Gear Reviews by Manufacturer

Hillsound Trail Crampon Ultras and Kahtoola Microspikes are the most popular winter traction aids for hiking on packed snow, ice, and mixed ice and rock. They’re like tire chains for your feet, with tiny metal spikes and chains that are attached to an elastic harness that you slip over your …

The Oboz Bridger 10″ BDry is an insulated winter hiking and snowshoeing boot with a BDry waterproof/breathable membrane and 400 grams of Thinsulate insulation, making them suitable for cold weather use. Oboz doesn’t publish a temperature rating for them but they’re comparable to other 400-gram insulated winter hiking boots (-40F) …

MSR makes great snowshoes for winter hiking and backpacking that provide excellent traction and flotation over packed snow and ice in mountainous terrain and powder in higher elevations and drier climates. With an ironclad guarantee, MSR also has a great reputation for replacing snowshoes that fail, something that will save you …

The MSR Hubba Hubba NX 2 is a great tent for two people. It’s incredibly easy to set up, lightweight and has two doors so you can come and go at night without disturbing your partner. Nearly freestanding, the pole configuration creates an interior space that has near-vertical walls, providing …

Montbell’s Versalite Pants are 2-layer ultralight waterproof/breathable pants that weigh just 3.7 oz (in a men’s XL.) They can be used as rain pants or wind pants or when you want light layer to keep your legs warmer in camp. Montbell’s Versalite Pants have been available for many years, but the …

The Lifesaver Liberty Water Purifier Bottle is an all-in-one water purifier system with a pass-through water pump that can also function as a water bottle. The unit is very simple to use, but you must take care to prime the pump before using it for the first time and it …

The Hammock Gear Economy Burrow Quilt (“Econ Burrow”) is a fantastic value for a high-quality top quilt and perfectly suited as a hammock top quilt for the backpacker who doesn’t mind a few extra ounces in exchange for a much lower price. The Econ Burrow works on the ground, too, …

Jetboil’s group and personal cooking systems revolutionized camping and backpacking cooking when they were introduced 19 years ago. Jetboil’s signature innovation was to tightly integrate the cook pot and stove into a highly efficient and windproof cooking system that was easy-to-use, fast, and completely self-contained. Since then, Jetboil has refined …

The Light My Fire FireSteel (Army Model) is the most reliable way to light a backpacking or camping stove, fuel, or tinder that I’ve come across. I’ve been carrying one for the past 10 years since I section hiked Vermont’s Long Trail and had a disposable lighter jam so I …

The Jetboil Zip is a complete canister stove system that includes an insulated cooking pot, top lid, stove burner, measuring cup, and stand. It’s large enough to carry a small-sized 100 g canister inside and packs together into a small and compact unit that’s easy to carry in a backpack. The …

The Montbell EX Light Down Anorak is an ultralight 900-fill power, down sweater that’s ideal for wearing around camp, during water and snack breaks, or paired with a top quilt for sleeping. Weighing 9.0 oz (in a size XL), the styling is simple but functional, with a half zipper, adjustable …

The KS Ultralight Alpisack is a 50L frameless backpack weighing 21 oz. While it can be used year-round, it has a few special features that also make it suitable for climbing, snowshoeing, skiing, and winter hiking. Being frameless, it can’t carry much more than 20-25 pounds of gear, water, food, …

I became enamored with cook pots that include heat exchange fins this year after watching a friend melting snow with one last winter with far less fuel than me. This led to my changing my cook pot for this winter from a 1.3 liter ultralight titanium pot to a comparatively …

The Hammock Gear Bottom Entry Bug Net is a simple, inexpensive, durable and lightweight solution to protect yourself from bugs while hammock camping. It eliminates zippers which can snag or fail, and, per its name, uses elasticized shockcord on the bottom for the entry point. The Bottom Entry Bug Net …