6 Ultimate Gear Picks for the Lightweight Backpacker
Are you heading on a backpacking trek this summer? Gear up right with these six lightweight essentials:
Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2
($679; bigagnes.com)
Weighing in just over one kilogram, the Copper Spur is an easy, three-season, ultralight solution. The awning-style vestibules (that can be setup using your trekking poles) offer sun protection and weather protection while remaining lightweight. You don’t have to sacrifice space in this tent—the pre-bent pole design creates steep walls and lots of head room. The best part is that it all packs down into a stuff sack, just slightly bigger than a Nalgene water bottle.
Osprey Atmos AG 50
($410; ospreypacks.com)
At first glance, the Atmos (Aura for women) looks heavily vented. But the soft mesh from shoulder straps to hip belt does more than encourage airflow. It spreads out the contact points between pack and body, reducing the chances of pressure points or hot spots. Rather than ride on the hips, the belt seems to hug our entire waist. It’s different and awesome. Ditto for the shoulder straps. To further dial in the fit, the waist and torso adjust by up to 10 cm. The rest of the 50-litre pack has just enough room for light packers to lug up to a week’s worth of gear.
Sea to Summit X-Pot
($70; seatosummit.com)
Cooking pots hog pack space. The three-litre X-Pot is the exception—it collapses into a disc. The secret: soft but heat-resistant silicone sides that fold together into a four centimetre disc for packing, then pop up for cooking. Keep the flames to the aluminum base and it can handle any camp stove cook-off. The added advantage of the silicone is that it doesn’t conduct heat. Grab the pot from the two flaps that lock-on its clear lid—with drain ports—and pour without gloves or a pot gripper.
The North Face Trail Lite
($339; thenorthface.com)
In places like the Rockies, it could snow at just about any time, which means you want a bag worthy of a plunge in temperature but without the bulk or volume of a typical three-season bag. The two-pound Trail Lite lives up to its name, weighing less than many summer bags and packing down to the size of a melon. How? By shrinking the zipper to a three-quarter side zipper, using 600-fill down and slimming the cut. (With a small hood, it almost feels like clothing.)
Hydrapak Flux 750ML
($25; hydrapak.com)
In the Rockies, and a lot of other mountain ranges, water is usually never far off and sources tend to be pristine, so there’s no need to pack a full three-litre bladder and its three kilograms of weight. Instead, fill one of these soft-sided water bottles. The 750 ml capacity is enough for a couple hours of trekking and it shrinks as you drink it.
Don’t Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies: An Opinionated Guidebook
($60; hikingcamping.com)
The seventh edition of this essential guide for finding the best day and overnight hikes in the Canadian Rockies just got more valuable. Rather than print another chunky book, Craig and Kathy Copeland separated each category and slotted them in a hard case. Leave the 677-page book in your car and pack along only the relevant section (with map), cutting trail weight to a mere 67 grams.