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TrailGroove Blog

A Blog by the TrailGroove Team

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  • Aaron Zagrodnick 243
  • Mark Wetherington 76
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  • Susan Dragoo 26
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Gear | Trips | Food | Technique | Reading

Entries in this blog

Gear

Backpacking & Hiking Gear Jargon: PU (Polyurethane)

Applied as a coating to many backpacking and hiking fabrics, PU (polyurethane) is a coating that adds a waterproofing layer to fabric, but also reduces tear strength. As the coating is applied to the face of the fabric it’s prone to wear over time, and most PU coatings will offer only moderate waterproofing when new, moving towards water resistance over years of use. This grid-stop fabric has a very light PU coating on the inside (used for a backpack in this case) to add some level of
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Best Backpacking Trekking Poles: An Overview & Guide

Trekking poles may be the most appreciated not required backpacking gear item you can come up with. Don’t take them and your legs do all the work, but you save weight and gear complexity. Take them and your upper body gets involved in the hike, and stability is added on rougher terrain with additional points of contact. Unlike your shelter or sleeping bag, trekking poles are without a doubt, not required for the trail. However, if you do take them, your knees will likely only thank you later.
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads: A 2026 Categorical Guide

Finding a great backpacking sleeping pad is the next logical step in getting your backpacking gear all set once you’ve decided on the big 3 (tent, sleeping bag, backpack). The sleeping pad rounds out what’s known as the big 4 in backpacking – and this list makes up some of the most important gear you’ll carry, both in regards to its importance on the trail, and includes the most expensive and usually heaviest items where the most weight can be saved. In this guide, we’ll look at the b
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

2026 REI Reward / Dividend Release & Member Guide

The arrival of spring brings a lot of things for the outdoor enthusiast to get excited about, including longer days, warm temperatures, and melting snow for those of us in the north. However one additional perk that spring brings is the annual REI Member Reward (previously known as the REI Dividend) release. For REI members, this is the time of the year when REI Co-op members receive their rewards from REI purchases you made during the 2025 season. Gear-up with the help of REI Member
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

3 Season Backpacking Clothing List and Strategy

A clothing system for backpacking needs to be as lightweight as possible while still performing a variety of critical tasks in an ever-changing and varied wilderness environment. A clothing system must be comfortable, will act as our first line of defense to keep us warm, and should protect us from the sun, precipitation, biting insects, and bumps and scrapes on the trail to name a few concerns. While each of these tasks are easily obtainable with dedicated and specialized items of clothing, whe
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

How to Choose the Best Backpacking Stove

When it comes to backpacking stoves, there are several routes one can take and several different main categories of stoves exist – each with an array of pros and cons. Without a doubt however, no matter which way you go about it the backpacking stove is an important part of any overnight or multi-night gear ensemble. A backpacking stove provides hot meals and drinks, goes a long way towards keeping you warm on chilly mornings and evenings, and for backpacking and hiking a stove needs to be conve
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Backpacking and Hiking Water Treatment Guide

On any hiking or backpacking trip, the ability to procure drinking water during the hike is one of the most important logistical considerations for both pre-trip planning as well as while we’re on the trail. Finding the water is of course the first step, and having the necessary gear to properly process the water so it’s suitable to drink is the second part of the equation. Here we’ll look at the main types of water filters and backcountry water treatment methods that are best suited for ba
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Best Backpacking Tents by Application and Budget

As one of the most important decisions you can make when it comes to backpacking gear, your choice of a backpacking tent can have quite the impact in regards to your comfort in camp and protection from the elements. Additionally, choosing the best backpacking tent can also have an impact when it comes to weight carried on the trail (as one of, if not the heaviest items in your pack), and a tent decision can have quite the impact on your wallet, as well. With many factors to consider,
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Best Backpacking Sleeping Bags by Temperature Rating

An important core backpacking gear item, your backpacking sleeping bag needs to be light enough to carry easily, pack small enough so as to not take over your entire pack, and most importantly keep you warm and comfortable at night. In this guide we’ll focus on the best backpacking sleeping bags currently on the market by temperature rating. As this is a backpacking focused article weight of the sleeping bag and warmth to weight ratio will be of a paramount focus here, with down bags
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Choosing the Best Backpacking Sleeping Pad

A backpacking sleeping pad very importantly provides warmth by insulating us from the cold ground at night, and ideally a sleeping pad will also provide sufficient comfort to allow for a good night of rest. As an item that’s one of the heaviest and bulkiest core gear items you will carry on any backpacking trip, the sleeping pad requires some thought and consideration when it comes to selection and application. With a multitude of options available there's a sleeping pad to specifically sui
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Best Backpacking Pots & Camp Cookware Selection Guide

Performing a few simple yet vital tasks, our choice of a backpacking pot is one item that the rest of our cooking gear will frequently revolve around, especially if you like to pack your entire cooking kit inside your pot. A backpacking pot serves as a vessel in which we can prepare our backcountry meals and heat or even sanitize water if needed – and despite being such a simple item it is not one easily replaced. In fact, if one were only allowed to take a few items of gear into the backco
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Backpacking Gear Lists and the T.R.I.P. Process

The gear list. It might be written on a piece of paper, typed into a spreadsheet, read from a book, or all in your head. But most of us probably have one somewhere. In its simplest form, a gear list can really help with those “I can’t believe I forgot that” moments when you’ve just hiked 20 miles from the trailhead and are setting up camp in dwindling evening light. In other forms, a list can help you identify things you really don’t need, help you reduce your pack weight, and help you identify
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

How to Choose the Best Backpacking Tent Stakes

If you’re not thinking about your tent stakes on your next backpacking trip, it’s probably a good sign that you’ve chosen the right ones. If your stakes aren’t a good match for the ground and conditions at hand however, you could be in for a difficult shelter setup process and perhaps even for a long night. With a myriad of lightweight tent stakes on the market to choose from, there’s likely a specific tent stake for every condition you’ll encounter, as well as others that will perform well acro
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Helinox Chair Zero Review

After an introduction to lightweight backpacking chairs a few years ago, my philosophy on this admittedly somewhat superfluous (but many times well worth the weight) camp comfort item has generally remained unchanged; on longer trips where I’m moving daily and pack weight is of more concern the chair stays behind and any rock or log will do. For the amount of time that you’re actually in camp – and not inside your tent – carrying the weight is simply not worth it. But mental and physical comfort
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Backpacking Jargon: What is a Freestanding Tent?

The default term “tent” is no longer accurate to describe the various shelter options used by backpackers. Tarp-tents, tarps, bivy sacks, hammocks, and tents generally cover the gear used to seek refuge from the elements, but each have further sub-categories that merit examining and understanding when making the best decision about what you will put in your pack. Freestanding tents add convenience, but also add weight. Freestanding & Non-Freestanding Backpacking Tents In
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Gear

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Gear

Lightweight Photo Gear and Carrying a Backpacking Camera

Combining cameras with the outdoors and taking one along to document your hiking and backpacking trips introduces a few challenges that must be overcome to take your photos quickly and easily, while still being able to maintain and keep your camera safe from the elements. On the trail, a few key points are worth the most consideration and what follows is the setup that has worked best for me on trips where the hiking is a higher priority than, or at least on equal ground priority-wise, with the
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

The Multi-Purpose Foam Pad & Backpacking Sit Pads

Carrying the additional half-pound or so a three-quarter length closed cell foam pad, in addition to an inflatable pad, is antithetical to the general concept of lightweight backpacking. However, the versatility of this piece of gear and the added level of safety and comfort it provides make it something some backpackers never leave behind, with multiple use cases out on the trail – from a sit pad in camp and on breaks, to extra insulation and protection for your inflatable in longer lengths.
Mark Wetherington

Mark Wetherington in Gear

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Gear

Best Backpacking Backpacks: From Overnight to Thru-hike

One of the big 3 of backpacking gear choices (backpack, tent or shelter, and sleeping bag), the backpacking backpack you choose will have a profound impact on your comfort during the hiking day. Your pack will also be one of the more expensive items you’ll purchase, and to get the best pack within your budget a little research will be needed as there are a myriad of packs out there on the market. In this guide, we’ll look at the best backpacking packs currently on the market based upo
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Backpacking Hydration Options: An Overview and Guide

As soon as we set foot on the trail, a way to carry one of the most essential ingredients for a successful hike – water – becomes essential. With a myriad of options available from bottles of nearly every variety to dedicated, and often complex, hydration systems on the market today, when choosing a way to carry your water while backpacking the shopping experience can become complicated quickly. What follows is an overview of options that are available for this task along with my preferences, an
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

How to Choose the Best Backpacking and Hiking Backpack

No matter your approach to backpacking – ultralight, comfort light, traditional, or whatever our own unique approaches may be in the gear department, backpacking in and of itself goes hand in hand with a gear list (whether on paper or simply in our heads), making a way to carry all that stuff one of the most important gear related items we need to consider. What follows is a guide to selecting an appropriate backpack for hiking and backpacking, including an overview of features, technologies, ma
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Ruffwear Approach Dog Pack: A 15 Year Review

While bringing along man’s best friend on our backcountry adventures comes with many advantages, especially when backpacking it also comes with an extra set of dog-specific gear. Dog food, a section of foam pad, dog jackets, bowls, leashes, and perhaps even a sleeping bag for your dog all serve to increase the weight carried. The solution of course is to have the dog carry some of their own gear or other gear to help offset some of the weight – most importantly of course without overloading the
Aaron Zagrodnick

Aaron Zagrodnick in Gear

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Gear

Choosing the Best Backpacking & Hiking Shoes or Boots

Both a prerequisite for the enjoyment of any day hike and critical for the success of any extended backpacking trip, our choice of a hiking shoe or boot is one of the most important gear related choices to make and dial in prior to any outdoor excursion. Not only does the best hiking boot or shoe depend on fit and our own individual preference, but the best options will also vary widely by season – although many options can also be workable across more than one season, or even with a few caveats
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

Nalgene Ultralite - Best Backpacking Water Bottle Ever?

When hitting the store for a backpacking water bottle we may be inclined to at first reach for our favorite color bottle or the bottle featuring the most appealing printed design on the side. While there’s nothing wrong with that when it comes to having a water bottle around the house or at work, when it comes to choosing a hiking or backpacking water bottle other performance factors should be considered. With weight being paramount in the backcountry, the prototypical standard, Tritan Nalgene b
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

Hiking and Backpacking Jargon: Headlamp Lumens (Light)

Lumens are a unit of measurement used to determine the total amount of visible light emitted from a source. In the backpacking and hiking world, you can use the lumen value to compare the amount of lighting you’ll get from various nighttime illumination sources such as a headlamp. Lumen Considerations / How Many Lumens Higher lumen values typically come at the cost of shorter runtimes and decreased battery life. Brighter lights are also generally heavier and more expensive. For general
Aaron Zagrodnick

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Gear

Backpacking & Hiking Jargon: Piezo Igniter (Stoves)

A piezo igniter is a push-button stove ignition system that is often integrated directly onto upright canister stoves for convenience and ease of use. The system works via use of a striker that hits a piezo-electric crystal, which generates electricity even when slightly deformed. When the ignition button is pushed the resulting electrical charge generates a spark. With the integrated ignition system there’s no need to hunt down your lighter or use matches – simply open your stove’s g
Aaron Zagrodnick

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