backpacking gear reviews

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite air mattress.

Review: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite Air Mattress

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Insulated Air Mattress
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite
$230, 9 oz. (regular, 20×72 inches, in its stuff sack)
Sizes: small (20×47 ins., $140), regular (20×72 ins.), regular wide (25×72 ins.), large (25×77 ins., $210)
backcountry.com

As I was loading my backpack at the start of a six-day, 74-mile backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon, I smiled as I held the stuffed Therm-a-Rest NeoAir UberLite air mattress in my hand; call me a gear geek, but unusually small ultralight backpacking gear just has that effect on me. One of my hiking mates glanced over and said, “Is that your air mattress?!” Yea, it’s that tiny. And if you’re serious about reducing your pack weight—as any backpacker should be—you should be taking a serious look at the NeoAir Uberlite. Here’s why.

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Oboz Sawtooth II Low Waterproof hiking shoes.

Gear Review: Oboz Sawtooth II Low Waterproof Hiking Shoes

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Hiking Shoes
Oboz Sawtooth II Low Waterproof
$140, 2 lbs. 4 oz. (men’s size 9)
Sizes: men’s 8-14, women’s 6-11
backcountry.com

All through the second day of a five-day trek in northern Spain’s Picos de Europa Mountains, we hiked through steady rain and, higher up, wet snow that accumulated several inches deep on the ground. It felt more like Scotland’s Northern Highlands than mountains in the north of Spain. Throughout that day and the entire trip, these shoes mostly delivered the kind of support and performance I expect from much pricier boots—but did have a couple of minor shortcomings. 

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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
$520, 1 lb. 1 oz. (regular)
Sizes: small, regular, long
cascadedesigns.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 and a four-day trip in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, both 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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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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Black Diamond Spot325 headlamp.

Gear Review: Black Diamond Spot325 Headlamp

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Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot325
$40, 3 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
backcountry.com

From rising before dawn for early starts to beat the heat on a 74-mile backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon in May, to predawn mornings and dark evenings in camp on a 94-mile traverse of the CDT in Glacier National Park in September, the Black Diamond Spot325 demonstrated the brightness and versatility that makes it arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp today. Here’s why.

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