Vintage Backpacking Gear

It’s SectionHiker.com’s 10th anniversary this year. During that time, I’ve hiked a lot of miles and written a lot of backpacking gear reviews, including gear that could now be considered vintage, since it’s no longer made. I find it fascinating to trace the evolution of different backpacking and hiking gear …

The Mountain Hardware SuperMegaUL 1 Tent is an ultralight 1 person double-walled tent that weighs 1 pounds 14 ounces, not including tent stakes and stuff sacks. With a tunnel style design and front vestibule, it has a long bivy style feel to it. Still the interior headroom and foot clearance …

Katabatic Gear is best known for their quilts, but they also make backpacks, including the Helios 55 cuben fiber pack, what I jokingly refer to as “the other white backpack.” I’ve been using the 32 ounce Helios 55 for backpacking and winter alpine ascents and it’s a great four-season capable pack, definitely …

The Berghaus Hyper Jacket is a minimalist rain jacket that can be used by hikers and runners. Weighing just 3.3 ounces in a men’s XL (94 grams), it is a waterproof breathable jacket with a surprisingly good DWR coating that sheds rain well and a breathable shell fabric that visibly works. The …

The Big Agnes Bitter Springs UL1 Tent is a double-walled tent with a very large front vestibule that is useful for gear storage or for your dog to sleep in if you backpack with a canine friend. Weighing just 2 pounds 5.5 ounces, this tent is amazingly lightweight and well-ventilated for …

Montane’s Tigertooth Pro Glove is a technical softshell alpine glove that provides enough dexterity, warmth and water resistance, to hold a mountaineering ice axe in the ready position in cold winter weather. The problem with most high dexterity gloves is that they don’t provide enough insulation when gripping an ice axe is …

The Zamberlan Fitz Roy straddles the technical hiking and mountaineering boot categories. I received a pair late last winter, too late to really put them to the test for winter hiking, but I’ve been hiking in them regularly this year in late autumn, and now winter conditions, and can finally evaluate them …

The Outdoor Research Acetylene Jacket is a hybrid midlayer jacket suitable for use as an external jacket for highly aerobic activity in very cold weather. The front and shoulders of the jacket are filled with Primaloft Eco insulation for warmth while the back and arms are a grid-backed radiant fleece …