Get Outside. Stay Outside.

There's a particular feeling that comes with the first genuinely warm days of the year. The kind where you step outside in the morning, feel the sun on your face and silently decide that as little time as possible is going to be spent indoors. Summer in the UK is hard-won. When it arrives, you make the most of it.

Whether you're sharpening your bushcraft skills in the woods, firing up the grill in the back garden with the family, or heading somewhere remote with nothing but what you can carry — the right equipment makes the difference between a good experience and a great one. This isn't about kit for kit's sake. It's about gear that earns its place, does its job without fuss and lasts long enough to become part of the ritual.

Here's what we're reaching for this summer.

Cast Iron Cooking — The Outdoor Kitchen Done Properly

Why Cast Iron Belongs Outside

There's a reason cast iron has been the cooking material of choice for centuries. It holds heat evenly, builds a natural non-stick surface over time, handles open flames without complaint and only gets better the more you use it. When you're cooking over a fire, a camp stove or an outdoor grill, nothing performs like cast iron.

Petromax Cast Iron Skillets

Petromax has been making serious outdoor equipment since 1910. Their cast iron skillets are the real deal — heavy, well-made and built to go from campfire to kitchen table without missing a beat. Whether you're searing a steak over open coals, frying eggs on a camp stove at dawn or cooking up a full breakfast for the family in the back garden, the Petromax skillet handles it all with the kind of quiet authority that only comes from genuine quality.

The beauty of a Petromax skillet is in its simplicity. No coatings to scratch, no handles to melt, no fuss. Season it properly, cook with it regularly and it'll be in as good shape in ten years as it was the day you bought it. This is the kind of kit you hand down, not replace.

Petromax Dutch Ovens — One Pot. Endless Possibilities.

If the skillet is the workhorse, the Dutch oven is the engine room. Petromax Dutch ovens are built for serious outdoor cooking — slow braises, hearty stews, freshly baked bread straight from the coals. The kind of cooking that takes time and rewards patience.

Cast iron construction means the Dutch oven distributes heat evenly across the base and walls, locking in moisture and building flavour in a way that faster cooking methods simply can't match. Use it directly over a fire, hang it over coals or settle it into the embers — it performs in any outdoor cooking environment. Whether you're deep in the woods on a multi-day trip or cooking a slow Sunday stew for the family in the garden, the Petromax Dutch oven is the piece of kit that changes how you think about outdoor food.

Petromax Outdoor Grills — Built for the Fire

Cooking over fire is one of the oldest and most satisfying things a man can do. Petromax outdoor grills are engineered for exactly that — solid, hardwearing and designed to be used properly rather than stored in a garage for eleven months of the year. Fire up the coals, get the temperature right and let the food do the talking. Simple pleasures, done well.

Staying Hydrated — Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Drinkware

Ditch the Plastic. Drink Better.

Hydration is the thing most people think about last and feel the effects of first. When you're active outdoors — whether that's a long hike, a morning's bushcraft or a full day in the garden — what you drink from matters as much as what you drink.

Klean Kanteen has been making stainless steel drinkware since 2004, and they've been doing it properly from the start. No plastic liners, no BPA, no compromise. Just high-quality stainless steel that keeps your drinks cold when you need them cold and hot when you need them hot.

Klean Kanteen Insulated Canteens

The insulated range is where Klean Kanteen really earns its reputation. Double-wall vacuum insulation keeps cold drinks cold for up to 24 hours and hot drinks hot for up to 12 — which means your morning coffee stays drinkable on a long walk and your water stays refreshing even when the temperature climbs. Built from 18/8 food-grade stainless steel, they're tough enough to take the knocks that come with genuine outdoor use without denting, cracking or tainting your drink.

Why Stainless Steel?

Plastic water bottles degrade, leach chemicals over time and don't hold temperature. Glass breaks. Stainless steel does neither. A Klean Kanteen is an investment you make once — it goes everywhere with you, survives everything you throw at it and keeps your drinks exactly as they should be. In a world full of disposable kit, it's a genuinely permanent piece of your outdoor setup.

Building Your Outdoor Kit — Where to Start

Buy Once. Buy Right.

The best outdoor kit isn't the cheapest or the most expensive — it's the stuff that works every time you reach for it, lasts longer than you expect and becomes so reliable you stop noticing it's there. That's the standard Petromax and Klean Kanteen both hold themselves to, and it's the standard Natural Man applies when choosing what sits on our shelves.

Start with the basics. A cast iron skillet for the fire. A Dutch oven for the slow cook. An insulated Klean Kanteen for the trail. Build from there.

The Bushcraft Kitchen

For the man who takes his time outdoors seriously — whether that's wild camping, foraging, fire cooking or simply getting away from screens for a weekend — the combination of Petromax cast iron and Klean Kanteen drinkware forms the backbone of a proper bushcraft kitchen. Lightweight where it can be, bombproof where it needs to be, and built around the idea that food and drink cooked and consumed outdoors, with good kit and good company, is one of the genuinely great pleasures of life.

Shop Outdoor Living at Natural Man

Summer doesn't hang around. Make the most of it with gear that's built for the outdoors — not just designed to look like it is. Explore our full range of Petromax cast iron cookware, outdoor grills and Klean Kanteen stainless steel drinkware at Natural Man. Everything you need to eat well, drink well and stay outside for as long as the weather allows.

Shop the Outdoor Living collection at Natural Man — and get outside.