Gear Reviews

Deuter Trail Pro 36 daypack.

Review: Deuter Trail Pro 36 and Trail Pro 34 SL Daypacks

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Large Daypack
Deuter Trail Pro 36 and Trail Pro 34 SL
$185, 36L/2,197 c.i., 3 lbs. 7 oz. (men’s)
Sizes: one men’s and one women’s, not adjustable
backcountry.com

On the second day of a five-day hut trek through Spain’s Picos de Europa Mountains, the trail immediately grew steep and remained steep for most of the day. We hiked long stretches over snow-covered talus and scree—and concluded the day’s hiking with a descent of almost 3,000 feet through innumerable switchbacks. On top of that, the skies rained and snowed on us virtually all day. Sometimes, you just get lucky with conditions that put a pack through a testing gantlet. Throughout that Picos trek, the Trail Pro 36 demonstrated that it’s a high-quality, versatile, large daypack.

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Review: Black Diamond Helio Active Shell

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All-Season Shell Jacket
Black Diamond Helio Active Shell
$400, 12 oz./340g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
moosejaw.com

The rain began before we hit the trail on the second morning of a five-day June trek in northern Spain’s Picos de Europa Mountains; by late morning, we reached the snow line, and the light rain turned to wet snow, accumulating several inches on the ground. The wind came from various directions, blowing 40 to 50 mph as we got higher and crossed a pass. It felt more like Scotland’s Northern Highlands than mountains in the north of Spain. For that entire day, most of it spent hiking through falling rain or snow, I wore the Black Diamond Helio Active Shell—and it basically saved my butt on a day when cold wind and wet precipitation could have tipped me into hypothermia.

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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
$490, 1 lb. 1 oz. (regular)
Sizes: small, regular, long
rei.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 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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