Trail-Running Gear Reviews

The Arc’teryx Norvan Windshell Jacket.

Review: Arc’teryx Norvan Windshell Jacket

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Arc’teryx Norvan Windshell Jacket
$130, 3.2 oz./91g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XXS-XXL
Men’s: arcteryx.com
Women’s: arcteryx.com

On winter and spring trail runs in my local foothills in every combination of cool to cold wind or calm air and overcast to sunny skies, and on a hike-scramble of 11,330-foot Twin Peaks in Utah’s Wasatch Range—nearly nine miles with 6,200 vertical feet of up and down—on a sunny October day with temps ranging from the 40s to the 50s Fahrenheit and cool wind at times, the Arc’teryx Norvan Windshell Jacket demonstrated its strengths and minor shortcomings as one of the very lightest of the many ultralight wind shells you’ll find today.

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The Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody.

Review: Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody

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Ultralight Wind Shell
Mountain Hardwear Kor Airshell Hoody
$150, 5.1 oz./145g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
backcountry.com

After sweating hard on a sunny and humid June morning hiking up the headwall of Huntington Ravine—the steepest and hardest trail on Mount Washington—we hit the cool wind blowing across the mountain’s alpine terrain. I pulled on my Kor Airshell Hoody and it tamed that wind while breathing so well that the wet sun shirt against my skin dried out quickly. And that pattern of sweating and hitting wind kept repeating itself on that two-day, 21-mile hut trek in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, providing plenty of opportunities for the Kor to show off its strengths.

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The Biolite Headlamp 425.

Review: BioLite Headlamp 425

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Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
BioLite Headlamp 425
$60, 2.75 oz./78g
backcountry.com

What does the ideal backcountry headlamp look like? Many of us who find ourselves in wild spaces well before dawn or after dark might describe that headlamp as light, bright enough to see what lies at least 200 feet ahead of you (especially when off-trail), with a versatile set of lighting modes and brightness levels, easy to use, and rechargeable with sufficient juice to last several days. BioLite’s Headlamp 425 checks all those boxes and impressed me with its performance on backpacking trips in the Wind River Range in late summer and on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River and in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in the first week of April.

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Mammut Kento Light HS Hooded Jacket.

Review: Mammut Kento Light HS Hooded Jacket

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Ultralight Rain Jacket Mammut Kento Light HS Hooded Jacket $219, 5.5 oz./156g (men’s medium) Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s S-XL backcountry.com When the sky darkened with foreboding, black and gray clouds that suddenly obliterated the sharply angled peaks flanking the John Muir Trail in the Evolution Basin of Kings Canyon National Park, I pulled on the ultralight Mammut Kento Light HS …

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The Biolite Headlamp 325.

Review: BioLite Headlamp 325

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Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
BioLite Headlamp 325
$50, 1.8 oz./51g
backcountry.com

Look for an ultralight headlamp built for backcountry use that’s under two ounces and $40 or less and you’ll find very few choices—with the BioLite Headlamp 325 arguably the best among them. Then consider that it sports a basic but functional set of lighting modes, cranks out enough brightness and lasts long enough on a full charge for backpackers, dayhikers, trail runners, and other backcountry users, and this slim light will look pretty good to many people who log significant hours on the trail.

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