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Backpacking Light

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Gear Reviews

Reviews and comparison reports about the use and performance of lightweight backpacking, hiking, camping, trail running, bikepacking, packrafting, backcountry fly fishing, survival, and other outdoor gear.

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Helly Hansen Odin Minimalist 2.0 Jacket Review

Jan 1, 2021 by Daniel Hu

The Helly Hansen Odin Minimalist 2.0 jacket (180 g / 6.35 oz, $220) is a lightweight 2.5-layer rain jacket with a well-designed hood and minimal features.

2.5 layer, air permeability, helly hansen odin minimalist 1.0, Helly hansen odin minimalist 2.0, membranes, rain jackets, three-layer, waterproof-breathable, windproof, zpacks vertice

Staff Picks 2020

Dec 24, 2020 by Backpacking Light

backpacking light staff picks - a photo collage showing all of the gear

Backpacking Light staff and contributors give their 2020 staff picks – their favorite backpacking and hiking gear of the year.

altra, big agnes, biolite, dirty girl, enlightened equipment, feathered friends, golite, Good To-Go, gossamer gear, GSI Outdoors, helly hansen, hoka, injinji, janji, klymit, minus 33, montbell, mountain safety research, Mountainsmith, msr, Nemo, Nemo Equipment, Nunatak, Outdoor Research, Patagonia, pstyle, Rab, RBH Designs, rogue panda, seek outside, ULA, vargo, vargo outdoors, zpacks

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REI Co-op Flash Air 2 Tent Review

Nov 24, 2020 by Mark Wetherington

The REI Co-op Flash Air 2 Tent is a two-person hybrid single/double-wall shelter with dual entrances and vestibules. It is non-freestanding and can be pitched with two trekking poles to save weight or by using the included pole set.

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Outdoor Research Stargazer AscentShell Bivy Review

Nov 20, 2020 by Iago Vazquez

The Outdoor Research Stargazer AscentShell Bivy (18.9 oz / 536 g, $259) is one of the few waterproof-breathable bivy sacks on the market that weigh just over a pound and also includes mosquito netting and a headroom-extending pole.

alpine, AscentShell, bivies, bivy, black diamond, Enlightened Equipment Enigma, helium, Klymit Insulated Static V Lite, New Hampshire, Outdoor Research, shelter, spotlight, Stargazer, Thermarest NeoAir Xlite, three-season, waterproof, waterproof-breathable, white mountains

Arc’teryx Norvan VT 2 Shoe Review

Oct 23, 2020 by Mark Wetherington

The Arc’teryx Norvan VT 2 shoe provides above-average foot protection and traction performance when hiking or running on rocky, uneven ground, but suffers from abysmal durability.

Arc’teryx Norvan SL, Arc’teryx Norvan VT 2, Brooks Cascadia, foot plate, footwear, Lone Peak Altra, reviews, scrambling, shoes, talus, toe cap, traction, trail runner, Xero Shoes Mesa Trail

Ultralight Water Treatment Options for Backpacking

Oct 16, 2020 by Ryan Jordan

The purpose of this article is to present three ultralight water treatment options for backpacking. We chose these three for their diversity and efficacy, and they include a chemical method, a physical method, and an electro-ultraviolet method. We included a video to demonstrate each technology in the field.

aquamira, filters, hydrapak flux, katadyn BeFree, katadyn hiker, katadyn steripen ultralight, msr hyperflow, pumps, sawyer squeeze, squeeze, ultraviolet, water treatment

Seek Outside Flight One Review

Oct 9, 2020 by Tully Henke

The Seek Outside Flight One (36 oz/1.02 kg, $299 – $319) is a lightweight, minimalist pack designed with comfort and durability in mind.

backpacks, cilogear, reviews, seek outside

CS Instant Coffee Review

Oct 2, 2020 by Andrew Marshall

CS Instant Coffee is a small instant coffee product designed to compete with Starbucks Via and other popular backcountry coffee solutions.

coffee, food

The HydraPak Flux 1L – A Smartwater Bottle Replacement?

Sep 25, 2020 by Andrew Marshall

The HydraPak Flux 1 L (2.7 oz / 77 g, MSRP $20) is a soft-sided, collapsible, 42 mm threaded, reusable water-bottle aimed at the single-use Smartwater or sports-drink bottle crowd.

filter, hydration, smartwater, water bottle, water treatment

NEMO Hornet Elite 2P Review

Sep 11, 2020 by George Harris

The NEMO Equipment Hornet Elite 2P (33 oz / 935 g, $499.95) is a semi-freestanding, double-walled, ultralight tent. It features design touches meant to increase the volume of the tent while not adding additional weight.

2P, big agnes, double-wall, Nemo, reviews, semi-freestanding, shelters, tents, two-person, ultralight

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