Gear Reviews

The Gregory Zulu 24 LT daypack

Review: Gregory Zulu 24 LT and Jade 24 LT Daypacks

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Daypack
Gregory Zulu 24 LT and Jade 24 LT
$150, 24L/1,465 c.i., 2 lbs. 5 oz./1.05kg (men’s Zulu 24 LT)
One size each for men and women, non-adjustable
Zulu 24 LT: backcountry.com
Jade 24 LT: backcountry.com

This first thing I noticed about carrying Gregory’s Zulu 24 LT on spring dayhikes of up to about 12 miles from southern Utah parks to New Zealand, with plenty of uphill and downhill and a bit of scrambling thrown in, was its exceptional comfort even when testing its maximum weight capacity: This daypack does not wilt under loads that push some daypacks beyond their “I’m still liking this pack” limit. But the more I used it—and actually interacted with the pack, pulling stuff out, stuffing stuff back in, using its various pockets—the more I liked how its design constantly rose to my demands.

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The Black Diamond Pursuit 15 daypack.

Review: Black Diamond Pursuit 15 Daypack

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Daypack
Black Diamond Pursuit 15
$150, 15L/915 c.i., 1 lb. 7 oz./652g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s and women’s S-L
blackdiamondequipment.com

From dayhikes up to 16 miles with spurts of running on trails in my local foothills to steep, hard dayhikes from Yoho National Park in the Canadian Rockies to New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Pursuit 15 struck an unusually effective balance between traditional hiking daypacks and running vests that’s most useful to avid dayhikers and mountain scramblers moving fast and light.

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Nemo Riff 30 Endless Promise sleeping bag.

Review: Nemo Riff 30 Endless Promise Sleeping Bag

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Sleeping Bag
Nemo Riff 30 Endless Promise
$360, 1 lb. 15 oz./879g (men’s regular)
Sizes: men’s and women’s regular and long
backcountry.com

Nemo’s Riff down sleeping bags have long carved out a unique space among high-end backpacking bags with their spoon shape and comfortable dimensions, as well as the zippered “thermo gills” on the chest area for adjusting the bag’s degree of warmth to vent on mild nights or batten down the hatches on chilly nights. Spending eight nights in the 2024 update, the Riff 30 Endless Promise, in Glacier National Park in September and in southern Utah in early October, I found that Nemo maintained or improved on the Riff’s exclusive features—while making the bags fully recyclable.

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The Black Diamond Distance 1500.

Review: Black Diamond Distance 1500 Headlamp

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Rechargeable Ultra-Bright Headlamp
Black Diamond Distance 1500
$200, 7.5 oz./213g
blackdiamondequipment.com

Comparing any hiking-oriented headlamps I’ve used to the Black Diamond Distance 1500 headlamp feels rather like comparing a Honda Civic to a Bradley armored fighting vehicle. At 7.5 ounces/213 grams, and putting out a supernova-like 1500 lumens at max power, the Distance 1500 is at least twice the price of all of today’s best headlamps for the backcountry and more than doubles most of them in weight and power. Over six months of testing this beast hiking, climbing, mountain and road biking, and backcountry skiing, I’ve concluded that, while it’s certainly overkill for many activities, it’s invaluable for both route finding and high-speed sports after dark.

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Salewa Alp Trainer 2 Mid GTX boots.

Review: Salewa Alp Trainer 2 Mid GTX Boots

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Backpacking and Trekking Boots
Salewa Alp Trainer 2 Mid GTX
$230, 2 lbs. 5 oz./1.05 kg (men’s US 9/Euro 42)
Sizes: US men’s 7-14, women’s 6-10.5
publiclands.com

Eight days of hiking in Iceland, including two dayhikes totaling nearly 10 miles of the peaks Blahnukur and Brennisteinsalda in the Fjallabak Nature Preserve and six days trekking nearly 49 miles on the world-class Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails, presented the full range of conditions that will test any boots: rain falling at times on most days, temperatures from the 30s to 50s Fahrenheit, and hiking on often-wet dirt, pebbles, rocks, mud, and slick, wet snow. I chose Salewa’s Alp Trainer 2 Mid GTX precisely for dealing with those conditions and they truly passed every test with flying colors.

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