Section Hikers Backpacking Blog Hiking and Backpacking for Beginners and Experts

Finding a good pair of winter hiking pants that will keep you warm while venting excess sweat is one of the more challenging pieces of clothing for winter hikers to acquire. While beginner winter hikers can get by with layering a pair of synthetic long johns under a pair of …

The Therm-a-Rest XTherm Sleeping Pad is an insulated air mattress designed for cold weather camping with an R-value of 5.7. Weighing just 15 oz, it’s also exceptionally lightweight, durable, and packs up small, which explains its popularity with winter campers and backpackers. Many people underestimate the importance of their sleeping pad …

The Hilleberg Anjan 2 is a 2 person tent designed for three-season use. Weighing 3 lbs. 5 oz., it has a tunnel style architecture with two poles that slot into sleeves, not clips, making it more wind and weather worthy than most lightweight and ultralight tents sold today. While it is a double-walled …

The Black Diamond ReVolt is a fully featured rechargeable headlamp that can also be run using regular lithium-ion or alkaline AAA batteries. So-called dual-mode headlamps provide users with a way to ease into the rechargeable headlamp paradigm, which requires carrying a USB-compatible power pack. They also provide a good shit-hits-the-fan fallback …

MSR’s Ascent and Trail Series Snowshoes have a binding that closes with ski-style straps along the top and rear. The binding has four elastane straps, three that loop over the top of your winter boots and one around the heel. It’s designed that way so that the straps lay flat when …