stg-sectionhikercom-buttons.kinsta.cloud Backpacking Gear Reviews and FAQs

The ULA Photon is a 35L ultralight-style roll-top backpack with a base weight of 26.1 ounces in a size medium.  It’s basically a lower volume version of ULA’s CDT ultralight backpack (54L) ideal for day hikes, hut-to-hut overnights, commuting, or air travel because it’s smaller and more compact. Like ULA’s other backpacks, the Photon is available with male (J-shaped) or …

Backpacking and camping sleeping pads are rated using R-values, which measure their ability to keep you warm when you lie down on the cold ground. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power. It’s much more technical than that, but that’s the gist of it. But people struggle with the concept of an R-value and its implications when it …

More and more ultralight backpacking packs are being made with waterproof materials like Dyneema Composite Fabrics (DCF), Ultra, Liteskin, EcoPak, and XPac. These fabrics absorb very little water and are bonded with a waterproof layer that prevents them from being soaked through when it rains and making your gear wet. Some are even seam-taped by manufacturers, so water can’t leak …

Many hikers and backpackers like to attach extra accessory pockets to their shoulder straps and hip belts to provide extra storage and help organize their gear so it can be accessed quickly without removing their backpacks. Extra water bottle sleeves, chest packs, fanny packs, camera bags, phone pockets, or hip belt pockets are available and commonly used for this purpose, …