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

On July 5, 2010, I walked into my manager’s office and quit. He never saw it coming. I’d just come back from a 3 week backpacking trip hiking coast-to-coast across Scotland. Going for a long walk helped me realize how unhappy I was at work and how good it was to get away from it. Working for other people had lost …

Montbell’s Stretch Semi-Long Spats are highly breathable soft shell gaiters that keep sticks, stones, and other trail duff from getting inside your shoes or boots during a hike. I never really liked wearing gaiters for three season hiking before I tried these gaiters, but now I am a convert. I use these gaiters with La Sportiva Ultra Raptor trail runners and …

The East Branch Pemigewasset River (the Pemi) is the huge wild river that runs through the heart of the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I spent two days this weekend hiking its length starting at Lincoln Woods all the way up to its headwaters at Stillwater Junction searching for potential places to ford the river. There aren’t any until way upstream near Carrigan Notch, where …

What do bowling pins, 15 pound bags of rice and charcoal, cases of beer, TV sets, and water reservoirs have in common? They’re just some of the crazy ass things that hikers load into their packs to train for backpacking trips where they have to carry heavy loads. While carrying a heavy backpack has grown out of favor, you can’t avoid …