ultralight backpacking gear reviews

The Osprey Exos 58 in Glacier National Park.

Gear Review: Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58 Ultralight Backpacks

by

Ultralight Backpack
Osprey Exos 58 and Eja 58
$240, 58L/3,539 c.i., 2 lbs. 11 oz. (men’s medium Exos)
Sizes: men’s Exos S-L, women’s Eja XS-M
backcountry.com

It’s difficult and sometimes dangerous to improve on a piece of gear that’s nearly perfect in its simplicity and functionality. So when Osprey rolled out the redesigned Exos for 2018, along with a women’s version, the Eja, with some changes to this popular model—which became an ultralight pack archetype when it was introduced in 2008—I immediately wanted to see whether the changes represent an improvement. Taking it on a six-day, 94-mile hike on the Continental Divide Trail through Glacier National Park, I found definite improvements—including that it carries better than the previous iteration—and I think some backpackers may miss one convenient feature that’s absent from the updated pack.

Read on

The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX hiking boots.

Gear Review: The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX Boots

by

Hiking and Backpacking Boots
The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX
$170, 1 lb. 15 oz. (US men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-14, women’s 5-11
Moosejaw.com

Supportive, durable, waterproof-breathable, mid-cut boots that weigh under two pounds are a rare breed, so I was intrigued by the specs on The North Face Ultra Fastpack III Mid GTX boots. But I’ve also worn enough lightweight boots to know that many do not measure up when it comes to delivering solid support and stability for dayhiking and backpacking mountain trails. So I took these boots on a four-day, roughly 30-mile family backpacking trip in August in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains—and they aced every test.

Read on

Black Diamond Storm headlamp

Gear Review: Black Diamond Storm Headlamp

by

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.

Read on

Big Agnes Picket SL 30 sleeping bag.

Gear Review: Big Agnes Picket SL 30 Sleeping Bag

by

Three-Season Sleeping Bag
Big Agnes Picket SL 30
$260, 2 lbs. 4 oz. (men’s regular)
Sizes: regular and long
moosejaw.com

I know I’m not the easiest person to share a tent with: I flop from side to side during the night. A side sleeper, I curl up with knees bent and extend my arms almost fully. I’ve always preferred mummy-style sleeping bags for their efficiency at trapping heat—but some feel a bit too much like a coffin. On numerous nights of backpacking and camping from the Grand Canyon’s Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop in May to Idaho’s City of Rocks in June and Yosemite’s Tuolumne Meadows area in July, I found that the stretch panels of the Big Agnes Picket SL 30 gave me an experience closer to sleeping in my bed at home.

Read on

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

Are You Still Wasting Money on Outdoor Gear?

by

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.

Read on