Good coffee on the trail used to feel like a luxury I couldn't justify. Every ounce counts when you're walking 15 miles a day, and most "camp coffee" setups either weigh a ton or taste like dishwater. After 4 months of testing 8 different backpacking coffee filters across the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades, I […]

I'll never forget the afternoon I pumped silty creek water through a budget filter on a three-day Wind River trip and watched the flow trickle to nothing. That was the day I learned that not all backpacking water filter pumps are created equal. After spending the last two summers testing 14 different pumps across the […]

I have logged more than 2,400 backcountry miles over the past decade, and I can tell you one thing straight: nothing ends a long day on trail quite like lowering your tired body into a real chair. The best backpacking chairs weigh next to nothing, pack smaller than a Nalgene, and turn a basic campsite […]

After three months of testing backpacking windscreens across the Pacific Northwest's gustiest ridgelines and the still waters of Hood Canal, I've boiled enough water to fill a small lake. Backpacking windscreens aren't flashy gear, but the right one can stretch a 100g fuel canister by 15 to 30% in real wind, shave minutes off boil […]