listing is thin, with no edition, scale or publication detail and no shopper ratings, so you are buying on the strength of the title alone.

Decide first whether you are carrying your kit or driving it. Almost everything on this shelf, the chairs, the galley bags, the cast iron, the vehicle shelter, assumes a car. Backpackers should be looking at the freeze-dried pouches, a sleeping pad with a stated R-value, and a map that folds flat and sheds water.

With furniture, read the frame material and the weight rating, not the adjectives. Steel is heavier and usually tougher; aluminium saves weight and often carries a lower load rating. Fabric denier, 600D on most of the Kelty pieces here, tells you something real about how the shell will wear.

With maps, check three things: edition number, whether it is waterproof, and whether you are buying paper or a digital download. Some listings on this shelf are files you unzip at home, which is a perfectly good product and a bad surprise if you expected a folded sheet in the post.

With freeze-dried meals, buy one pouch of a flavour before you buy six. Ratings on individual meals here range from the low fours down to the mid threes, which is the usual pattern with camp food: the format works, the specific dish is a matter of taste.