The Western Mountaineering Summerlite sleeping bag.

Review: Western Mountaineering Summerlite Sleeping Bag

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Western Mountaineering Summerlite sleeping bag.
Western Mountaineering Summerlite sleeping bag

Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Western Mountaineering Summerlite
$420, 1 lb. 3 oz. (regular)
Sizes: short, regular, and long
backcountry.com

The lightest sleeping bags for summer camping—meaning for temperatures from the 50s Fahrenheit to around freezing—rarely include features like a hood, a draft tube, and a two-way, full-length zipper. The Summerlite has all of those while weighing in at barely north of a pound and remaining true to its 32-degree rating. On a weeklong, late-March trip in southern Utah, I slept in it for nights of car camping and backpacking in the Dirty Devil River canyon, when the low dipped into the high 20s, and found it warm, spacious enough, and supremely packable.

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Gear Review: Scarpa Proton GTX Shoes

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Scarpa Proton GTX
Scarpa Proton GTX

Hiking/Trail Running Shoes
Scarpa Proton GTX
$169, 1 lb. 7 oz. (men’s Euro 42/US 9)
Sizes: men’s Euro 39-47, 48, women’s 37-41
moosejaw.com

Everyone wants ultralight footwear for all manner of outdoor adventures these days, from light hiking and ultra-hikes to trail running and ultralight backpacking. Bonus if you can scramble a peak in them. I feel the same way. But that kind of hybrid shoe can be a challenging find. I put some trail miles on Scarpa’s new Proton GTX, a low-cut, waterproof-breathable trail runner that crosses over to hiking, and found it packs a heap of performance and versatility into one of the lightest pieces of outdoor footwear you’ll find.

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Gear Review: REI Traverse 70 Backpack

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REI Traverse 70
REI Traverse 70

Backpack
REI Traverse 70
$239, 4 lbs. 13 oz. (men’s medium, including rain cover)
Sizes: men’s S (66L/4,028 c.i., fits torsos 17-19 ins.), M (70L/4,272 c.i., fits torsos 18-20 ins.), L (74L/4,516 c.i., fits torsos 19-21 ins.)
rei.com

Much as I really prefer carrying a light backpack, I have many times hoisted a pack weighing 50 pounds or more, because sometimes that’s the price of a worthy adventure. With no water available along the route of my family’s late-March, overnight backpacking trip into the canyon of Utah’s Dirty Devil River—except the heavily silted river, which would strangle any filter—we had to carry all we’d need for two days. And guess who’s the family porter? As I loaded 15 liters of agua into the Traverse 70, I did some quick math: the liquid weight alone reached just about 32 pounds. With gear, food, and clothes, my pack tipped the scales at nearly 50 pounds. That’s a pretty good test for a pack that weighs under five pounds empty.

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Gear Review: Vasque Inhaler II Low Shoes

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Vasque Inhaler II Low
Vasque Inhaler II Low

Hiking/Trail-Running Shoes
Vasque Inhaler II Low
$120, 1 lb. 12 oz. (men’s US 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 6-11
backcountry.com

For much of the trail mileage that most dayhikers, backpackers, and runners pound out, breathability is more important than waterproofing—our feet are hot more often than they face any prospect of getting wet. Since moisture and heat are two of the three elements that create blisters (the third is friction), unless you typically hike or run in a wet, cool environment, keeping your feet cool should really be your top concern when choosing footwear—and even more so the farther you hike in a day. On local trail runs of up to about 13 miles in the Boise Foothills, and southern Utah desert dayhikes in the San Rafael Swell and the Horseshoe Canyon District of Canyonlands National Park, the smart design of the Inhaler II Lows kept my feet dry and happy.

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Backpacking The Narrows, Zion National Park.

Buying Gear? Read This First

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By Michael Lanza

Are you in the market for a new pack or boots for hiking or backpacking, or a new tent or sleeping bag? How do you find something that’s just right for you? What should you be looking for? How much should you spend? These are questions I’ve heard from many friends and readers over the years as they’ve waded through the myriad choices that are out there. Here are my five top tips for buying gear that’s right for you, gleaned from lessons I’ve learned from two decades of testing and reviewing gear and helping people find gear they love.

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