From a super-versatile, super-light path shoe to a 5-ounce camp chair that you possibly can stuff in your pocket, these are 8 items of drugs we want we might nonetheless discover in shops.
Testing gear on Colombia’s Paramo de Ocetá
Revealed March 16, 2026 04:00PM
We’re not the categories to present into nostalgia right here at Backpacker, a minimum of not in the case of gear. Over our 50-odd years, gear has gotten exponentially lighter, higher, and extra versatile, permitting hikers to push additional with much less pressure. Even within the decade since I joined the journal, I’ve seen the form of ultralight gear that was once the realm of toothbrush-cutting masochists go mainstream as lighter supplies and new manufacturing strategies made it extra user-friendly.
Nonetheless, there’s some outdated gear we glance again on fondly. Again in 2024, I requested my coworkers at Backpacker and Outdoors what now-unavailable gear they wished they might nonetheless purchase. They responded with reminiscences of the whole lot from Dana Design packs to discontinued flavors of vitality gels to 1 apparently very snug camp pillow. This 12 months, we went again to the nicely, including to our record with newly-missed merchandise. These eight are nonetheless on our minds.
Altra Vanish XC Path Runners
Altra marketed these gossamer path runners to cross-country racers. I by no means as soon as went to the beginning line with them, however they nonetheless grew to become a few of my favourite path sneakers simply by their versatility. So long as you’re used to minimalist sneakers, they hike nicely, gripping each unfastened filth and rocky path alike, and the mesh higher made them good to be used on multi-sport days the place I used to be kayaking to a vacation spot after which setting out on a dayhike. At 5.5 ounces—that’s about half the load of Altra’s newest Lone Peak, for these of you counting—they have been mild sufficient to hold in my pack; I’ve used them for creek crossings, slipped them on as a sandal alternative, and paired them with a thick pair of wool socks to make use of as camp sneakers on shoulder-season journeys. The rubber heel and forefoot on my pair are nonetheless holding on, however after they lastly surrender, I’m going to overlook them.
Do this as a substitute: Astral Loyak AC
Bight Gear Solstice Graphene Hoody
This isn’t the comfiest solar hoody I’ve ever used, or the stretchiest, or one of the best trying. What it’s? Sturdy as all get-out. Within the close to decade I’ve had this 55+ UPF piece, it’s been raked over limestone, soaked within the ocean, snagged by branches, clawed by canines, and subjected to almost each different form of abuse you may consider, and I’ve but to discover a pinhole in it, and even a lot fuzz on its material. The Graphene material has a cotton-like really feel however nonetheless dries moderately rapidly, and the outsized hood matches neatly over a cap whereas protecting my face shaded. I appreciated the thumbholes within the sleeves, too—I’m devoted to overlaying up within the solar, however not sufficient to put on gloves, a minimum of not but.
Do this as a substitute: REI Sahara Shade Hoodie
Mountainsmith Slingback Chair
As somebody who’d often reasonably be uncomfortable in camp than on the path, I by no means carry a chair backpacking. Mountainsmith’s Slingback was the one actual exception: This 5-ounce roll of industrial quality material had sewn pockets for the handles of your trekking poles on the high. Pop ’em in, cross them, and you possibly can lean again in an affordable facsimile of a camp chair, albeit one which didn’t have any cushion beneath the derriere. Sit pads are all proper, however I dare you to strive lounging in certainly one of them the best way you possibly can on this child.
Do this as a substitute: Litesmith QwikBack UL Chair
Saucony Peregrine ST Path Runners
The spring soften is, in some ways, essentially the most awkward time to hike. Whereas the temperatures are rising, the paths are sometimes moist and sloppy. The Peregrine ST was made particularly for these circumstances, with deep lugs that might grip on even moist, slushy treadpath. Senior Editor Zoe Gates praised their traction in a 2024 overview, noting that the quick-lace system was good for on-the-fly changes, and tucked in neatly in its personal little pouch on the tongue when not in use.
Do this as a substitute: Salomon Speedcross 6
Outside Analysis Transition Hoody
I child you not: I’m sporting this jacket whereas I kind these phrases. OR’s Transition Hoody joined a crowded discipline of ultralight fleeces when it launched a few decade in the past, but it surely held its personal within the years after. Lighter than Patagonia’s fabled R1 at 9.7 oz for a males’s massive, the Transition gives a shocking quantity of heat for one thing so gossamer, working as an ideal backup layer on summer season hikes or layered beneath a jacket any time of 12 months because of its trim reduce. Sturdy flat seams and hidden thumbholes are good touches, as is the full-length zipper, which makes it easer to get on and off than quarter-zip fashions.
Do this as a substitute: Outside Vitals Pursuit Hybrid Fleece
GoLite
Once we first requested our coworkers in 2024 what backpacking gear they missed essentially the most, one model title stored developing many times: GoLite. Ray Jardine could not have thought a lot of the gear the corporate he helped discovered got here up with, however its light-weight and reasonably priced shelters, packs, and attire nonetheless have a devoted core of partisans who’re hanging onto the fashions of their closet for pricey life. Everybody has their favourite: Outdoors principal engineer Andy Crampton praised the polyurethane and silicone-coated nylon floorless Shangri-la 2 Tarp Shelter, a pyramid that erected with trekking poles and retailed for $150, whereas Isabelle Wong, Outdoors’s lead assist operations specialist, reported her husband nonetheless backpacked together with his 70-liter GoLite Jam pack.
Do this as a substitute: Six Moon Designs
Thriller Ranch Sphinx and Mystic
Like GoLite, Thriller Ranch is a model that tends to set off backpackers’ nostalgia. Their progressive, user-friendly packs had a devoted following when Yeti purchased the corporate in January 2024 and subsequently introduced plans to refocus on their army, hearth, and looking enterprise. One employees favourite: the Sphinx (males’s) and Mystic (girls’s), a pair of packs that completely excelled at managing heavy masses. The body—two versatile fiberglass stays and a carbon-fiber crossbar—effectively distributed weight, whereas the 210-denier exterior material shrugged off scrapes from rocks, tree branches, and anything you possibly can consider.
Do this as a substitute: Deuter Aircontact Professional 75 + 10
Gore Put on H5 Gore-Tex Shakedry Jacket
Gore introduced it could discontinue its Shakedry material in 2022, but it surely was just a few years later that the final merchandise made with it disappeared from cabinets. And that was most likely for one of the best: Not like most technical jacket supplies, which pair a DWR-treated face material with an inner membrane, Gore caught Shakedry’s membrane on the outside, making a cloth which the corporate claimed would completely repel water with out want for subsequent re-treatments. Sadly, that magic relied on PFAS, doubtlessly carcinogenic substances generally known as “eternally chemical substances” due to how lengthy they endure within the surroundings, so whereas we miss this piece, we received’t be agitating for it to return. Gore’s H5 used that breathable, light-weight material to make a light-weight—8.2 ounces for a males’s massive—jacket that packed into its personal hand pocket and was nonetheless sturdy sufficient to put on beneath a pack with out trashing it.
Do this as a substitute: Rab Downpour Mild
