Gear Reviews

The Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody.

Review: Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody
$150, 5.1 oz./145g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

After sweating hard on a sunny and humid June morning hiking up the headwall of Huntington Ravine—the steepest and hardest trail on Mount Washington—we hit the cool wind blowing across the mountain’s alpine terrain. I pulled on my Kor Airshell Hoody and it tamed that wind while breathing so well that the wet sun shirt against my skin dried out quickly. And that pattern of sweating and hitting wind kept repeating itself on that two-day, 21-mile hut trek in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, providing plenty of opportunities for the Kor to show off its strengths.

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The Jetboil Flash backpacking stove.

Review: Jetboil Flash Backpacking Stove

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Backpacking Stove
Jetboil Flash
$130, 13.1 oz./371g
backcountry.com

On chilly, windy, early-April mornings and evenings in camp in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon, at windy campsites in mid-April on two backpacking trips in the Grand Canyon and in September in southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, and calmer but still cool mealtimes on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River, plus backpacking three days on southern Utah’s Owl and Fish canyons loop in early May, four days in the Wind River Range in August, seven days in Glacier National Park in September, four days with freezing nights on the Uinta Highline Trail in Utah’s High Uintas and three days on the Boulder Mail Trail-Death Hollow Loop in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in early October, among other trips, the Jetboil Flash did everything you want a backpacking stove to do: assembled quickly and easily, fired up immediately every time, and boiled water so fast that even our group of five hungry backpackers were content sharing just that one stove.

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The Nemo Hornet Osmo 2p ultralight backpacking tent.

Review: Nemo Hornet Osmo 2p Ultralight Backpacking Tent

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Ultralight Backpacking Tent
Nemo Hornet Osmo 2p
$430, 2 lbs. 1 oz./948g
backcountry.com

Sleeping in this ultralight tent while backpacking a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River in the first days of April and backpacking southern Utah’s Owl and Fish canyons loop in early May, camping in Idaho’s City of Rocks in June, and backpacking the Nigel, Cataract, and Cline Passes Route in the Canadian Rockies in August, I had a chance to not only test its performance, but also to consider the unique little niche it fills. If you’re seeking the lightest and most packable shelter that possesses all the ease of use, protection, and convenience of traditional double-wall tents as well as a degree of livability that will suit many backpackers, the Hornet Osmo 2p offers much to like.

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The Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 15° F/-9° C sleeping bag.

Review: Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 15F/-9C Sleeping Bag

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Ultralight Sleeping Bag
Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy
$319, 2 lbs. 8 oz. (men’s regular)
Sizes: men’s regular and long ($290) and women’s ($300)
sierradesigns.com

Stepping out of my tent on our first morning in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in the first week of April, I was greeted by an air temperature barely above freezing and a steady wind sailing through our camp at about 20 to 30 miles per hour. So I reacted in the only way that made sense: I wore my sleeping bag in camp. And I could do that and walk around easily (while my friends assumed postures of cold discomfort wearing their down jackets outside—or simply stayed in their tent) because my bag was the Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 15° F/-9° C.

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The Biolite Headlamp 425.

Review: BioLite Headlamp 425

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Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
BioLite Headlamp 425
$80, 2.75 oz./78g
bioliteenergy.com

What does the ideal backcountry headlamp look like? Many of us who find ourselves in wild spaces well before dawn or after dark might describe that headlamp as light, bright enough to see what lies at least 200 feet ahead of you (especially when off-trail), with a versatile set of lighting modes and brightness levels, easy to use, and rechargeable with sufficient juice to last several days. BioLite’s Headlamp 425 checks all those boxes and impressed me with its performance on backpacking trips in the Wind River Range in late summer and on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River and in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in the first week of April.

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