backpacking gear reviews

Gear Review: Sierra Designs Zissou 15 Sleeping Bag

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Sierra Designs Zissou 15Sleeping Bag

Sleeping Bag
Sierra Designs Zissou 15
$260 regular, $280 long, 2 lb, 9 oz. (reg)
Sizes: regular and long
sierradesigns.com

For years, I’ve rarely used a synthetic sleeping bag because they’re so much heavier and bulkier than down bags, and I’m not often out on the sort of extended, really wet trips where a down bag can get damp enough to lose its loft and warmth. But the advent of hydrophobic down could be a game changer nonetheless, and the Zissou 15 is among the first sleeping bags on the market to use down feathers that resist saturation.

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Gear Review: GoLite and MontBell Trekking Umbrellas

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GoLite Collapsible Trekking Umbrella
MontBell U.L. Trekking Umbrella

Trekking Umbrellas
GoLite Collapsible Trekking Umbrella
$50, 10 oz. (including case)
One size
golite.com

MontBell U.L. Trekking Umbrella
$39, 6 oz. (including case)
One size
montbell.us

My kids and mom were pretty psyched when I pulled out these trekking umbrellas during periods of cold rain on a weeklong, hut-to-hut trek in Norway’s Jotunheimen National Park.

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Gear Review: Westcomb Cayoosh LT Sweater

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Westcomb Cayoosh LT Sweater

Westcomb Cayoosh LT Sweater
$260, 10 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
westcomb.com

From Idaho’s Sawtooths to Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness and Washington’s Olympic Mountains, this full-zip down jacket proved surprisingly warm for its weight in temperatures from the 40s down to a hair below freezing (with only one or two base layers underneath).

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Gear Review: Exped Mira II Tent

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Exped Mira II

Backpacking Tent
Exped Mira II
$379, 3 lbs. 14 oz.
exped.com

Rain, hail, snow squalls, strong winds, temps below freezing, as well as dry, calm nights in the 40s and low 50s—I saw it all in this tent, from Washington’s stormy Olympic Mountains to Idaho’s City of Rocks and Smoky Mountains.

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Gear Review: Jetboil Sumo GCS and Companion Bowl Set

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Jetboil Sumo Titanium Group Cooking System and Companion Bowl Set

Camp Kitchen
Jetboil Sumo Titanium Group Cooking System
$190, 12 oz. (weight not including the measuring cup or the pot support)
$130, 16 oz. (for the aluminum version)

Jetboil Sumo Companion Bowl Set
$20, 6 oz.
Set includes two 23-oz. (675 ml) bowls and one 15-oz. (450 ml) bowl
jetboil.com

From boiling water in near-freezing temperatures, wind, and drizzle with two friends in the Olympic Mountains in September, to family backpacking trips in Oregon’s Eagle Cap Wilderness in August and Capitol Reef National Park in March, this cooking system delivered everything I want in a backcountry kitchen for a small group: fast, efficient cooking even in inclement weather, and low weight and bulk in my pack.

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