Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide: Best Jackets

If you needed an excuse to upgrade your gear, we have it. June is Great Outdoors Month and National Camping Month. Better show your support by getting out there...and maybe with an awesome new tent or sleeping bag or light hiker. We asked Steve Casimiro, veteran gear reviewer and editor of Adventure Journal, to give us his picks for the best of the best gear for hiking and camping. Check them our by category here on the blog or see the complete Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide.

Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide: Best Jackets

Jacket, Durable Water Repellent
The North Face’s Verto

It isn’t just that The North Face’s Verto jacket is a scant 3.2 ounces. There are lots of three-ounce shells. It’s that the Verto is fully featured, with an elastic hood, storm flap behind the zipper, and hip length that keeps wind blasts off your lower back—plus it doesn’t feel clammy against the skin. Made of Pertex Quantum, it is water and wind resistant and compresses to the size of a baseball ($99; www.thenorthface.com).

Jacket, Hard Shell
First Ascent BC-200

First Ascent from Eddie Bauer has been riding a wave of publicity and good will thanks to a mountaineering team that includes all-stars such as Ed Viesturs and Peter Whittaker. But the question that’s often raised is whether the product is as good as the PR. And the answer is yes. After testing at least a dozen of First Ascent products over the last couple years, including the 11-ounce BC-200 three-layer shell, it’s clear the brand has done its homework and builds “guide tough” gear. Indeed, the BC-200 is light but not the lightest: Its greater focus is on being the best combination of waterproof and breathable, and we found it every bit as airy as Gore-Tex, if not more so ($199; www.eddiebauer.com).

Jacket, Women's Lightweight Hard Shell
Marmot Whisperlite

When there’s rain in the forecast and you’re heading for a hike, the last thing you want to shove into your pack is a heavy, old-school shell. As with most gear technology, Gore-Tex has been on a diet for a few years. Witness the result in the wafer-thin Marmot women’s Whisperlite jacket. At eight ounces, you won’t find a much lighter Gore-Tex shell, nor, with the Paclite fabric, one that’s more durably waterproof. Our favorite feature: the moldable hood brim, which can be sculpted to ward off rain or even sun ($250; www.marmot.com).

Jacket, Soft Shell
Rab’s Boreas Pull-On

 

Rab’s Boreas Pull-On defies definition, so we’ll just call it the perfect shirt. It’s a stretch-woven material, aka soft shell, that’s thinner than most base layers, but is constructed like a pullover hoodie. It’s comfy as comfy gets, stretching whichever way you move whether you’re reaching to place climbing protection or to shoulder a pack. Wind has to work to get through it, but moisture escapes readily. And with the hood, it adds an extra level of insulation should the weather turn foul ($75; www.rab.uk.com).

 

 

Gear Review: Abuse Testing the Bombproof ioSafe 500GB External Hard Drive, Ideal For Photographers

 
By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide >>

This is going to have to be quick: I’m writing this story and saving it to a file located on the ioSafe Rugged Portable 500GB external hard drive ($212.50 for 500GB), which at the moment is parked beneath the right front tire of my 1990 Volkswagen Vanagan Westfalia. When I say beneath, I mean entirely beneath: The right side of the van is currently an inch higher off the ground, thanks to lift from this seemingly bombproof hard drive. But it’s not worrying about the drive that's got me rushed—it’s rated to 2,500 pounds of pressure and the van maybe runs two tons, with only a fraction of that resting on the aluminum case. No, it’s that it’s getting uncomfortable sitting here on the sidewalk trying to type.

Technology is such an integral part of modern life, so little probably needs to be said about the importance of protecting your data. But as a professional photographer traveling to remote locations exposed to the fullness of weather and climate, my need to secure my files and images becomes even more critical. Thus, paranoia rules. On any given shoot, I keep at least three copies of every photo—one on my internal hard drive and one each on external drives. The externals are kept separate from each other during the shoot and usually travel separately coming home.

Fiji Island Declares Part of Reef Sacred, Restricts Fishing For World Oceans Day

Photograph courtesy Keith Ellenbogen

Exploring Fiji is pretty high up on our must-see wish list—the stunning islands, the surf breaks, the marine life, the beach culture. Here's some good news from the Wildlife Conservation Society just in time for World Oceans Day (learn more about the world's seas on our National Geographic Oceans site).

The Wildlife Conservation Society, Pacific Blue Foundation, Wetlands International, and the Waitt Institute announced today that the people of Fiji’s Totoya Island have declared part of their coral reefs sacred in honor of World Oceans Day.

WCS Fiji Director, Dr. Stacy Jupiter and a coalition of partners spent the last eight days exploring Totoya Island. Accompanied by the island’s high chief, Roko Sau, the research team discovered not only a healthy coral reef system teeming with fish species, many of which are not found in other nearby areas, but a rich culture, tradition, and livelihoods generated from these important resources. Dr. Jupiter has been chronicling her expedition online at National Geographic News Watch.

Appalachian Trail Women's Thru-Hike Record Holder Sets Out to Break Her Own Record

Photograph courtesy Maureen Robinson

In 2008, a junk food loving, Classics major hit the Appalachian Trail to have a big adventure and figure out what to do with herself. Appropriately, her trail name was Odyssa. She was such a hiking newbie she didn't even wear moisture-wicking socks. But the hike must have been her destiny because she managed to set a new women's thru-hiking record. Next week, Jennifer Pharr Davis will begin an attempt to break her own record on the AT, hiking an ambitious average of 46 miles a day. Here she discusses her trail strategy (which involves hiking at night), training on the AT, and how she may have figured out how to be a professional thru-hiker. —Mary Anne Potts

More: See our guide to the world's best hikes and trails >>

Adventure: How did your Classics degree prepare you to be a repeat thru-hiker?
Jennifer Pharr Davis: Actually, I have my Classics degree to thank for initially turning me into a thru-hiker. After graduating college my immediate thought was, Now what!? I had no idea what to do with my degree. So, it was the perfect opportunity to get out on the trail. Classical literature is full of adventure. After reading about Roman gladiators and epic Homeric characters, I decided that I wanted to have a great story of my own. My trail name is “Odyssa”… and I called my memoir Becoming Odyssa because it’s an account of how the trail helped form me into who I have become. Perhaps the AT is not what my professors (or parents) had in mind, but it certainly was an adventure!

Why try to break your own record? Why not do something new?
JPD: I think many record-breakers can attest that there is always a new level to aspire to. I do hold the women’s speed record on the AT, and I’m very pleased with that, but the overall record (for men and women) is still out there. There is a chance I could meet that standard. It's like being a high jumper: You want to keep raising the bar until you knock it down, otherwise you don't know how high you can jump.

Everest 2011: Edurne Pasaban's Report on the Dramatic Rescue of Friends on Lhotse

By Edurne Pasaban; photograph by Bradley Stulberg, My Shot; inset by Joshua Brown

Editor's Note: In May, Edurne Pasaban, our 2011 People's Choice Adventurer of the Year, returned to Everest in an attempt to climb it for the second time, this time without supplemental oxygen. If successful, she would have become the first woman to climb the 14 8,000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen. Here she reports on the dramatic events at the end of her expedition.

Posted May 24, 2011

I don't know where to begin, or how to tell you about everything that has happened over the last few days. So many things, so many emotions, so much sadness, so much happiness, so much of everything. I find it very, very difficult to tell you about it, but I am going to try.

Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide: Best Sleeping Bags

If you needed an excuse to upgrade your gear, we have it. June is Great Outdoors Month and National Camping Month. Better show your support by getting out there...and maybe with an awesome new tent or sleeping bag or light hiker. We asked Steve Casimiro, veteran gear reviewer and editor of Adventure Journal, to give us his picks for the best of the best gear for hiking and camping. Check them our by category here on the blog or see the complete Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide.

Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide: Best Sleeping Bags

Sleeping Bag, Value Down

Photograph by Kelty

Kelty Cosmic Down 20

A hundred bucks actually buys you a heck of a lot more than you might expect: The Kelty Cosmic Down 20 has a few frills tucked into its no-frills price. There’s a full-length tube of down behind the zipper to guard against drafts, an insulated hood with elastic to cinch it tight, and a down collar. Oh, and a full-length zipper and European standard comfort rating of 32 degrees. So where are the cut corners to reach that awesome price? The 550-down fill doesn’t loft as well as spendier 800 fills. And the size regular claims to fit someone up to 6’0” comfortably, but 5’10” is more like it ($110; www.kelty.com).

Sleeping Bag, High-End Down

Photograph courtesy Mont Bell

MontBell’s Ultralight Super Spiral Down Hugger (15 Degrees)

This is the most comfortable sleeping bag you’ll ever use. A bold claim? Yes, but MontBell’s Ultralight Super Spiral Down Hugger 15 is constructed with a tricky little sewing sleight of hand. The threads are cut at a 45-degree angle, the fibers are coiled, and the stitches are elastic—all of which adds up to a bag that stretches and moves with you no matter how much you toss and turn. You could inchworm your way along the length of the Pacific Crest Trail and still not feel constrained. Insulation is 800-fill down and, you’re right, that 15-degree temperature rating is wildly optimistic. This is a three-season bag, not four—but a mighty comfortable one ($399; www.montbell.us).

Sleeping Bag, Synthetic

Photograph courtesy Mountain Hardwear

Mountain Hardwear’s Ultralamina 32

Mountain Hardwear’s Thermic Micro is one of the more down-like synthetic insulations you’ll find, both compressing and lofting better than most manmade fibers. Why pick a synthetic bag such as the Ultralamina 32? Unlike down, it still insulates when damp or wet—think Pacific Northwest and/or paddling trips. The Ultralamina has a mummy cut tempered by a vaulted footbox, so there’s room for your tootsies to move around. It also sports an unconventional double zipper, which allows the front of the bag to drop open for cooking, reading, etc.—some will like this convenience, while others might miss the ability to unzip down the length to cool off ($190; www.mountainhardwear.com).

 

Video: Street Trials Pro Bike Rider Danny MacAskill Plays Cape Town

Last January, NG Adventure writer Tetsuhiko Endo interviewed Scottish biking sensation Danny MacAskill about his phenomenal talent on two wheels, which has become an Internet sensation. Here, get a look at his new video, shot on the streets of Cape Town, South Africa.