tailgating

Crossbars, bike racks, cargo boxes, roof-top tents and solar panels are just a few things jostling for limited car roof space when venturing outdoors. With the new CBX Solar, Yakima combines two of those into one to better optimize roof storage.

Tentrax sells tiny trailers that are essentially wheeled fiberglass tubs, opening to create a tent or provide cargo access. Tentrax will soon bring the party with a tailgating model that packs a kitchen, cooler, flip-up TV, sound system and beer tap.

Thor Industries used the RVX show to get serious about its products, but it also had some fun ... a lot of fun. Its custom Heartland Cyclone tailgater trailer pulls up stadium-side, screens games on numerous TVs, keeps the beer flowing with a keg fridge, and provides plenty of space to kick back.

Furrion used this year's CES to present its new Outdoor Living lineup, a series of smart products for tailgating and outdoor life. Chief among those products is the Rova, an iceless wheeled cooler that offers up to a week of off-grid cooling power via a removable battery.

Researchers from MIT say that if drivers kept an even distance between cars rather than tailgating in order to push ahead, traffic flow would remain even. This "bilateral control," could double the speed of the average vehicle on busy highways.

VanEssa gives tailgaters and campers a sleek new way to enjoy a meal on the pickup tailgate. Its slide-out kitchen packs everything you need to serve up smoking hot food and icy cold beverages from the comfort of your Volkswagen Amarok.

Rovr has reimagined the cooler, going beyond the bear-proof, rotomolded construction so common on the market these days. It calls its cooler an "all-terrain attacking, gear-hauling beast of burden that can go anywhere you can" and follows through with pneumatic tires, a cargo bin and a bike hitch.

Camping trips, tailgates and picnics involve lots of large, awkward gear that can be a pain to stuff in the car and unload. Stckbls has a way of streamlining the trip, offering a series of stackable BBQ-party cubes that save space and roll easily to your destination.