Editors Choice

The Garmin inReach Mini 2-Way Satellite Communicator is a reliable and easy-to-use GPS-enabled satellite communicator that can send SOS messages to rescuers in an emergency, email or text your friends and relatives, track your route, mark GPS waypoints and help you navigate in the backcountry. Like its big brothers, the …

The Gossamer Gear Mariposa 60 is a lightweight backpack that weighs 30.7 oz. It’s ideal for weekend backpacking and long-distance trips, particularly if you prefer a backpack that has lots of pockets and a frame, like a more conventional backpack, but weighing half as much. The Mariposa is also quite …

The Zpacks Duplex Tent is a single-wall 2 person tent made with Dyneema Composite Fabrics (formerly called cuben fiber) that weighs 19.4 oz. It has two doors, two vestibules, and requires two trekking poles to erect. Despite its high-tech construction, the Duplex is a remarkably simple tent to set up …

The Western Mountaineering Ultralite is a 20 degree sleeping bag that weighs 29 ounces. It’s filled with 16 ounces of 850+ fill power goose down and loaded with features that make it comfortable to use, especially during early spring and late autumn when there’s a touch of winter chill in …

The REI Passage 2 is a comfortable two-person camping tent that’s ideal for car camping, base camping, and short backpacking trips. It has two doors and two giant vestibules with plenty of external gear storage. But what sets this tent apart from others is its internal livability. The tent interior …

The Six Moon Designs Lunar Solo is a single wall trekking pole tent that weighs 26 ounces (740 g). It is a six-sided shelter, shaped like a half pyramid, with a side door and vestibule area that’s good for gear storage or cooking in rainy weather. The single side door …

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 (55L) Southwest Backpack is a durable Dyneema DCF (formerly called cuben fiber) backpack that’s good for thru-hiking and multi-day backpacking trips in rugged terrain. The 3400 Southwest is basically the same pack as the smaller volume Hyperlite Mountain Gear 2400 (40L) Southwest Backpack (SectionHiker Gear of …

The HydroBlu Versa Flow Water Filter can be used in a wide range of different configurations for treating backcountry drinking water, from inline filtering in a hydration system to gravity filtering and squeeze-style filtering with a water reservoir. Both ends are threaded which makes it easy to connect the filter …

The MSR Guardian is a first-class water purifier that removes viruses, bacteria, protozoa, dirt and silt from backcountry and international water sources. Weighing just 17.3 ounces, the Guardian has a self-cleaning filter that constantly purges itself while you filter water so you never have to backflush or scrub the filter …

The Feathered Friends Flicker 40 UL Quilt Sleeping Bag is a 19-ounce quilt sleeping bag designed for backpackers and climbers who want to the flexibility and lightweight of an insulated sleep system that can be used in many ways, including: a hoodless sleeping bag for tent or cowboy camping under the …

The CNOC Vecto 2L Soft Water Container is a roll-up soft bottle that’s compatible with the Sawyer Squeeze and Sawyer Mini water filters (which 80% of backpackers use). Like the Platypus Big Zip, one side opens up completely, by removing the bottom slide, making it easier to fill from water …

Outdoor Research’s Protector Sun Gloves ($20) are fingerless gloves designed to protect your hands from the sun. I originally bought them for fly fishing to reduce my sun exposure, but I’ve also started wearing them for all of my hikes as an insect barrier. They weigh next to nothing and …

Outdoor Research’s Thru-Gaiters are short stretch gaiters with a Hypalon instep strap and two front hooks for clipping on to your shoelaces. They can be used with hiking boots, mids, or trail runners and incorporate OR’s ActiveIce thermoregulating technology to keep your calves cool while keeping mud and trail debris …

The Sea-to-Summit Etherlight XT Insulated Sleeping Pad is a lightweight, inflatable sleeping pad that is 4″ thick and features air-sprung cells for maximum comfort, making it far more comfortable than Thermarest’s NeoAir sleeping pads and much quieter. Weighing 15 oz, it has the same durable three-way inflation valve and is …