Gear Reviews by Manufacturer

The Salomon X Ultra Mid 3 Aero is a lightweight mid-cut breathable hiker for men & women.  These are made without the waterproof/breathable membrane typical of most hiking boots and offer good support for those who prefer more ankle support over trail runners or hiking shoes.  Traction is great thanks …

The NEMO Tensor Alpine Ultralight Insulated Sleeping Pad is a lightweight insulated air mat that weighs 17 ounces and is 3″ thick. It has a flat 2-way valve and includes an inflation sack so you don’t have to bust a gut blowing it up. This pad also has an R-value …

The Granite Gear Dagger 22 is a technical daypack that’s equally at home on the trail, for traveling, or on the campus. It’s organized like Granite Gear’s multi-day backpacks with a long front stretch pocket, side water bottle pockets, and compression straps, only with much less volume.  The top opens …

The Feathered Friends Lark 10 UL Sleeping Bag is a great sleeping bag for cold sleepers. With 950+ fill power goose down, a draft tube, and a thick draft collar, the Feathered Friends Lark is a very good bag for early spring and late autumn on most trails. I don’t …

The Exped FlexMat Plus is a folding accordion-style closed-cell foam sleeping pad with an R-Value of 2.2 (using the new sleeping pad R-value standard). While it is heavier than the comparable NEMO Switchback and Therm-a-Rest ZLite foam sleeping pads, it’s also about 10% more insulating based on the new R-value …

The NEMO Tensor Insulated Sleeping Pad is a lightweight insulated air mat that’s available in a wide variety of lengths and widths. It’s undergone substantial improvement since we last reviewed it a few years ago including a new flat 2-way valve, new insulation, reduced weight, and inclusion of an inflation …

The Outdoor Research Refuge Air Hooded Jacket is water and wind-resistant jacket insulated with OR’s Vertical X. Designed for cold weather wear, it claims to incorporate thermo-regulating technology that keeps you cool, dry, and comfortable during high-exertion activities.  Named after its VerticalX Air technology, the Refuge Air is designed with …

The Big Agnes Scout Platinum 1 ($350) is a single-wall trekking pole tent that’s made with conventional tent fabrics but still only weighs 13 oz. Admittedly, that is a very attractive weight and price point for any ultralight tent, although it comes at a cost in terms of reduced livability, …

The Odlo Performance Blackcomb Base Layer Shirt is a hooded and body-mapped synthetic baselayer shirt that’s good for aerobic cold-weather sports where you need a wicking baselayer that pulls moisture away from your skin so you stay dry and don’t get chilled. Specs at a Glance Weight: Men’s XL – …

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 North Face Green Kazoo 0*F Sleeping Bag is a spacious and more affordable zero-degree winter sleeping bag insulated with 700 fill power water-resistant down. It has a beefy draft collar and hood, a two-way zipper, and an internal draft tube. Weighing 3 lbs 5 oz, it’s surprisingly compressible for …

The Exped Outer Space II is a large two-person double-wall freestanding tent with a front vestibule that’s large enough to seat two people. You can set up the rain fly first in order to keep the inner tent dry if it’s raining, or you can keep them together when you …

The Feathered Friends Murre EX 0 Sleeping Bag is a mummy-style down bag specifically designed for women. Weighing 2 lbs 13 oz, it has 25.5 oz of 900+ fill power goose down with cold-weather features that include a draft collar, continuous baffles, hood, zipper draft tube, and a stiff zipper …

UGQ Outdoor is a cottage quilt manufacturer that makes top quilts, underquilts, and tarps for backpackers and hammock campers. The quality of their products is excellent and they’ve grown rapidly by word of mouth as the popularity of quilts has grown. The Bandit is their most popular top quilt and …