If you’re looking for innovative new ideas and products for your hiking and backpacking habit, Etsy is a craft-oriented shopping site that hosts the shops of many up-and-coming ultralight backpack gear manufacturers. There are about 30-40 companies actively making backpacking gear today …
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How to Choose an Ultralight Tent or Shelter
A lot of SectionHiker readers contact me asking for advice about which ultralight tent or shelter they should buy. These purchases are almost always driven by weight reduction desires, but often in the absence of any considerations about the environmental conditions they …
Read More »Comparison of Five Ultralight Backpack Liners
Backpackers are split about 50/50 when it comes to using a backpack rain cover or lining the inside of their backpacks with a plastic bag or backpack liner designed for that purpose. When I started backpacking, I used a backpack rain cover …
Read More »How Many Pairs of Socks Should You Bring on a Backpacking Trip?
Many people bring too many extra clothes on backpacking trips, including more shirts, pants, pairs of underwear, socks, and even shoes that they don’t need. Extra clothes add a lot of unnecessary weight to a backpack and take up a significant amount of extra …
Read More »How Waterproof is Silnylon?
Siliconized nylon, more commonly called silnylon, is a waterproof fabric used to make tents by many smaller manufacturers including Six Moon Designs, Tarptent, Mountain Laurel Designs, and Hilleberg which specialize in making ultralight backpacking gear or expedition-grade tents. It’s also sold in …
Read More »Ultralight Tents: Common Pitfalls and Complaints
While ultralight tents are easier to carry because they weigh less, you usually have to sacrifice something in terms of comfort, ease of use, or weather protection to use one. The weight reduction doesn’t come for free, even if the tent is …
Read More »Feathered Friends Tanager 20 Hoodless Sleeping Bag Review
The Feather Friends Tanager 20 CFL Sleeping Bag is a hoodless, full length, and zipperless sleeping bag designed for thru-hikers, ultralight backpackers, and alpinists who want to minimize their gear weight and bulk. Weighing 18.6 oz, the Tanager is insulated with 12.6 …
Read More »Trekking Pole Tents: Pros and Cons
Trekking pole tents use hiking poles for setup instead of tent poles as a weight-saving measure for backpackers. They’re also a good example of how to use the same backpacking gear in multiple ways, one of the core principles of gear weight …
Read More »Zpacks Pocket Tarp with Doors Review
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 …
Read More »UGQ Bandit Quilt Review (with Improved Features for Ground Sleepers)
UGQ Outdoor is a cottage quilt manufacturer that makes top quilts, underquilts, and tarps for backpackers and hammock campers. The quality of their products is excellent and they’ve grown rapidly by word of mouth as the popularity of quilts has grown. The …
Read More »Therm-a-Rest Vesper 45 Ultralight Backpacking Quilt Review
The Therm-a-Rest Vesper 45 Ultralight Quilt is a 12 oz warm-weather quilt with premium materials and impressive performance features for the weight like a draft collar, pad attachment, shaped footbox, and wide girth. It’s exciting to see such a high level …
Read More »Gossamer Gear Gorilla 50 Backpack Review
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 …
Read More »Western Mountaineering Versalite 10 Sleeping Bag Review
The Western Mountaineering Versalite 10 sleeping bag is the sleeping bag I would choose if I could have only one. It can be used very comfortably between 10 and 40 degrees and pushed a little further in either direction. I’ve taken it …
Read More »Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 Southwest Backpack Review
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 3400 (55L) Southwest Backpack is a durable Dyneema DCF (formerly called cuben fiber) backpack that’s good for thru-hiking and multi-day backpacking trips in rugged terrain. The 3400 Southwest is basically the same pack as the smaller volume Hyperlite …
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