Gear Reviews by Manufacturer

In early November I was hiking the Long Trail in Vermont, trying to eke out one last weekend section hike before the weather got colder. At this time of year it gets pitch black at 5:00 pm. I finished eating dinner just …

La Sportiva’s Ultra Raptor Trail Runners are hiking shoes that excel in mountain environments because their soles have sticky rubber which adheres well to rock, including wet rock while providing enough protection for your feet. A thick rubber toe cap and an …

The Icebug DTS2 BUGrip GTX Shoe is designed for running and walking on ice-covered roads, sidewalks, and trails covered with hard-packed snow. The sole of each shoe has 19 carbide steel studs that provide traction, much like studded snow tires on icy roads. …

I’ve switched to La Sportiva Ultra Raptor Trail Runners for three season hiking. These are fantastic shoes for hiking and backpacking in mountainous terrain where you need excellent traction and protection for your feet but don’t want to lug around the weight of …

The Hydrapak Seeker 3L is a 100 ounce (3 liter) soft water bottle that weighs 3.1 ounces empty and has a 42 mm opening. The big benefit of using a soft bottle for backpacking is that it can be rolled up and …

The Hillsound Cypress 6 Crampon is an easy to use instep-style crampon good for walking on flat or rolling terrain covered with packed snow and ice. While considerably beefier and more aggressive than Kahtoolha Microspikes, the Cypress 6 lacks the front points …

HikeGoo has proven to be highly effective in preventing blisters and calluses for hikers using a wax-based lubricant that prevents blisters and protects your feet from moisture. Rick and Carl, the founders of Foot Kinetics, developed HikeGoo after trying almost every other …

Every backpacker or hiker should carry a fire steel with them in their emergency gear repair kit. This is one emergency preparedness and survival tool that you should never be without. If you’re not familiar with fire steels, they consist of two components …

Trail Runners for Hiking I bought a pair of Inov-8 TerRoc 330 trail running shoes (left) to compare against the Inov-8 Roclite 320’s (right) I reviewed recently (you can check out that review of mine on shoe hero). A number of you …

I mostly wear my MontBell UL Thermawrap Pants in camp during the winter when I’m melting water or cooking, but I put them on today when we got to treeline on Mt Chocorua (3,500 ft). With a gusty wind and temperatures in …

When I backpack, I usually wear a pair of leather Asolo TPS 520 boots. Even though they have Gore-tex liners and I waterproof them using sno-seal, they can get wet. When that happens, they can take several days to dry and increase …

The Montbell Ultralight Thermawrap Jacket is a lightweight insulation layer (a size XL is 9.1 oz.) that is exceptionally warm.  I wear it directly over a base layer, replacing bulkier garments like a fleece pullover. It’s also windproof, which means I can shed an outer shell layer …

There’s nothing worse than having a having a stubborn rain jacket zipper that won’t zip when it starts to rain heavily. To prevent this, I lubricate all of the zippers on my hiking coats, sleeping bags, and shelters at least once a …

Jack’s ‘R’ Better (frequently abbreviated JRB) is a boutique manufacturer of quilts and other accessories for Hennessy Hammocks, such as The Nest, a down underquilt for insulating the bottom of a hammock in colder weather to extend its temperature range. They also …