Hiking Gear Reviews

Black Diamond Storm headlamp

Gear Review: Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

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Headlamp
Black Diamond Storm
$50, 3.9 oz. (with 4 AAA batteries, included)
backcountry.com

As darkness and light rain both fell on a partner and I for the last couple of miles of a 27-mile dayhike the length of western Maine’s brutally rugged Mahoosuc Range, I slipped the Storm onto my head—which helped prevent my shuffling and occasional staggering from turning into falling. I also used this ultralight headlamp in campsites from Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve and Yosemite National Park to backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop. Through all that field testing, the Storm proved itself one of the best high-performance headlamps on the market today. Here’s why.

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A backpacker hiking the Timberline Trail around Oregon's Mount Hood.

Are You Still Wasting Money on Outdoor Gear?

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By Michael Lanza

What if every time you laid down money for hiking, backpacking, or other outdoors gear, you always knew exactly what you needed and were invariably satisfied with your purchase for years afterward? What if you knew every time whether it was smarter to spring for the pricier piece of gear or go for the cheaper model? What if you always knew when and where to find the best gear at rock-bottom sale prices?

Read on to learn how you can become that expert gear buyer—just in time for ongoing gear sales at many online retailers.

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Salewa Wildfire hiking and approach shoes.

Gear Review: Salewa Wildfire Hiking-Approach Shoes

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Hiking/Approach Shoes
Salewa Wildfire
$129, 1 lb. 11 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: US men’s 6-12, women’s 3-9
moosejaw.com

The term “approach shoes” can misleadingly imply that those shoes aren’t made for dayhikers who largely stick to trails, perhaps only occasionally wandering off-trail, when actually, that couldn’t be further from the truth. For years, I’ve found that shoes lumped into this category are my favorite picks for typical dayhikes of any distance, on trails ranging from packed dirt to rocky, and I’ve liked them for performance aspects that should appeal to most hikers: good fit and breathability, protective uppers, and outstanding traction. Hit those targets while making the shoe lighter and it’s even more attractive. That’s why I tried out the low-cut Salewa Wildfire on hikes ranging from a nine-mile, roughly 2,500-foot jaunt to Observation Point and Hidden Canyon in Zion National Park to hiking and scrambling on spring days at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve.

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Patagonia Nine Trails 20 daypack.

Review: Patagonia Nine Trails 20L Daypack

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Daypack
Patagonia Nine Trails 20L
$129, 20L/1,220 c.i., 1 lb. 11 oz. (S/M)
Sizes: S/M and L/XL
backcountry.com

What’s an ideal daypack for three-season hikes? When you’re only carrying food, water, extra clothing, and perhaps some incidentals like camera gear (as I do), a daypack of 15 to 20 liters is ideal for most dayhikers in three-season conditions: They’re light on your back but offer all the space and features you need. Sometimes the story behind a piece of gear will appear sparse, precisely because it dispenses with the superfluous in service to functionality. On various dayhikes from Zion National Park to a 27-mile, 16-hour traverse of western Maine’s Mahoosuc Range, I found the Nine Trails 20L hits a sweet spot for supremely easy access, low weight, capacity, and comfort.

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Gregory Citro 20 daypack.

Review: Gregory Citro 20 and Juno 20 Daypacks

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Daypack
Gregory Citro 20/Juno 20
$170, 20L/1,220 c.i., 2 lbs. 3.5 oz. (without reservoir)
One men’s and one women’s size
Citro: backcountry.com
Juno: backcountry.com

On a 16-mile, roughly 5,000-vertical-foot October dayhike of 11,749-foot Mount Timpanogos in Utah’s Wasatch Range, on a day when I needed clothes for temperatures ranging from around 50 to the 30s Fahrenheit, with strong, cold winds at higher elevations, I carried the Citro 20 for several hours with about 15 pounds of water, food, clothing, and camera gear inside. That day convinced me that many hikers would like the men’s Citro 20 and women’s Juno 20. Here’s why.

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