America’s Best Backpacking and Outdoor Adventures
Lightweight Boots Keen Aphlex Mid WP $160, 2 lbs. 3 oz. (US men’s 9) Sizes: men’s 6-15, women’s 6-11 moosejaw.com Lightweight, mid-cut boots at this price make up a competitive category of hiking footwear, and quality varies significantly. Many models are, frankly, made for first-time boot buyers and bargain shoppers who make a choice based on a couple of simple …
Rain Jacket Outdoor Research Realm Jacket $279, 10.5 oz. (men’s medium) Sizes: men’s XS-XXL moosejaw.com Carrying a heavy pack in intermittent, strong gusts of cold wind and hot sun—that’s actually one of the best tests of a rain shell, because you’ll discover how breathable it is, which dictates whether you can stay dry (read: not sweating up a personal storm …
Three-Season Sleeping Bag Big Agnes Boot Jack 25 $190, 2 lbs. 6 oz. (regular) Sizes: regular and long ($200) moosejaw.com Backpackers and campers shopping for a sleeping bag often focus on just a few specs: temperature rating, length, insulation type, and of course, price. They might not give consideration to construction, design, or how the bag fits—as in how much …
Ultralight Backpacking Tents Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2 mtnGLO $440, 2 lbs. 1 oz. (not including stuff sacks and stakes) Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL3 $450, 2 lbs. 15 oz. (not including stuff sacks and stakes) moosejaw.com As we searched for a campsite while backpacking in the canyon of Utah’s Dirty Devil River in late March, the wind …
Ultralight Tent Exped Mira II Hyperlite $429, 2 lbs. 14 oz. (without the included stuff sack and eight sturdy stakes, at least six of which are needed to pitch the tent) moosejaw.com On the first of two nights backpacking with my 15-year-old son in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains, I got an immediate sense of what I liked about Exped’s sub-three-pound …