backpacking gear reviews

Gear Review: Five Ten Pursuit Boots

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Five Ten Pursuit

Lightweight Boots
Five Ten Pursuit
$150, 2 lbs. 6 oz. (men’s US size 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-12, 13, 14
fiveten.com

I don’t personally anticipate a future in military special ops or SWAT—which these shoes were designed for—but after wearing them while hiking and scrambling with a 30-pound climbing pack in Idaho’s Castle Rocks State Park, plus off-trail hiking and on a technical descent of a slot canyon in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, I think the Pursuit is a great dayhiking and scrambling shoe.

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Gear Review: Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX Boots

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Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX

Lightweight Boots
Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX
$129, 2 lb. 2 oz. (men’s Euro 42/US 9)
Sizes: men’s Euro 39-46.5, 47, 48, women’s 36-43
scarpa.com

I asked a lot of these boots—and they measured up well to every task I asked of them, from hiking with a light daypack in the Boise Foothills to backpacking with a 50-pound load (including more than 20 pounds of water) on a three-day, early-spring family trip in Capitol Reef National Park.

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Gear Review: Gregory Savant 58/Sage 55 Backpacks

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Gregory Savant 58

Backpack
Gregory Savant 58 (men’s) and Sage 55 (women’s)
$199, 58L/3,539 c.i., 3 lbs. 9 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: S-L
gregorypacks.com

Ultralight packs have their place, but they’re not for people who want assured comfort when carrying a little extra weight—whether it’s in creature comforts like a fatter air mattress and a roomier tent, or just food for a longer trek. For that backpacker, there is hardly a better midweight, midsize pack than the men’s Savant or women’s Sage, perfect for traditional backpacking trips of two to five days.

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Gear Review: Outdoor Research and Rab Winter Down Jackets

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Outdoor Research Maestro Jacket

Down Jackets for Winter
Outdoor Research Maestro Jacket
$325, 1 lb. 5 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XL
outdoorresearch.com

On January nights that dipped into the low teens during a four-day yurt trip, this fat, 800+-fill power, hooded down jacket was so warm I could hang around outside for hours in the evenings and early mornings, staying perfectly warm. At a bit under a pound and a half, it’s a burly puffy jacket made for very cold situations: ice-climbing belays, winter camping, or all-day backcountry ski tours on frigid days when you need a super-warm puffy for breaks (or even just inside your pack as an insurance policy in an emergency).

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Gear Review: Platypus GravityWorks Water Filter

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Platypus GravityWorks Water Filter

Platypus GravityWorks Water Filter
$120, 12 oz. (including mesh stuff sack)
moosejaw.com

There are two things I don’t like about filtering water in the backcountry: the weight of a filter in my pack and the time that pumping water requires. The GravityWorks filter addresses both gripes, but especially the latter. Here’s a filter that requires no pumping. It’s easy: Fill the four-liter reservoir labeled “dirty” with water from a creek or other source and seal its opening. Hang it from a tree branch or set it on elevated ground. Attach the quick-release hose-and-filter unit to the dirty reservoir, and then the “clean” reservoir to the hose below the filter. When you set the clean reservoir down in a spot lower than the dirty one, gravity does the work of filtering for you.

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