Backcountry.com Newsletter Articles

To many new school backpackers, the lightweight, highly technical gear they’re hoisting is simply a given. However, some of us are still using the same tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks that we’ve had since the 80s, and we don’t understand the commotion over newfangled gear. So what exactly are these big improvements, and is it really worth it to update your equipment?

Tech New Backpacks

Today’s cutting-edge backpacks have the hiker’s comfort as the topmost priority. They’re designed to maneuver easily, distribute weight correctly, and adjust to a vast variety of wearers’ body shapes. If you’re going to pick one piece of your ancient gear to replace, make it your backpack. A great-fitting pack won’t chafe, restrict, or cause uncomfortable pressure. It will increase your stamina letting you take in more of the backcountry’s beauty.

Backpacks have come further than any other piece of multi-day camping gear. In the past two decades, backpackers have squashed their spines under sweaty, frameless rucksacks and wrestled with ill-fitting external frames that snag branches and bang elbows.

Internal frame packs such as The North Face Catalyst Backpack have pivoting back panels. This particular backpack’s load-bearing system has a pivot mechanism that allows the pack to flex from side to side with the movements of your torso, giving you excellent balance as your body shifts—especially beneficial while scrambling through steep or debris-covered terrain. Packs like the Arc'teryx Bora 80 Backpack sport a more classic construction, but their exceptional suspension systems mold to hikers’ hips and shoulders. These new designs have helped backpacking maniacs wander more deeply into the mountains while experiencing greater levels of comfort.

Lightweight Backpacking Tents

Until recently, most backcountry tents were made of polyethylene coated nylon and a vinyl coated floor. These tents offered good water protection but were not breathable, and they usually weighed around 8lb for a 2-person tent. If you wanted ventilation, your options were either a double-wall tent that leaked in light rain, or a waterproof tarp that was useless against bugs, wind, and slanting rain.

If you’re still sleeping in a stanky, decaying nylon and vinyl tent, it’s time for an upgrade. Tents such as the Sierra Designs Baku Tent and the Black Diamond Firstlight Tent are made from highly breathable, lightweight mesh and nylon fabrics. Most of them weigh about 2lb per person. Seam sealing, tent-specific rain-flies, and waterproof fabrics mean that water leaks are practically non-existent—no more floating around on your sleeping pad. These new fabrics are lightweight and incredibly durable, as are the aluminum poles that have replaced heavier, less resilient fiberglass.

Lightweight Sleeping Bags

In the forgiving temperatures of late spring, summer, and early fall, an ultra warm sleeping bag is not a priority; a 32F sleeping bag is usually plenty warm. Old down sleeping bags can weigh up to 8lb, and they take a ton of room in your pack. New warm weather sleeping bags, such as the Marmot Arete are highly compressible and lightweight. If you plan on hiking in rainy weather, go with a synthetic since it dries quickly and will insulate when wet. In most conditions, down is the way to go since it’s more compressible and lighter than synthetics. In the dead of summer you needn’t worry too much if your bag is old and rectangular. However, if it weighs more than 2lb, replacing it with a lightweight sleeping bag can make a huge difference in your carry weight.

It’s OK to Be a Packrat

There’s no need to completely revamp your gear closet. You can get away with using your old sleeping pad, stove, and hiking attire until they fall apart. There’s something to be said for stubborn backpackers who refuse to replace their antiquated gear. Carrying a tent that feels like an anvil in a big, awkward backpack definitely puts the rough in “roughing it”. But up-to-date gear can help you rough it a little farther into the backcountry, and preserve your gear as well as its vehicle—your body—for many more backpacking trips to come.