Everything You Need To Know About Makita's Outdoor Adventure Line
Makita's 100-plus years in business and its product line of nearly 500 tools landed it atop our list of the world's best power tool brands, but the Japanese-based company makes more than drills and reciprocating saws. Makita's Outdoor Adventure line of gear is aimed at those of us who enjoy camping, off-roading, and other outdoor activities that consume the warm-weather months in the Northern Hemisphere.
SlashGear ran down some of the Outdoor Adventure camping-oriented items last holiday season, but the line also includes gear for boating, fishing, and hiking. Makita's standard tools are clad in teal casings with black handles and white markings, and some lighter-duty tools are given black and white casings. The Outdoor Adventure line has an olive-drab and white color scheme but carries Makita's familiar bold script logo. It uses the same 18-volt batteries from Makita's LXT line of tools, so you can share batteries between Outdoor Adventure gear and your other 18V LXT tools. A couple of the Outdoor Adventure products have the 18V X2 designation, meaning they can use two 18V LXT batteries for a total of 36 volts.
Most Outdoor Adventure line tools don't come with batteries
The Outdoor Adventure Blower, Vacuum, Chain Saw, and Inflator can be purchased as kits that include LXT batteries and a charger, but you'll have to purchase LXT batteries and chargers separately with the other items in the series. The Outdoor Adventure Cooler/Warmer runs on two 18-volt LXT batteries (18V X2 for 36 volts); 12- or 24-volt DC power from your car, truck or RV; or AC shore power. It has an L.E.D. panel with buttons to select from four cooling modes between 15 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the two warming temperatures of 130 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The Cooler/Warmer has a capacity of 21 quarts and two rugged plastic wheels that are almost 4 inches in diameter.
There is some overlap between Makita's Outdoor Adventure line and Ryobi's selection of camping-appropriate tools, but Ryobi doesn't make a battery-powered coffee maker and Makita has two: the 18-volt Outdoor Adventure series version and a standard teal model that runs on 18-volt LXT or 12-volt CXT series batteries. Makita launched the Outdoor Adventure line in October of 2022 with 16 tools and has grown the line slowly since. The latest addition to the Outdoor Adventure line is a heated blanket that has three power settings and provides up to 35 hours of operation on low with a 6.0 amp-hour LXT battery. The blanket weighs a little over a pound on its own and is washer and dryer safe. Prior to that, Makita added a 36V (18V X2) LXT Hot Water Kettle that can boil 27 ounces of water in 9 minutes.