Gear Reviews

The Sierra Designs Sweet Suite 2 is a two-person, double-wall tent weighing 3 lbs 3 oz ounces. It’s easy to set up and has two doors and two vestibules, a must-have for couples camping. Near vertical side-walls and an open airy inner tent provide excellent ventilation and moonlight illumination when …

The Mountainsmith Mountain Shelter LT is a two-person floorless tarp shelter that requires two trekking poles to set up. Weighing 29.5 ounces, it’s not the lightest weight two person tarp you can get by a long shot, but it is inexpensive, spacious, and durable, making it ideal for trips where …

Aquatabs are chemical water purification tablets that help neutralize viruses, bacteria, and Giardia cysts in backcountry water sources. The active ingredient is a form of chlorine which will purify clear, non-turbid water in 30-40 minutes. While you can use them on their own in certain circumstances, they’re best used in …

The North Face Women’s Banchee 50 is an adjustable-torso length backpack specifically designed to fit a female torso with breast-friendly shoulder straps and hip belt padding that adjusts to the curvature of your hips. Loads of pockets make the pack easy to organize, with plenty of straps and loops to …

The Hilleberg Tarp 5 is an unconventional, five-sided tarp that weighs 11.3 oz, including guylines and line tensioners. Most backpacking and hammock tarps are four-sided rectangles or six-sided hexagon shapes, so a five-sided tarp is a real departure from the norm. That’s not all that sets the Tarp 5 apart. …

I’ve been using Platypus Platy Water Bottles since 2009 for bulk water storage, filtration, and purification because they’re so reliable and durable.  I use a 2L Platy Bottle on almost every day hike or backpacking trip I take, so it gets a lot of use and abuse, and comes back …

The Ultimate Direction FK Bivy is a bug-proof bivy sack designed to be used under a tarp shelter. It has a self-standing hood with two flexible wire-rods to keep the mosquito netting off your face, backed by solid fabric panels that can be rolled down for added wind protection and …

The Big Agnes AXL Air sleeping pad is a warm weather ultralight sleeping pad (mummy or full size) that beats the pants off the Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite in terms of comfort and compressibility when packed. But it takes a lot of effort to inflate by mouth and you’ll definitely want …