Top 10 Gear Picks

Winter hiking boots have evolved tremendously over the past 10 years and are now lighter weight and more comfortable than ever before. Gone are the days when you needed to choose between military surplus boots, plastic mountaineering boots, or heavy pac boots to keep your feet warm. Today’s winter boots …

For winter snowshoeing on hiking trails and in the backcountry, you want a winter hiking snowshoe that is durable, with aggressive crampons for traction and a secure binding system that locks your boots to the snowshoes. If you’re interested in getting off the grid and snowshoeing through backcountry terrain, these …

The growing use of Dyneema Composite Fabrics, Woven Dyneema, XPac, and LiteSkin has ushered in a new era of durable lightweight, sub-3-pound backpacks that can withstand the abuse of multiple thru-hikes, bushwhacking, canyoneering, and winter hiking and still come back for more. While you will pay a premium for a …

Four-season tents for mountaineering, winter backpacking, and backcountry skiing tours need to be a good deal stronger than regular three season tents if you are camping in exposed windy terrain that is subject to heavy snow loads. The strongest and most wind-resistant tents are wedge or dome-shaped and freestanding, so …

A headlamp is one of the most important 10 essentials for backpacking, hiking, and any kind of outdoor adventure sport. Using your smartphone as a flashlight doesn’t cut it. But the days of old-school AA and AAA battery-powered headlamps are history.  USB rechargeable headlamps have become ubiquitous and are less …

Winter backpacking backpacks are more specialized than regular three-season backpacks, with a stronger emphasis on heavier weight loads, external attachment points, and durability for carrying bulky gear with sharp points like snowshoes, skis, ice axes, and crampons. They also favor more pockets and the ability to access and put away …

There are so many great one-person and two-person backpacking tents available today, that choosing between them has become one of the biggest challenges faced by many backpackers. For example, improved tent fabrics and lighter weight tent poles have reduced the weight of tents so much that many people purchase two-person …

Backpacking packs and backpacking gear have gotten much lighter weight in recent years due to innovations in the materials and fabrics available to backpack manufacturers. Most lightweight backpacks now weigh between 2 and 3 pounds and have 40 to 60 liters of storage volume. They have frames and can usually …

Hammocks Tents are all-in-one camping and backpacking shelters that include a hammock, mosquito netting, a tarp for rain protection, and a suspension system to hang it all between two trees. The biggest advantage of buying an all-in-one hammock tent is that all the components fit together and you can take …

Trekking poles provide many benefits to hikers and backpackers from added stability and balance on rough trails to less wear and tear on knees and hips, especially when hiking downhill. The most popular trekking poles used by hikers and backpacks are adjustable in length, with a clamp-style lever lock adjustment …

Backpacking tarps are a great camping option if you want to reduce your backpacking gear weight while experiencing a deeper connection to the outdoors by sleeping under a shelter without walls. Backpacking tarps come in two basic flavors: shaped/catenary cut tarps that have curved sides to reduce weight and flapping …

Many backpackers carry camp shoes for greater comfort in camp that can serve double duty as stream crossing shoes, so they don’t have to get their hiking boots or trail shoes wet. Sandals, water shoes, slides, clogs, and minimalist footwear are all popular choices but it’s worth giving some thought …

What are the best water filter and water purification treatment systems used by backpackers? That really depends on your preferences, the quality of the water you need to filter or purify, and the number of people you need to treat water for. For example, squeeze-style water filters, UV purification, and …

While there are hundreds of hiking boots, trail shoes, and trail runners available, most hikers and backpackers choose from a small set of common makes and models. Preferences vary widely, however, and some hikers like waterproof mids and boots, while others prefer more breathable trail running shoes that dry rapidly …