In episode 123 of the Backpacking Light podcast, we’re going to learn about Fastpacking – the art of traveling long distances with very little gear in a short amount of time
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FOCUS – Physiology, environmental, and geographical awareness
FITNESS – Training and conditioning so you can cover long distances efficiently
FUEL – Planning your calories and nutrients (both food and hydration) to sustain high output with minimal weight
FOOTWEAR – Choosing shoes, socks, and foot-care strategies that help prevent blisters and injuries
FAST & LIGHT GEAR – Much more so than backpacking, fastpacking requires that you keep your pack weight low because you’re expending much more energy carrying that weight at a faster pace, and it requires that you keep your gear kit more compact because you’re moving fast and you need to minimize the extent to which your backpack bounces around
In episode 122 the Backpacking Light podcast we’re going to learn about unconventional sleep systems—alternatives to traditional sleeping bags that emphasize modularity and minimalism.
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Nikki Stavile writes on the impact of fire on hikers and the communities they hike through using stories from Jasper and the Tahoe Rim Trail.
The only forests are the ones that have burned, the ones that are burning, and the ones that haven’t burned yet. – Far Out Guides Comment, Tahoe Rim Trail
Introduction
This fire starts in a canyon, ten miles southwest of Donner Pass, on a day with high winds and even higher temperatures. There is no rain in the forecast — there rarely is. Ground personnel say the likely cause is an abandoned campfire, discovered by a hiker. The rugged terrain makes the blaze near impossible to put out, even with air and ground resources deployed. Thirteen teen backpackers are evacuated from the forest, and the weekend brings storms which are full of lightning and no rain.
And then the fire stalls. The firefighters manage to keep it in the canyon. I refresh Inciweb each day and watch the containment percentage creep up. The news sources reassure Independence Day travelers that the Royal Fire is not a threat to Tahoe City, despite describing the area around it as a tinderbox. Please, they seem to say. Please come and enjoy your vacation even as the world is burning.
Our First Day Out
On our first day out, I encounter the largest juniper I have ever seen. I run my hands up and down the trunk, the wood like hardened, ancient sinew underneath my fingers. I cannot imagine how long this tree has lived on this ridgeline, but by its girth — the trunk is large enough that it would take several people holding hands to encircle it — I would estimate hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Behind me Big Mama Tahoe, as Sundae and I have taken to calling the lake, glistens in the distance. The deep blue waters look frigid, and even though there is barely any snow on the surrounding ridgelines, the landscape has a glacial feel, as if we are walking on the shores of a polar sea. It is the first day of our thruhike on the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), a 165 mile circumnavigational journey that will take us around North America’s largest alpine lake. The water seems like a gift. So do the small whorled leaves that crown the juniper, so high above me. I live in the Sonoran Desert, a place of needles, and a landscape shaped by drying winds. The mountains and ridgelines here and the fact that you can look at all that water, makes this place seem soft, welcoming, and watery in comparison. Even though I know how dry it is. The Royal Fire was a warning that this journey might not have been. I still cannot believe that we are here.
The first days come with all of the physical reminders that we haven’t backpacked in some time. The altitude tugs at our lungs. We can feel our packs shifting into place along our hipbones, as our gaits adjust to the weight. I cannot remember how big my tent footprint is, so I often select a site, get halfway set up, and have to move and repitch.
Campsite selection is tricky. The ground is often rocky and the nights bring wind. And then there are the trees.
Sundae, my hiking companion, is a hammocker at heart. Though she sleeps in a tent on our high altitude trips, her hammocker’s intuition, as I call it, hasn’t left her. Every night she scrutinizes our campsites, unhappy about the large number of standing dead trees, their dehydrated branches and leaves the same rust red as dried blood. She paces out how far a tree is likely to reach if it falls, and then we do a series of calculations together to see if we can sleep there without a risk of being crushed. Sometimes there is. Sometimes there isn’t. On nights there isn’t, I go to sleep wondering if there is a patron saint of tree branches, who can hold the forest upright for a little while longer. The sunrise the next day feels like more of a blessing than usual.
“I don’t understand how anyone would mark this as a safe campsite,” Sundae says as we pack up. “Aren’t people paying attention?”
Though we never camp in designated burn areas, there are so many standing dead trees along the trail that it is nearly impossible to avoid camping near one. Oftentimes we have to just settle for no widowmakers, but this caveat would do nothing in case of a lightning strike. Sundae is from Florida and is terrified of lightning. I am from Colorado and my relationship with fire is a more grim, if practical one. I am used to places I know burning.
The author hugging a juniper tree.
I was born in 1993 and have never known a world that wasn’t warming. I do remember daily afternoon thunderstorms and the way the clouds would begin to build with a hush around noon, piling higher as the light waned into a deep, tumultuous blue, before the sky would break open and bring rain. I remember evacuating once due to wildfire as a child. How my family always had a go bag, or at least a list in our heads of what we would need for a go bag, and where those items were. My neighbors were volunteer firefighters. I rarely saw these men and instead associated them with the color of their trucks and the way they drove down our dirt roads once there was news of a blaze.
I remember bending over a clutch of pinecones during an elementary school science lesson. I was wearing a baseball cap, and hiking boots that would later give me blisters on my ankles. Us kids were clustered in a forest, under the trees, the air smelling of dust and the possibility of rain. The instructor showed us two cones—one closed, looking like an impenetrable armored egg. The other had open scales. I remember thinking that it looked like a tree, a little rounded tree that had fallen off the larger tree.
Fire, the teacher was explaining, was necessary. It shaped the western landscapes. It was strange to hear him say this because as long as I had been alive, fire had been forbidden—no sparklers on the Fourth of July, no grilling on the back porch, absolutely no campfires ever. Someone else, I reasoned, had to be in charge of fire and knew what to do with it. Because even though the trees needed it, people clearly didn’t.
Several summers later my first ever backpacking trip would take me over a burned ridgeline. I cannot tell you which fire was responsible for it, only that there was no sound besides the hushed footfalls of a troop of middle school girls and our two instructors as we stepped through the ash. The sun-bleached trees, devoid of branches, stuck up from the ground like the ribcage of some ancient animal.
Someone would ask me later if we had smores at camp. I have never had smores over a campfire. My marshmallows have always been roasted over the burner of a gas stove, over blue lit flames. It was less of a wild experience. But the blaze was always fully contained.
On the Shores of Lake Aloha
The waters of Lake Aloha have a primordial look to them. It’s late afternoon and we’re swimming in the deep blue. It’s day four on Tahoe Rim and I am full of a butter pecan milkshake from Echo Lake Chalet. Yesterday the TRT met up with the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and seeing the trail markers side by side made us giddy. There’s a sort of delighted reverence that I always get when I hike on a National Scenic Trail, and yesterday brought us fields bursting with the last wildflowers of summer and a thunderstorm which chased us down a mountainside for six miles.
Lake Aloha and the Crystal Range
We have also encountered some PCT thruhikers, and some of them are on the shores of Lake Aloha, rinsing out their socks and smoking. They pack up quickly and hike up further into Desolation Wilderness. Most of them are hauling it — averaging over 20, sometimes over 30, miles a day. At this point they are 1100 miles into their northbound hikes. It’s the last week of July. Conventional wisdom states that they should be at the southern Washington border, nearly 1200 miles, by Labor Day. They missed the snow in the Sierras, and are now contending with the threat of snow in the Cascades.
Perhaps it is their frantic pace, but the PCTers seem to vibrate with a sense of urgency. Few of them have spoken to us, but the ones that have explained their dilemma. They are late. But nearly all of Oregon, and significant chunks of the trail in Washington, are on fire. Every day they move closer to the Canadian border and every day they are reminded that a traditional end-to-end thruhike of the PCT is near impossible. They are grappling with the decision to skip ahead of the flames and finish far too early, or bolt northward, covering as much ground as they can before the fires force them elsewhere.
Their situation may seem like a kind of entitlement. After all, a thruhike of any kind is a vacation, although for many it may be a once in a lifetime one. But there is no denying that if you are out hiking for six months, you are living on trail. It’s your home. And thruhiking awakens a distinct kind of homing instinct, a strong desire to always be moving towards your terminus, a determined state that seems akin to summit fever. Reroutes off trail are often financially, and mentally, difficult. There may not be another season for many of these hikers to fill in the gaps that they miss. So instead they watch the weather and move quickly, checking fire reports whenever they have service, and hope for rain. For the past several seasons, these types of prayers have seemed futile.
We swim in Lake Aloha for another hour before Sundae takes note of the clouds building in the distance. Another thunderstorm. We dry off our gear, pack up and keep hiking past the glacial lakes, past pines with twisted trunks, as if the tree is flinching from the wind. The storm misses us. We are in the full sun for hours. It’s too hot. It’s in the low nineties even at nine thousand feet above sea level. And it’s too dry. Our mouths are dry, I am caked in four days of zinc sunscreen and dust, and it seems like all of the moisture has been sucked out of my face. We drink and drink and although our thirst is quenched, our skin doesn’t seem to take notice.
Fire
The next morning, hiking over Dicks Pass, I catch myself looking for smoke as I am enjoying the view. At this point, it’s instinctual. The weather hints at fire.
The view from Dicks Pass.
It’s a nero day. We hiked into Tahoe City early this morning, ready for a hotel room, pizza, service, and a full zero day tomorrow after 100 miles of hiking. We aren’t allowed to check in until 4 p.m. so we’re passing time by swimming in Big Mama Tahoe. My stomach is too waterlogged to do anything but wade in the water; in the space of an hour I have consumed two liters of water, 750 ml of coconut water and an Arizona Iced Tea Arnold Palmer. Town, I tell Sundae, is about temperature control. Town is cold.
Town also has service, which means that mentally, I am not in Tahoe City. A few days ago, a series of text messages hit my WhatsApp all at once—someone I know in Jasper, Canada, has evacuated.
July 22, 2024
7:54 pm – On evacuation alert. Two fires close. Two roads closed. One left.
8:45 pm – Leaving Jasper.
A few hours later, we are in our hotel room. Sundae and I proceed to use every washcloth and towel in the bathroom to scrub off six days of caked on dust, sunscreen and bugspray. We fill up the trashcans with plastic and flattened cardboard boxes—rice Krispie treat packages, granola bars, the remains of a package salad, takeout containers, ribbons of plastic ripped off the top of Idahoan potato packets. I’m wearing a tanktop with a map of Lake Tahoe on the back, and the fabric feels impossibly soft against my skin. Town, it seems, is where everything you need is right next to you.
My phone goes off. I go out onto the balcony and watch the sunset over the lake, the red and orange reminiscent of a blaze.
He is calling me from Canmore, Alberta. His voice is flattened, and he relates the details of his evacuation journey—fourteen hours of driving along smoky highways. A bag of clothes, a single bike, a purple blanket from Ecuador, his cat in her carrier with her litter box and a few toys smashed in the backseat. A friend has evacuated with him because she didn’t have a car, and she crushed all of her most important things into a single bookbag. It’s only when he finishes telling me these details that his voice veers high and he starts to cry.
“Jasper is burning,” he keeps saying. “Jasper is burning. The fires reached the townsite last night.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. And I start to cry too. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what else you say.
“You got to see it,” he keeps saying, as if he is trying to reassure me. Perhaps he is trying to reassure himself. “You got to see it. Before—”
“The bears.” I say. “Those trees.”
“I’m so glad you got to see it,” he says. And then his voice breaks off and we cry together over the phone.
The Park Fire
This one starts on the side of the road in Bidwell Park. California is being smothered by another, incoming, heatwave. The car goes up and over the berm. The driver revs the engine to free the vehicle but instead the grass catches on fire. The flames leap up through the floor of the car and set it ablaze. Later the driver says that he panicked and left the car. Witnesses say that he placed the car in neutral, got out, and pushed the Toyota Yaris, now entirely on fire, off the edge of a cliff. It’s 3 p.m. on July 24th. In three hours, the fire will burn 1000 acres. Within days, the Park Fire is the fourth largest in California history.
The Smell of Smoke
The day after our zero, Sundae and I begin the northern section of the Tahoe Rim Trail. This side lacks flowing water sources, and is more like the SoCal desert than the Sierra Nevada. The dust is even worse. We have never been as dirty as we are on Tahoe Rim. The dust cakes our sunhoodies. The backs of our calves. The insides of our nostrils. When we sit down to eat it collects on our packs and the bottoms of our shorts.
This side of the trail has many more views of the lake. The way that Big Mama Tahoe is always around the next bend has provided a sense of comfort. At least somewhere there is a lake. At least somewhere there is water. But that afternoon I stop at the top of a climb.
Sundae comes up behind me and I trace the ridgelines in the distance with my finger. We talk about where we’ve been. We have less than 70 miles to go, and we have plenty of hiking to look forward to, but the news of Jasper and the wider world have made things heavy. And now the sky looks wrong. It’s too close.
“You can smell it,” Sundae says.
It’s smoke, I realize. From the Park Fire. It’s hanging low over the lake making the clouds weird.
And it does not leave. Every few miles there is a view of Big Mama Tahoe, still blue, still steady. But we can smell the smoke. I find myself hiking faster. I have my trail legs now, after a week, but there is also the deep, animalistic part of me that has been awoken by the smell of something burning. And that part wants to run. Each morning I get up and see the sunrise and wonder if the lake will still be there.
View of Lake Tahoe.
This one starts with a day that feels as heavy as an omen. He can smell the smoke coming in from British Columbia, but that doesn’t explain the feeling. He waits in the rafting company bus for the tour to finish so he can drive them back to town, but he cannot eat his lunch. He’s nauseated. But he always eats his lunch. But he can’t today.
It’s too hot. It’s been 100 F (38 C) in Alberta for two weeks. He drives the bus back to town when the tour finishes and then meets a friend after work to pick up a kitchen stove that he bought for $50, as his has been on the fritz.
The two of them haul the stove out of the seller’s house, then move his old one out of his condo. They set the defective stove on the front lawn. He and his friend sit in his blue plastic Adirondack chairs, having a beer and looking at the stove. Someone says something about the wind. All day he’s been looking for smoke so in some ways, he’s not surprised when he gets the text about a fire. Something about a lightning strike. But it’s close. Awful close. There will be a second strike, soon after, that will start another blaze, and that one will be too close too.
He sets the beer down and walks around the edge of the condo complex and looks down towards the Athabasca Valley. There’s a storm. Pitch dark. And it’s raining. But it’s not water. The clouds are pouring down flecks of ash.
He goes back towards the house, picking up the pace, the mental list of his go bag already in his head.
In his panic, he will leave the front kitchen window open. He will leave the acoustic guitar, still in its case, by the front door. He will leave the Japanese notebook he was going to send me as a gift on the kitchen counter. He will leave his cat’s favorite toys, and four of his bikes, and his camping gear, and mostly every thing he owns, in the house. His friend will be standing in the kitchen with her bookbag, her eyes wide, and he doesn’t want to make her wait. He doesn’t, at that moment, feel like they have time to fill the car.
When he returns, six weeks later, a third of the town will be lost. The houses two doors away will have burned to the ground. The townsite has no water. No grocery stores. Two gas stations will have exploded in the blaze, with flames reaching as high as 300 feet. They will have bulldozed some of the businesses on the main street to create a firebreak to save critical pieces of infrastructure—hospitals. Schools. The oil pipeline. First responders will have fenced off the remains of charred properties as the ashes most likely contain asbestos, and they will have painted the house numbers on the street because it is impossible to tell which pile of ashes belongs to whom. All of the businesses are closed. Every single fridge and freezer in the town will have to be replaced, as all of them have rotted during the two weeks when the electricity was off.
His house will smell of decaying food. It will be filled with a swarm of fruit flies. The smell of smoke will be everywhere. The guitar will still be by the front door, still in its case, still smelling like a bonfire. The trees behind his house will still be there. So will the woodshed, which is so dry in the photos he takes that I can see it splintering away. The bucket that came with the house will still be there. It was there when he moved in. It has been in the backyard the whole time. The previous owner had written ICE ONLY in blocked Sharpie letters across the white pail.
Jasper Townsite, taken by the author’s friend, August 31st, 2024.
Image of Jasper townsite, taken by the author’s friend, August 31, 2024.
The Jasper Local republished a letter to residents, written by a survivor of the Fort McMurray fire. In it, the writer states that the survivors will become tired of the word resilient. That there is an after to all of the destruction, but that many people will not come back to the wreckage. In the end it will be okay, though it will take years. They also write that there will be days that Jasperites will wish that everything had burned. Because that would make everything so much easier.
Image of Jasper Townsite, taken August 31, 2024.
A Note from the Author
When I first pitched this article to Backpacking Light, I wanted it to be about the fire ecology of Tahoe Rim. I wanted to write a piece about what it meant to live in a place that is shaped by fire, but is now overcome by it.
I had done plenty of research about this topic. I can tell you how many acres have burned in the past decade. About some of the possible reasons behind why the fires are so immense and brutal—beetle kill, tree diseases, invasive species, poor forest management and clearing techniques, suppression of blazes due to the growing population of people living in fire zones, a warming and increasingly hostile climate. I can tell you the temperature at which a parked car melts. I can tell you how many firetrucks it takes to put out a structure that is aflame. How most wildfires are started by humans. How fires are being fought by an underpaid workforce and sometimes by prison inmates. I can tell you about climate tipping points.
There are lots of these kinds of articles. There are also opinion think pieces and news analyses and interviews with experts and headlines which talk about wildfires and the places they destroy, which use words like “mismanaged” and “example”. As if the communities have somehow sinned, because they were there and got in the way of the blaze, and for some reason they were taken.
I do believe that these discussions are meant to be helpful. And in some cases they can be, and are. They are meant to force us to correct our course, to have us learn from our mistakes. They are necessary.
I have also found that there is no statistic or policy that can cool our grief when the places that we love burn. Wildfire is an animal that moves at a ferocious pace. Its pounce is a spark on a windy day. A flash of lightning in a heatwave. The seconds that someone looks away from a campfire. There is not any kind of discussion or policy that can move fast enough to create a way to douse the flames, in those conditions.
I spent a lot of time during those last days on Tahoe Rim trying to find the words for what I was feeling. I often came up short. The language approach, the policy approach, the scientific approach which provides security and a feeling of control because we understand why all of this is happening to us, so surely now we can do something about it, felt very hollow.
Wildflowers on Tahoe Rim, on Lake Marlette overlook.
I know a lot about the rejuvenating nature of fire. It helps ecosystems turn over. It creates a process of secondary secession and many of the species in the west have adapted to such fires. People will often talk about how after a blaze, the wildflowers come back in such abundance because of all of the nutrients in the soil. That fire is part of the cycle of life.
I believe this.
I also don’t know how to reconcile it with the need for this recovery to happen faster. I know fire torched ecosystems are beautiful, and valuable, in their own right. I also don’t want to wait the decades that it will take for the hillsides, forests, and communities to come back. It is hard to believe the lessons of my elementary school teacher in this day and age. It is hard to believe that fire is our friend, when I see apocalyptic images on the news of night skies that are glowing in a hellscape red.
I want to believe that these places will recover. At the same time, I also know that these fires are happening too often and at larger scales and hotter temperatures than most people can remember. Too many of them are one-hundred-year events that are happening every single year. There is a balance that has been upset. The path forward, it seems, involves both finding out how we can undo what we have done and also making an uneasy peace with the consequences.
Jasper
The story of Jasper is not my story. I do not live there year-round. Nor can I speak for the people who do. That story, the bigger story, of what happened and what will happen and what will come after, is theirs, not mine.
But I do have a Jasper story, which happened the summer of 2023. And maybe is still happening. I think of the stand of aspen behind his house, how I would open the gate of his backyard fence and stand under the trees, listening to their leaves whispering. I think of the way that the sky even at night was a muted grey like starlight, because it was too far north to get completely dark. Of the grizzly bears and their cubs that wandered down the town’s main street. Of how it snowed on the summer solstice and I awoke to the peaks blue and frosted in ice. About how the entire time I was there I felt like I was on the edge of the world. About how quiet it was.
I think of how much peace it brought me to be in that place, that summer. About how I worry I won’t find that feeling again, now that place is forever changed. About how I know I shouldn’t go back, because although Jasper needs business, and tourists, and a way to survive, there is so little right now for the people who do live there and it feels so wrong to take anything else from them. But how I want to go back. Because I worry that the places that I love will burn, and there won’t be anyplace to bury the ashes.
My Last Night on the Rim
I spend my last night on Tahoe Rim alone, camped on a ridgeline above a lake. I only have three miles into town the next day and I intend to sleep in, leave camp late, and make it to town by the time the hostel opens. On a thruhike, your body can only comprehend one need at a time—thirst, hunger, and a need for rest. But once these are satisfied, and the quietness sets in, everything slows. And you fill up with feelings you didn’t know you had. The beauty and the difficulty of the last several days have rubbed me raw, as has the wait for more news about the world.
When I awake under the starlight, I think that the smell is from my dream. I’ve been dreaming of flames, of forests cloaked in haze. My eyes are stinging. I think at first that it is my tears, and maybe the sunscreen running into my eyes. But my face feels glazed in something else. Suddenly I sit upright.
There’s smoke.
I can smell it on my clothes and in my hair. I nearly rip the zipper off my tent door as I throw myself outside in a panic. No flames. I check my phone. No blazes nearby. It’s just smoke. From California. From Oregon. From Idaho and Washington and far up in Canada, from the largest fire in Jasper National Park in over one hundred years.
It’s three in the morning. My body will not let me go back to sleep, so I lay in my tent and try to breathe. By the time the sun rises I am packed and well on my way into town. The last miles bring another view of Big Mama Tahoe, this time smeared by a thick haze. In a few hours the shifting winds will make it nearly impossible to see the lake at all. The air will be heavy with the ghosts of trees, the air as thick and suffocating as my grief.
View of Lake Tahoe through smoke.
Author’s note: The images of, and experiences of living through, the Jasper Wildfire Complex were provided by the author’s close friend, through a series of phone calls, voice memos, messages and interviews in the late summer of 2024. Although he wishes to remain anonymous at this time, he wanted an opportunity to share Jasper’s story with the world, and hopes that the outdoor community will not forget his adopted hometown in the coming years as they work towards recovery.
Related Content
Essays: Adapting to Changing Wildfires Part 1 | Part 2
The Norda Shoe company offers ultralight trail running shoes that weighs less than 8 ounces per shoe, offer a low drop, and stack heights with enough midsole cushion for backpacking - and here's the best part - the durability required to give you more than a thousand miles of service on a single pair.
This comprehensive market survey features 60+ models of down-filled backpacking quilts, 27+ brands across North America and Europe. Includes analysis (warmth, weight, value), expert recommendations, market overview, and more.
Introduction
This gear guide features 64 products from 27 brands: down-filled backpacking top quilts sold primarily in North America and Europe. We focus on quilts designed for temperate conditions (20 to 40 °F / –7 to 5 °C). No white-labeled quilts are included, nor are quilts distributed primarily through channels outside the US, Canada, or Europe. In addition, hammock-specific quilts (i.e., not optimized for ground sleeping) and convertible quilts (hoodless bags with full-length zippers) are not included.
Table of Contents • Note: if this is a members-only article, some sections may only be available to Premium or Unlimited Members.
Backpacking quilts differ fundamentally from traditional sleeping bags by removing insulation beneath your body – relying instead on your sleeping pad for bottom-side warmth. In addition, quilts usually forgo a hood, requiring you to rely on your other clothing to keep your head warm while you sleep. As a result, quilts reduce weight and bulk, making them a popular option among the ultralight hiking community.
The other key advantage of a quilt is its adaptability. They’re easier to ventilate on warmer nights, and their variable-girth design makes them versatile across a broader range of clothing layering systems and temperature ranges.
Finally, because quilts drape like a blanket rather than confine (like a mummy bag), they tend to be more comfortable for side sleepers, fetal-position sleepers, and tosser-turner sleepers.
However, achieving comfort and efficiency with a quilt (especially in colder or more wind-exposed conditions) demands careful draft management and sleeping pad integration. Ultimately, if you prioritize shaving grams, increasing packing efficiency, and appreciating gear that adapts easily to varied conditions, a quilt provides meaningful advantages without compromising critical performance.
Master the Art of Sleeping in a Quilt
In the Backpacking Quilts Masterclass, you’ll learn about the design, materials, and performance characteristics of backpacking quilts, focusing on their role in lightweight sleep systems. Gain access to state-of-the-art knowledge about insulation technologies, fabric properties, and construction methods, along with best practices for selecting and using quilts in various environmental conditions.
An original Nunatak USA Arc Alpinist, September 2000, Grand Teton National Park.
About this Market Survey
This gear guide – at least in this initial incarnation – will serve primarily as a market survey – a summary of available products at publication. The reader is referred to the Backpacking Quilts Masterclass for an in-depth discussion of design, materials, and use cases. As with our other gear guides, this report will be maintained and expanded with additional technology and design discussions over time.
Brand Landscape
Cumulus Outdoor
Cumulus Outdoor, a Poland-based company, produces a line of outdoor quilts using 850 fill power Polish goose down and Pertex Quantum 15D ripstop nylon. The quilts feature an elastic strap and clasp attachment system to secure them to sleeping pads 19 to 24 inches wide. Cumulus offers a customization service, allowing users to select size, down fill, and fabrics. The quilts cover a temperature range from a 48°F comfort rating (Quilt 150) to a 19°F limit rating (Quilt 450).
El Coyote
El Coyote, based in Arizona, USA, offers the AlphaLite 900+ quilts, distinguished by their use of 900+ fill power untreated goose down, ethically sourced and RDS certified. These quilts feature a 1/3 taper design, providing a spacious upper area for side and active sleepers, transitioning to a thermally efficient footbox. Vertical baffles are used on the torso, and horizontal baffles on the footbox. A 24-inch YKK zipper, accompanied by a snap and shock cord closure, allows for customizable footbox configurations. AlphaLite quilts are available in temperature ratings of 10°F, 20°F, 30°F, and 40°F, with corresponding fill weights and total weights varying by size. El Coyote offers custom-made options, allowing customers to select temperature ratings and more. Standard features include a 30% overfill, 15D micro ripstop outer fabric, and 10D nylon taffeta inner fabric.
Enlightened Equipment
Enlightened Equipment, based in Minnesota, USA, produces the Enigma and Revelation down quilts, both available with extensive customization options. The Revelation features a zippered and cinchable footbox that can be fully opened into a blanket, while the Enigma has a sewn-closed footbox for added warmth and reduced weight. Both quilts use ethically sourced 850fp or 950fp down, U-shaped continuous baffles to limit down migration, and are available in 7D, 10D, or 20D ultralight nylon shells. Temperature ratings range from 0°F to 50°F. A pad attachment system with elastic straps and clips secures the quilt to a sleeping pad. Users can customize temperature rating, width, length, and fabric type to match their needs.
Gryphon Gear
Gryphon Gear, based in Michigan, USA, offers the Aries Quilt series, distinguished by its use of 900 fill power water-resistant, RDS-certified goose down. The quilts feature a differential cut, ensuring maximum loft, and are constructed with durable, lightweight 10D downproof nylon shell and lining. Overfill is 80%. Fully baffled internal construction, box-baffled footbox. Snap and drawcord with a toggle at the neck and removable under straps for pad attachment. Optional features include a hood and collar. Aries Quilts are available in temperature ratings of 10°F, 20°F, 30°F, and 40°F, with widths of 46″, 54″, and 64″, and lengths accommodating individuals up to 5’11” (regular) and 6’3″ (long). Custom lengths are available upon request.
Hammock Gear
Hammock Gear, based in Ohio, USA, produces the Burrow and Burrow UL top quilts. The Burrow Quilt features a zippered and cinchable footbox that functions as a fully enclosed quilt for cold nights and a flat blanket for warmer conditions. It uses 850 fill power down insulation and a combination of vertical and horizontal baffles to limit down migration. A unique horizontal chamber at the head end functions as a draft collar and a comfort barrier, improving fit around the neck and face. The Burrow UL Quilt is Hammock Gear’s dedicated ultralight option, utilizing 950 fill power down and a 10D nylon shell. Unlike the standard Burrow, the UL version has a sewn-closed footbox for improved thermal efficiency. Both quilts come in a range of temperature ratings (0°F to 40°F) and offer multiple width and length options, along with an optional pad attachment kit for ground sleepers.
Hyberg Outdoors
Hyberg Outdoors, a German brand specializing in ultralight backpacking gear, offers two distinct quilt lines: the Loner Lite and the Loner, using 850+ fill power Polish goose down but differing materials, weight, and footbox design. The Loner Lite prioritizes weight savings with a Toray Airtastic 10D ripstop nylon shell. A 60 cm YKK zipper on the back allows the quilt to be used in two modes: with a fully enclosed footbox for warmth or opened up as a comforter for ventilation. A 5 cm down collar at the top helps seal in heat, while a combination of horizontal and vertical baffles mitigates down migration. Temperature ratings range from 5°C (41°F) to -2°C (28°F), covering three models (250, 350, and 450). In contrast, the Loner series uses a more durable 20D ripstop nylon shell and features a sewn-closed footbox. Both series offer compression sacks for compact packing, RDS-certified down, and multiple size options to accommodate user preferences.
Hyperlite Mountain Gear
Hyperlite Mountain Gear, based in Maine, USA, produces the 20-degree Quilt and 40-degree Quilt, both using 1000 fill power grey goose down with a 7D micro ripstop nylon shell and lining. Both models feature a sewn footbox, 3D baffle construction, and four sewn-in loops with two attachment straps for securing the quilt to a sleeping pad. A neck drawcord and clasp closure provide an adjustable fit around the shoulders. Standard models offer generous girth measurements for side sleeping, layering, and overall comfort. The combination of 7D fabrics and 1000 fill power down give the Hyperlite Mountain Gear quilts some of the highest warmth-to-weight ratios on the market.
Katabatic Gear
Katabatic Gear, based in Colorado, USA, offers two quilt series, the Elite and Flex, using 850-fill hydrophobic down with a patented pad attachment system to minimize drafts. The Elite Series features a sewn-closed footbox and includes the Chisos (40°F), Palisade (30°F), Alsek (22°F), Sawatch (15°F), and Grenadier (5°F) models. The Flex Series has a zippered footbox, allowing it to convert into a blanket, and includes the Flex 40°F, 30°F, 22°F, 15°F, and 5°F models. Both lines incorporate a differential cut for maximum loft, elastic binding at the bottom opening to reduce drafts, and continuous baffles for manual down distribution. A down-filled collar and trapezoidal footbox further refine fit and warmth. Multiple length and width options.
Khibu
Khibu, a Hungarian manufacturer, offers the Magma Topquilt, a down-filled quilt that features a 10D DWR ripstop nylon shell, 800 CUIN goose down insulation, a differential cut to maximize loft, a closed footbox, and an Elastic Tensioner System (ETS) for draft control. The Magma Topquilt is available in various sizes and color combinations, with a comfort rating of around -3°C.
Liteway
Liteway, a Ukrainian manufacturer of ultralight hiking gear, offers two down quilts: the Sleeper Quilt 870 FP 10D and the Simple Quilt 870 FP 10D, both using 870 fill power natural down (80% goose, 20% duck) with a 10D Nylon DWR shell. The Sleeper Quilt features a zippered and drawstring footbox, allowing it to be used either fully enclosed or opened for ventilation. The Simple Quilt has a sewn-closed footbox, providing a fixed design for consistent warmth. Both models include side attachment loops for securing a sleeping mat and taped seams. Each quilt has a comfort rating of -2°C (28°F), – the Simple Quilt is slightly lighter. Both include a mosquito net storage sack that doubles as insect protection for covering your head area while sleeping.
Loco Libre Gear
Loco Libre Gear, based in Pennsylvania, USA, produces the Ghost Pepper Topquilt, a custom-made down quilt featuring chevron-shaped baffles designed to reduce down shift and maintain even insulation. It is available in 800, 850, or 900 fill power goose or duck down and uses a 10D or 20D shell fabric. The quilt includes a snap and drawcord footbox for adjustable warmth and a pad attachment system for securing it in colder conditions. Temperature ratings range from 50°F to 0°F, with multiple size options available. Each quilt is handcrafted to order with customization in materials, colors, and dimensions.
Mountain Equipment Company (MEC)
MEC, a Canadian outdoor equipment retailer, offers branded products (in some cases rebranded OEM products from other manufacturers). The MEC Talon 0C Quilt is its sole quilt offering, featuring 800-fill-power goose down and 10D fabrics. Limited sizing options.
Nemo Equipment
NEMO Equipment (New Hampshire, USA) offers the Pulse Ultralight Backpacking Quilt, available in 20°F (-6°C) and 30°F (-1°C) models. It features 1,000-fill-power ExpeDRY down and a 100% recycled polyester ripstop shell with a PFAS-free DWR coating. The offset baffle design uses small, interconnected compartments to stabilize insulation while allowing manual down distribution. The enclosed footbox provides full coverage, and an elastic pad attachment system secures the quilt.
Nunatak USA
Nunatak USA (Colorado, USA) offers the Strugi-Q, a fully customizable, zipperless down quilt. It is insulated with 900 fill power goose down, available with an ExpeDRY treatment, and enclosed in a 10D ripstop nylon shell with 10D or 20D taffeta liners. The quilt uses horizontal baffles with a dense pack structure to control down migration and features a permanently closed footbox with a round end piece, available in 40″ or 44″ circumferences. A neck draft collar with an integrated cord channel helps seal in warmth, while the Edge Tension Control (ETC) system allows users to adjust the fit to reduce drafts. The Strugi-Q is available in three temperature ratings: 18°F (-8°C), 22°F (-5°C), and 28°F (-2°C). Users can customize the length from 62″ to 78″ and select a shoulder width from 50″ to 68″. Two shape options – Roomy, which maintains full width down to the hips, and Mummy, which tapers below the shoulders – offer further customization for fit and comfort.
Outdoor Vitals
Outdoor Vitals, based in Utah, USA, designs the Stormloft Down Topquilt with ExpeDRY down insulation. The quilt features a differential cut, with a smaller inner fabric layer to prevent insulation compression, and a box-baffled collar to limit heat loss around the neck. A tapered shape reduces excess material, while an anatomically shaped footbox follows the natural splay of the feet. Includes a pad attachment system.
Paria Outdoor Products
Paria Outdoor Products (Colorado, USA) offers the Thermodown quilt series, available in 15°F (-10°C) and 30°F (0°C) models. Both quilts use 700 fill-power 90/10 white duck down insulation and a 20D ripstop nylon shell with a 320T polyester pongee lining. The design includes a drawstring-adjustable footbox with a quarter-length zipper, allowing it to be used either fully enclosed or as a flat blanket. Low fill-power down and heavier-than-average fabrics make the products affordable but result in lower warmth-to-weight ratios than other products on the market. Nevertheless, they remain a good value for more casual users who don’t mind a little extra weight or don’t want to make a more sizable investment if they are in the experimental phase of using a quilt.
Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI)
REI Co-op, headquartered in Washington, USA, offers the Magma Trail Quilt 30. This quilt features a 15-denier Pertex Quantum nylon shell and is insulated with 850-fill-power, water-resistant goose down. The footbox is trapezoidal and sewn shut. An adjustable, insulated draft collar minimizes heat loss around the neck area. The quilt includes a pad attachment system. This is an original design by the REI Gear and Apparel Division of the company – this is not a white-labeled product.
Rock Front
Rock Front, based in Ukraine, manufactures ultralight down quilts with variations in materials, construction, insulation, footbox design, attachment systems, and temperature ratings. The product line includes the 600 Ascetic UL, 400 Base UL, and 350 Pro Ultralight models. All quilts use a 10-denier nylon ripstop shell and are filled with 870+ fill power Ukrainian goose down, treated with a hydrophobic finish. The 600 Ascetic UL features a sewn-closed anatomical footbox. The 400 Base UL has a zippered and drawstring-adjustable footbox. The 350 Pro Ultralight integrates a down blanket and a sleeping mat sheet, which zip together. Each model uses an attachment system to connect to a sleeping pad. The 600 Ascetic UL and 400 Base UL include buckles, while the 350 Pro Ultralight uses a zippered integration between the quilt and mat sheet. Temperature limit ratings vary from -11°C (12°F) to +4°C (39°F).
Sea to Summit
Sea to Summit, based in Western Australia, produces a range of technical quilts designed with variations in materials, construction, insulation, footbox design, attachment systems, and temperature ratings. The Ember, Cinder, and Glow models differ in their intended applications based on these design elements. Each quilt model incorporates different shell and lining materials. The Ember Quilt uses a 10-denier nylon shell with a 7D nylon lining and is insulated with 850+ fill power goose down. The Cinder Quilt features a 20D nylon shell and lining, with 750+ fill power down insulation. The Glow Quilt uses a 20-denier nylon shell and lining and is insulated with a synthetic fill. The construction and footbox design varies among the models. The Ember Quilt has box-wall baffle (and sewn-through baffle, depending on the temperature rating) construction with vertically-oriented baffles in the upper section. Its footbox can be adjusted with a drawcord to function as either a closed footbox or an open blanket. The Cinder Quilt features a sewn-through baffle construction and an adjustable footbox with a drawcord. The Glow Quilt also has a sewn-through construction and a footbox that can be opened or closed. Temperature ratings vary from about -4°C (25°F) to 10°C (50°F).
Thermarest
Thermarest, based in Washington, USA, produces the Vesper, Corus, and Auriga quilts, each differing in materials, construction, insulation, footbox design, attachment systems, and temperature ratings. The Vesper is their ultralight model, featuring a 10D nylon shell, 900-fill Nikwax Hydrophobic Down, and box-baffled construction with a sewn-closed footbox. The Corus – an economy model – has a 20D polyester shell, 650-fill down, and a footbox that slips over a sleeping pad. The Auriga uses a 20D polyester shell, 750-fill down, and a sewn-through construction with an open footbox. Temperature ratings vary from 20°F (-6°C) to 45°F (7°C).
Timmermade
Timmermade, based in New York, USA, produces the Coati Quilt, a customizable ultralight quilt with an 8-inch draft skirt, horizontal baffles, and 900-fill Hyperdry down insulation. It features a sewn-closed footbox, snap-and-cinch top closure, and an adjustable fit with multiple length and width options. Available in 20°F, 30°F, 40°F, and 50°F models. Timmermade is known for larger baffles, which can hold more down for the fabric weight than other designs.
Triple Zero
Triple Zero, based in France, produces a few quilt models varying only in their rated warmth (fill weight). Quilts are filled with goose down (fill power of 800 CUIN) and enclosed in a 36g/m² ripstop nylon shell. Designs include a back tightening system and adjustable collar. Available in medium and large sizes.
UGQ Outdoor
UGQ Outdoor, based in Michigan, USA, designs down quilts for hammock and ground users, including the Bandit Quilt, a top quilt for ground and hammock use with customizable features. It is constructed with box-baffled chambers, and is available with a 10D nylon inner fabric and 20D nylon outer shell. The footbox design offers three closure options: drawcord, flat-sewn, or fully insulated. Users can add Dynamic Tension Control and pad attachment straps for a more secure fit around a sleeping pad. Insulation options include 800, 850, or 950 fill power down, with temperature ratings ranging from 0°F to 40°F.
Warbonnet Outdoors
Warbonnet Outdoors, based in Colorado, USA, designs the Diamondback Topquilt for backpacking and hammock camping. It features a dual differential cut, a 15D ripstop nylon shell with a PFC-free DWR finish, and 850-fill hydrophobic RDS-certified ExpeDRY duck-down insulation. Three footbox options are available: sewn, zipper/drawcord, and WideMouth, which provides extra foot space. The attachment system includes center-release buckles, elastic webbing, and shock cords to secure the quilt to a sleeping pad. Temperature ratings include 40°F (5°C), 20°F (-6°C), and 0°F (-17°C), with an optional draft collar for added coverage.
Western Mountaineering
Western Mountaineering, based in California, USA, offers the NanoLite and AstraLite quilts, featuring a 12D nylon shell, 10D taffeta liner, and 850+ fill power goose down. The NanoLite is rated for 38°F (3°C) with a closed footbox, insulated draft yoke, and elastic pad attachment system. The AstraLite, rated for 26°F (-3°C), has a sewn-through footbox, insulated draft yoke, and elastic pad attachment system.
Zenbivy
Zenbivy quilts differ from traditional backpacking quilts primarily through their modular design, innovative footbox, and materials selection. Zenbivy quilts can be used alone or as part of this modular system. Rather than using conventional pad attachment straps, Zenbivy employs a hook-and-loop attachment system connecting the quilt directly to a fitted sheet, minimizing drafts and simplifying movement during sleep. Their signature footbox design uses a single-clip mechanism, quickly converting between enclosed mummy-style warmth and an open, spacious mode. The Zenbivy product line includes two main series: the Light Quilt, using 800-fill HyperDRY™ fluorocarbon-free down and a durable shell fabric, and the Ultralight Quilt, constructed with lighter-weight 10D Pertex® Quantum fabric and premium 900 fill-power ExpeDRY™ goose down. Both series offer temperature limit ratings of 25°F (-4°C) and 10°F (-12°C), with the Ultralight emphasizing reduced weight and enhanced packability.
ZPacks
Zpacks, based in Florida, USA, designs ultralight backpacking quilts focusing on minimal weight and packability. Their lineup includes the Solo Quilt and Summer Quilt / Winter Liner, each offering different temperature ratings and configurations. The Solo Quilt, available in 10°F, 20°F, and 30°F models, features a zipperless design, 900 fill power goose down insulation, and an adjustable pad attachment strap to minimize drafts. Weighs as little as 11.8 oz (335 g). The Summer Quilt / Winter Liner, offered in 32°F and 40°F ratings, serves as a standalone warm-weather quilt or a liner to boost the warmth of other sleeping systems. It is insulated with 900 fill power Muscovy Duck down and weighs 8.6 oz (245 g).
Performance Screening
This market survey will focus on two key performance variables of insulated sleep gear:
Insulating potential – as measured by the Warmth Index.
Cost-effectiveness – as measured by the Value Index.
The Warmth Index measures insulation efficiency by comparing total fill volume to product weight. It’s defined as the fill volume divided by the total product weight and is presented here in units of cubic inches per ounce. The Warmth Index will be higher for quilts with lighter fabrics, higher fill-power down, more down fill (lower temperature ratings), and larger baffles (less fabric, more down).
The Value Index is defined as the Warmth Index divided by the MSRP and is presented here in units of cubic inches per ounce per dollar (USD).
Comparison Table – Specifications
The limit temperature is generally considered the lowest temperature at which the average adult male sleeper can sleep through the night in a curled-up position without waking from the cold. Often derived from standardized testing protocols (e.g., ISO 23537 or the older EN 13537). Not to be confused with the comfort temperature (the lowest temperature at which the average female sleeper can expect a comfortable, uninterrupted night’s sleep without feeling cold) or the extreme temperature (the lowest temperature at which the sleeping bag will keep an average woman alive for up to six hours).
MSRP represents the approximate price of a product in USD. Pricing for products distributed outside the USA may fluctuate due to exchange rates. As of this writing, there is a high level of volatility in down insulation pricing due to limited supply.
The total product weight is reported for “regular” length and “medium” width sizing and, when available as options, the lightest possible fabrics, minimal add-on options (e.g., draft collars), the highest possible fill power down, and pad attachment straps. The fill weight and non-fill weights (e.g., the weight of all materials used except down fill) are reported for similarly-specified models. Fill volume represents the total fill weight multiplied by the fill power.
Editor’s Note: Within each product line, users may be offered the choice of customizable fabrics, sizing, design options, fill power, and fill amounts. Because of the options that exist within a particular model line, there may be individual products in that model line with different temperature limit ratings and customizable options that are not necessarily included in this gear guide. Where customization was possible, we include model specs featuring fabrics, down fill, and feature sets that are as light as possible.
Product
Limit Temp
Total Product Weight (oz)
Fill Weight (oz)
Non-Fill Weight (oz)
Fill Power
Fill Volume (ci)
Warmth Index
MSRP
Value Index
Cumulus Outdoor Quilt 250
32
18.3
8.8
9.5
850
7480
409
$249
1.64
Cumulus Outdoor Quilt 350
25
22.4
12.4
10.0
850
10540
471
$279
1.69
Cumulus Outdoor Quilt 450
19
26.1
15.9
10.2
850
13515
518
$309
1.68
El Coyote Alphalite 900 20
20
22.2
15.1
7.1
900
13590
612
$359
1.71
El Coyote Alphalite 900 30
30
18.9
12.1
6.8
900
10890
576
$339
1.70
El Coyote Alphalite 900 40
40
15.7
9.1
6.6
900
8190
522
$309
1.69
Enlightened Equipment Enigma 20
20
18.4
13.8
4.6
950
13110
713
$430
1.66
Enlightened Equipment Enigma 30
30
15.5
11.1
4.4
950
10545
680
$390
1.74
Enlightened Equipment Enigma 40
40
13.4
8.3
5.1
950
7885
588
$350
1.68
Enlightened Equipment Revelation 20
20
19.8
14.4
5.4
950
13680
691
$420
1.65
Enlightened Equipment Revelation 30
30
16.7
11.5
5.2
950
10925
654
$380
1.72
Enlightened Equipment Revelation 40
40
13.7
8.7
5.0
950
8265
603
$340
1.77
Gryphon Aries 20
20
25.6
18.6
7.0
900
16740
654
$327
2.00
Gryphon Aries 30
30
21.9
15.3
6.6
900
13770
629
$414
1.52
Gryphon Aries 40
40
18.9
12.2
6.7
900
10980
581
$388
1.50
Hammock Gear Burrow UL 20
20
20.0
12.4
7.6
950
11780
589
$415
1.42
Hammock Gear Burrow UL 30
30
17.3
10.0
7.3
950
9462
547
$375
1.46
Hammock Gear Burrow UL 40
40
13.9
7.4
6.5
950
7068
508
$335
1.52
Hyberg Loner Lite 250
32
15.7
8.8
6.9
850
7480
476
$212
2.25
Hyberg Loner Lite 350
25
17.6
12.4
5.2
850
10540
599
$238
2.52
Hyberg Loner Lite 450
19
22.7
15.9
6.8
850
13515
595
$272
2.19
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 20
20
20.1
14.0
6.1
1000
14000
697
$499
1.40
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 40
40
14.4
8.9
5.5
1000
8900
618
$399
1.55
Katabatic Gear Alsek 22
22
22.2
14.1
8.1
900
12690
572
$439
1.30
Katabatic Gear Chisos 40
40
16.6
9.0
7.6
900
8100
488
$359
1.36
Katabatic Gear Palisade 30
30
18.9
11.2
7.7
900
10080
533
$399
1.34
Khibu Top Quilt
27
26.5
17.6
8.9
800
14080
531
$336
1.58
Liteway Sleeper Quilt 870 FP 10D -2°C
28
20.6
9.4
11.2
870
8178
397
$299
1.33
Liteway Sleeper Quilt 870 FP 10D +4°C
39
19.6
9.4
10.2
870
8178
417
$299
1.40
Loco Libre Ghost Pepper Top Quilt 20
20
21.5
14.6
6.9
850
12410
577
$380
1.52
Loco Libre Ghost Pepper Top Quilt 30
30
18.2
11.1
7.1
850
9435
518
$365
1.42
Loco Libre Ghost Pepper Top Quilt 40
40
15.5
8.5
7.0
850
7225
466
$342
1.36
MEC Talon OC
32
22.4
9.7
12.7
800
7760
346
$210
1.65
Nemo Pulse 20
20
17.6
11.6
6.0
1000
11600
659
$550
1.20
Nunatak Strugi Q
28
19.3
12.1
7.2
900
10890
564
$460
1.23
Nunatak Strugi Q
22
21.5
14.5
7.0
900
13050
607
$495
1.23
Outdoor Vitals Stormloft 30
30
19.6
11.8
7.8
800
9440
482
$375
1.28
Outdoor Vitals Stormloft 40
40
17.4
10.0
7.4
800
8000
460
$295
1.56
Paria Thermodown 30
30
32.0
16.0
16.0
700
11200
350
$160
2.19
REI Magma 30 Down Trail Quilt
30
20.3
11.6
8.7
850
9860
486
$330
1.47
Rock Front 400 Base UL
23
22.6
14.5
8.1
870
12615
558
$275
2.03
Sea to Summit Ember 30
30
19.2
12.3
6.9
850
10455
545
$400
1.36
Sea to Summit Ember 45
45
14.9
7.1
7.8
850
6035
405
$349
1.16
Thermarest Corus 20
20
25.8
18.7
7.1
650
12155
471
$330
1.43
Thermarest Corus 32
32
20.0
12.0
8.0
650
7800
390
$280
1.39
Thermarest Vesper 32
32
15.0
8.5
6.5
900
7650
510
$400
1.28
Timmermade Coati Quilt 900 FP 20
20
17.5
12.5
5.0
900
11250
643
$416
1.55
Timmermade Coati Quilt 900 FP 30
30
15.0
10.0
5.0
900
9000
600
$463
1.30
Timmermade Coati Quilt 900 FP 40
40
12.5
7.5
5.0
900
6750
540
$463
1.17
Triple Zero Quilt 230
NR
19.0
8.1
10.9
800
6480
341
$305
1.12
Triple Zero Quilt 330
NR
22.6
11.6
11.0
800
9280
411
$333
1.23
UGQ Bandit 20
20
20.9
14.5
6.4
950
13775
659
$415
1.59
UGQ Bandit 30
30
17.9
11.7
6.2
950
11115
621
$380
1.63
UGQ Bandit 40
40
15.1
9.1
6.0
950
8645
573
$345
1.66
Warbonnet Diamondback 20
20
24.4
16.2
8.2
900
14580
598
$325
1.84
Warbonnet Diamondback 30
30
21.7
13.5
8.2
900
12150
560
$300
1.87
Warbonnet Diamondback 40
40
18.4
10.3
8.1
900
9270
504
$289
1.74
Western Mountaineering Astralite Top Quilt
26
17.1
11.3
5.8
850
9605
562
$515
1.09
Western Mountaineering Nanolite Top Quilt
38
14.1
7.3
6.8
850
6205
440
$425
1.04
Zenbivy Ultralight Quilt 25
25
17.0
10.1
6.9
900
9090
535
$409
1.31
Zpacks Solo Quilt 20
20
18.7
13.7
5.0
900
12330
659
$429
1.54
Zpacks Solo Quilt 30
30
13.6
8.9
4.7
900
8010
589
$409
1.44
Zpacks Summer Quilt 32
32
13.1
9.0
4.1
900
8100
618
$379
1.63
Zpacks Summer Quilt 40
40
9.7
5.6
4.1
900
5040
520
$339
1.53
Specifications Disclaimer: (1) Fill volume by itself isn’t sufficient for evaluating warmth. Overfilled baffles result in some down compression that reduces the warmth:volume (e.g., warmth:loft) ratio. (2) Assumed equivalence in quilt sizes: some quilts are wider than standard but are compared against narrower quilts without adjustment. Wider girth quilts will contain more down quantity (fill volume) without materially affecting the warmth or loft of the quilt. (3) Temperature ratings are included here only as a reference point. Ratings standards are inconsistent, and some brands do not report test results.
Warmth vs. Value
The following chart shows each quilt in the table above plotted on a chart of warmth index vs. value index. The red line is the best-fit trendline through the data, identifying the average value index across the entire range of warmth indices. It can be inferred that quilts falling below the red line represent those with lower-than-average values, and quilts falling above the red line represent those with higher-than-average values. The average warmth index for all quilts was 544. A green-shaded rectangle in the graph has thus been placed to encapsulate those products that represent higher-than-average values and higher-than-average warmth-to-weight ratios.
Those quilts are listed in the following table in order of descending warmth index:
Product
Limit Temp
Total Product Weight (oz)
Fill Weight (oz)
Non-Fill Weight (oz)
Fill Power
Fill Volume (ci)
Warmth Index
Value Index
MSRP
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 20
20
18.4
13.8
4.6
950
13110
713
1.66
$430
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 20
20
19.8
14.4
5.4
950
13680
691
1.65
$420
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 30
30
15.5
11.1
4.4
950
10545
680
1.74
$390
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 30
30
16.7
11.5
5.2
950
10925
654
1.72
$380
Gryphon Aries 20
20
25.6
18.6
7.0
900
16740
654
2.00
$327
UGQ Bandit 30
30
17.9
11.7
6.2
950
11115
621
1.63
$380
Zpacks Summer Quilt 32
32
13.1
9.0
4.1
900
8100
618
1.63
$379
El Coyote Alphalite 900 20
20
22.2
15.1
7.1
900
13590
612
1.71
$359
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 40
40
13.7
8.7
5.0
950
8265
603
1.77
$340
Hyberg Loner Lite 350
25
17.6
12.4
5.2
850
10540
599
2.52
$238
Warbonnet Diamondback 20
20
24.4
16.2
8.2
900
14580
598
1.84
$325
Hyberg Loner Lite 450
19
22.7
15.9
6.8
850
13515
595
2.19
$272
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 40
40
13.4
8.3
5.1
950
7885
588
1.68
$350
El Coyote Alphalite 900 30
30
18.9
12.1
6.8
900
10890
576
1.70
$339
UGQ Bandit 40
40
15.1
9.1
6.0
950
8645
573
1.66
$345
Warbonnet Diamondback 30
30
21.7
13.5
8.2
900
12150
560
1.87
$300
Rock Front 400 Base UL
23
22.6
14.5
8.1
870
12615
558
2.03
$275
To evaluate the quilts representing the highest value, we skimmed the top quilts having the highest value index. They are presented in the following table in order of descending value index:
Product
Limit Temp
Total Product Weight (oz)
Fill Weight (oz)
Non-Fill Weight (oz)
Fill Power
Fill Volume (ci)
Warmth Index
Value Index
MSRP
Hyberg Loner Lite 350
25
17.6
12.4
5.2
850
10540
599
2.52
$238
Hyberg Loner Lite 250
32
15.7
8.8
6.9
850
7480
476
2.25
$212
Hyberg Loner Lite 450
19
22.7
15.9
6.8
850
13515
595
2.19
$272
Paria Thermodown 30
30
32.0
16.0
16.0
700
11200
350
2.19
$160
Rock Front 400 Base UL
23
22.6
14.5
8.1
870
12615
558
2.03
$275
Gryphon Aries 20
20
25.6
18.6
7.0
900
16740
654
2.00
$327
Warbonnet Diamondback 30
30
21.7
13.5
8.2
900
12150
560
1.87
$300
Warbonnet Diamondback 20
20
24.4
16.2
8.2
900
14580
598
1.84
$325
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 40
40
13.7
8.7
5.0
950
8265
603
1.77
$340
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 30
30
15.5
11.1
4.4
950
10545
680
1.74
$390
Warbonnet Diamondback 40
40
18.4
10.3
8.1
900
9270
504
1.74
$289
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 30
30
16.7
11.5
5.2
950
10925
654
1.72
$380
El Coyote Alphalite 900 20
20
22.2
15.1
7.1
900
13590
612
1.71
$359
El Coyote Alphalite 900 30
30
18.9
12.1
6.8
900
10890
576
1.70
$339
Finally, to evaluate the quilts that offered the highest level of pure warmth (cost be damned!), we skimmed the top quilts having the highest warmth index. They are presented in the following table in order of descending warmth index:
Product
Limit Temp
Total Product Weight (oz)
Fill Weight (oz)
Non-Fill Weight (oz)
Fill Power
Fill Volume (ci)
Warmth Index
Value Index
MSRP
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 20
20
18.4
13.8
4.6
950
13110
713
1.7
$430
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 20
20
20.1
14.0
6.1
1000
14000
697
1.4
$499
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 20
20
19.8
14.4
5.4
950
13680
691
1.6
$420
Enlightened Equipment Custom Enigma 30
30
15.5
11.1
4.4
950
10545
680
1.7
$390
Zpacks Solo Quilt 20
20
18.7
13.7
5.0
900
12330
659
1.5
$429
UGQ Bandit 20
20
20.9
14.5
6.4
950
13775
659
1.6
$415
Nemo Pulse 20
20
17.6
11.6
6.0
1000
11600
659
1.2
$550
Enlightened Equipment Custom Revelation 30
30
16.7
11.5
5.2
950
10925
654
1.7
$380
Gryphon Aries 20
20
25.6
18.6
7.0
900
16740
654
2.0
$327
Timmermade Coati Quilt 900 FP 20
20
17.5
12.5
5.0
900
11250
643
1.5
$416
Gryphon Aries 30
30
21.9
15.3
6.6
900
13770
629
1.5
$414
UGQ Bandit 30
30
17.9
11.7
6.2
950
11115
621
1.6
$380
Zpacks Summer Quilt 32
32
13.1
9.0
4.1
900
8100
618
1.6
$379
Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 40
40
14.4
8.9
5.5
1000
8900
618
1.5
$399
El Coyote Alphalite 900 20
20
22.2
15.1
7.1
900
13590
612
1.7
$359
Recommendations
Based on the rudimentary analysis above, we can identify some outliers that offer unique combinations of value and warmth.
A cold winter night in Rocky Mountain National Park, −15 °F / −26 °C with the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 20 layered over a PHD K-Series Rondoy Down Parka.
Recommendations Summary
I’ve used all four of the above quilts. The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Quilt 20 is the one I use the most often during shoulder seasons. Its lining fabric is more comfortable next to skin than most 7D fabrics I’ve used, and its loft-to-weight ratio is higher than any quilt I’ve tried – even though it offers a very generous girth throughout (I usually prefer wide quilts for layering over parkas and insulated pants and for side-sleeping). Before I owned the Quilt 20, I used an Enlightened Equipment Enigma 20 for several years as my primary 3-season quilt. My wife Stephanie uses an Enigma 10 quilt year-round. Either of these two options represents elite levels of performance in terms of loft-to-weight ratios.
I found the Gryphon Aries 20 to be a little too overstuffed for my tastes – it does feel cozy when secured around your body (closed-girth mode), but doesn’t drape as smoothly when straps are undone and temperatures are warm (open-girth mode). I was particularly impressed by the Hyberg Loner Lite 350 for its light weight, affordability, and outstanding manufacturing quality.
The Enlightened Equipment Enigma line of sleeping quilts is optimized for maximum warmth-to-weight ratio with sewn-closed foot boxes for heat retention and longitudinal baffles to minimize down shifting. Available as stock or customizable products, the user can spec fabrics, insulation type and amount, sizing, and more:
See 850 FP or 950 FP in-stock options at Garage Grown Gear.
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 20-Degree Quilt is an ultralight backpacking quilt unique for its combination of 1000-fill power RDS-certified goose down, a 7D ripstop nylon shell, sewn footbox, vertical baffles, generous girth - and very light weight.
The Gryphon Gear Aries Quilt features a 10D nylon taffeta shell and lining with a DWR finish, insulated with 900 fill power HyperDRY® RDS-certified goose down, overfilled by 80% for loft retention. Fully baffled construction eliminates cold spots, with a boxed footbox, snap closure, drawcord neck, and removable pad attachment straps. Weight: ~17–24 oz.
Hyberg's Loner Lite series offers ultralight down quilts in three models—250, 350, and 450—each designed for varying temperature ranges. All models feature a 10D Toray Airtastic ripstop nylon shell with a DWR finish and are insulated with 850+ fill power RDS-certified Polish goose down. The quilts utilize H-chamber construction for optimal down distribution, include a 60 cm YKK zipper on the back for versatility, and an integrated 5 cm down collar to minimize drafts. Weight ranges are approximately 15–20 oz for the 250 model, 19–20 oz for the 350 model, and 23–24 oz for the 450 model.
Disclaimer: Fill weight specifications don’t tell the whole story, of course. All of these quilts vary a bit in terms of design and sizing.
Design features, in particular, can improve draft control and insulating capacity. Draft collars, stabilizing baffles, differential cuts, pad attachment systems, and baffle sizes (e.g., loft) all impact quilt warmth. However, these design features are relatively minor contributors to warmth in the hands of a skilled quilt user. Total down fill (which controls loft) is generally the best determinant of how warm a quilt will be.
In addition, sizing can have a profound impact on user comfort, especially for side sleepers who may appreciate additional girth in the torso or fetal-position sleepers who may appreciate additional girth in the hips and legs. Users with large feet who back sleep may prefer a quilt with a large, trapezoidal-shaped toebox.
Aesthetics certainly influence a user’s affinity for a particular quilt, as well. There is a significant appeal to supporting smaller cottage manufacturers or using gear made by makers you know personally. Customization allows a quilt to be tailor-made specifically for your needs. Soft lining fabrics, overstuffed baffles, a cushy draft collar, or a roomy footbox may all play a role in the final product you select.
I’ve used all North American quilts in this gear except those from MEC, Timmermade, and Loco Libre. I have extensive experience with quilts from Katabatic, Nemo, Outdoor Vitals, REI, and Zenbivy. In addition, I’ve used European quilts from Cumulus, Hyberg, and Liteway. Of all the quilts in this gear guide that aren’t already highlighted above in the Recommendations section, I’ll offer some insight regarding their unique contributions to this market:
Katabatic Gear Elite Quilts (I use the Katabatic Gear Chisos, and my son Chase uses the Katabatic Gear Palisade frequently) feature some of the more secure pad attachment systems available. A custom cord-locking plate can be configured to allow for easy sliding along the pad attachment cord, or when snapped into place, very secure attachment to prevent movement. Our Katabatic Quilts are each more than 10 years old. We both have several hundred nights in them. We’ve kept them clean and laundered, and they are still going strong with no loss of loft or visible fabric or seam degradation.
The Katabatic Gear Chisos 40°F Quilt features 900 fill power goose down with 7.1 ounces in the regular size, enclosed in a Pertex Quantum Eco shell. A differential cut maximizes loft, while a trapezoidal footbox and down-filled collar enhance fit. The patented pad attachment system secures insulation. Weight: 14.6 oz (regular).
The Katabatic Gear Palisade 30 °F Quilt is filled with 850 fp or 900 fp water-resistant down, features a patented cord-style pad attachment system and a down-filled collar for draft control, and a trapezoidal foot box for natural foot positioning.
The Nemo Pulse is new to my quiver of quilts that I’ve been testing over the past year. It features an exceptionally high warmth index (because of ultralight fabrics and 1000 fill power down), and its unique baffle construction works very well in minimizing down-fill migration through the baffles.
The NEMO Pulse Quilt is filled with 1,000 FP water-resistant down featuring a highly stabilizing Karo-step baffle design and an effective cord-based pad attachment system. Made from 100% recycled (and recyclable with the manufacturer) materials. See it at REI, Garage Grown Gear, and Nemo.
The Outdoor Vitals Stormloft is an interesting design that didn’t provide benefits that were obvious to me until I started using it more. Its aggressive taper – with a wide girth upper and narrow footbox – means that it’s very efficient where it counts the most (in the feet) while being roomy enough in the chest area for layering over lots of clothing and staying warm while sleeping in “blanket mode” on very cold nights. An interesting feature of the Stormloft is the twin vertical baffles along the open edges. Whether the quilt is in open-girth or closed-girth mode, they help seal out drafts. Although not unique, it uses ExpeDRY-treated down (gold nanoparticles), which in our lab testing offers marginally (but materially) better resistance to loft degradation in response to high humidity levels.
The Outdoor Vitals Stormloft down quilt is filled with 800 fp water-resistant down and uses a 10d ripstop nylon shell. An insulated draft collar, vertical edge baffles, and two pad straps help mitigate drafts. Available in multiple fill weights for temperature control.
The REI Magma Trail Quilt has been a staple in my kit for many years. It balances affordability with high-quality materials, featuring 850 FP down and a Pertex Quantum shell. The pad attachment system works without fuss, the draft collar is a welcome standard feature, and its girth is generous for the weight. When it’s on sale, it’s one of the best values on the market.
Latest Updates: The REI Magma Trail Quilt 30 is now offered in wide girth sizing options in both medium and large lengths, more down fill, more generous girth, and a more versatile footbox with a combination zipper-drawcord closure system.
The Zenbivy Ultralight may be the most unique offering in this gear guide. By itself, it’s a very capable quilt with a high loft-to-weight ratio. When coupled with the integrated Zenbivy sheet and hood, it’s roomy, secure, and draft-free. While the system stays home on long trips where I’m counting ounces, it’s sneaking its way into my backpack more and more for short overnighters. It’s the most comfortable quilt-based system I’ve ever used.
The Zenbivy Ultralight Quilt features 900 fill power water-resistant goose down, a 10D shell, and a patent-pending adjustable footbox system for temp control. It is available in temperature ratings of 10°F (-12°C) and 25°F (-4°C). The quilt includes color-coded clip closures for secure attachment to the Zenbivy ultralight sheet (see the Ultralight Sheet at Garage Grown Gear or Zenbivy), creating a draft-free sleep system.
The Cottage Gear Innovation Awards celebrate the small, startup, and cottage products, brands, and people that bring forth new methods or ideas that reflect unique originality, creativity, and advances in materials, design, application, or aesthetic to help hikers and other backcountry enthusiasts thrive outdoors.
Introduction
The Cottage Gear Innovation Awards celebrate the small, startup, and cottage products, brands, and people that bring forth new methods or ideas that reflect unique originality, creativity, and advances in materials, design, application, or aesthetic to help hikers and other backcountry enthusiasts thrive outdoors.
Awards are presented each year at Backpacking Light Trail Days Online to outstanding products and brands nominated by our community. Our editorial team evaluates these nominations based on the accuracy of the claims regarding technical specifications, product performance, and alignment with both editor assessments and member feedback. The final award winners are chosen after carefully considering each product’s innovation, uniqueness, and performance within its competition. Our editorial team makes final decisions to ensure the highest standards of quality and relevance. While this award reflects the outcome of a collaboration between Backpacking Light and Garage Grown Gear, recipients are not required to have any relationship whatsoever with either to qualify for this award.
Table of Contents • Note: if this is a members-only article, some sections may only be available to Premium or Unlimited Members.
The Symbiosis Aspen is a 38L frameless backpack for women engineered to accommodate various bust sizes, featuring uniquely contoured S-curve shoulder straps and a three-point adjustable sternum strap to adjust fit and load distribution. Constructed from 420D Extreema fabric, it integrates a bottom stash pocket for quick access and a roll-top closure with a Y-strap for external gear carry. At 1 lb 9 oz (708 g) with a 20 lb load limit, it optimizes comfort and weight distribution in a way rarely addressed in ultralight pack design.
The Alpenblow Micro Inflator is an ultralight, 8-gram (0.28 oz) device that inflates sleeping pads in approximately three minutes, drawing minimal power (18 mAh at 5V) from USB-C devices such as smartphones or power banks. Operating at a noise level of 42 dBA, it includes multiple nozzles compatible with Therm-a-Rest (WingLock), NEMO (Laylow), Big Agnes, Sea-to-Summit, and EXPED sleeping pad valves.
The Jolly Gear Triple Crown Button-Down is the only sun shirt integrating a full button-down front with a hood, offering adjustable ventilation rarely found in sun protective hiking apparel. Made from an 86% polyester, 14% spandex blend with antimicrobial and quick-drying properties, it includes zippered chest pockets, thumbholes, and a uniquely designed hood with a vent/hair hole and cinch cord. The body fabric is one of the highest air-permeable fabrics we've tested. Men's medium: 7.5 ounces (213 g) and up, depending on fabric choices.
The Timmermade SDUL 0.75 Down Sweater is filled with 1000 FP down, is made with 7d fabrics, and forgoes pockets, zippers, etc. to minimize weight - while still maintaining 3-inch baffle chambers to achieve about 0.75 inches of loft. Cinches at the neck and hem can be removed if draft control isn't needed. Generous baffle sizing and the lightest possible materials/design make this one of the highest warmth-to-weight designs available.
The Suluk46 Atani Titanium Tent Stakes are ultralight, flat-profile stakes available in 6-inch (5 grams) and 8-inch (9 grams) lengths, designed for optimal strength-to-weight performance.The wide upper section withstands significant guy-line forces, while the sharp, thin lower section facilitates penetration into hard ground.An upper indentation secures the guy-line loop, and the flat design prevents rotation.The 8-inch stakes include reflective tie loops for enhanced low-light visibility.
The SlingFin NFT is a 9.5' x 10' flat tarp made from ultralight yet highly tear-resistant 10D Nylon 66 ripstop sil/sil fabric, which offers superior tensile strength and long-term UV resistance compared to standard nylons, silpoly, and DCF. Subtle catenary curves along the long edges ensure a taut A-frame pitch, while the flat ridgeline allows for versatile configurations. Weight: 12.3 oz (349g). Packed size: 4" x 4" x 9".
Birthed from a cottage industry background, Zpacks stands out among peers for its direct-to-consumer approach and longstanding focus on Dyneema-based designs. Their product line features consistently refined and specialized solutions shaped by long-distance hikers' feedback, resulting in lean gear that prioritizes minimalism, adaptability, and field-tested reliability for extensive backcountry pursuits.
The Kula Cloth (0.5 ounces / 14 g) is an antimicrobial, reusable pee cloth featuring a highly absorbent, silver-infused fabric on one side and a waterproof, non-permeable layer on the other to prevent leaks. It includes a snap closure for easy attachment to your pack and a stealth-mode fold for discreet storage.
Polartec Alpha Direct fleece hooded midlayer with fitted hood and paracord drawcord, constructed from open-knit synthetic fleece in 60, 90, and combination fabric weights, with manufacturer-listed medium weights from 3.8 to 5.3 oz (108–150 g) depending on selected fabric configuration.
The Nylofume Pack Liner is a waterproof, odor-resistant nylon polymer bag weighing 0.91 oz (25.9 g). With a 52L capacity, it protects gear from moisture and odors. The clear material allows easy content visibility. It's designed for durability and can be trimmed to fit various pack sizes. Use two (inverted to each other) inside an Ursack or bear canister to hide your food from bears (by containing odors).
Tarptent manufactures ultralight shelters. Founded in 2002 by Henry Shires, the company offers a diverse range of shelters, including single-wall and double-wall tents, suitable for various conditions and user preferences. Tarptent's notable commitment to quality and innovation has made its shelters popular among ultralight backpackers, thru-hikers, and other backcountry outdoor adventurers. Their designs emphasize user-centric features (including livable volume)rather than achieving the lightest weight possible combining lightweight materials with practical functionality to enhance the outdoor experience.
Nominations for the Cottage Gear Innovation Award remain open year-round.
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DISCLOSURE (Updated April 9, 2024)
Backpacking Light does not accept compensation or donated/discounted products in exchange for product mentions or placements in editorial coverage.
Some (but not all) of the links in this review may be affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and visit one of our affiliate partners (usually a retailer site), and subsequently place an order with that retailer, we receive a commission on your entire order, which varies between 3% and 15% of the purchase price. Affiliate commissions represent less than 15% of Backpacking Light's gross revenue. More than 70% of our revenue comes from Membership Fees. So if you'd really like to support our work, don't buy gear you don't need - support our consumer advocacy work and become a Member instead.
Learn more about affiliate commissions, influencer marketing, and our consumer advocacy work by reading our article Stop wasting money on gear.
In episode 120 of the Backpacking Light podcast we’re going to continue our study of how to sleep warm in cold temperatures, focusing on the gear that makes up your sleeping system.
The Vaer C5 Tactical Field Solar features a sapphire face cover, 316L stainless steel body, and a Japanese Epson VS-42 solar-powered movement that provides up to six months of power reserve at high precision. The watch is water-resistant up to 10 ATM (100 meters), offers a blacked-out aesthetic with exceptional lume performance, ensuring readability in low-light conditions.
The NEMO Pulse Quilt is filled with 1,000 FP water-resistant down featuring a highly stabilizing Karo-step baffle design and an effective cord-based pad attachment system. Made from 100% recycled (and recyclable with the manufacturer) materials. See it at REI, Garage Grown Gear, and Nemo.
The Hyperlite Mountain Gear 20-Degree Quilt is an ultralight backpacking quilt unique for its combination of 1000-fill power RDS-certified goose down, a 7D ripstop nylon shell, sewn footbox, vertical baffles, generous girth - and very light weight.
The Enlightened Equipment Enigma line of sleeping quilts is optimized for maximum warmth-to-weight ratio with sewn-closed foot boxes for heat retention and longitudinal baffles to minimize down shifting. Available as stock or customizable products, the user can spec fabrics, insulation type and amount, sizing, and more:
See 850 FP or 950 FP in-stock options at Garage Grown Gear.
The Timmermade Coati Quilt features an 8-inch draft skirt that hangs down to block drafts or can be tucked under the body to control the edges, functioning similarly to a false bottom. The quilt is constructed with horizontal baffles, a differential cut, draft collar, and chambers overstuffed with water-resistant 900 fill power down.
The Katabatic Tincup Down Jacket features 850+ fill power water-resistant RDS-certified down insulation. Weight in the 12-13 oz (350 g) range. Zippered hand pockets, internal drop-in pockets, adjustable hood, drop-tail hem, and elastic cuffs.
See the Men's and Women's Tincup Jacket at Garage Grown Gear.
See the Men's and Women's Tincup Jacket at Katabatic Gear.
The Timmermade SDUL 0.75 Down Sweater is filled with 1000 FP down, is made with 7d fabrics, and forgoes pockets, zippers, etc. to minimize weight - while still maintaining 3-inch baffle chambers to achieve about 0.75 inches of loft. Cinches at the neck and hem can be removed if draft control isn't needed. Generous baffle sizing and the lightest possible materials/design make this one of the highest warmth-to-weight designs available.
R-8.5 spec is among the highest of any ultralight pad. The Tensor Extreme is 3.5 inches thick, quieter, and more stable than the Neoair NXT. If you could only own one pad for most conditions, this may be the one. See it at REI, Garage Grown Gear, or Nemo.
The Nemo Tensor Elite is a 2.4 R-value ultralight sleeping pad weighing 240 grams, featuring 10D CORDURA nylon for puncture resistance, Apex baffle construction to improve stability and weight distribution, and a single layer of Thermal Mirror film insulation for additional warmth. See it at REI, Garage Grown Gear, or Nemo.
The Gossamer Gear Thinlight Foam Pad is a closed-cell foam pad available in 1/8" thickness, with an estimated R-value of 0.5. Use it for protection and additional insulation from cold ground when paired with an inflatable pad, or keep it handy for on-trail and in-camp lounging.
The Katabatic Gear Bristlecone Bivy Sack is water-resistant and breathable and makes an ideal companion for warmer conditions when paired with a tarp. Water-resistant enough to keep dew at bay for sleeping under the stars in mild weather.
In this episode, we’ll introduce you to the Trail Days speakers and give you a sneak peek at their presentation topics and expertise. From ultralight pack design to scrambling techniques, backcountry hygiene to desert travel, there’s something for everyone.
Executive Producer - Backpacking Light; Show Director and Host - Ryan Jordan; Producer - Chase Jordan; Theme music: Look for Me in the Mountains written by Chris Cunningham and Ryan Jordan, performed by Chris Cunningham (acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vocals, harmonica), Chad Langford (upright bass), and Tom Murphy (mandolin), produced by Basecamp Studios in Bozeman, Montana.
Sponsorship Policy: Backpacking Light does not accept compensation or donated/discounted products in exchange for product mentions or placements in editorial coverage, including any podcast episode content not excplicitly identified as sponsored content.
Some (but not all) of the links in these show notes may be affiliate links. If you click on one of these links and visit one of our affiliate partners (usually a retailer site), and subsequently place an order with that retailer, we receive a commission on your entire order, which varies between 3% and 15% of the purchase price. Affiliate commissions represent less than 15% of Backpacking Light's gross revenue. More than 70% of our revenue comes from Membership Fees. So if you'd really like to support our work, don't buy gear you don't need - support our consumer advocacy work and become a Member instead.
Learn more about affiliate commissions, influencer marketing, and our consumer advocacy work by reading our article Stop wasting money on gear.
The Nemo Tensor Elite is a 2.4 R-value ultralight sleeping pad weighing 240 grams, featuring 10D CORDURA nylon for puncture resistance, Apex baffle construction to improve stability and weight distribution, and a single layer of Thermal Mirror film insulation for additional warmth. See it at REI, Garage Grown Gear, or Nemo.
Brynje of Norway makes both synthetic and merino wool fiber fishnet base layer apparel for outdoor adventures. Fishnet construction is more breathable, lighter, and faster-drying than conventional knits.
An in-depth guide to traction spikes for hiking, backpacking and running in all seasons. Compare models, materials, and performance attributes with insights from field testing to find performant options for different use cases.
This article provides an overview of coffee-making methods (how to make coffee in the backcountry) while backpacking, with a study of their complexity and weight.
by Emylene VanderVelden and Ryan Jordan
Update February 4, 2025: Product selections have been updated to reflect the current state of the market for coffee brewing equipment and supplies. In addition, we added an immersion brewing section and updated our “What the Authors Use” section to reflect our current practices.
Introduction
Ultralight backpacking embodies the values of simplicity and weight savings. Some of that gets thrown out the window when the subject of backcountry coffee comes up (depending on your level of java snobbery). This article provides an overview of coffee-making methods (how to make coffee in the backcountry) while backpacking, with a study of their complexity and weight.
Under no circumstances should you let a non-coffee drinker brew your coffee. Non-coffee drinkers CANNOT be trusted to make acceptable coffee. If some well-meaning tent-mate gets up early and offers to bring you coffee in bed, do NOT let them. You will be sadly disappointed, and the entire day may founder in a miasma of negative drama. – Mike Clelland, The Beautiful Cup: Backcountry Coffee for the Ultralight Backpacker.
Nothing quite beats a warm cup of coffee, a fire, and a sunrise. Photo: Emylene VanderVelden.
What is Still True About How to Make Coffee in the Backcountry
In 2010, Mike made some valid observations, and we wholeheartedly agree with them.
He said:
As you may have gathered, I’ve got some opinions about this whole coffee thing. So, before we go any further, and in the interest of full disclosure, here are a few of my prejudices:
Strong coffee is good coffee.
Except for a very few companions, I don’t trust anyone to make coffee for me.
Adding sugar to coffee is criminal.
Sometimes I add a little milk in my coffee, but black is just fine.
Adding flavors (like hazelnut and almandine) to an already perfect drink is sinful.
Picking grounds out of my teeth is a serious buzz kill.
Coffee equals joy.
How Coffee Brewing is Controlled
The bean source, roasting method, and freshness have an impact on the quality of your coffee.
But you have some brewing control as well. Depending on the method, you can adjust:
Brewing water temperature;
Rate of flow (or time of exposure between coffee and water);
Water pressure (e.g., espresso is drawn at higher-than-ambient pressures).
Changing the temperature, flow rate, and pressure allows you to fine-tune your flavor profile. The ability to control these three variables will be evaluated when we look at coffee-making gear.
A note on temperature that may be relevant for backpackers in mountain environments: boiling temperature changes with altitude. At sea level, the boiling temperature is 212 F (100 C). At 9,000 ft (2743 m), the boiling temperature is about 195 F (90.5 C).
Nine thousand feet (2743 m) is kind of an important inflection point with respect to coffee extraction and altitude.
It’s generally accepted by most coffee aficionados that the ideal extraction temperature is 195 F (90.5 C) to 205 F (96.1 C), so once you climb above 9,000 ft (2743 m), you may want to increase your brew time a bit if you’re after a stronger cup of coffee.
Coffee-Making Methods and Gear for Backpacking
The popularity of coffee-drinking1 is being driven by a rise in boutique coffeehouses, micro-roasting, and consumers’ unquenchable thirst for cool new gear. Thankfully, this market enthusiasm is spilling over into a wide range of portable coffee-making supplies and tactics:
The French press
Immersion Brewers
Mini espresso makers
Pour-over coffee makers
Coffee & tea infusers
Instant coffee
Coffee paste
DIY cold brew
The following table summarizes each method in terms of its weight, brew time, nature of flow, pressure, cleanup, and coffee quality.
In addition, we’ll touch on coffee grinders, coffee alternatives, and whiteners towards the end.
The French Press
The French press method of coffee brewing gives the brewer a great deal of control over the resulting coffee flavor, owing mainly to the fact that brew time can be varied. (As with other techniques, you can also control the flavor by altering the brewing water temperature and the coarseness of the grind). French press technique should generally use a coarse ground coffee because all of the extracted oils are retained (and not filtered out) – a finer grind (and/or a longer brew time) will result in more bitterness.
Outdoor product manufacturers offer a wide range of light, sturdy, portable standalone French presses and integrated presses for cooking mugs and pots. They aren’t the lightest option (in fact, self-contained presses are among the heaviest), but French-pressed coffee has the potential to be very strong and flavorful.
We like the integrated cooking mug/pot press idea, except for one minor detail: if you are making coffee, you cannot use the pot for anything else until you wash it out. That means you have to make your meal in sequential cooking batches, and can’t drink your coffee with your food without transferring the coffee to a separate mug, cleaning the pot, etc.
The GSI Outdoors Commuter JavaPress is a 15 fl. oz. insulated copolyester coffee press weighing 10.3 oz (292 g), with an integrated sliding inner carafe that separates coffee grounds after brewing, eliminating the need for a plunger rod; features a spill-resistant, flip-top lid, a foam sleeve for insulation, a press-and-drink-through design, and prevents over-extraction by keeping grounds separated after pressing.
The Snow Peak Titanium French Press is crafted from single-wall Japanese titanium, allowing direct heating over a heat source. It has a capacity of 24 fl. oz. (0.7 liters) and weighs 6.3 oz. (179 g).
The WoodKnot Gear Titanium 750ml Camp Coffee Kit is made from high-grade titanium, offering lightweight durability and corrosion resistance. It features a stylish wooden knob, vented lid, double folding handles, and a bail handle, allowing it to function as a French press, water boiler, or cooking pot. Weighs 6.4 oz (181 g); 7 oz (198 g) including the stuff sack.
The MSR WindBurner Coffee Press is designed for WindBurner Stove Systems, featuring a durable stainless steel strainer disc and a flexible perimeter gasket to seal out coffee grounds. It disassembles and packs flat for easy storage. Available in 1.0L and 1.8L sizes, weighing 1.3 oz (37 g) and 1.6 oz (45 g) respectively.
The Jetboil Silicone Coffee Press is a lightweight accessory weighing 1.3 oz (37 g), made from stainless steel and food-grade silicone. Designed to fit Jetboil Zip, Flash, Flash Lite, MicroMo, PCS Sol, and Sol TI cooking systems, as well as 1-liter tall and 0.8-liter spare cups. It features a heat-resistant silicone ring for a secure fit, preventing coffee grounds from escaping during plunging. The stem and basket detach for compact storage within the cooking system.
The Jetboil coffee press. When a French press can be integrated with your cooking pot, you can save some weight over a traditional standalone French press – several ounces, in fact. Photo: Emylene VanderVelden.
Immersion Brewers
Similar to a French press, an immersion brewer steeps coffee grounds fully in water for a set period of time, essentially “soaking” them prior to filtering them out. Immersion brewers are distinguished from French presses by forcing the brew through finer mesh or paper filters to create the clarified filtrate. The result is a smoother (less bold) cup of coffee because the fine grind is filtered out prior to drinking with an immersion brewer.
The AeroPress Go Travel Coffee Press is a compact and portable coffee maker weighing 11.4 oz (323 g) that brews 1 to 3 cups of American, espresso, or cold brew style coffee in about a minute; made from food-safe polypropylene (PP) and includes a mug with a lid that doubles as a carrying case.
The Cafflano Kompact Coffee Maker is a portable, compact coffee brewer designed for convenience. It features a simple press-down mechanism for brewing coffee on the go.
An espresso maker uses high pressure to quickly force hot water through finely-ground coffee, resulting in a much more concentrated shot with a stronger flavor profile.
Mini espresso makers are unique because they can extract coffee at nine bars (or more) of pressure (i.e., 130 PSI). That’s nine times the ambient atmospheric pressure where other coffee brewing methods operate. This is important because higher pressures can extract coffee oils more aggressively (and require less contact time). A finer grind is required when making espresso, because of the short contact time (about 30 seconds, generally, vs. 2-5 minutes for traditional brew methods). The result is a much richer-tasting coffee without the bitterness of a long water contact time.
The idea of adding a mini espresso maker to our kit seemed revolutionary to us – a real shot of pressure-drawn espresso? That sounded too good to be true.
The Wacaco Minipresso GR2 is a compact, hand-operated espresso maker with an adjustable basket for 8 to 12 grams of ground coffee. It features a built-in water tank with an 80 ml capacity and operates at a maximum pressure of 18 bar. Weighs 10 oz (285 g).
Cafflano KompressoThe Cafflano Kompresso is a portable espresso maker designed to deliver a consistent 9-bar pressure for authentic espresso extraction. It utilizes hydraulic compression and features a compact, lightweight design.
The Wacaco line of portable manual espresso makers draw coffee at higher pressures than any other coffee maker discussed in this article. The result: a shot of espresso that has a flavor profile closest to what you’ll get out of a real espresso machine. Photo: Ryan Jordan.Crema atop a shot of espresso drawn from one of the Wacaco Minipresso models. Crema is a result of extracting coffee at a high pressure. Photo: Ryan Jordan.
Pour-Over Coffee Makers
Pour-over coffee allows you to exert some control over the flow rate of the water. The primary difference between a French-pressed coffee and a pour-over coffee is that French press is a batch brewing technique (no water flow, just soaking), and pour-over is a flow-through brewing technique. Because the grounds are not coming into contact with the brewed coffee filtrate (and aren’t exposed for as long of a time), it takes a finer grind and slower, more patient pour to achieve the strength of a French-pressed coffee. One distinct advantage of the pour-over method: no coffee ground grit (some drinkers will enjoy this, however).
Some pour-over cones require the use of an additional filter; others include integrated plastic or metal mesh screens. The latter avoid disposable supplies, but are messier to operate.
The GSI Outdoors Ultralight Java Drip Coffee Maker is an ultra-compact, reusable drip coffee filter that clips onto any mug for backcountry brewing. It weighs less than half an ounce (11 g) and features sturdy legs that clip to your mug for stability during brewing.
The Suluk 46 Kapik Titanium Coffee Drip is a portable coffee brewing device made from titanium. It consists of four interlocking pieces that form a pyramid-style funnel, with out-rigging legs that rest securely on vessels up to 4.5 inches in diameter. Weighs 1.6 oz (46 g).
The GSI Outdoors Coffee Rocket is a one-person pour-over coffee maker designed for camping. It features a 230 ml drip cone and a reusable stainless steel filter. The hopper holds up to 10 grams of medium grind coffee. The filter body nests into the water hopper for compact storage. Weighs 2.7 oz (76.5 g).
The Vargo Titanium Travel Coffee Filter is a solo pour-over coffee maker made from 100% biocompatible titanium, ensuring no chemical leaching or flavor imparting. It features double mesh construction for strength and fine filtering, and talon-style folding legs that fit a wide variety of mugs. Weighs 1.27 oz (36 g).
The SOTO Helix Coffee Maker is a collapsible stainless steel filter holder weighing 1.6 oz (46 g), compatible with #2 cone filters, and includes a mesh carrying bag.
The GSI Outdoors Reusable Pour-Over Java Filter is designed to brew coffee or tea repeatedly. Made from durable nylon, it fits into traditional #4 cone pour-over coffee makers and is easy to use and clean. Weighs 0.16 oz (4.5 g).
The Hario V60 01 Dripper (2.8 ounces / 79 g) isn’t as light as titanium or poly mesh models but offers the advantage of having a street price of USD $6 or so. When paired with an 01 sized paper cone, cleanup is easy, and you end up with a terrific cup of coffee, and all of the control benefits that come with the pour-over method. Photo: Ryan Jordan
Kuju Coffee's Single-Serve Pour Over Coffee features a filter that anchors to your mug and is filled with specialty-grade, ethically sourced coffee grounds. Simply tear open the packet, anchor it to your mug, and pour hot water to brew a fresh cup in minutes.
An infuser is little more than a mesh “basket” containing ground coffee (or loose-leaf tea) that is inserted into a cup of hot water. The water then passively extracts the coffee – there’s no pouring, pumping, or other types of active (flow) extraction method involved other than human-powered swirling.
The MSR MugMate Coffee/Tea Filter is a reusable filter designed for brewing coffee or tea without disposable paper filters. It weighs 0.98 oz (28 g) and is made of nylon.
The JoGo Brew Straw is a portable brewing device made from food-grade stainless steel and BPA-free silicone. It allows users to brew and drink coffee or tea directly from a cup without the need for a separate filter, featuring a built-in mesh filter to prevent grounds or leaves from being consumed. Weighs 1 oz (28 g).
We have a fundamental disagreement with Mike about instant coffee. He writes “Instant coffee isn’t actually coffee, and is therefore outside the scope of this discussion. It is quite simply not an option.”
Some instant coffee manufacturers have realized consumers will not drink flavored mud water and have improved instant coffee standards accordingly. If we are desperate for coffee and saving weight, Starbucks Instant and Medaglia D’Oro are bold, tasty options. They may not be as good as French press or espresso, but they aren’t terrible either – especially when you consider the weight of instant freeze-dried coffee powder (very light!) and ease of use.
Other companies have entered the instant coffee market and are pitching their grind specifically to the outdoorsy type:
Alpine Start's Original Blend is a medium roast instant coffee made from 100% Colombian Arabica beans. Each packet contains 0.1 oz (2.8 g) of coffee, providing approximately 120 mg of caffeine per serving. The product is non-GMO, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
This instant coffee is made from high-elevation 100% Arabica beans sourced from a Rainforest Alliance Certified plantation practicing regenerative agriculture and organic farming. Each packet contains 0.07 oz (2 g) of coffee, providing 110 mg of caffeine per serving. Here's what's interesting about this one: it's made by evaporative dehydration following cold brewing. This makes for a smoother mouth-feel and less chemical aftertaste than hot-brewed/freeze-dried instant coffee processing.
Instant coffee saves a lot of hassle, time, weight, and cleanup mess, but offers the least satisfying coffee ritual experience, and poorest flavor (usually). Photo: Ryan Jordan
Coffee Paste
Coffee paste is a new product that is dispensed from an aluminum tube, can be used to make cold or hot coffee, can be ingested directly like a gel, or used as a food additive or spread. This makes coffee paste more versatile and more easily dosable than conventional coffee.
No Normal Coffee paste is crafted from 100% Fairtrade Arabica beans and sweetened with organic Swiss beet sugar. Flavor profile: rich, indulgent flavor with hints of chocolate, nuts and caramel. Swiss-made. Each 100 g tube makes 20 cups of coffee. Drink hot or cold or use as a spread.
Cold brew is an extraction method using cold (or room temperature) water. The cooler extraction temperature means that oils are extracted more slowly, so making a batch of cold brew takes a long time – usually several hours. In addition, the oils that are extracted have a flavor profile that is generally considered to be more “smooth” than “bitter”. Bitter oils are extracted by hotter water, especially near the boiling point (near sea level at least).
Cold brew coffee is a recent invention and can be made in your water bottle. The big drawback is that it takes about 12 hours to make it. If you plan ahead the night before, you can have cold brew ready the next morning.
Cold brew can be enjoyed cold or warmed up, and it has a smoother, sweeter flavor than hot-brewed coffee. We recommend a wide-mouthed bottle, which will be easier to clean and add coffee without a mess.
Soft-sided bottles, of course, are the lightest, but they tend to hold odors more than hard-sided bottles (e.g., Nalgene).
To make cold brew:
Add 1 cup of coarsely ground coffee beans to 4 cups of water;
Mix well to ensure wetting of the grind;
Let it steep for 12 hours;
Strain the grounds with a coffee filter or a piece of cheesecloth as you pour into your cup for enjoyment.
Cowboy and Turkish Coffee
Cowboy and Turkish methods rely on soaking coffee grounds in hot water. They both include a bit of stirring and settling art. No extra gear is required because the grounds aren’t separated from the final brew. Thus, some grit is inevitable. Both methods are a bit messy when it comes to cleanup. Mike addresses these methods in A Beautiful Cup.
Lightweight Coffee Grinders
The coffee brewing methods discussed above may give you some control over the brewing temperature, flow rate (brewing time), and water pressure. If you also want control over the freshness and grind, consider a portable coffee mill.
Check out one of the 24 g capacity miniature models from Hario, which are light and capable of grinding as fine as espresso.
How to Deal With Your Coffee Grounds
If you use ground coffee in the backcountry, you’ll have to manage the proper disposal of your coffee grounds.
If leave-no-trace is one of your core ethics, then you have only one option: pack them out. They aren’t natural to the environment you are visiting, and you’ll be hard-pressed to justify that dispersing them or burying them will benefit sensitive, native plants.
After making our morning coffee, we’ll dry the leftover grounds out in the sun (spread them out on filter paper) – this saves pack weight.
Chocolate-Covered Coffee Beans
We’ve covered most of the obvious caffeination techniques so far. Still, if your only goal is rapid and straightforward caffeine delivery, there are pills for that. Or you can add chocolate-covered coffee beans to your trail mix.
Chocolate-covered coffee beans are multipurpose – they are both a calorie supplement and a caffeinator. They don’t offer a ‘ritualistic’ coffee experience, but they are fast, easy, and lightweight.
Most chocolate-covered coffee beans will melt if they get too warm. I (Emylene) use these workarounds:
Wrapping packaged beans in aluminum foil and keeping them in my water bladder compartment to keep them cool;
Tossing the beans into a bag of trail mix and then eat the chocolate, coffee bean, fruit, and nut clusters after they melt and solidify again. (Important: let them harden before opening the bag, or they are disastrously messy).
A Word on Whiteners, Milk, and Instant Coffee-“Milk” Blends
In addition to powdered milk, there are now plenty of powdered options for non-dairy and lactose-free creamers.
Want to froth your own? The battery-operated AeroLatte is portable and light enough (5.1 oz / 146 g) for some of you who may want foam for a latte.
No matter where I go and what outdoor activity I do, coffee is my go-to beverage. Canoeing in the Nahanni River Valley, Northwest Territories, Canada. Photo: Emylene VanderVelden.
What the Authors Use
As coffee enthusiasts, we’ve each refined our brewing setups over the years, settling into systems that balance convenience, weight, and the ritual of a good backcountry brew.
Emylene’s Setup
Emylene’s go-to method remains the GSI Ultralight Java Drip paired with Melitta #2 Bamboo Cone Filters for cleaner flavor and easy cleanup. When she wants a true espresso shot in the wild, the Wacaco Nanopresso delivers results that rival her home machine. For quick and lightweight options, Flash Fuel Instant Coffee has earned an honorable mention for its craft quality.
She still enjoys a cowboy coffee now and then for nostalgia (and skill maintenance) but sticks to her three primary methods: pour-over, instant, and hand-pumped espresso. The biggest change in her coffee routine? Upgraded sipping vessels. She’s transitioned from a plastic truck-stop cup to a Yeti Rambler Mug for frontcountry use and a Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Anodized Mug with a silicone lid when weight matters.
For grinding, she’s moved from a small pepper mill to a GSI JavaGrind when weight allows, or pre-grinds beans before the trip. Her favorite roast? 454 Horse Power from Kicking Horse Coffee, a bold, organic, fair-trade dark roast with notes of cocoa nibs, peat, and nutmeg.
The Snow Peak Ti-Double 450 Anodized Mug is a lightweight, double-walled titanium mug with excellent heat retention and durability. Its 450ml capacity and compact design make it a practical, high-performance choice for hikers and backpackers seeking reliable, lightweight gear for hot beverages in the backcountry.
For long trips where weight and simplicity matter most, Ryan prefers Starbucks Premium Instant Coffee — not in Via packets, but from the can. The can adds a ritualistic element to the process – like an old-timey western cowboy scooping grinds from their metal tin). It also offers better dose control than single-use packets.
Lately, he’s also been experimenting with No Normal Coffee Paste, an unconventional option that delivers an on-the-go caffeine boost straight from the tube or spread onto an energy bar.
When time and ritual are central to his morning, he opts for a pour-over setup with a Hario V60 #01 system, using a plastic dripper, ground beans from Kind Coffee in Estes Park, and unbleached paper filters. Though bulkier than some ultralight solutions, the Hario setup provides a slow, methodical coffee experience that enhances his mornings in the backcountry.
His mug of choice? Whether working from the office or lounging in front of his tent, it’s the Snow Peak H-series of double-wall titanium mugs (with the H200 for backcountry use).
Simple, beautiful, and effective - this double wall titanium mug reflects design simplicity and elegance while keeping hot drinks warm in the backcountry. 200 ml capacity, 2.2 ounce (62 g) weight.
The self-identified “ultralight backpacker” may view some of the options for brewing coffee presented in this article as too complicated, too time-consuming, too messy, or too heavy. Those of you who value Via over vive le coffee will find little satisfaction in packing another 4 oz (or more) of “coffee-making gear”.
But for some hikers, coffee isn’t just a drink; it’s an act of joy. A ritualistic practice as part of a lifestyle. An experience that enhances a sunrise, a mid-day trail break, or a game of cards during a tent-bound rainstorm with a hiking companion.
And for some, there’s the art and science of creating a masterpiece of brewing where you want to exert some control over the freshness of your grind, the coarseness of your grind, the temperature of the water, the grind:water ratio, the flow rate, and the pressure.
The bottom line is this.
Some people like to paint in the backcountry and bring a watercolor kit and a sketch pad. Others like to write, and do so with a nice pen and a fancy, leather-bound journal. Photographers have their own gear needs – tripods, cameras, filters, sliders. People who like to fish for trout bring rods, reels, flies, and tackle. Some of us bring chairs, or Kindles, or cribbage boards.
Others are into brewing coffee.
And thus, the beauty of lightweight backpacking is revealed – not in the weight you save by leaving everything at home, but in the weight you save with lightweight gear and skills that allow you to enjoy some experiences that you otherwise wouldn’t have considered before.
Like sipping an outrageous cup of coffee in a wild place.
Sipping coffee on trail while hiking on a cold morning in Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. Don’t spill! Photo: Ryan Jordan
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Aardwolf was founded over the summer of 2024 by Nate "Good Kat" Katz, an avid thru-hiker, and is supported by his right-hand lady and ornithologist Alex. They craft ultralight, durable gear that is proudly handmade in Flagstaff, Arizona. Aardwolf products help keep hikers organized, comfortable, and ready for adventure - built by backpackers for everyone, to meet the real-world demands of life on and off the trail.
The Vargo Titanium Pocket Cleats Solo weigh 1.15 ounces (32.6 grams) each and feature 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) spikes for traction on icy terrain. Constructed from durable titanium, they utilize TPU-coated nylon webbing with a breaking strength of 600 kg (1,300 lbs) and titanium stabilizing brackets to prevent sliding. The one-size-fits-all design is adjustable for various footwear.
The Distance Spike features a hybrid upper - softshell toe cover combined with a heel retention elastomer. This design improved fit, packability, and snow protection. Featuring 14 spikes for a large traction surface area, with 8mm spikes - long enough for snow and ice, small enough for stability on rock and trail. Stainless steel spikes.
Kahtoola Microspikes feature 12 spikes, 3/8” length, and a wide forefoot pattern for traction and security of variable icy and packed snowy terrain. An elastomer harness stays flexible in below zero (F) temperatures for security on flexible footwear. Durable chain links withstand repeated stress on steep terrain.
Carbon steel spikes and an instep strap make the Trail Crampons best-suited for steeper, more technical terrain requiring secure grip on ice and stability on the shoe.
Executive Producer - Backpacking Light; Show Director and Host - Ryan Jordan; Producer - Chase Jordan; Theme music: Look for Me in the Mountains written by Chris Cunningham and Ryan Jordan, performed by Chris Cunningham (acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vocals, harmonica), Chad Langford (upright bass), and Tom Murphy (mandolin), produced by Basecamp Studios in Bozeman, Montana.
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Learn more about affiliate commissions, influencer marketing, and our consumer advocacy work by reading our article Stop wasting money on gear.
No Normal Coffee Paste is a compact coffee alternative that requires no brewing. It can be eaten directly from its tube or mixed with water (cold or hot), or spread on or into other food for a quick caffeine boost or coffee flavor injection. It offers a convenient way to consume real coffee without the weight or complexity of traditional brewing methods.
Introduction
I suffer with Starbucks Via single-use packets for most of my backpacking trips. I don’t not like Via – its compact, single-use form factor and flavor that’s sort of good enough make it an appealing option for somebody who enjoys the ritual of brewing a cup of coffee. And it’s generally absent of the organic chemical-like defects that plague other (cheaper) freeze-dried brands. However, I’m always on the lookout for something with richer flavor, smoother body, and a fresher mouth-feel.
The coffee ritual is important to my enjoyment of the backcountry.
Searching for a convenient and satisfying backcountry coffee solution remains an ongoing life ambition for me. Most instant freeze-dried coffees lack a broad-spectrum flavor profile. In addition, many brands of freeze-dried coffees suffer from a variety of taste defects. The elevated amino acids and unvolatalized solvents leave traces of weirdness in most of them that are easily detectable by most human noses and flavor receptors.
In this review, I experiment with No Normal Coffee. No Normal takes a different approach – it’s coffee designed for on-the-go convenience without compromising (too much) flavor, in a very interesting form factor – paste dispensed from a resealable aluminum tube.
No Normal Coffee paste is crafted from 100% Fairtrade Arabica beans and sweetened with organic Swiss beet sugar. Flavor profile: rich, indulgent flavor with hints of chocolate, nuts and caramel. Swiss-made. Each 100 g tube makes 20 cups of coffee. Drink hot or cold or use as a spread.
Serving nutrition: 12 Calories / 0 g fat / 2.3 g carbohydrates / 1.5 g added sugar / 0.3 g protein / 0 g salt / 43 mg caffeine.
Serving suggestion: mix 5 g paste (~ 1 tsp) with 100 g water (~ 3.5 ounces) at 85 °C and stir for 20 seconds.
How It’s Made
No Normal Coffee paste is water-extracted from roasted, ground beans. The extract is concentrated via evaporation, then mixed with additional ingredients (coffee powder*, sugar, and thickening gums) and pasteurized prior to packaging.
* The coffee powder is not freeze-dried coffee. It’s made by micro-grinding the same whole roasted beans used to brew the coffee that becomes the concentrate in the paste. It’s added to the paste to improve texture (increase viscosity) and aroma.
Manufacturer’s Claims
No Normal Coffee highlights several important aspects of their coffee paste, which is currently available as a lightly-sweetened dark roast:
Convenience: Easily mix with water for instant coffee. Can also be consumed directly or added to food.
Quality Ingredients: Made from 100% Fairtrade Arabica beans with organic Swiss beet sugar.
Versatility: Works as a hot or cold drink, food additive, or energy gel.
Field Notes
First Impressions
When I first opened a tube of No Normal Coffee paste, the aroma of the paste was distinctly rich and aromatic – it actually smelled like brewed coffee instead of some type of chemical derivative. My initial taste, a lick of paste off my finger, revealed a smooth, lightly sweet flavor that was surprisingly enjoyable on its own. I immediately had a vision of spreading the paste on a chocolate bar.
Use Cases
I tested No Normal Coffee in several different scenarios:
Hot Coffee in Camp: Mixing the paste with hot water produced a smooth, rich cup that lacked the bitterness I often associate with instant coffee. It was a pleasant way to start my day. This particular blend was a “dark roast”, but had a more complex flavor profile than a traditional dark-roasted Colombian – but was still dominated by a chocolate nutty flavor and a toasted caramel aroma. The hint of sweetness was just enough to add a bit of “wow, that feels good” vibe that remained while I drank the entire cup. I don’t drink my coffee with sugar, so this was surprising to me.
Cold Coffee on the Trail: Adding the paste to a water bottle, capping it, and shaking resulted in a refreshing cold coffee that I liked better than freeze-dried coffee. It had a cold-brew sort of mouth-feel, without the watery, stale-coffee stench that comes with mixing some instant freeze-dried coffees in cold water.
Direct Consumption: Squeezing a small amount of paste directly from the tube and into my mouth while hiking provided a quick energy boost (likely due to the caffeine). It tasted noticeably better than most energy gels I’ve tried, and its lightly sweet flavor kept it from feeling cloying. The caffeine without the fast-carb gel carrier made it easy to dose.
Food Additive: I added the paste to both hot cracked wheat cereal and cold granola with powdered milk. In both cases, it enhanced the meal with a pleasant coffee flavor. Spreading it on a hunk of chocolate or a peanut-butter-chocolate Kind bar at lunchtime was a surreal experience! The chocolate use case may create No Normal Coffee paste addicts out of non-coffee drinkers. I also mixed it with almond butter from a Justin’s packet and spread it on crackers.
So many options! No Normal Coffee paste on a peanut-butter-chocolate Kind bar.
Hot vs. Cold Usage
With cold water (and cold paste), dissolving the paste requires vigorous shaking for 15 to 30 seconds – not an issue if you are making cold coffee in a water bottle. The benefit of vigorous shaking – a nice crema that liberates both aroma and flavor. With hot water, the paste dissolves easily in response to 15 to 30 seconds of stirring with a spoon.
Drunk cold and vigorously shaken in a water bottle creates a nice crema and smooth, cold-brew-like flavor.
Dosage
Note the serving size specified by the manufacturer: 5 g (about 1 tsp) of paste per 100 g (3.5 ounces) of water. That’s not a large cup of coffee, so if you’re used to an 8 or 12 ounce (230 to 340 g) cup, don’t skimp on the paste. Unlike Via, which starts to taste pretty hairy if you overdose it, overdosing No Normal paste just makes for a stronger (and still smooth) mouth-feel. I did find that I enjoyed slightly weaker doses when drinking cold from my water bottle while hiking during the day. A hint of coffee flavor was particularly nice when my water sources were a little questionable (e.g., pond water).
Packaging and Durability
The aluminum tube packaging keeps the paste fresh, though dispensing it could sometimes be messy (especially when excess paste accumulated around the spout). This requires extra care in bear country. Traveling from lower to higher elevations exacerbated this issue, causing paste to exit rapidly upon opening the cap in a full tube. The result? Higher-than-planned caffeine dosing (you don’t want to waste it, right?)
Repeated bending and squeezing during extended use caused the tube to wear, creating leaks where the aluminum tubing fabric tore (much like the aluminum toothpaste tubes of the olden days).
Single-serving packets, similar to energy gels, would be a more convenient alternative for longer trips. Expectedly, sustainability enthusiasts may twitch a little, but after trying No Normal Coffee paste, the coffee aficionados among them may consider the tradeoffs more seriously.
Repackaging it into a plastic squeeze bottle could work, but since the coffee paste is semi-hydrated, freshness will likely decay more rapidly than when protected in its aluminum tube.
When the tube was frozen in extremely cold temperatures (around 0 °F / −18 °C), the paste froze in the cap threads and the cap was extremely difficult to remove without warming it up first. However, while the viscosity of the paste did increase in temperatures this cold, it did not freeze solid and could still be squeezed out of the tube.
Coffee lovers will come to enjoy the sight, aroma, and taste of that black goo oozing out of a No Normal tube. Be careful, though – it will stain your skin and clothing if you don’t wash it off!
Taste Defects
I didn’t taste any classic roasting defects (underdeveloped, baked, scorched, tipped, or burnt). Nor are there any of the most pungent defects that plague instant coffees – including sourness, bitterness, and oil deficiency. However, there is a very subtle chemical defect which is impossible to trace, but may originate from the production (evaporation) process, or amino acid degradation during storage after packaging. It’s most noticeable during the long-tail aftertaste period, several minutes after drinking. It’s not particularly unusual, and seems consistent with other instant coffees I’ve tasted.
Commentary
No Normal Coffee offers a more comprehensive flavor profile and a less bitter taste compared to traditional instant coffees like Starbucks Via. While Via is lighter and more compact, No Normal Coffee paste’s versatility as a drink, food additive, or direct energy source makes it unique.
At about $1.50 per 8 ounce (230 g) cup, it’s not a low-cost alternative to freeze-dried coffee. However, the fact that it can be eaten out of the tube or used as a food additive makes it more appealing for me from a cost-benefit perspective.
Packaging limitations are the most obvious difference between No Normal and other instant counterparts. While the aluminum tube has its drawbacks, the product’s overall quality and innovative form factor (a paste) have me scrambling to figure out some new recipes with it. I hope it’s released in single-use packets soon.
Coffee paste like No Normal may be a good fit for backpacking coffee enthusiasts who value better coffee than what you can get out of freeze-dried powders, with some additional versatility. It’s a coffee product that can be used in a broader variety of scenarios, from hot drinks to quick energy boosts to flavor additives for the rest of your food.
Enjoying a hot cup of No Normal Coffee at my desk. No instant coffee will ever replace my preferred brewing method (pourover with fresh grind) but keeping a tube of No Normal Coffee paste in my travel bag for unexpected emergencies is absolutely feasible!
About No Normal Coffee
No Normal Coffee is based in Switzerland, founded by Alexander Häberlin and Philippe Greinacher, whose combined passions for coffee and outdoor exploration led to the creation of this product. Their mission is to offer a barista-quality coffee experience that’s portable, sustainable, and tailored for outdoor enthusiasts.
For more information and to purchase No Normal Coffee, visit their website.
No Normal Coffee paste is crafted from 100% Fairtrade Arabica beans and sweetened with organic Swiss beet sugar. Flavor profile: rich, indulgent flavor with hints of chocolate, nuts and caramel. Swiss-made. Each 100 g tube makes 20 cups of coffee. Drink hot or cold or use as a spread.
A guide to tools used to manage risk in avalanche terrain – transceivers, shovels, probes, safety backpacks, saws.
Introduction
Traveling in avalanche terrain requires specific tools to manage risk and respond effectively in emergencies. Each piece of avalanche gear serves a distinct purpose for rescue scenarios. In addition, they can provide some value for non-emergency use while snow trekking and camping. Avalanche safety tools add weight to your backpack. Even the lightest transceiver-probe-shovel combos weigh around two pounds (0.9 kg).
This guide focuses on the key categories of avalanche equipment featuring products that provide a unique amount of performance for their weight. These categories include avalanche transceivers, snow shovels, probes, avalanche safety backpacks, and snow saws.
Mid-winter trekking above the treeline, Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Montana. Photo: Ryan Jordan.
Transceivers
Avalanche transceivers (“beacons”) are essential for locating buried companions during an avalanche rescue. Modern transceivers prioritize ease of use, signal range, multiple burial analysis, and search precision.
Transceivers operate on a 457 kHz radio frequency with two modes: transmit and search. In transmit mode, a beacon continuously broadcasts a pulsed signal to help rescuers locate a buried person. In search mode, the transceiver detects signals from buried beacons, guiding rescuers using distance, directional indicators, and signal strength. Modern devices use a triple-antenna system for accuracy, signal suppression for multiple burials, and interference protection to reduce electronic disruptions. Search range varies from 40 to 80 meters, and battery life usually exceeds 200 hours in transmit mode with at least one hour of search time.
The Pieps Pro IPS is one of the most advanced and effective beacons on the market. The Tracker S is one of the lightest and simplest.
The Black Diamond PIEPS Pro IPS avalanche transceiver features an 80-meter search strip width, an Interference Protection System to reduce signal disruption, Dual-Antenna Signal Processing for reliable signal detection, auto-search-to-send functionality, Bluetooth compatibility for firmware updates via the PIEPS app, and a robust housing designed for professional rescue applications.
Simple, easy, light, and small: the Backcountry Access Tracker S avalanche beacon weighs only 170 grams (6 ounces) and operates on three AAA alkaline batteries. It features a real-time digital display, triple antenna system, and includes Signal Suppression and Big Picture modes for multiple burial scenarios. The device provides a minimum of 1 hour in search mode after 200 hours in transmit mode.
Avalanche Shovels play a dual role: they’re necessary for digging out victims during a rescue and for assessing snowpack stability during avalanche hazard evaluation. In addition, they are valuable tools for in camp use when preparing shelter or kitchen sites. A range of shovel types in this guide span the range of packability, weight, shoveling efficiency, and durability.
Shovels consist of a blade, shaft, and handle, typically made from aluminum or carbon for strength and low weight. The blade is designed for cutting through avalanche debris, with some models featuring serrated edges for increased efficiency in hard snow. Telescoping or modular shafts provide leverage while allowing for compact storage. Many shovels include features like probe or saw integration, stompable blades for added force, and attachment holes for constructing snow anchors or rescue sleds.
The Transfer LT, Alugator Light, and Dozer 1T-UL represent the lightest options among traditional aluminum avalanche shovels. The Ice Rock Ray and Race Carbon shovels seem to be made to meet ski mountaineering race requirements rather than the demands of use in actual avalanches – they don’t cut through hard debris well, and it’s difficult to leverage much force on the blade due to their limited strength. The Snowclaw Guide is a fan favorite in our community, but its handle-less design limits leverage and plastic construction can’t cut hard debris. However, it’s a viable option for moving snow in camp, and is particularly effective at digging snow caves quickly.
Weighing 405 grams, the Black Diamond Transfer LT is the lightest UIAA-certified shovel available. Its 7075 aluminum riveted blade is lightweight and thin, allowing it to cut through avalanche debris efficiently, while its 550 cm² volume enables rapid snow removal. The two-piece telescoping aluminum shaft enhances durability and comfort during use.
The Mammut Alugator Light avalanche shovel weighs 475 grams and features a hardened, anodized aluminum blade measuring 21 cm in width and 24 cm in length. Its oval telescopic shaft extends to 75 cm for leverage and collapses to 54 cm for storage. The symmetrical T-grip allows for force transfer, and attachment holes enable snow anchor or rescue sled construction.
The Backcountry Access Dozer 1T-UL avalanche shovel weighs 435 grams and features a cored-out blade and thinner-walled 7075 aluminum construction to minimize weight. Its ovo-concave shaft design enhances strength and grip, while the low-profile, stompable blade allows for snow penetration. The shovel is certified to the UIAA 156 standard for avalanche rescue shovels.
The Arva Race Shovel weighs 300 grams and measures 61 cm in length. It features a 47 cm carbon-fiber shaft and a 21 cm x 21 cm anodized aluminum blade with a thickness of 1.5 mm. The shovel utilizes a PIN LOCK locking mechanism for quick assembly and includes an ergonomic T-grip handle. It meets ISMF standards.
The Ice Rock Ray Ultralight avalanche shovel weighs 235 grams and measures 55 cm in length. It features a 25 cm x 21 cm carbon-fiber scoop with a 2.1-liter capacity and a titanium blade on the business edge of the scoop. 37 cm carbon-fiber handle. The shovel meets ISMF standards.
The SnowClaw Guide Shovel weighs 6.4 ounces and measures 12 x 11.25 x 0.25 inches. Constructed from high-impact copolymer, it is crack-resistant down to -20°F. The flexible design allows it to be used flat for moving large volumes of soft snow or bent into a U-shape for increased rigidity when digging harder snow. Its compact size fits easily into any backpack, making it suitable for backcountry skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and snow camping. Additionally, it can serve as a snow anchor or emergency splint.
Avalanche probes are collapsible, pole-like tools used for pinpointing the location and depth of a buried person after an avalanche transceiver has led rescuers to the general area. Made from lightweight aluminum or carbon tubing, probes are designed for quick deployment and efficient probing through the snowpack.
A probe consists of multiple segments connected by a tensioning system, typically a steel cable, Kevlar cord, or high-tensile polymer line, which allows for rapid assembly. Most probes feature a locking mechanism – such as a telescopic lock or wiregate-style closure – to keep them securely extended during use. Lengths range from 240 cm to 320 cm, with collapsed lengths between 35 cm and 50 cm.
Depth markings along the probe shaft help measure burial depth, which informs the digging strategy. Probes can have oversized or drop-shaped tips to reduce resistance and improve penetration into consolidated avalanche debris. Some models include high-contrast markings for better visibility in low-light conditions.
Effective probe use relies on systematic probing techniques, such as grid-based probing, where rescuers probe at regular intervals to locate a buried victim as quickly as possible. Fast and accurate probing, combined with proper transceiver use and strategic shoveling, is critical for increasing survival chances in an avalanche rescue scenario.
Probes can also be used for determining snow layer depth and thickness measurements when analyzing snow pits, stake-out points for shelters, and for marking hidden crevasse areas when camping on glaciers.
The probes recommended here are all 240 cm in length and made of carbon tubing. Short probes are lighter and easier to use in shallow snow packs that are shallower than about 6 or 7 feet deep. This is within the range of most avalanche burials in the coastal and inland ranges of the Continental United States. In Alaska or the Himalayas, where avalanches are larger and debris fields are deeper, avalanche professionals typically carry 320 cm probes.
The Black Diamond Quickdraw Carbon Probe 240 weighs 227 grams (8 ounces) and extends to 240 centimeters. It utilizes a wiregate locking mechanism for quick deployment without a stuff sack, and a Kevlar cord to reduce weight. The probe includes an oversized, durable alloy tip to improve probing efficiency and sensitivity by creating a hole larger than the probe shaft, and high-visibility 1 cm markings for depth readings. When collapsed, it measures 45 centimeters (17.7 inches) in length.
The Backcountry Access Stealth 240 avalanche probe weighs 8.8 ounces (250 grams) and extends to 240 centimeters. It features dual-sized depth markings for measuring snowpack or victim depth, and the Stealth Quick-Lock hardware creates a smaller bundle when folded, eliminating loose cables during deployment.
The Mammut Carbon Probe 240 Light weighs 198 grams and is constructed from high-quality carbon. It extends to 240 cm and collapses to 38 cm for storage. The probe features a glove-friendly, high-tensile telescopic locking system for quick and reliable assembly, and a 360-degree visual depth guide for accurate snow depth measurement. Its 11 mm diameter provides a balance between rigidity and weight.
Avalanche safety backpacks integrate airbag systems to reduce burial depth and improve survival chances in an avalanche. These backpacks are a key piece of gear for those traveling in steep, high-risk terrain where avalanche exposure is significant. However, they are not commonly used for multi-day winter backpacking due to several limitations. The added weight of the airbag system, typically ranging from 2.5 to 4 kg (5 to 9 lbs), can make carrying a full overnight kit impractical. Limited internal volume also restricts storage space for essential gear like a winter sleeping system, cooking equipment, and extra layers. Additionally, airbag backpacks require regular maintenance, including battery charging or compressed air canister refills, which can be a logistical challenge on extended trips. While not a standard choice for winter backpackers on valley routes, those traveling across high passes or exposed ridgelines may find a larger airbag model capable of carrying minimal overnight gear useful for managing avalanche risk in high-exposure zones.
For backcountry skiers, splitboarders, and mountain professionals working in avalanche-prone environments, airbag backpacks provide a significant safety advantage. When deployed, the airbag increases the user’s volume, helping to keep them near the surface of an avalanche rather than being deeply buried, which dramatically improves survival rates. Many models incorporate additional safety features, such as dedicated avalanche tool compartments for quick access to a probe and shovel, ski and snowboard carry systems, and reinforced frames for stable load distribution during technical descents. With options for electronic or compressed-air deployment systems, these backpacks offer a critical layer of protection in high-consequence terrain where avoidance and mitigation strategies alone may not be enough.
The Black Diamond Jetforce Pro 35L Avalanche Airbag Backpack weighs about 3 kg (6.5+ lb). It features a rechargeable, travel-friendly airbag system with multiple deployments and automatic deflation to create an air pocket for breathing when buried. Bluetooth connectivity allows for easy software updates, and the modular design enables attachment of different booster packs for versatility. The pack includes a dedicated avalanche tool pocket, tuck-away diagonal ski carry system, and ice-tool attachment.
The Mammut Pro offers 45 liters of storage and compatibility with the Removable Airbag System 3.0. It features a front pocket for avalanche safety equipment, full rear zipper access to the main compartment, an aluminum internal frame, and a thermoformed back panel. Additional features include diagonal ski carry, snowboard attachment, two ice axe attachments, a radio pocket, and hydration system compatibility.
The BCA Float E2-45 Avalanche Airbag backpack features a 45-liter capacity and a supercapacitor system for reliable cold-weather performance. It includes a 162-liter airbag, external stash pockets, expandable roll top, and multiple gear attachment points. The pack weighs 7 lb (3 kg).
Snow Saws are used to create smooth vertical walls in snow pits that you might dig for snowpack analysis to identify weak layers. Ultralight saw models allow backpackers to carry this tool without adding significant weight to their kit. In addition, saws are useful for sculpting snow blocks, nooks, and crannies in camp. Some can even cut wood for campfires.
The Black Diamond Snow Saw Guide weighs 160 grams and features a tooth profile designed for cutting hard snow. It includes an integrated crystal card for snowpack analysis and a 250 cm by 3 mm polyester pit cord, stored on the handle, for conducting extended column tests. A lightweight clip sheath protects the saw and your pack during storage.
The Suluk46 Yuka 240 pull saw weighs 172 grams (6.1 ounces) and features a 240 mm (9.5-inch) Silky Gomboy blade. When closed, the saw measures 27.3 cm (10.75 inches) in length, and when open, it extends to 50.8 cm (20 inches). The handle includes a two-position, spring-loaded locking mechanism for blade stability and an ergonomic, padded grip. It's a little short for snow pit use, but otherwise can be used for small snow block cutting and all types of wood.
In episode 117 of the Backpacking Light podcast we’re going to learn how to size snowshoes, minimize sinkage, and save energy for your next winter adventure in deep snow.
Northern Lites are just what their name implies: lightweight snowshoes that are meant to withstand rugged, snow-covered mountains. Loved and lauded by athletes, weekend-warriors and first-timers alike, these USA-made snowshoes will open your eyes to the beauty of a lightweight, snow-top flotation device.
Three important questions – What size snowshoes should I take? How much can I expect to sink into the snow with proper sized snowshoes? How does snowshoeing affect calorie expenditure?
Executive Producer - Backpacking Light; Show Director and Host - Ryan Jordan; Producer - Chase Jordan; Theme music: Look for Me in the Mountains written by Chris Cunningham and Ryan Jordan, performed by Chris Cunningham (acoustic guitar, lead and harmony vocals, harmonica), Chad Langford (upright bass), and Tom Murphy (mandolin), produced by Basecamp Studios in Bozeman, Montana.
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Stephen Seeber compares iPhone and Garmin Fenix GPS tracks for accuracy and reliability.
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The average warmth index for all quilts was 544. A green-shaded rectangle in the graph has thus been placed to encapsulate those products that represent higher-than-average values and higher-than-average warmth-to-weight ratios.
