Helinox Chair Zero

The Helinox Chair Zero tips the scales at a svelte 1.1lbs and folds up into the size of an overstuffed Chipotle burrito. The reason I love this chair so much is that I can fit it into my Osprey Mira daypack or strap it on the outside for a comfortable seat at the top of a mountain or for a trail lunch and beer. So much better than perching on a rock or sitting on wet grass. helinox.com | $120

Trail Butter

As an all-natural endurance energy food, Trail Butter can be thought of as either a “spreadable bar” or “blended up trail mix”. Either way, it’s healthy, unprocessed nut or seed butter comes in many forms: Single-serve packets, pouches and sixteen-ounce jars. Each flavor has its own unique blend of real-food ingredients and provides a balanced, slow burning energy that is calorie-dense for those long hikes in cool weather. So far my favorite way to eat this is to spread on a Pamela’s Gluten Free Graham Cracker and mix into oatmeal. trailbutter.com | $12 – $20

Kora Shola 230 Crew

Yak wool is the new natural fiber in town and the Kora Shola 230 Crew  is a technical baselayer that is made entirely of yak wool. I put this to good use hiking the Superior Hiking Trail over a long weekend as well as camping on the edge of the Boundary Waters in early October. Fortunately for me, it was cold and blustery with gale-force winds. I wore this under only a softshell windbreaker jacket and was amazed at how warm it kept me and its breathability.

You will especially love how soft it feels against your skin and the amount of wearings you can get in before you start to smell like a yak. kora | $145

Deschutes Handup IPA

Deschutes Handup IPA offers all that I love about a good craft IPA. I find it to be refreshing and hoppy with afternotes of citrus. Although it was brewed to honor Deschutes Brewery co-owner Colby, Deschutes CX team captain who lost his life to pancreatic cancer last fall, it’s still highly relevant for hiking—either as a summit beer, lunch beer or for your après hike celebratory beer at the trailhead. Please remember to Leave no Trace and pack the bottle out with you. deschutesbrewery.com

Garmont Tower Trek GTX Hiking Boots

Although our reviewer Julie didn’t actually bag Mt. Everest, she got close when her Garmont Tower Trek GTX’s took her to Everest Base Camp in October. These boots gave her the feeling of “walking on air” in high elevations and rough, rocky alpine terrain thanks to their beefy and aggressive tread.

They were also comfortable, stable, sturdy and kept her feet warm on the colder days of hiking when the temps plunged to 30F/-1C. garmont.com | $330

Hangtime KOALA

The Hangtime Koala is an ingenious clip and silicone harness system to quell the fears of losing your $1,000 Smartphone on the trail, in a lake, or down into the pongy abyss of a pit toilet. The phone harness is made from industrial-grade silicone that stretches enough to fit any phone. It attaches to your body (or backpack straps, jacket pocket, etc) via a strong polycarbonate clip and urethane tether that stretches up for four feet.

The more you tug on the tether the harder the clip’s teeth sink into whatever you have it anchored to. Simply attach the Koala to your phone, clip it to your pack’s harness strap or a jacket pocket and go. Crowdfunding is going on now and they’ve raised over $300,000 and have over 10,000 backers on Indiegogo. After their crowdfunding campaign ends on November 11^th 2019 KOALA will be available the general public on their site via IndiGoGo. hangtimegear.com | $25

Deuter AirContact Lite SL 60+10

Should your National Take a Hike pilgrimage require a multi-day out the trail, the Deuter AirContact Lite SL 60+10 is the pack that our team member Alli declared, “First and foremost, I’ve never — ever — hiked with a pack this comfortable under a heavy load before. I truly used every last bit of the extended 70-liter capacity, carrying my gear, group gear, and, at times, three full bear canisters and clients’ gear.”

She should know as she tested it on Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail, which has its share rugged ascents and descents, roots and rocks, and narrow trails on bluff edges required grace and balance.  deuterusa.com | $220

 Leatherman Free T4 Multi-tool

The Leatherman FREE T4 Multi-Tool could easily be the quintessential knife for the hiking trail. It has twelve different tools packed into a 3.6 inch-long frame making it a lot of multi-tool for the size and minuscule weight of 4.3 ounces.

It includes a 2.2 in. carbon-stainless main blade, scissors, package opener, awl, reamer, four types of screwdrivers, a metal and wood file, bottle opener and a set of tweezers. This multi-tool knife has a tool for just about anything you might run into; whether you’re working around the house or out on a wilderness hike. Our writer even used it to start a fire using the file and a fire-steel striker. leatherman.com | $60

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What I Liked

Comfortable

First and foremost, I’ve never — ever — hiked with a pack this comfortable under a heavy load before. I truly used every last bit of the extended 70-liter capacity, carrying my gear, group gear, and, at times, three full bear canisters and clients’ gear. The extra padding around the lumbar spine meant that my lower back was protected from pressure points. The luxuriously padded hip belt kept my hips from bruising, and the similarly padded shoulder straps remained comfortable under 65+ pounds of gear, which is no small feat.

Mobility

Though parts of the Superior Hiking Trail are Midwest-style flat, the sections we covered in this clinic were some of the most rugged: ascents and descents, roots and rocks, and narrow trails on bluff edges required grace and balance. The weight distribution design kept the load secure where it should be, which is crucial with a bad SI joint, poor weight distribution can lay me out for days. It also meant that the pack never knocked me off balance while I was high-stepping up stone stairs or swinging over fallen logs.

Nothing inspires confidence on your first time in the backcountry like your guide wobbling under the weight of an ill-fitting, poorly-balanced pack before taking a digger on a root everyone else managed to gracefully step right over. The X-style aluminum internal frame is sturdy but flexible enough to never inhibit my movement, which is key when climbing over boulders and navigating roots and rocks.

Adjustability

The Variquick system ensures that the suspension system will work the way it’s intended, as a poor fit will negate any benefit. Take the time to make your pack fit correctly because with no fewer than 5 points for fine-tuning the fit of the pack, the Aircontact Lite is built to dial in the fit just right for your build. The long hip belt straps mean that you can have bodacious hips and still comfortably fit into the pack. The chest strap slides up and down with ease to accommodate bigger-chested backpackers. The SL women’s specific pack is already built with a shorter torso, but then it comes with the ability to adjust the torso length down to the inch, making this pack the traveling pants of the backpack world, magically fitting any woman who wears it. This also makes it a great option for a teen, as the length of the pack can grow with her.

What I didn’t Like

Access

With a top-loading pack this big, a side-access zipper would have turned the pack from Santa’s bottomless sack of presents into Mary Poppins’s bag: expansive yet well-organized storage[mm3] . With a sleeping bag in the bottom pocket, bottom access is impossible on the trail. Top access means dragging everything out of your pack and laying out a yard sale on the trail until you find what you need.

A side zipper would have stopped the unpacking and repacking. This means that accessing the medical kit to tend to clients involved sprawling bear cannisters, water filters, mess kits, and clothes onto the narrow trail in the dense forests of northern Minnesota. My apologies to anyone who had to hop-scotch around my belongings. At snack time or the beginnings of a rain storm, it’s important to have this bag packed very intentionally.

Hydration Pocket

Though I enjoyed having the hydration pocket and hose slot, the X frame arched into the pocket, meaning that fitting a full 3-liter bladder into the pack became an awkward game of Tetris I often lost. Stopping to refill and reposition the bladder meant emptying my pack and repacking it again.

Buckles & Straps

I am a big fan of side release buckles. I want to be able to easily remove and reattach the lid or straps to secure things to the outside of my pack. I missed having a sleeping pad compression strap and actually left my foam pad at home in favor of a more packable inflatable pad because I couldn’t attach my tent and my pad to the pack. I like using the lid as a rodent hang for items that don’t need to go in a bear canister, but even though the pack advertises a removable lid, I’m so clumsy with threaded buckles that it wasn’t even worth it to remove the lid from the pack. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I just really, really need to get better at threading buckles properly. Maybe this isn’t a problem for you. Please teach me how to thread buckles properly!

Final Thoughts

This pack addresses one of the biggest issues I have with the outdoor gear industry: actually designing gear for women’s bodies. It’s highly adjustable and incredibly comfortable. It’s simple enough to be a great introductory pack for a beginner or a no-frills and streamlined pack for a more experienced trekker. It will easily handle 4 – 7 days on the trail with its roomy body and pockets, and the first few days of heavy weight are easily managed with the comfortable design of the pack. At 4 lbs 3 oz, it’s not for the ultralight backpacker, but it’s actually quite light considering all the padding and the size of it. I’m looking forward to taking this pack on my upcoming mountaineering trips (it even has ice pick loops). I know it can handle the extra gear.

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