The BEST Backpacking Brands You've NEVER Heard Of! 

Check out Garage Grown Gear: geni.us/m2tzeVo Gear from this video: El Coyote Quilts: geni.us/lY29uQF Packit Gourmet: geni.us/4wwWxxT One Bottle Hydration: geni.us/7u2toV Bonfus Packs: geni.us/loVQ9 Mayfly Sandals: geni.us/2tDifI6 Miksa Pot Lifter: geni.us/GQiLZ Huppy Toothpaste Tabs: geni.us/PWuFB Fozzils Snap Bowl: hgeni.us/rE01 The Hoodie I am wearing: geni.us/EGWb9nd

Hei Steven, glad you have been enjoying the Framus backpack! Can't wait to see some great new content from you.

I love my Bonfus Framus 48! I was in the market for somehting in between a traditional internal frame pack and an ultralight bag, and this met every single criteria that I was looking for (formed stays load lifters, and a decent hip belt are hard to find in an ultralight pack). My first time on the trail with it was a 22 mile hike to start a few days in the backcountry in Utah and I had no discomfort with the pack at all. I've been recommending it to absolutely everyone for the past few months.

Warbonnet outdoors is a small hammock company based out of Colorado that has a great reputation. I really value their top quilts because one has the choice of zippered, round sewn or elipltical sewn footboxes, and they give the choice of a differential cut or regular like most companies do. They also come in a wide variety of colors and have some good sales about three times a year on US holidays. Oh, and you can order a baffle or not, as well as straps to keep them on a pad and also cords to keep them snug against your body.

From a taste standpoint, Packit Gourmet are decent. Where they fall short is in calories, nutrition, and water requirements. The Peak Refuel meals you showed in the B-roll are more calorically dense, offer more sodium & protein per ounce, require less water per ounce, and generally taste really good. Always has perplexed me that people can be satisfied after eating a 300-500 calorie meal after a day of backpacking. To each their own, but I will keep being a stan for Peak Refuel until I find something better.

I do own the Bonfus Framus 48l and Iterus 38l. Both great packs! To the company. Nicolo and his sister are from Italy. Nicolo does live in Norway, where he's designing & testing all the gear. His sister does live in Mexico where she runs a small tailoring. Great little cottage!

WOW, didn't know! Thanks u Steven for the info!! I hike alone as well and have found the same problem with packing out unfinished food. Way too much for me to eat as well. Have a great day !!😊

Love your videos. Question. I have been looking for a quilt to replace my sleeping bag. I looked into El Coyote after watching your video and now I am torn between that and a UGQ Bandit with the added tension and no taper. They cost just about the same. In your opinion what would you consider the better of the 2?

Love my Onebottle Hydration 👍 it’s a game changer for me. Great vid as always!

Thanks Steven! Love your channel! 👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks for the tip on Pack It Gourmet. Definitely will give them a try. I bought a pair of MayFlys last week and will be testing them on a trip next week.🙌

I really, really like your videos. No hype. Great info. And your support of the Small Companies is Awesome. Thank$! Keep up the good work Steven!

Ventilation is probably the most important thing for me, and external frame packs are the only ones ive found that do this to a satisfying degree. Klättermusen has some REALLY nice ones. Ive only tried the 38 liter version of Klättermusen Raido (~1.3kg) so far, and its is miles ahead of any other backpack that i have tried, both with comfort, features, and QUALITY materials. Just ordered a 24liter Brimer (973g), which has most of the same features as the Raido 👍

Big thank you Stephen! My wife and I enjoy your channel and content. It's very relatable and entertaining. I'm pretty sure our dog Ollie likes it too! Ollie and I hike together mostly and like you, we mainly hike by ourselves and live 30 minutes East of Lake Tahoe. Blessed to live where we do! Thanks again and enjoy the adventure Stephen!

Loving the videos, keep up the good work man!

UL brands with which I have positive experience: Nunatak (quilts) Timmermade (quilts) KS Ultralight (packs) Zimmerbuilt (packs) Etowah Outdoor Gear (tarps) Borah Gear (bivvies, tarps) Ruta Locura (trekking poles)

All though my Lowe Alpine pack wasn't the lightest in the world my normal load out on the AT when I worked with the Forest Service was 53-58 lbs normally and the Lowe Alpine held up like a champ for 16 years and was a joy to carry with a big load. Ya I know that's really heavy, but realize I was out for 2 weeks at a time W/O resupply and caring a major trauma kit for any rescues I needed to perform besides. That's not counting water , a 2 lb trail axe , a minimal repelling gear set up for rescues and what ever else I might need for a particular back country project I may have had going and 65 lbs wasn't out of the norm for some deployments. Way more weight when I was doing wild land fire fighting out West. BTW the territory I used to patrol on the AT was from Hanover NH to Franconia via the Lake of the Clouds trail head to Dartmouth trail head and a few years working in the Lincoln Woods Wilderness area in Lincoln NH. My trail name was Talks With Animals and perhaps I just may have run into some of you old timers out there @ one time or the other,, ya never know, I patrolled those areas for ever and ran into a heard of folks during that time, so if we did happen to meet reply,,that would be a Hoot to talk to someone I may have meet way back in the day !

Love GGG. Have purchased several very handy backpacking items from them. I've wanted to love Packit Gourmet but couldn't get the hamburger to rehydrate. Oh, and that adaptor for the water bottle is the bomb! I love mine and drink much more water with this method.

I really love your channel! Good job dude! Congratulations from Spain ;)

Oh hey, I got a Bonfus framus 48L last summer, love that thing.

Great Vlog, keep em coming :)

Great list!

Does Waymark count as little known? I love my frameless 50L pack from them. So light!

What do you think about bagpacks which also open like carry on luggage?

Have a LiteAF pack. Would love to see you try one, it's incredible.

I love my hyperlite but for $100 less the Framus is worth a look for sure!

Nashville Packs. Most comfortable UL pack I have ever worn.

Hi, does the bonfus not suffer from a rounding problem, as it does not have a horizontal stay?

What camera do you use? (I'd ask about camping stuff, but your videos are already very thorough).

I would like to give a nod towards SWD packs, custom made, lightweight, made in the USA, configurable to how you want your pack to be...I love mine, very adaptable, great guys, awesome design, looks almost exactly like that Italian one, except I customized my straps, hip belt, extra pockets, etc.

The One Bottle system looks great! I just don't drink enough without that handy tube.

Those 2 servings for "other" brands are realistically one portion, especially after a long hike...so no worries about leftovers 🙂

Bonfus does make nice packs. Unfortunately like far too many pack manufacturers they don't make packs for people with 22in (55cm) or longer torsos. I understand why, but I do find it frustrating to always have such limited options that fit me.

Saw you used 1L water bottles in the side pockets of your framus. How'd it do with those? Thinking about buying one for some upcoming longer trips and was worried bc so many other packs don't have the depth of the side pockets needed for larger bottles in a dry climate.

Do you have a full review of the El Coyote in the pipeline?

I have a bonfus 1p tent (solus) it’s a great tent. Although not quite as good as my durston xmid pro 1p

great videos, thanks.

When looking at the bonfus backpack there's a medium and large option I'm assuming you are talking about the large. Great channel great vids

For food I buy raw ingredients from Packit Gourmet and cook them in a Jetboil MicroMo. For the carbohydrates I bring parboiled rice or instant potatoes.

Thanks Steven! I always kinda envied North America for your diversity in small companies making amazing specialized outdoor gear, which is not available here in Europe. Thanks for letting me know that there are some great companies here in Europe too. A pity it all costs crazy amount of money, but at least we have some options too :)

Great video,thanks 👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧

Italian here: Can we do the same funny videos skit for American based shops too? since theres one for the Italians (the Cars scene)..... there should be stereotypes for Americans too, like for the Texans, yeeeha, dont tread on my cowboy boots type situation!

Thanks!

where can I get the insulation sleeve for the camelbak hose that you have in this video, please? All the sleeves I've looked at are way too small for a camelbak hose (12mm). I don't really fancy buying a whole new tube with the sleeve for 20USD. thanks!

If ya gotta pimp... do it up town. GGG is growing into a really nice place to go. I love the never heard of's

Hey Sir, I just bought the Hyperlite Unbound before I learned about Bonfus Framus. Honestly they look like carbon copies of each other, almost like one is a lock off. Going on a hike to Switzerland. Wish brand would you recommend?

What hat is that? Is there a link for it?

How do you like the Humangear Duo ?

Cool vid Steven

Check Cumulus brand from Poland

Packit Gourmet is great! All American works burger is my favorite

The one bottle hydration system is so cool! Does anyone have any tips for getting that atrocious plasticy taste out of water bladders? I’ve rinsed and washed several times, tried a bit of soap, baking soda, etc but it still has that wonderful flavor 😬

try blue ice stache 60

well done 🤙

I love my El Coyote quilt!!

I made a water bottle adapter very similar to that for $7

Just here to support Big Bend NP!

Bonfus make amazing, great quality "handmade to order" ultralight DCF tents aswell, i have the Bonfus Middus 1P and I LOVE IT 🏕✨

Honest question: If quilt overstuffing is standard, isn't it no longer overstuffed?

I have an oex vallo 60 +10

Have you checked out Atompacks yet? The Bonfus pack reminds of my Atompacks “The Mo.”.

1:29 You know how you're always still hungry after one of those mountain meals? Let's make it even less, but charge the same! 😄 But seriously. That raises the question - how much do you eat on a hiking day compared to a everyday life day.

GGG, baby! Just ordered some Pack It Gourmet from them a couple days ago for an upcoming section hike of the AT in Pa.

Nice to meet you, Stevenbytheway 👋

that one random brand (source) that you said made those convertubes are not random at all. they are an israely company that makes a lot of gear for backpacking. like hiking sandals (simular to tevas but more durible), water bladers and many more, they are famos in israel but sdly aren't known any where else

Hello, I just came across your videos today and have watched 4 already, just wondering how you decide what trails you take and which ones you prefer not to (if any) I wanna get into backpacking and explore this beautiful country but idk where to start or how to get in the groove of things, anything would help, thanks

You’re the BEST!

I’ve put the rain cover over an osprey and the backpack still got soaked

I'm a fan of HMG packs

Packit gourmet is solid

And to think I was literally just about to buy a Hyperlite.

I don't want a quilt overstuffed. If I take a 20 degree quilt I want it to keep me safe down to 20. If I wanted a warmer quilt, I would buy a warmer quilt. I don't want extra weight for a quilt that is "warmer".

As a european nothing from Italy is fancy except food 😂

The backpack’s price unfortunately is not sweetening the deal. 😢 Seems in reach since it’s from Europe but it’s not less expensive than reknown U.S. brands.

Wait, you think that "two person" meals have too much food in them? You look at least slightly burly. Does half of a 700-calorie meal "two person" Mountain House (350-- less than one king-size Snickers) satisfy you after a day of backpacking?

Magic straps. 40lbs. Sounds like a day in the life of, for me.

You had 40 lbs in your pack because you didn’t have Dan Becker to carry your water for you.

UHHHHHHHH bonfas deez nuts??

liteway from ukraine also

"Overstuffing" is just that: a GIVEN model (and temp rating) of bag with ADDED down, etc...Saying that your bag is automatically "overstuffed" is pure marketing hogwash.

0:18 Talking about down sleeping bags : There's a french cottage company that uses natural, locally & ethically produced goose down (untreated). They use an old, wooden device to select the best down. They are located in a famous mountain region, and equip guides for decades ! When I hiked the AT, American hikers were daZZleD by the filling, overall quality and lightweight of my quilt. I'll share the company name after 10k likes :D

One. Big. Commercial.

Sorry but this is about everything but backpacks. A real disappointment.