Gear Reviews

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 …

Range Meals Bars are highly caloric and flavorful meal replacement bars for easy sustenance during calorie-intensive outdoor pursuits. Packing a walloping 700 calories (5.7 oz), these bars contain gluten-free and non-GMO ingredients, ideal for people who have dietary restrictions or want to …

The Gregory Zulu 55 is a ventilated, adjustable frame backpack that’s loaded with features but still fairly light, weighing in at 3 lbs 10 oz. While the Zulu and its female sibling, the Gregory Jade 53, have been on the market for many …

Dachstein Extreme Warm Wool Mittens are very warm boiled wool mittens popular with mountaineers. Made with very dense boiled wool (more on this below), they’re windproof and virtually waterproof. When the mercury drops near zero or below, these are the mittens you …

The Granite Gear Crown2 38L backpack is a lower volume version of its popular big brother, the Crown2 60L backpack.  It’s a highly configurable ultralight backpack that has an adjustable-size hip belt so you can get a perfect, customized fit, with an …

The Brunton TruArc 10 is a baseplate-style compass with a declination adjustment that is best suited for use in forested or mountainous terrain where you can rarely see your destination. Featuring a global needle, you can also use the TruArc 10 compass interchangeably …

The Mystery Ranch Scree is a 3.1 pound daypack with an adjustable length torso that’s designed for carrying heavy loads in rugged terrain. It’s made with burly fabrics to withstand serious abuse, with a unique frame system that won’t buckle if you …

The Osprey Levity is an ultralight backpack available in a 60L or 45L size and weighing just under 2 lbs. Much-anticipated, the Levity packs are one of the first ventilated ultralight backpacks available with a suspended mesh back to help keep you …

The Sea to Summit Cinder Down Quilt is a summer-weight ultralight quilt rated to 50 degrees Fahrenheit that weighs just over a pound. It’s made with water-resistant 750+ fill RDS certified down, has sewn-through baffles, and can open up completely flat into …

The ULA Catalyst Backpack is the largest volume backpack in ULA’s line of ultralight style packs with over 75 liters of volume. Weighing 44 -48 ounces (depending on configuration), it’s a durable backpack that can carry an enormous amount of gear and …

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, …

The Nitecore NU20 is a very bright, lightweight rechargeable headlamp that’s ideal for backpacking and hiking. Weighing just 1.66 ounces, including a comfortable head strap, it has 4 brightness levels, ranging from 1 lumen to 360 lumens on full power, in addition …

The Mountainsmith Zerk 40 is a speed hiking backpack designed for ultralight thru-hiking. Weighing 25 oz, it has a roll-top closure, removable, hip belt strap, a running vest-style shoulder strap system, and removable foam framesheet. Numerous open mesh pockets make it easy …

The MSR WindBurner is a canister stove system built around the wind-proof and super fuel-efficient radiant burner technology that MSR originally developed for its snow-melting powerhouse Reactor Stove. Unlike conventional backpacking stoves, radiant burners don’t have flames, which makes them impervious to windy …