Gear Reviews

The Nemo Hornet Elite Osmo 1p ultralight tent in the Grand Canyon.

Review: Nemo Hornet Elite Osmo 1p Ultralight Tent

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Ultralight Solo Backpacking Tent
Nemo Hornet Elite Osmo 1p
$550, 1 lb. 7 oz./657g
nemoeequipment.com

From the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route to Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, Nemo’s top-of-the-line Hornet Elite Osmo 1p solo ultralight tent withstood winds gusting to around 30 mph/48 kph and shrugged off light rain, while providing comfortable living space, excellent ventilation, and a tiny footprint that enables pitching it on the most improbably small patches of flat ground—all in a surprisingly compact package that weighs less than the low-cut hiking shoes I wore in the Beartooths.

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A young boy in a sleeping bag while backpacking in Sequoia National Park.

10 Pro Tips For Staying Warm in a Sleeping Bag

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By Michael Lanza

Head into the mountains in summer, or almost anywhere in fall or spring, and you can encounter nighttime and morning temperatures anywhere from the 40s Fahrenheit to well below freezing. That’s more than cold enough to pose a real risk of hypothermia or, at the least, result in a miserable night for you or a partner or child you’ve taken backpacking or camping—and would like to take more. Here’s the good news: The very simple techniques outlined in this article can turn a potentially unpleasant night into a comfortable one.

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The Deuter Aircontact Ultra 50+5 ultralight backpack.

Review: Deuter Aircontact Ultra 50+5 and 45+5 SL Backpacks

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Ultralight Backpacks
Deuter Aircontact Ultra 50+5
$260, 55L/3,356 c.i., 2 lbs. 15 oz./1.33kg
Deuter Aircontact Ultra 45+5 SL
$250, 50L/3,051 c.i., 2 lbs. 11 oz./1.21kg
One adjustable size in both models
Aircontact Ultra 50+5: backcountry.com
Aircontact Ultra 45+5 SL: backcountry.com

To put Deuter’s updated-for-2024 Aircontact Ultra 50+5 ultralight backpack through the paces, I took it on a pair of quite rugged but also quite different backpacking trips this spring: a three-day hike through southern Utah’s Owl and Fish canyons with a max weight of about 30 pounds in the pack, and six days and about 60 miles backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route, repeatedly carrying extra water—and starting out with more than 40 pounds inside, including over 10 pounds of water and 11 pounds of food. As I expected, those trips revealed much about the Aircontact Ultra backpacks and why they might appeal to lightweight and ultralight backpackers.

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The Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie.

Review: Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Outdoor Research Shadow Wind Hoodie
$129, 5.8 oz./164.4g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XXL
outdoorresearch.com

We ask a lot of ultralight wind shells, these wispy jackets that often weigh no more (and sometimes less) than your hiking shorts. We want them to breathe well when we’re hiking or running uphill while, of course, blocking the wind effectively—and not feel like a kitchen trash bag with sleeves and a hood. On trail runs, dayhikes, and a backpacking trip from the desert Southwest in spring to the mountains of Southwest Idaho, in a wide range of fall and spring weather that challenges any outer layer to keep you comfortable, I found that OR’s Shadow Wind Hoodie did just that, quite well.

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Montem Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles.

Review: Montem Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles

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Trekking Poles
Montem Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles
$90, 14 oz./396.9g
$One size, adjustable 105-135cm
montemlife.com

The biggest question with inexpensive gear is always: Will it work? And best way to answer that question is to field test it in places that are hard on gear. Backpacking six days on the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route, five days in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, and three days on southern Utah’s rugged Owl and Fish canyons loop, and dayhiking in a couple of southern Utah national parks and on two of the steepest, meanest trails in my local Foothills, I found that Montem’s remarkably affordable Ultra Light 100% Carbon Fiber Trekking Poles met virtually all the demands I placed on them through some very hard use and left me with only a couple of relatively minor critiques.

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