This solar recharger has been around for a few years, but it got a sizeable downgrade (in a good way) this year, now weighing just 1.1 lbs. The whole kit (recharger, Nomad 13 solar panels, AC inverter) can charge anything from a smartphone to a laptop.
We’ve given this tent a lot of ink (and our sister pub Backpacker gave it an Editors’ Choice Snow award), and for good reason. From Everest to Peru, testers raved about the ideal combo of mountain-worthy features and livability that’s rare in four-season tents.
Swiveling waistbelts and “dynamic suspension” are becoming pretty common among packs, but for its new line of mid-sized packs, Millet is doing something unique. The pivot point lies several inches above the lumbar pad, in the middle of your lower back. Our testers said these innovations significantly increased stability and carrying comfort: “It moved with me when I was boulder-hopping on the way to the Petit Grepon in Rocky Mountain National Park,” one tester said.
Puffy jackets keep your upper half warm, so why not don some puff in the southern hemisphere? Our tester wore these PrimaLoft-insulated pants winter camping in four western states and raved about the light weight (11 oz. for a medium), packability, and warmth in temps as low as 8°F.
Leashless tools are great—until you drop one from the fifth pitch of an alpine route (though a guide we know met her husband that way). Cassin’s new tether makes drops inconsequential, and numerous innovations make this tether more versatile than its competitors. For starters, each of the three attachments (harness and two elasticized tethers) swivels independently from a connector at your waist.
A “workhorse for a variety of climbing” is how our main tester described the burly, 36-liter Alpinist Pro after using it for everything from ice routes in Washington’s Cascades to rock climbs in Arizona’s Cochise Stronghold. Despite weighing only 2 lbs., 10 oz., the pack has plentiful features.
After two seasons of ice climbing in this jacket, one tester compared it to an electric blanket. “It’s warmer than it looks,” he said. The secret is Polartec’s Power Shield High Loft, a precipitation-resistant, wind-blocking, stretchy fabric backed by a generously fluffy gridded fleece.
Grivel has updated its classic G10 mountaineering spikes with a more secure heel spring called the Moletta, which locks the crampons down in the rear, so there is no accidental disengagement between the boot and the ’pon. The Moletta is also completely tool-free and “easier to adjust than other spring-pin systems I’ve used,” said one tester.
Finding a well-fitting, technical, and comfortable baselayer bottom for women can be inexplicably impossible. Athleta and Smartwool filled the void with their Midweight Pattern Bottom, which is 100 percent merino wool; testers praised it as “a lady’s baselayer dream come true.
Twenty-eight ounces per pair is damn light for a 6,000-meter-ready, full-gaiter boot. But that didn’t limit its ability to stand up to harsh use in temperatures down to –20°F while scaling icefalls in Vermont, Quebec, and New York.
Labeled as a “do-everything hoody for the do-everything athlete,” this full-zip midlayer really does all mountain sports well. Our testers took it (and the women’s version, the Avail Hoody) from boulderfields in northern California to the long multi-pitches of Red Rock to ski slopes in Colorado.
The name says it all. This shell protected our testers from hail, rain, and eyelid-fluttering winds year-round in the Colorado high country. And at a whispery 11 oz., it’s stealth and compact enough to disappear into a pack and not be a weight liability.
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