Three Pieces of Gear I'm Loving this Spring

Spring time has finally arrived which means warmer weather is here and we've been spending more time outdoors. In the past 6 months I've been meticulously purchasing gear pieces that will last me for years. With so many brands emerging that claim to have the best-of-the-best-gear, its hard to sift through the noise and get to the good stuff. Below are three things I've purchased that have really stood out to me and I think are must-haves for this spring season and wanted to share. 

Kelty TraiLogic TN3 Tent

$299.95 REI & Backcountry, $219.98 Rugged Outdoors, $244.95 Backcountry Edge

This tent is super cool for multiple reasons. First and foremost it's SO EASY to set up. The poles click into little securely fixed, pressed-in ferrules and the two pole design means there's no hassle or confusion during set up. It's free standing with two doors and mesh walls all around for excellent ventilation. The best part about this tent is that it has a stargazing rainfly. Basically you can roll back half the rainfly to enjoy an unobstructed view of the night sky or just to get a lot of fresh air while you sleep. If the weather takes a turn for the worse you can easily unroll the rainfly without having to leave the comfort of your tent. Having two doors allows for you to easily leave and enter the tent without disturbing your partner and there are vestibules on both sides for added storage space outside. This tent comfortably fits two people with backpacks (or a furry friend!) or three people sans gear. For reference I'm 5'1 but my boyfriend is 6'1 and his feet/head don't touch either side of the walls, so plenty of space if you're a bit taller. Clocking in at around 5 lbs. 8 oz. this tent is not ultralight but definitely is not a burden to carry either! I cannot recommend this tent enough and we'll be putting up a full gear review at the end of the summer once we've used it a few more times. 

Mammut Kobah Down-Blend Jacket

$98.83 REI (on sale 50% off)

I picked this little jacket up last year before my trip to Iceland and I have never in my life worn a jacket so nice and durable. This jacket keeps you perfectly warm on cold days or cool spring mornings. It's great for layering and fits under a rain jacket, in fact if you're going to be somewhere very windy I recommend layering it under a windbreaker. It is water resistant but even if this thing gets soaking wet it still insulates which is a miracle. The material that runs down your sides/insides of your arms isn't down allowing for heat to escape and air to move within the jacket without sacrificing losing heat (and makes for a very flattering fit). For me, this jacket has endured backpacking trips, Iceland, rainstorms and more; I seriously love it and I won't be trading it for another down jacket anytime soon. I had trouble finding multiple links for this jacket which leads me to believe they might be coming out with a new model. I'll update the links once more become available. 

Salomon Quest Prime GTX Hiking Boots

$190.00 REI, $189.95 Backcountry, Campmor & Moosejaw

These backpacking boots are the real deal. They are flexible like a sneaker, light and waterproof making them great shoes for any season but especially spring. They're only 490g per boot so they're one of the lightest boots available for backpacking and it makes all the difference. After long days and miles your feet feel supported and don't feel fatigued or achey. Also with removable OrthoLite footbeds, the shoes have shock absorption while antimicrobial treatment deters odors. So far the most mileage I've put on these things in a single day is a little over 10 miles and my feet didn't ache at all which is amazing; I broke my left foot in college and with all my old pairs of boots my feet would start aching around the 8-10 mile mark depending on what the terrain was like. 

Those are my three things! Although we've also made some other big purchases, like this 

Gregory Baltoro 75 Backpack, the above three products have really wowed me (and the tent also impressed Michael) so I had to share! As always, I love getting recommendations from y'all so if you have any must-haves (espeically rain jacket recommendations!) shoot me a message via the contact form to the left 😊