The Gear that Changed Backpacking Forever

Trend-setters and trailblazers from the last 50 years

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Better backpacking gear is the key to going farther and faster, and to feeling more comfortable while pushing those boundaries. The very best gear is worthy of obsession, with the chops to completely change the way you play in the wild, and, in some cases, even save your life. That’s why, for nearly all of the five decades that Backpacker has been on newsstands, our editors and testers have put the toolkit of a trail-warrior through the most grueling trials. That kind of rigorous, down-to-the-ounce reporting has left an incredible archaeological record for us hardcore gear nerds.

We look back to the ’70s, when big honkin’ boots, oodles of hypothermia-inducing cotton, and clunky external frame packs reigned. We travel through the stage-setting inventions of the ’80s, the flashy style of the ’90s, all the way to the present day, with our uber-strong, ultralight fabrics and down-to-the-foot GPS tracking on devices as small as a watchface.

Our testing methods are sometimes unconventional. In 1985, winter sleeping bag testers dangled in a meat locker between whole sides of beef and pork butts to gauge temperature rating accuracy. In 2009, we dragged backpacks behind a Jeep going 60 mph and tumbled hiking boots in a cement mixer with a bucket of rocks and sticks to test durability. That level of extreme— whether it happens in a modern test lab or Mad Max-style through Death Valley—is important to separate the hard-wearing equipment from the carnival tricks. (We’ll never forget the mid’80s “Trailbreaker”—a trekking pole that could contain several shots of liquor, had a hardened steel tip for “self-defense,” and was “blow dart compatible.”)