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

Buying a rain jacket for hiking and backpacking can be a very confusing process. If you look at the jackets that are available, it can be difficult to figure out which ones are best suited for hiking and which are really made for skiing, mountaineering, and climbing. Then there are the exaggerated claims that manufacturers make about the performance of …

The anvil-shaped spire of Mount Garfield stands an isolated sentinel at the north-western end of the Pemigewasset Wilderness with excellent views of the other peaks that ring the 182 square mile forest. Blasted by winds, its rocky summit provides meager protection to hikers, except for the bunker-like foundation of an old fire-tower. On Saturday, 11 of us hiked the 12.4 …

I got turned onto Helly Hansen baselayer garments and their wicking LIFA (pronounced LEEFA) synthetic baselayer fabric last winter, when I tested the HH Dry Stripe Crew (click for review.) I was blown away by LIFA’s ability to wick sweat away from my skin and up into my mid-layer where it could evaporate without chilling me. It worked as advertised …

Martin Rye, Grant Sible and I have been planning our Scotland coast-to-coast backpacking route for the past month. We’ll be walking together as a team in the 2013 TGO Challenge this May, an annual backpacking event, where 300 hikers hike from the west coast to the east coast of Scotland during the same 15 day period, along their own self-defined …