Gear Reviews

The ZenBivy Light Bed 25 Bundle is a quilt-style sleep system that prioritizes comfort while staying lightweight enough for backpacking. I prefer sleeping in a hammock when backpacking because I don’t sleep particularly well when camping on the ground. But I’ve sleep …

Artilect’s Boulder 125 Crew Long Sleeve Jersey and Leggings are made with Nuyarn, an engineered blend of merino wool and nylon fiber that is more durable than straight merino wool, dries faster, and is more elastic without requiring the use of stretch …

The Gregory Katmai 65 is an internal frame backpack with an adjustable torso length, an adjustable-sized hipbelt, and a suspended mesh back panel. The pack is loaded with pockets and has multiple access points that make it easy to organize and access …

The Western Mountaineering Hooded Flash Jacket has been a constant favorite in my pack since 2010. It is a lightweight down jacket made for moderate temperatures where a high performance/low weight insulation layer is required. Western Mountaineering is a USA based company …

The MSR Whisperlite Stove was introduced in 1984 and is still the best liquid fuel stove you can buy for group camping, backpacking, and winter mountaineering. Preferred by professional guides and expedition leaders, the fuel efficiency, reliability, and field repairability of the …

The Kovea Spider Inverted Canister Stove is a four-season backpacking and camping stove that has many advantages over fully integrated and component canister stove systems. Chief amongst these is the fact that it can burn canister fuel in liquid form, with the …

The MSR Reactor Stove System is not the lightest weight backpacking stove available or the most flexible because it can’t simmer, but it boils water really fast and is 40% more efficient than most other pot & canister stove combinations. Those two properties make …

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 everyday hike or backpacking trip I take, so it gets a lot …

The Six Moon Designs Minimalist V2 is a fully-featured, high volume, comfortable, and overbuilt backpack marketed for thru-hiking. It’s a good pack, but its name is misleading because nothing about this pack is minimal. There are 15 external storage pockets (including 8 …

The Gregory Facet 55 Backpack is a lightweight ventilated women’s backpack weighing 2 lbs 8.8 oz / 1.16 kg that is designed for backpacking and thru-hiking. It’s an internal frame backpack with a wire perimeter frame, a floating top lid, load lifters, …

The La Sportiva Ultra Raptor II Mid Wide GTX is a high-top version of the Ultra Raptor II GTX trail running shoe. While some might classify it as a hiking boot, it’s basically the same shoe with a high ankle cuff for …

The REI Flash Jacket is a very thin nylon jacket that traps your body heat and prevents the wind from stripping it away. Also called a windbreaker or wind shirt, it’s much more breathable than a raincoat or a hardshell jacket, it …

Sunday Afternoons Ultra Adventure Hat is a sun hat with a wide brim and a neck cape to protect your neck from the sun and a UPF rating of 50+. It has many great features to recommend including a unique sunglasses holder, …

The Jetboil MiniMo backpacking stove is a canister-based camping stove system that can simmer, so you can actually cook ingredients on a smaller flame, in addition to a full-on boil like Jetboil’s other personal or group stoves systems. Specs at a Glance Volume: 32 oz (1 …