Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32F/0C sleeping bag.

Review: Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32F Sleeping Bag

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Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Therm-a-Rest Hyperion 32F/0C
$520, 1 lb. 1 oz. (regular)
Sizes: small, regular, long
cascadedesigns.com

Why spend more money on a sleeping bag? Logical question, of course. But for any backpacker eager to shave a pound or more and significant gear volume from his or her backpack, an ultralight down bag offers one of the best ways of realizing that objective—as well as delivering maximum warmth per ounce. And one of the lightest and most compact bags in this category, Therm-a-Rest’s Hyperion 32F/0C, measured up in every way on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in May; a six-day float trip down Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River in July; a three-day hike on the Teton Crest Trail and a four-day trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, both in August; a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range; trekking hut-to-hut on New Zealand’s Routeburn and Milford tracks in late spring; and on chilly, rainy spring nights that pushed the bag’s limits camping in May in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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A lightweight backpacker on the Titcomb Basin Trail in Wyoming's Wind River Range.

A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking

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By Michael Lanza

What if you could do one thing to make every backpacking trip more enjoyable? Thousands of miles of backpacking have taught me what that one thing is: keeping my pack light. All of the superfluous ounces removed from my pack add up to fewer pounds on my back, and that makes each trip better. And a smart approach to ultralight and lightweight backpacking does not compromise safety or comfort—the point is to increase comfort and safety. If you’re not accomplishing both objectives, you need a new strategy.

In this article, I’ll share my tips for minimizing pack weight while staying safe and comfortable on every trip, learned over the course of more than three decades of backpacking—including the 10 years I spent as the Northwest Editor of Backpacker magazine, and even longer running this blog.

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Gossamer Gear LT5 trekking poles.

Review: Gossamer Gear LT5 Trekking Poles

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Ultralight Trekking Poles Gossamer Gear LT5 Trekking Poles $195, 10 oz./283.5g (per pair, without baskets) One size, adjustable 105-130cm/41 to 53 ins. gossamergear.com You could see the defining characteristic of these ultralight poles even wearing a blindfold: Just pick them up and hold them in your hand. The LT5 adjustable poles feel like feathers. In fact, the pair weighs about …

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Helinox Sunset Chair camping chair.

Review: The Best Camping Chair, the Helinox Sunset Chair

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Camping Chair
Helinox Sunset Chair
$150, 3 lbs. 8 oz. (in its stuff sack, included)
Moosejaw.com

I’m picky about camp chairs. That’s partly because I’m prone to lower back pain that can get uncomfortable when I sit for any length of time, but mostly because I camp a lot and appreciate being able to sit comfortably for the hours that I spend in camp. And well before the end of a long weekend camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, I decided that the Sunset Chair is the most comfortable I’ve ever used—as well as being very lightweight and compact for a chair made for car camping.

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Black Diamond Spot325 headlamp.

Gear Review: Black Diamond Spot325 Headlamp

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Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot325
$40, 3 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
backcountry.com

From rising before dawn for early starts to beat the heat on a 74-mile backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon in May, to predawn mornings and dark evenings in camp on a 94-mile traverse of the CDT in Glacier National Park in September, the Black Diamond Spot325 demonstrated the brightness and versatility that makes it arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp today. Here’s why.

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