backpacking gear reviews

The Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 30 sleeping bag.

Review: Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 30F Sleeping Bag

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Sleeping Bag
Mountain Hardwear Bishop Pass 30F/-1C
$295, 1 lb. 12 oz. (regular, 72-inch)
Sizes: men’s and women’s regular and long
backcountry.com

On the second night of a four-day, roughly 50-mile backpacking trip in Yosemite in the last week of September, when nights dipped into the 40s Fahrenheit, I laid my bag and pad out under the stars, without a tent, in one of the neatest spots I’ve ever slept outside: on a dry granite slab between two braids of a creek, lulled by a tiny cascade just a few steps from my head. And all night, a strong, cool wind blew down that creek valley, prompting me to zip deeply inside the Bishop Pass 30F/-1C. Despite that wind chill, I stayed warm and slept like a baby.

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The Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody.

Review: Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody

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Water-Resistant Down Jacket
Black Diamond Approach Down Hoody
$429, 10 oz./284g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

Sometimes it’s hard to anticipate how much warmth you’ll need from your insulation, especially on a multi-day backcountry trip—and you may be tempted to go with an ultralight puffy jacket and hope for the best. If your choice is BD’s Approach Down Hoody, you’ll achieve the ultralight objective with little risk of feeling under-dressed. Wearing it on cool, very windy evenings and mornings down to the 40s Fahrenheit on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon in early April and in similar temps on a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range, I stayed both perfectly warm and happy that I’d avoided adding more ballast to a pack already encumbered with substantial food and water weight.

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The Outdoor Research Helium Wind Hoody.

Review: Outdoor Research Helium Wind Hoodie

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Outdoor Research Helium Wind Hoodie
$129, 5 oz./141.7g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

If, besides very low weight, versatility counts for everything in an ultralight wind shell, the variety of places, weather, and seasons I’ve worn OR’s wafer-thin Helium Wind Hoodie speaks volumes about its value. From hiking up and sometimes running down crazy-steep trails in fall and the earliest days of spring in Utah’s Wasatch, Canada’s Banff National Park, New Hampshire’s White Mountains, and Idaho’s Boise Foothills, to the breezy heights of Hawaii’s high point, 13,803-foot Mauna Kea, and the windblown depths of the Grand Canyon, this shell fended off cool wind while taking up no more space in my daypack than my long-sleeve jersey.

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The Sea to Summit Ether Light Extreme Insulated Air Mattress.

Review: Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Extreme Insulated Air Mattress

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Insulated Air Mattress
Sea to Summit Ether Light XT Extreme Insulated Air Mattress
$230, 1 lb. 9 oz. (unisex regular)
Sizes: four unisex and two women’s sizes
backcountry.com

On several nights in early winter, as temperatures slipped into the teens and single digits Fahrenheit outside my tent on the snow on two separate trips in Idaho’s Boise and Boulder Mountains, I zipped up snugly inside my sleeping bag and lay on this fat, well-insulated air mattress, briefly considering that I might feel cold before morning. And every morning, I awoke after sleeping longer and later than I normally do in my bed at home, feeling incredibly well rested and realizing my 0-degree bag combined with this air mat were only pushed to their limits (for me) when the temps dropped to within a few ticks of 0° F.

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Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 sleeping bag.

Review: Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0 Sleeping Bag

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Winter Sleeping Bag
Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0
$770, 2 lbs. 9 oz./1162g (regular, 72-inch)
Sizes: short, regular, long
backcountry.com

The forecast made me sit up and wonder: Will my bag be warm enough? For the three nights in late December that I planned to spend in a tent in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, lows would drop into the teens and single digits Fahrenheit—slipping below the “comfort” rating and approaching the “limit” rating of my Mountain Hardwear Phantom 0. And this on my maiden voyage with the bag; I had not used it yet. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about with this extraordinarily warm and packable, ultralight winter sleeping bag.

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