View our staff picks for the best backpacking gear of the year – recommendations from our editors and guides for hiking and backpacking gear.
About Backpacking Light
2016 Wilderness Adventures Photo Contest!
Time to celebrate the beauty found at the integration of wilderness, photography, and lightweight human-powered travel! Submit your favorite wilderness photo and win a free trek with Backpacking Light in Montana!
SPOT Gen3 Insures Rapid Emergency Rescue When Needed
SPOT Gen3 provides location-based messaging and emergency notification technology that allows you to communicate from remote locations around the globe. It offers custom tracking interval options, motion-activated tracking, long-life battery and more. Learn how one hiker used his SPOT Gen3 in a life-saving rescue involving another hiker with a heart condition.
Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2015: Our Staff Favorites!
This article summarizes our staff’s best backpacking gear of the year – the ultralight hiking, backpacking, and camping gear they pick as their favorites for their annual adventures.
Backpacking Light 101 (Curated Collection)
We’ve hand picked these pieces to give you a solid foundation of what we think are important pieces to the vast mosaic of lightweight backpacking information. We hope you find these articles to be valuable on your road to traveling lighter in the backcountry.
Bear Attack in the Rockies
Bear attacks are frightening and unexpected. This author shares her bear encounter with the hiking community.
Guide’s Gear Award No. 1: Gossamer Gear Mariposa Backpack
Guide’s Gear features products used by BPL’s WTS guides that have withstood the test of time by demonstrating exceptional performance, durability, weight, and value. Guide’s Gear No. 1 goes to the Gossamer Gear Mariposa Backpack for offering more features than any other two pound pack on the market.
2014 Staff Picks
Backpacking Light’s staff is some of the most passionate backpackers around. Take a look at the ultralight gear we use and treasure.
How One High Sierra Trip Turned Into Permanent Nomadic Travel
Getting outdoors often makes all the difference, and a long expedition can go a long way to transforming your life.
An Introduction to Simple Fly Fishing
“The lesson that we learn from fishing with a tenkara rod is that we shouldn’t fear that a simpler life will be an impoverished life. Rather, simplicity leads to a richer and more satisfying way of fishing – and more importantly, living.” – Yvon Choiunard