America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
Winter Top
Cabela’s Thermal Zone ¼ Zip Mock T-neck
$85 M-XL, $90 XXL, 8 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: M-XXL
cabelas.com
I took a five-mile December trail run wearing this long-sleeve top with nothing over it on the day I got it, and since then, I have hardly spent an active day outside without it. I’ve also worn it (with layers over it as needed) skate-skiing, backcountry skiing, and for four straight days on a January ski trip to a backcountry yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains.
Lightweight Jacket
Mountain Hardwear Super Power Hoody
$125, 13 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: Men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
mountainhardwear.com
Winter and the shoulder seasons of early spring and late autumn are difficult times to be an outdoor athlete—you get hot and sweaty, then your wet clothing makes you cold. For trail running and strenuous hiking in cool to cold temperatures, I’ve rarely found a jacket that breathes well enough and dries quickly enough to handle my body’s rapid temperature shifts—pumping out heat going uphill, then cooling off on the descents—until the Super Power Hoody came along.
Platypus GravityWorks Water Filter
$120, 12 oz. (including mesh stuff sack)
moosejaw.com
There are two things I don’t like about filtering water in the backcountry: the weight of a filter in my pack and the time that pumping water requires. The GravityWorks filter addresses both gripes, but especially the latter. Here’s a filter that requires no pumping. It’s easy: Fill the four-liter reservoir labeled “dirty” with water from a creek or other source and seal its opening. Hang it from a tree branch or set it on elevated ground. Attach the quick-release hose-and-filter unit to the dirty reservoir, and then the “clean” reservoir to the hose below the filter. When you set the clean reservoir down in a spot lower than the dirty one, gravity does the work of filtering for you.
Camp Pillow Cocoon Ultralight AirCore Pillow $25, 4 oz. designsalt.com File this one under “There’s no reason to rough it too severely in the wilderness.” Many a night I’ve lain my head upon this very comfy inflatable pillow, which more than justifies its paltry weight and baseball size when stuffed. The microfiber shell on one side makes for a soft …
Headlamp
Princeton Tec Bot
$16, 2 oz. (with two AAA batteries)
Max burn time: nine hours at maximum brightness
princetontec.com
Your kids need to see in the dark in camp, too. Plus, having his or her own headlamp is pretty cool. My eight-year-old daughter loves his headlamp because it’s pink (it also comes in blue, purple, and green).