Vintage Backpacking Gear

The Easton Mountain Products Kilo 2P is lightweight double-walled tent, weighing just 2 pounds 8 ounces, that features Easton’s latest ultralight carbon fiber pole system and a redesigned exoskeleton over last year’s model. Designed for 2 person camping and backpacking, the Kilo 2P includes a mesh inner tent and built-in …

I always get a kick reading really old hiking and backpacking magazines and seeing the print advertisements that gear manufacturers used to run. I’ve pulled some of them together in this post to give you a look at the gear that manufacturers were trying to sell people nearly 40 years …

Big Agnes has emerged as a leading manufacturer of down jackets over the past two years, bringing their know-how with down insulation, hood design, and lightweight fabrics to the challenge of designing high performance insulated apparel for front-country and backcountry use. Big Agnes’ newest down jacket, the Third Pitch Hooded DownTek Jacket, is …

The 180 Stove is a simple, three-sided box-style stove that can be used as a wood-burning camping stove, a grill, or as a Leave No Trace fireplace when used in conjunction with a ash pan. I like bringing the 180 Stove with me on autumn trips when I want to have a …

The NEMO Strato Loft 25 sleeping bag is about as close to sleeping on a twin bed as you can get in a car camping sleeping bag. Weighing 3 pounds and 4 ounces, the Strato Loft is too heavy for use as a backpacking sleeping bag, but it’s ideal for three-season …

If you are looking for a spacious car camping tent that is easy to pitch, check out the Kelty Airlift 6, a spacious double-walled tent with a large front vestibule that can be pitched fully assembled, simply by pumping it up with air. Featuring a 60 square foot floorless vestibule and …

The REI Dash 2 is the lightest weight 2 person tent that REI has ever sold. Weighing just 2 pounds 7 ounces (not including stakes or stuff sacks), it is a double walled tent with a conventional hubbed poleset, two doors, and two vestibules. But the design of this tent …

The Golite Shangri-La 3 is a classic ultralight shelter that is lightweight enough that it can be pitched as a one person standalone tarp or used as a three-person double-walled tent. It’s rare to find a shelter that is so versatile, reasonably priced, and can be used for solo trips or …

Vasque Snow Junkie hiking boots are lightly insulated, waterproof boots that are good for snowshoeing and hiking on packed snow trails. Insulated with 200 grams of Thinsulate insulation, these boots are good for warmer winter and early spring conditions where you are likely to sweat more and don’t want the …

What in god’s name is a minimalist barefoot hiking boot you wonder? I have admit, I was intrigued. I always thought the point of barefoot minimalist shoes was to put you in closer contact with the earth and make your foot do and feel more rather than coddling it in …

I’ve been using a Deuter Speed Lite 30 backpack for most of my dayhikes and bushwhacks since last June. I like it so much that I find myself using it regularly on my weekday training hikes near home and up in the mountains when I don’t need to carry an …

The Jetboil Sol Ti is really good for heating up water fast. Really good. With heat exchange fins, it’s also pretty miserly on canister gas. When used with a small canister it also packs up small in your backpack, a desirable feature when you need to carry a lot of …

It was only a matter of time before Inov-8 revamped their Terroc 330 running shoe –  one of the most popular shoes used by hikers who have switched from traditional hiking boots to lighterweight and faster drying trail runners. But change is bad when it comes to hiking shoes and …

I’ve owned a pair of Golite Tumalo Rain Pants for over a year and use them for 3 season hiking because they’re so lightweight and such a great deal ($50/pair). I got to use them for nearly 6 days of continuous drizzle, rain, wind, snow, sleet, and hail in Scotland …