American backpacking gear specialist Zpacks already has one of the world's lightest lineups of tents and shelters, with some single-sleepers that flirt with a mere half-pound (227 g). Its new Duplex ...

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Backpacking backpacks are undergoing a sea change. Huge 70-liter, heavily padded, fully-featured models are on their way out, and the minimalist packs pioneered by thru-hikers are in. Today’s ...

For a lot of hikers, the secret to a good trip is simple: carry less. Over the past decade, we’ve seen ultralight backpacking go more and more mainstream, as major gear manufacturers have dived into ...

Over the years, ultralight backpacking has garnered an unfortunate reputation: obsessive, elitist, unsafe, prohibitively expensive. While we could debate the first three (obsessive is the only one I’d ...

Since the 1930s, backpacking has progressed in leaps -- from 1930s wood-and-rope Trapper John pack boards, to World War II surplus gear, to external-frame, hip-belted Keltys, to today's internal-frame ...