ultralight backpacking gear reviews

Gear Review: La Sportiva Raptor Shoes

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La Sportiva Raptor

Lightweight Trail Shoes
La Sportiva Raptor
$120, 1 lb. 9 oz. (men’s Euro 42)
Sizes: Euro men’s 36-47.5, women’s 36-43
sportiva.com

Is this a running or hiking shoe? You decide. Rare is the shoe that excels at trail running and crosses over to perform among the best light hikers, but the Raptor does exactly that. After several trail runs, the longest a 25.5-mile, seven-hour run-hike (running perhaps three-quarters of the distance, walking the rest) in the Boise Foothills, I fell in love with these non-waterproof low-cuts.

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Gear Review: Adidas Terrex Fast R GTX Shoes

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Adidas Terrex Fast R GTX

Hiking Shoes
Adidas Terrex Fast R GTX
$155, 1 lb. 12 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 6-14
www.adidas.com/us/outdoor

Adidas might have named this low-cut shoe the ATV, because it really is an all-terrain vehicle. On local hikes in the Boise Foothills in all kinds of conditions—dry, packed dirt, mud, wet snow, and rain-drenched rock—the outsoles bit without a slip. That’s thanks to deep and widely spaced outsole lugs and Continental rubber, the same kind used for mountain bike tires.

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Gear Review: Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX Boots

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Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX

Lightweight Boots
Scarpa Moraine Mid GTX
$129, 2 lb. 2 oz. (men’s Euro 42/US 9)
Sizes: men’s Euro 39-46.5, 47, 48, women’s 36-43
scarpa.com

I asked a lot of these boots—and they measured up well to every task I asked of them, from hiking with a light daypack in the Boise Foothills to backpacking with a 50-pound load (including more than 20 pounds of water) on a three-day, early-spring family trip in Capitol Reef National Park.

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Gear Review: Helinox Featherlite Trekking Poles

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Helinox Featherlite Trekking Poles

Trekking Poles
Helinox Featherlite
$120, 10 oz. (120 cm)
Sizes: 120 and 135 cm (adjustable)
bigagnes.com

There’s a new ultralight standard in adjustable trekking poles. At 10 oz. for a pair, these sticks weigh in at less than half of many competing models. On a 17-mile dayhike of New Hampshire’s Franconia Ridge in July, I had Appalachian Trail thru-hikers comparing these against their own poles and growing wide-eyed with envy.

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Gear Review: Stoic Somnus 30 Sleeping Bag

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Stoic Somnus 30

Sleeping Bag
Stoic Somnus 30
$299 (regular), $319 (long), 1 lb. 8 oz. (regular)
Sizes: regular (6’), long (6’6”)
backcountry.com

I tend to get a nervous tick when a manufacturer touts an ultralight sleeping bag: I think they shaved weight either by using less insulation (read: you’ll shiver), or the bag is cut like a straitjacket. So I was truly impressed by the new version of the Somnus 30, which just went on sale (with the down upgraded from 800- to 850-fill, making the bag slightly lighter). It may be the perfect summer-weight down bag.

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