Hiking 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: Osprey Syncro 20 Daypack

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Osprey Syncro 20

Daypack
Osprey Syncro 20
$119, l lb. 15 oz. (M/L)
Sizes: S/M 18L/1,098 c.i., M/L 20L/1,220 c.i.
ospreypacks.com

This daypack is all about organization, comfort, and versatility for several hours of hiking or biking. On hikes, rides, and light ski tours in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, I found its suspension super stable, thanks to a single, aluminum perimeter stay that wraps around the back panel and flexes with your torso motion while providing enough support for loads of 15 pounds or more. The trampoline-style back panel allows lots of air circulation, which kept my back cool on long uphill slogs, while the lightly padded, mesh waistbelt and shoulder straps are comfortable without being bulky or obtrusive.

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Gear Review: Mountain Hardwear Super Power Hoody Jacket

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Mountain Hardwear Super Power Hoody

Lightweight Jacket
Mountain Hardwear Super Power Hoody
$125, 13 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: Men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
mountainhardwear.com

Winter and the shoulder seasons of early spring and late autumn are difficult times to be an outdoor athlete—you get hot and sweaty, then your wet clothing makes you cold. For trail running and strenuous hiking in cool to cold temperatures, I’ve rarely found a jacket that breathes well enough and dries quickly enough to handle my body’s rapid temperature shifts—pumping out heat going uphill, then cooling off on the descents—until the Super Power Hoody came along.

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Gear Review: Princeton Tec Bot Kids Headlamp

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Princeton Tec Bot

Headlamp
Princeton Tec Bot
$16, 2 oz. (with two AAA batteries)
Max burn time: nine hours at maximum brightness
princetontec.com

Your kids need to see in the dark in camp, too. Plus, having his or her own headlamp is pretty cool. My eight-year-old daughter loves his headlamp because it’s pink (it also comes in blue, purple, and green).

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