Ultralight Backpacking Gear Reviews

Hyperlite Mountain Gear (HMG) specializes in making rugged multi-sport backpacks and shelters with Dyneema Composite Fabrics. Their distinctive white and black backpacks are quite popular and easy to spot on National Scenic Trails and in the backcountry. One of the things that …

The Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 Ultralight Backpack is a multi-day backpack that’s optimized for lightweight backpacking and thru-hiking. It’s a great backpack for people who want to transition from carrying a much heavier back to a lighter weight one, without having to …

The NEMO Switchback is an accordion-style closed-cell foam sleeping pad that can be used as an ultralight pad by itself or to augment the warmth of a second sleeping pad when sleeping outdoors in colder weather. It’s quite similar to the Therm-a-Rest …

The Borah Gear Bug Bivy is a reasonably priced bivy for use under a variety of tarps when there is mild to medium bug pressure. It can add a few degrees of warmth to your sleep setup and is also great for …

The Vargo BOT 700 is a lightweight, wide-mouth titanium bottle that can be used for cooking or cold-soaking meals on backpacking and camping trips. The BOT 700 lets me cook some of my meals and cold soak others, without the need to …

The Six Moon Designs Swift X is a 45L liter roll-top backpack with an adjustable torso length that will appeal to any lightweight backpacker or thru-hiker. It carries great and is absolutely loaded with features. It’s also made with XPac (a Liteskin …

The Gossamer Gear Liteflex Hiking Chrome Umbrella is an 8 oz full-size trekking umbrella that provides sun and rain protection on the trail. It became a game-changer for me on my Pacific Crest Trail hike and it still reigns as one of …

The REI Quarter Dome SL 1 is a one-person double-wall tent that only weighs 31 oz. Despite its low weight, the interior is remarkably livable, with vertical sidewalls, numerous internal pockets to keep you organized, and a roof vent to help minimize …

The Zpacks Pocket Tarp w/ Doors is a one-person tarp weighing 6.1 oz with guylines attached. It is constructed from 0.55 oz/sq. yard Dyneema Composite Fabric (DCF), a fully waterproof material that doesn’t stretch or sag when wet. I purchased this tent …

The REI Flash Air 2 Tent is an ultralight two-person tent with two doors and two vestibules that weighs 1 pound 15 ounces if pitched with trekking poles (regular tent poles are also included). It is a single wall tent with lots …

The Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL3 is a lightweight two-door, two-vestibule, three-person tent that only weighs 2 lbs 10 oz. While it is large enough to fit three people, if you don’t mind crawling over one of your tent partners to get …

Paria Outdoors Tri-Fold Carbon Cork Trekking Poles are adjustable length, z-style trekking poles that fold away for travel or when they’re not needed. At just $60/pair, they’re much more affordable than other folding carbon trekking poles with cork handles and offer a …

SlingFin’s SplitWing Shelter bundle is a 1-2 person, ultralight, three-piece modular shelter system with a tarp, mesh body with a solid floor, and an optional vestibule. This setup allows you to have one system that you can dial in for different 3-season …

The Enlightened Equipment Visp is an ultralight 3-layer waterproof breathable rain jacket with a fully adjustable hood, velcro wrist cuffs, a waterproof zipper, and a drop tail, that’s fully seam-taped seam taped.  The Visp is lightweight and breathable enough that it can …