ultralight backpacking gear reviews

Backpackers camped in the backcountry of Wyoming's Wind River Range.

Review: Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 Solution Dye Ultralight Tent

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Ultralight Backpacking Tent
Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 Solution Dye
$450, 2 lbs. 3 oz./992g
rei.com

If you’re shopping for an ultralight tent with two doors that doesn’t require an engineering degree to pitch, the Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 has long had much to recommend it—including a weight of 18 ounces per occupant. Now, B.A. has made the latest update of this laudable shelter even more appealing to weight-conscious backpackers, with fabric that’s highly resistant to UV degradation and comes with substantial green cred, thanks to a production process that uses radically less water, energy, and chemicals.

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The Osprey Exos 58 ultralight backpack.

Review: Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58 Ultralight Backpacks

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Ultralight Backpack
Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58
$260, 58L/3,539 c.i., 2 lbs. 14 oz./1.3kg (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s S/M and L/XL, women’s XS/X and M/L
Exos: backcountry.com
Eja: osprey.com

Osprey’s men’s Exos and women’s Eja packs would seem like shining examples of gear proven to perform so well for so long that redesigning them risks customer backlash. As a longtime fan of the packs, I was eager to take the Exos 58 on a long cruise—nine days and nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail with some on- and off-trail detours. I came away from that walk convinced that, with what they changed and what they kept in the Exos/Eja, Osprey done made these packs even better.

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The Black Diamond Spot 400.

Review: Black Diamond Spot 400 Headlamp

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Ultralight Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot 400
$50, 2.5 oz./70.9g
blackdiamondequipment.com

How do you choose a headlamp for the backcountry? If you’re looking for a range of modes that’s both basic and versatile, good brightness and dimming capability, and smart features that make it more useful while maintaining a design simplicity that doesn’t require an advanced science degree to operate it, Black Diamond’s Spot 400 is hard to beat. On evenings in camp on a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range, I found this latest update sustains and improves on the legacy of BD’s popular Spot line as an excellent value in an ultralight headlamp.

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Featured Friends Eos Down Jacket.

Review: Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket

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Down Jacket
Feathered Friends Eos Down Jacket
$409, 11 oz./312g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL, women’s XS-XL
featheredfriends.com

When you have something that works, the worst thing you can do is change it much. Feathered Friends stuck with a winning formula when updating its popular Eos Down Jacket, making just two minor improvements. Testing the updated Eos on adventures ranging from a windy and chilly June camping and climbing trip in Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve to nine days backpacking through the High Sierra in August, I found it just as warm and comfortable as I have found the previous iteration of this poofy puffy in the backcountry of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, Glacier National Park, and countless other wild places.

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Black Diamond Spot 400-R headlamp.

Review: Black Diamond Spot 400-R Headlamp

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Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
Black Diamond Spot 400-R
$65, 2.6 oz./73.7g
blackdiamondequipment.com

Using Black Diamond’s Spot 400-R on various outings, from nights in camp in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, and on a nine-day hike of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail, and pre-dawn starts on a seven-day, nearly 70-mile walk in September in Glacier National Park and a six-day hike on the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route in April, to dawn patrol backcountry skiing in Idaho’s Boulder Mountains, backpacking on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River in the first days of April, and trekking hut-to-hut on New Zealand’s Routeburn and Milford tracks in late spring, I found this latest update continues the legacy of functionality and versatility that has made BD’s long-popular Spot line arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp—while also demonstrating the strong value proposition of choosing this rechargeable model over a battery-powered headlamp.

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