What Ultralight Backpacking Gear Should I Get?

So you know you like backpacking and are looking for a versatile, ultralight backpacking setup? With where prices are, you can get a 3-season, buy-once kit for around $1500. Here is my 7-lb, 3-season weekend warrior ultralight backpacking gear list for 2025. I believe I could replace everything in it for under $2,000 through use of r/ulgeartrade, and other used marketplaces. My ultralight backpacking gear recommendations are not the cheapest, but they all fall into the WireCutter realm of “Just get this. Save yourself some research time.”

Of course, there are some options to get a 7-lb, 3-season kit for around $800. There’s also some other recommendations here for cheaper, not-3-season kits. Some of the materials are less-ethically sourced, and the durability of the equipment will leave you wanting or replacing components frequently. With these cheaper kits, you may have a hard time doing much more than well-maintained trails during weekends when weather is anything but ideal.

What follows is a discussion of the major ultralight backpacking gear choices to make, as well as my recommendations for the pieces of equipment that I consider to be the only real options worth buying. You will not be lacking in comfort, and the weights and quality of the gear will be reasonable.

Hiker trash at its finest. Spread out ultralight backpacking gear -- including sleeping quilt, bivvy, tarp, and neoair xlite sleeping pad.
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Just Tell Me What Ultralight Backpacking Gear to Get

Sure. Here’s the fundamental ultralight backpacking gear list for things you’ll need. It will last you many thousands of miles, and you won’t need to change out much for any of the 3-seasons in the American West. Figure out your own customization for your baselayers, and how you organize/store everything in the backpack.

Pricing may be different from what’s listed below when you try to buy things. Any of the major brand items (e.g. Mountain Hardware, Darn Tough, etc.) have very frequent clearance options, where most stuff is 40-60% off of retail. As for the cottage industry stuff — those prices are only going to go up. If you need a less-versatile 3-season kit, I would consider replacing the Ghost Whisperer Jacket with a Senchi Alpha 90, and a Patagonia Houdini.

The Big 3 for Ultralight Backpacking Gear

It’s often referred to as the big three, because they are the most expensive things you might buy in your ultralight backpacking gear list. These pieces do a pretty good job of meeting the minimum threshold for what you’re taking with you. This includes your backpack, your sleep system, and your shelter. I’ve used a variety of all of these items.

Ultralight Backpacks

This is one that people typically spend far too much time trying to figure out, and probably the least important thing to be concerned about. Get something that holds everything you need and feels comfortable. I think it’s pretty hard to go wrong with a Granite Gear Crown3 40L pack. I do not recommend getting anything larger than 40L. If you don’t know what you’re looking for in a pack, then definitely get one you can return. REI no longer carries any backpacks I would recommend. Osprey packs I think carry very poorly, and their frames tend to suffer torsion and bending — they’re also overpriced. Here’s some packs I would recommend:

  • Granite Gear Crown3 40L
    • Great, super durable pack. Fits well, very adjustable. Frame and brain should be removed to decrease pack weight. The frame can be added back in for hevier load-outs.
  • Gossamer Gear Kumo
    • The hip belt is not going to be as comfortable as the Granite Gear Pack. Lighter than Granite Gear, but less versatile, more delicate
  • Goassamer Gear Murmur
    • It’s a very, very minimalist pack. The hipbelt is not very comfortable, and the pack is very delicate. No bushwhacking possible with this thing.
  • MLD Burn
    • Classic, great pack. Definitely doesn’t have volume/versatility if you increase carrying needs, but great for something like the PCT
  • Custom Packs
    • I got a custom pack by RedPaw Packs. I like it a lot! Dandee packs I also hear very good things about.

Sleeping Bags

Sleeping bags are easy. If you have a good bag, you’ll use it for decades. The technology really has not changed that much. People often have different bags depending on temperatures they expect. I have a general three-season setup, where I use my Katabatic quilt for all season. Quilts allow you to thermal regulate much better than mummy bags. On nights where I don’t need my quilt at all, I use it more as a pillow. I do not recommend enlightened equipment sleeping bags. Their temperature ratings are questionable, and the down they source is not tracked, so may have numerous ethical issues. Here’s the bag/quilt options I would recommend that will not let you down:

Ultralight Sleeping Pads

When it comes to sleeping pads there’s really only two options:

Of note: my original NeoAir Xlite is the longest-lived piece of gear I have. I have done over 13,000 miles of backpacking with it. I’ve patched it twice. Recently, one of the internal baffles failed (after more than a decade of use). That makes the pad less comfortable, but it’s still usable! Thermarest discontinued the torso-length version of the NeoAir Xlite. The current short version is almost 12-oz, whereas the old torso-length version was only 8-oz. You can cut the pads down, and reseal the cut-off portion using a straightening iron to melt the plastic together to form a solid seal (or so I’m told). The REI by my house often has NeoAir Xlites in their “Garage Sale” rack. You’ll likely need to do thermarest warranty service with them, or just patch it yourself if you get it out of the REI Garage Sale rack. If doing REI Garage Sale, the Nemo Tensor is also an acceptable option to consider.

Do you sleep cold? Get a feathered friends mummy bag and you can upgrade the sleeping pad to a NeoAir XTherm

Shelter

A less-than mediocre tarp pitch with a bivvy setup.

Choose your own adventure for this one! The main setup that I use and recommend if solo is:

  • A Borah Bivy and Borah Tarp. It is worth cutting a piece of polycryo for a groundsheet under the bivvy so that it lasts longer. You can use window insulation wrap for this!

If you’re doing two-person, you’ll need a bigger tarp + groundsheet. When I’m backpacking with my partner, I use my ZPacks Hexamid. The Duplex and Plexamids have largely replaced this model on the ZPacks website. I’ve also used tarptent and many other shelters. Shelters can be pretty expensive! In general, the following shelters I think are pretty solid options to consider:

Standard pitch for my Zpacks Hexamid Duo (1.5 person sehlter)
Traditional Sil-nylon 2-wall backpacking tent
Tarptent 2-wall trekking pole tent

Ultralight Backpacking Insulation and Rain Gear

Once the big-three are taken care of on your ultralight backpacking gear list, you can likely head out into the wilderness and be mostly fine! Congratulations!

The one exception, of course, is if weather is not ideal. This is where you’ll want to have layers to put on to protect you from the elements. This includes things to keep you warm, as well as things to keep you dry. At this point, I almost always take an insulation layer and rain gear. The rain gear doubles as wind gear, and adds several degrees of warmth, if needed, due to the air layer it creates. If it’s a short trip in the summer, where I know I can rely on the weather, I will likely leave my rain gear at home, and opt for a Patagonia Houdini Windshell and an Alpha-90 Senchi.

Insulation Options

You basically need to decide between a down jacket, or an alpha/octa fleece layer. The down jacket will be warmer. The Alpha layer will be more breathable when moving, and maintain better warmth if wet (may matter more if you have a bad rain jacket choice). The down jacket that I have used the most is the Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer Down Jacket. These can usually be found on clearance for ~$200. There are jackets with significantly better warmth-to-weight ratios, that also use more sustainably sourced down. My Ghost Whisperer has lasted for a long time, and has not let me down yet. It also has a full zipper (worse for warmth-to-weight), and a hood. Below is a list of insulation layers I would recommend.

Rain Gear

I only recommend OutDry and ShakeDry rain gear. It can’t wet out, and in my lived experience, it just works better! If you generate a lot of sweat when moving, you may prefer mechanical ventilation rather than an OutDry shell.

Columbia’s OutDry line is super variable. They will randomly discontinue their jackets, and bring back new jackets that weigh a lot more, or have unknown weights. My favorite jacket is the OutDry Ex Featherweight. Because that has been discontinued, their current line is heavier than 11 oz. You can find older OutDry Nanolites and Featherweights on eBay and Mercari. I recently purchased a Goretex R7 ShakeDry on clearance. I do not know how durable this.GoreTex jacket is, and ShakeDry has since been discontinued. Below is the set of rain jackets and rain pants I recommend, for actually keeping you dry. I cannot get behind FrogToggs, or DWR-based jackers. They break or wetout (with any real rain) immediately.

I use rain pants because I hike in pants. When they get wet, it’s kinda miserable. I’ve found the rain pants to be valuable. They also keep me warm when temps drop. I’ve used OR’s helium II pants a lot. They are acceptable, but will tear at the crotch pretty easily.

As far as gloves go — I’ve tried a variety of things, including overmitts to deal with rain. Because I walk with trekking poles, the overmitts quickly get destroyed. They’re also not that good. I’ve since followed Skurka’s advice. The Showa insulated gloves are great. Sure, they’re 3.2 oz (heavy! Oof). But — they’re warm enough, and they keep your hands dry. Much, much better than relying on socks.

Backpacking Odds and Ends

The only other things you really need to consider are affiliated with cooking (I’ve opted for a no-cook setup), and power choices. I’ve written about power optimization on my gear page. In general, for power:

Alternatively, you might consider solar in the American West

My Weekend Warrior Ultralight Backpacking Gear List

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