Personal cooking systems (PCS) such as Jetboils have the best efficiency due to their integrated design. But they tend to be ...

At Backpacker, we don’t just love gear, we live in it. Over the past 12 months our staffers and testers have hiked thousands ...

The best backpacking sleeping pads aren’t just lightweight and portable to keep your pack weight down. They’re comfortable, too. Between hauling gear and trekking up different terrains, you need a ...

Beyond the innovative Sunflower X radiant stove/heater we looked at a few weeks ago, Fire Maple makes a full lineup of gear essentials that rank among the market's most portable. Another of its clever ...

Discover the best camping tents of 2025 as we bring you the most popular and the most celebrated ones, all in one place.

Having a decent sleeping pad is critical for enjoying a good night’s sleep outdoors. The best sleeping pads — combined with a cozy sleeping bag and camping pillow — can even be as comfortable as your ...

Kitting out your backpacking gear closet for the first time is pricey. Just getting together the basics—tent, sleeping bag, and backpack—can easily run upwards of $1,000 if you aren’t careful. For ...

Backpacking is just like day hiking. Except instead of finishing the day by going home to a shower and a home-cooked meal, you camp alongside the trail, don’t shower, and eat someone’s best attempt at ...

The backpacking meals you eat on the trail can make or break the experience, which is why trail food is one of my priorities when planning. Quality food is not only necessary to maintain energy and ...

There’s nothing better after a long day of hiking and setting up camp than a hot cooked meal—and for that you will need a decent camp stove. These days you can find options that are lightweight, ...