This article features lightweight down parkas (usually, full-zip jackets with hoods, a longer hem, and box-baffled construction) appropriate for winter backpacking, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, mountaineering, and other cold-temperature activities.
Publisher’s Gear Guide (2018-2019)
My personal recommendations for ultralight and lightweight backpacking gear for 2018-2019 – gear that I’ve used all year in 2018 that includes the good stuff that’s staying in my kit for 2019!
The Unconventional Sleep Systems Manifesto
A Comprehensive Primer and Market Analysis of Top Bags, Quilts, and Wearable Systems
Feathered Friends EPIC Jackorak
Imagine this. A highly water resistant, hooded wind and shower shell sized large enough for layering and to cover your butt with a full-length zipper, massive mesh-vented torso pockets, and pit zips for a mere 9 oz? Feathered Friends has achieved this reality with their Jackorak in 1.9-oz EPIC by Nextec fabric. We’ve climbed, hiked, […]
Summer Alpine Ice Climbing in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains
This trip report describes a four day backpacking and alpine climbing trip to Whitetail Peak in Montana’s Beartooth Range, July 9-11, 2002. See end of document for gear notes & gear lists Overview The following describes a three-day trip into the West Fork of Rock Creek, in the Beartooth Mountains near Red Lodge, MT, for […]
Clothing and Sleep Systems for Mountain Hiking, 1st Edition (August 2002)
Clothing and Sleep Systems for Mountain Hiking, 1st Edition (August 2002)
Western Mountaineering, Feathered Friends, Nunatak, and PhD Lightweight Down Jackets (Comparison Review)
Introduction A lightweight down jacket is a wonderful thing. A down jacket can have up to three to five times more loft than its synthetic counterpart (e.g. a Patagonia Puffball, Moonstone Cirrus, or MEC Northern Lite). The additional loft of down keeps you a lot warmer and makes the jacket ideal for an integrated jacket/bag/bivy […]