How to travel the West on $5,000 per day

(NOTE this is part of the April 2014 special issue of the HCN magazine devoted to travel in the West.)

Hermès Hiking Boots
The Paris company offers a "low boot in black oily calfskin" with a "palladium plated Albion buckle, orange lining ... double leather sole and lugged rubber sole, water-resistant." The Wall Street Journal praises their combination of "utility" and "flair," and urges you to "pick up a pair and hit a national park (or Park Avenue)." – $1,600 per pair

Giant Swiss Army Knife
The Switzerland-based Wenger Co., maker of many ordinary Swiss Army knives, offers the Wenger Giant, which has "87 implements that perform an astonishing 141 different functions" – everything from opening wine bottles to fastening bike-chain rivets and installing golf-shoe cleats. The online SwissKnifeShop.com calls it: "Unrivaled. Impractical. Unabashedly enormous." The Guinness Book of World Records rates it the "most multifunctional penknife" in the world. – $2,149.95 retail or $1,599.95 from SwissKnifeShop.com

Girard-Perregaux Traveller Wristwatch
This Swiss company's Traveller watch "experiences every moment intensely" for people who are "setting off to conquer the world." It's made of titanium or stainless steel, with an alligator-leather strap, and is good down to 330 feet underwater. Various models display the phases of the moon and the time in 24 cities around the world, as well as the local time wherever you are – useful for a "globetrotter juggling time zones; or anyone for whom the passing hours are a journey to be savored at every instant." – roughly $10,000 to $20,000, depending on the model

Luxuriator Sunglasses
This Beverly Hills, Calif., company offers a "modern, yet classic luxury brand of handcrafted ... sunglasses," made of four kinds of 14k gold, decorated with diamonds and featuring temples made of "buffalo horn and exotic leathers." – Up to $65,000

EarthRoamer XV-LT
Colorado-based EarthRoamer boasts a "no compromise philosophy" that turns "four wheel drive, turbo diesel powered, Ford F-550, commercial duty cab chassis trucks" into terrain-gobbling RVs that weigh nearly 10 tons each. Earthroamers are equipped with a "massive" solar panel array, a bathroom and hot shower, fridge, ceramic cooktop and convection microwave. "The XV-LT instantly defined a new class of vehicle," the company says – "an Xpedition Vehicle or XV." – $282,000 to $600,000

Gucci GG Supreme Canvas Backpack
This Italian-designer backpack is "made using an earth-conscious process" and features "leather trim, dark silver hardware," with pockets for a smartphone and a tablet computer. But beware: There are a lot of imitation Gucci backpacks out there, masquerading as the real thing. Make sure your pack comes with the controllato card that signifies it's passed inspection and bears the exact Gucci GG logo. – $1,550

Barebones Safari Tent
Utah-based Barebones makes this 120-square-foot "cabin-style tent," which weighs 160 pounds. It has 55 poles you assemble, and can be pitched on concrete, wood or dirt. Special features include a custom aluminum and nylon frame and a "custom Barebones denier weave" fabric shell, with nine-foot ceilings and "built-in ports (that) make running power, heat and water lines effortless." Sleeps eight. – $1,999.99

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