ultralight backpacking gear reviews

Gear Review: Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800 Sleeping Bag

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Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800
Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800

Two-Season Sleeping Bag
Sierra Designs Mobile Mummy 800 (30° F)
$330, 1 lbs. 12 oz. (reg); $350 (long)
Sizes: men’s regular and long, women’s regular ($370)
moosejaw.com

It’s a chilly morning in the backcountry and the last thing you want to do is exit your warm sleeping bag to step outside. With the Mobile Mummy 800, you don’t have to—you can wear your sleeping bag outside to fire up breakfast or take care of other business. Although the concept of a wearable sleeping bag that converts to a long down jacket isn’t new, Sierra Designs has achieved a nice kind of perfection with the Mobile Mummy.

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Gear Review: Westcomb Focus LT Hoody

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Westcomb Focus LT Hoody
Westcomb Focus LT Hoody

Ultralight Rain Jacket
Westcomb Focus LT Hoody
$280, 9 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XXL
campsaver.com

Here’s the thing about a rain jacket: Other than a first-aid kit, it’s often the least-used item in my pack, whether backpacking, climbing, or dayhiking. But when I need it, of course, I sure wouldn’t want to be without one. Like a lot of people, I have contradictory desires for a rain shell—I want it to be functional and protective when the weather turns foul, but also super lightweight and compressible. On backpacking trips in Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park, California’s Sequoia National Park, and Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness, as well as a 28-mile dayhike in Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains, and a hut trek in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, the Focus LT was consistently my go-to shell. Why? It delivered protection when I needed it, and virtually disappeared inside my pack when unneeded.

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Gear Review: Bosavi Headlamp

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Bosavi headlamp
Bosavi headlamp

Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
Bosavi
$70, 2 oz. (including rechargeable battery)
Max burn time: 65 hours at low power, six hours at high power
bosavi.com

With an increasing number of headlamps weighing in under four ounces without compromising brightness, the name of the game these days is versatility and convenience. The Bosavi sets itself apart not just because it’s rechargeable (like some others), but with a design that makes it ideal for hiking or backpacking, trail running, climbing, skiing, bike commuting, and just about any activity you’ll do outside in the dark that doesn’t require a super bright light (and a massive, heavy battery pack). Plus, an ounce or two may seem like splitting hairs to some, but ultralight backpackers and hikers, climbers, and trail runners will appreciate that the Bosavi is lighter and more compact than most competitors.

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Gear Review: REI Flash 45 Backpack

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REI Flash 45
REI Flash 45

NOTE: Click here to read my review of the newer, 2017 version of the REI Flash 45 backpack.

Backpack
REI Flash 45
$129, 45L/2,745 c.i., 2 lbs. 3 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: medium (fits torsos 17-19 inches) and large (50L/3,051 c.i., 2 lbs. 4 oz., fits torsos 19-21 inches)
rei.com

For most backpacking trips, when I’m not carrying gear and food for my family, I pack as light as possible and walk long days: I like to see as much wilderness as I can. For those trips, I prefer a backpack that’s light but still has decent support; I find that the virtually frameless ultralight packs with minimal support pull on my shoulders too much over the course of a 10- or 12-hour day of hiking. On a recent three-day, 65-mile hike in Yosemite, carrying a max of about 25 pounds, the Flash 45 hit that nice middle ground: lightweight, yet comfortable with the amount of weight I threw into it, and very functional.

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Gear Review: Outdoor Research Throttle Short

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Outdoor Research Throttle Short
Outdoor Research Throttle Short

Hiking and Running Shorts
Outdoor Research Throttle Short
$59, 6 oz. (men’s small)
Sizes: men’s S-XXL, women’s XS-XL
outdoorresearch.com

With the variety of shorts for trail running and hiking out there, what distinguishes one from another? When I’m going fast or far on warm days, I want shorts that keep me cool and comfortable—like the Throttle Short, which I wore this summer on dayhikes in Idaho’s Sawtooths with my family, trail runs of up to seven miles in the Boise Foothills, a two-hour hike-run (6.4 miles and almost 3,000 feet up and down) on the Eagle Peak Trail in Mt. Rainier National Park, a 28-mile, nearly 8,000-vertical-foot dayhike in Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains, and numerous, sweaty gym workouts.

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