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Backpacker Magazine – April 2009
Get This Gear: Essentials From A to Z
We tested more than 500 products–stoves, clothes, cameras, filters, tech tools, knives, and meals–to find these proven performers.
U
Umbrella
The lightest, most breathable rainwear isn't a jacket. It's MontBell's U.L. Trekking Umbrella, which collapses to toy dimensions (eight inches long with a one-inch diameter) and weighs less than six ounces. $35; montbell.com
Underwear
HIS No chafing, no stink, great wicking, and lightning-fast drying times make SmartWool's Microweight Boxers the skivvies of choice for guys who don't go commando. $40; smartwool.com
HERS ExOfficio's Soytopia Seamless Bikini Brief is made of 77 percent soy blended with nylon (for durability) and Lycra (stretch). "The seamless construction is so nonintrusive," said one tester, "it's like going without." Plus, they're easy to wash and drip-dry almost instantly. $18; exofficio.com
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READERS COMMENTS
Are you kidding me with the $30 chopsticks?? I thought this magazine was about appreciating outdoors, not marketing a bunch of needless crap.
Posted: Nov 13, 2009 Shane
I use the nite ize s biner as a key chaine. I hook it to my belt loop. Numeros times my keys have fallen off. I usually can hear the sound of keys hitting the ground. On a recent end of Fly fishing adventure. I turned the car around to do a final check for any forgoten equipment. The metalic reflection came from the ground. I got out and there was the nite Ize S-biner. BackPacker Editors award and all. Spring not strong enough!
Posted: May 27, 2009 Lost Keys
How many backpackers do you know that carry $600 binoculars? Get real.
Posted: May 16, 2009 dropkick
I'm really surprised to see MSR's quick 2 system at the same time that GSI's dualist system is not mentioned yet it has the 2008 editor's choice and lighter than MSR's. This really makes me question the credibility of the whole backpacker's site that I have always had it as a flagship.
Posted: May 14, 2009 AN
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