Hiking Gear Reviews

The Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket.

Review: Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket

Water-Resistant Down Jacket
Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket
$390, 11 oz./313g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

A weeklong backpacking trip in Glacier National Park in mid-September presented a quandary: Starting out with the weight of a week’s food gave me added incentive to trim all superfluous weight from my pack; yet the possibility of temperatures dropping near or even below freezing made bringing adequately warm layers essential. The Rab Mythic Alpine Down Jacket achieved both goals, keeping me warm on our coldest mornings in Glacier while weighing less than most comparably warm puffy jackets.

Read on

Oboz Katabatic Mid Waterproof boots.

Review: Oboz Katabatic Mid Waterproof Boots

Hiking and Backpacking Boots
Oboz Katabatic Mid Waterproof
$180, 1 lb. 13 oz./822g (US men’s size 9)
Sizes: US men’s 7-15, women’s 5-12
backcountry.com

Designers of backpacking boots—driven by consumer demand—have brought that category through an evolution of sorts to where many popular models look very similar: reasonably lightweight, waterproof-breathable, increasingly flexible and comfortable while maintaining good stability and support, and moderately priced. But as I found while wearing them on a pair of three-day backpacking trips and dayhikes in the Canadian Rockies and a four-day backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, the Oboz Katabatic Mid Waterproof achieve all of those qualities while weighing significantly less than many boots in this category.

Read on

The Patagonia R1 Air Full-Zip Hoody.

Review: Patagonia R1 Air Full-Zip Hoody

Hooded Fleece Jacket
Patagonia R1 Air Full-Zip Hoody
$179, 12.5 oz./354g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XXS-XL, kids XS-XXL
backcountry.com

As I’ve repeatedly written at this blog, virtually no piece of outdoor apparel offers more versatility than a highly breathable, midweight insulation layer; arguably, the only “layer” you will wear more is your skin. Find a highly breathable midweight jacket that’s soft and fits like it was custom made for your torso and you have a winner. Patagonia’s R1 Air Full-Zip Hoody could play that role for almost any outdoor user, from hard-core backpackers, climbers, and backcountry skiers to the average dayhiker or fitness walker, as I found wearing it on backpacking trips in Glacier National Park and the Canadian Rockies, not to mention countless days around town and at home.

Read on

The Himali Accelerator Down Jacket.

Review: Himali Accelerator Down Jacket

Down Jacket
Himali Accelerator Down Jacket
$330, 12.5 oz./354g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
himali.com

On cool mornings and windy evenings in the low 40s Fahrenheit (4-6° C) in campsites while backpacking the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park and the Nigel, Cataract, and Cline Passes Route in the White Goat Wilderness in the Canadian Rockies in August, my Himali Accelerator Down Jacket kept me perfectly warm over just one or two base layers. By many measures, this midweight puffy hits the target for three-season mountain adventures in its balance of weight, packability, warmth, materials, water resistance, and features—all at a competitive price for a high-quality down jacket.

Read on

The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30.

Review: Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 Daypack

Daypack
Mystery Ranch Coulee 30
$189, 29L/1,770 c.i., 2 lbs. 9 oz./1.2kg (men’s S/M)
Sizes: men’s S/M and L/XL, women’s XS/X and M/L
backcountry.com

Let’s face it, we sometimes tend to act like unreasonable relationship partners in our expectations for our gear, including hiking daypacks: We want everything to be perfect all the time. And with gear, we can obsess a bit over weight. But as I discovered carrying the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 on hikes from the trails of southern Idaho and Utah’s Wasatch to the Canadian Rockies, its reasonable weight is more than validated by a design, comfort, capacity, and durability that make it one of today’s best daypacks.

Read on