Hiking Gear Reviews

The North Face Morph Jacket.

Review: The North Face Morph Down Jacket

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Down Jacket
The North Face Morph Jacket
$249, 12.5 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
ems.com

While today’s insulated jackets come in a greater variety, with different strengths and weaknesses, it can seem confusing to differentiate between them. One easy metric relevant to any consumer is warmth per dollar—and that’s where The North Face Morph Jacket shines. Stuffed with high-quality down feathers that are not water resistant, it delivers warmth that competes with the best down jackets of the same weight, and performance ideal for many backpackers, climbers, and others, at a price about 100 bucks lower than top competitors.

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The Tecnica Plasma S hiking shoes.

Gear Review: Tecnica Plasma S Hiking Shoes

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Hiking Shoes
Tecnica Plasma S
$150, 1 lb. 14 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14.5, women’s 5.5-10.5
rei.com

The notion of a hiking shoe that can be heat-molded to your feet like the liners of ski boots seemed too good to pass up. So I took the Tecnica Plasma S shoes on what struck me as two perfect tests: dayhiking 12,662-foot Borah Peak, highest in Idaho, which entails an almost relentlessly steep, 5,200 vertical feet of ascent and descent in seven miles round-trip, mostly on trail, but also includes a few hundred feet of third-class scrambling; plus backpacking the Teton Crest Trail. The Plasma S delivered on the promise of a customized fit—but it’s important to understand the limits of this technology. Read on.

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The Gregory Miwok 18 daypack.

Review: Gregory Miwok 18 and Maya 16 Daypacks

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Daypack
Gregory Miwok 18/Maya 16
$110, 18L/1,098 c.i., 1 lb. 12 oz. (men’s)
One men’s and women’s size, adjustable
moosejaw.com

Look at a row of modern daypacks in any store or at an online retailer and you’ll see an increasing number that strive to strike a balance between good carrying comfort and capacity, with a smart feature set that’s not over-engineered, and low weight. Many of them are using the template employed by Gregory’s Miwok and Maya daypack series for years. Carrying the recently updated Miwok 18 on sections of a five-day trek through northern Spain’s Picos de Europa Mountains, and on an eight-mile, 5,200-vertical-foot dayhike of Idaho’s 12,662-foot Borah Peak—with some third-class scrambling—I was reminded of everything I’ve liked about this pack for a long time, and had an opportunity to evaluate a fine, major improvement these outstanding daypacks have just received.

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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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Deuter Trail Pro 36 daypack.

Review: Deuter Trail Pro 36 and Trail Pro 34 SL Daypacks

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Large Daypack
Deuter Trail Pro 36 and Trail Pro 34 SL
$185, 36L/2,197 c.i., 3 lbs. 7 oz. (men’s)
Sizes: one men’s and one women’s, not adjustable
Trail Pro 36: backcountry.com
Women’s Trail Pro 34 SL: backcountry.com

On the second day of a five-day hut trek through Spain’s Picos de Europa Mountains, the trail immediately grew steep and remained steep for most of the day. We hiked long stretches over snow-covered talus and scree—and concluded the day’s hiking with a descent of almost 3,000 feet through innumerable switchbacks. On top of that, the skies rained and snowed on us virtually all day. Sometimes, you just get lucky with conditions that put a pack through a testing gantlet. Throughout that Picos trek, the Trail Pro 36 demonstrated that it’s a high-quality, versatile, large daypack.

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