Isle Box is a subscription service delivering outdoor gear in either monthly or seasonal shipments.
This box was sent to us at no cost to review. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Isle Box
The Cost: $44.99 monthly, ships for free, and there are discounted options for 3 or 6-month subscriptions. Seasonal boxes are $125 with free shipping.
The Products: “Named after the mighty Isle Royale National Park, located in the middle of Lake Superior, we’re adventurers just like you. We love finding the latest gear and making adventures come to life. Every month/ season, we’re dedicated to bringing you a mysterious package, just like the mighty mysterious Isle Royale does to hikers every summer.”
Ships to: U.S.
Good to know: Isle Box also offers one-time purchases for their National Parks Box and Starter Box
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Every month they include an info card detailing the theme, items included and their values. This month’s theme is “Hydration Master”.
Hydrapak Shape-Shift 3L Water Bladder – Value $28.88 on Amazon
First up this month we have this high-capacity water bladder, which will certainly put anyone on their way to being a Hydration Master. I’ve been in the market for one of these, so this was a timely addition by Isle Box for me personally! This bladder can be compacted to fit in smaller packs or sleeves with the Shape-Shift baffle system. It’s basically an interlocking set of hard plastic strips on the inside of the bladder. Also included is a magnetic clip to keep your mouthpiece out of the dirt, a huge upgrade from older style bladders. I am also a fan of the hose attachment system, which allows me to take the entire unit apart for cleaning. It’s difficult to get every last drop of water out of these bladders without taking everything apart, so this is a really handy feature. Finally, the sleeve itself is fully reversible thanks to the Slide-Seal system. It acts similar to the technology in a dry-bag where you fold over the top of the bag to create a seal, and the slide locks it closed. I used this bladder this past weekend on a kayaking trip and absolutely loved it!
Hydrapak Seeker 1L Collapsible Water Bladder – Listed Value $18 (Hydrapak no longer carries the 1L size in this particular model, so I’m going on the Isle Box value)
Up next in this box is the 1L Seeker bladder, which is a really interesting product. I have seen collapsible water bottles before, but this one is really lightweight and durable, and the material allows it to be packed down to roughly 3”x3”x.75”. It comes with a pouch too, to keep it cinched down in your pack. One of the things I noticed is it’s a little hard to handle when full of water. It’s essentially a water balloon! I filled this with fresh water before my trip, and it bounced around in my boat all day but stayed fully sealed. It was a little difficult to pour but easy to drink from. Isle Box even recommends it as an ice pack, which I thought was a great idea, since it’s a really malleable shape.
Hydrapak Watergate – Value $4
Up next from Hydrapak this month is the Watergate, which is a low-cost high-value item in my book. I have one of these on one of my wide-mouth Nalgene bottles and use it constantly, so having a second is awesome. These little BPA-free caps keep the water in your bottle, instead of on your face, down your shirt, etc. It’s a curious inclusion in this box due to the fact it doesn’t fit on the 1L Seeker, but it does fit on the larger Stash series from Hydrapak and most other wide-mouth reusable bottles. I’ll be using this for a long time to come!
Granger's Performance Wash 2oz One-Shot – Value $2.99
Finally this month we have a one-shot sample of Granger’s Performance wash, designed to clean and care for all kinds of technical fabrics and clothing. You could do a full load of camping clothes and other fabric items with this sample, which is suitable for waterproof, Gore-Tex and even e-Vent fabrics. It’s gentle and will help protect the repellent systems in place or even prepare fabrics that you intend on waterproofing in the future. I tossed all my clothes and bags from this past weekend in with this one-shot and as far as I can tell, everything is clean and fingers crossed still waterproof!
Verdict: Isle Box definitely killed the theme this month and I’ve already gotten use out of every item. We’ve got $53.87 worth of gear here which as usual exceeds the $45 cost. Classic curation from Isle Box, and I think they knocked it out of the park as usual.
What do you think of this month’s Isle Box?
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