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Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Our top picks across a range of categories to cut the pounds from your base weight.

Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Last updated:
March 21, 2023
|  5 min read

Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

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Our top picks across a range of categories to cut the pounds from your base weight.

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Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

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The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Our top picks across a range of categories to cut the pounds from your baseweight

Whether you’re in the middle of your first thru-hike or planning out next season’s adventures, upgrading to ultralight backpacking gear is a smart investment. The more grams you shed, the farther you’ll be able to travel day-to-day and the better experience you’ll have. To help you choose the best ultralight backpacking gear for your kit, we’ve rounded up our top picks from side-by-side tests conducted in the field.

  • Best Quilt: Therm-a-Rest Vesper
  • Best Sleeping Pad: Therm-a-Rest Uberlite
  • Best Water Filter: Sawyer Squeeze Mini
  • Best Utensil: GSI Pouch Spoon
  • Best Satellite Messenger: Garmin inReach Mini 2
  • Best Trowel: TheTentLab The Deuce #2
  • Best Rain Jacket: Montbell Versalite
  • Best Puffer Pants: Montbell Light Down Pants
  • Best Puffer Jacket: Crazy Levity
  • Best Trail Runner: Altra Lone Peak
  • Best Sock: Darn Tough Hiker Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Sock

How We Tested Ultralight Backpacking Gear

The Outdoor Life team has conducted numerous side-by-side tests of the top-ranked backpacking gear, from the best backpacking water filters to the best trail runners to the best backpacking quilts. The gear on this list were the top performing lightweight or ultralight picks from those tests. If we’re recommending it, we’re confident that it will work well across any terrain that backpackers travel in.

Continue reading more details on some of the best ultralight backpacking gear, written by Laura Lancaster here.

Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Our top picks across a range of categories to cut the pounds from your baseweight

Whether you’re in the middle of your first thru-hike or planning out next season’s adventures, upgrading to ultralight backpacking gear is a smart investment. The more grams you shed, the farther you’ll be able to travel day-to-day and the better experience you’ll have. To help you choose the best ultralight backpacking gear for your kit, we’ve rounded up our top picks from side-by-side tests conducted in the field.

  • Best Quilt: Therm-a-Rest Vesper
  • Best Sleeping Pad: Therm-a-Rest Uberlite
  • Best Water Filter: Sawyer Squeeze Mini
  • Best Utensil: GSI Pouch Spoon
  • Best Satellite Messenger: Garmin inReach Mini 2
  • Best Trowel: TheTentLab The Deuce #2
  • Best Rain Jacket: Montbell Versalite
  • Best Puffer Pants: Montbell Light Down Pants
  • Best Puffer Jacket: Crazy Levity
  • Best Trail Runner: Altra Lone Peak
  • Best Sock: Darn Tough Hiker Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Sock

How We Tested Ultralight Backpacking Gear

The Outdoor Life team has conducted numerous side-by-side tests of the top-ranked backpacking gear, from the best backpacking water filters to the best trail runners to the best backpacking quilts. The gear on this list were the top performing lightweight or ultralight picks from those tests. If we’re recommending it, we’re confident that it will work well across any terrain that backpackers travel in.

Continue reading more details on some of the best ultralight backpacking gear, written by Laura Lancaster here.

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Writer and Editor
Laura Lancaster
Hi, I‘m Laura. I’ve been editing and writing for nearly twenty years, covering everything from developing a seismologist’s first book to telling the story of my first deer hunt.
Mentions dans les médias

Outdoor Life: The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

The Best Ultralight Backpacking Gear of 2023, Tested and Reviewed

Our top picks across a range of categories to cut the pounds from your baseweight

Whether you’re in the middle of your first thru-hike or planning out next season’s adventures, upgrading to ultralight backpacking gear is a smart investment. The more grams you shed, the farther you’ll be able to travel day-to-day and the better experience you’ll have. To help you choose the best ultralight backpacking gear for your kit, we’ve rounded up our top picks from side-by-side tests conducted in the field.

  • Best Quilt: Therm-a-Rest Vesper
  • Best Sleeping Pad: Therm-a-Rest Uberlite
  • Best Water Filter: Sawyer Squeeze Mini
  • Best Utensil: GSI Pouch Spoon
  • Best Satellite Messenger: Garmin inReach Mini 2
  • Best Trowel: TheTentLab The Deuce #2
  • Best Rain Jacket: Montbell Versalite
  • Best Puffer Pants: Montbell Light Down Pants
  • Best Puffer Jacket: Crazy Levity
  • Best Trail Runner: Altra Lone Peak
  • Best Sock: Darn Tough Hiker Micro Crew Midweight Hiking Sock

How We Tested Ultralight Backpacking Gear

The Outdoor Life team has conducted numerous side-by-side tests of the top-ranked backpacking gear, from the best backpacking water filters to the best trail runners to the best backpacking quilts. The gear on this list were the top performing lightweight or ultralight picks from those tests. If we’re recommending it, we’re confident that it will work well across any terrain that backpackers travel in.

Continue reading more details on some of the best ultralight backpacking gear, written by Laura Lancaster here.

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Writer and Editor
Laura Lancaster
Hi, I‘m Laura. I’ve been editing and writing for nearly twenty years, covering everything from developing a seismologist’s first book to telling the story of my first deer hunt.
Mentions dans les médias
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Mentions dans les médias

43.2% of hikers used the Sawyer Squeeze, the most common hollow membrane squeeze filter (and the most common water treatment overall).

Mac
Rédacteur collaborateur

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Randy Patton’s late father, Biff Patton, launched the water filter program in 2010.

Conner Beene
Rédacteur

Mentions dans les médias

The most significant being its positive impact on our health after using it, its capacity to reduce our expenses on water treatment and access to safe water, and the time it saves by eliminating the need for boiling or treating water.

Teburenga Geraldine Tabwebweiti
Communications and Engagement
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