Clothing Reviews

Outdoor Research Transcendent Down Gloves provide great warmth and excellent dexterity, which can be a difficult combination to achieve in an insulated winter glove. While mitts and mitten shells are a winter hiking essential, they don’t provide enough dexterity to hold an ice ax, melt snow, or check a GPS. My …

The Montane Future Lite Hoodie is a lightweight, down hoodie that’s insulated with 750 fill power HyperDry RDS-sourced down. It has what manufacturers now call an “under-helmet” hood that’s thankfully tighter-fitting than the Godzilla-sized helmet-compatible down jacket hoods of yesteryear which were designed to fit over climbing helmets. Designed for …

REI’s Merino Midweight Half-Zip Base Layer Top is a 200-gram wool base layer available in men’s and women’s sizes.  It falls between Minus 33’s mid-weight Sierra 1/4 Zip (230 gram) and the Minus 33 lightweight (170 gram) 1/4 zip tops, at a comparable price.   However, REI frequently has these on …

The North Face Venture 2 Rain Jacket is a value-priced but fully-featured waterproof/breathable rain jacket that can be used year-round for hiking and backpacking. The Venture 2 has a fully adjustable hood, 8″ long pit zips, velcro wrist cuffs, two side pockets, and an elastic hem adjustment which I consider …

Outdoor Research’s Ferrosi Convertible Hiking Pants are highly breathable and quick drying convertible hiking pants with zip-off legs. They’re very stretchy which makes them great for scrambling and even rock climbing, with a gusseted crotch that provides great range of motion. In addition to zip-off legs, there’s an elastic band …

The Marmot Precip ECO is a lightweight waterproof/breathable rain jacket made with recycled nylon ripstop with a PFC-free DWR coating. Weighing 10 oz, the Precip is inexpensive but fully featured and suitable for year-round hiking and backpacking. It has a fully adjustable hood, pit zips, velcro wrist cuffs and two …

The REI Rainier Rain Jacket is an inexpensive but well-featured waterproof/breathable rain jacket that can be used year-round for hiking and backpacking. Priced at $89 dollars, but often discounted, the Rainier is virtually identical to the Marmot Precip Eco Rain Jacket and includes pits zips, an adjustable hood, hook and …

REI Screeline Hiking Pants are super-comfortable spandex and nylon gusseted hiking pants with vents behind the knee and reinforced knees and rear. I like wearing them for my more rugged scrambly hikes, off-trail bushwhacks and harvesting firewood that would rip up a lighter weight pair of pants. While the Screeline …

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 …

Vidda Pro Pants are tough hiking pants made by Fjallraven, a Swedish company that makes technical expedition clothing and gear. They are constructed from Fjallraven’s G-1000 fabric which is a blend of 65% polyester and 35% cotton. While cotton is treated as a taboo for outdoor clothing, this fabric blend …

The Patagonia Houdini Jacket is an ultralight jacket designed to help you stay warm in cool windy weather. It’s not waterproof or insulated but provides a windproof layer to prevent the cold air from stripping away the heat trapped in your baselayer or mid-layer clothing. Wind shirts and jackets like …

The Massdrop Veil is an ultralight breathable wind shirt which provides active insulation even in high winds. Wind shirts are very lightweight and usually weigh between 2 and 3 ounces. While they’re not waterproof, many experienced hikers carry and use a wind shirt to prevent heat loss in windy exposed …

Bug season can be unpleasant, but it’s no reason to give up hiking and backpacking. You just need to cover up with insect-proof clothing and wear bug dope. If you never hike when insects are active, you’re not going to get much hiking and backpacking done, are you? Here’s a …

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 …