Best Down Booties For Backpacking 2023 – GWC Mag

Best Down Booties For Backpacking 2023

High Warmth-To-Weight Ratio, Packable, Lightweight, and Ultralight Booties

October 24, 2023 – When backcountry camping in temps at or below freezing, the situation calls for lightweight down booties. Thick socks won’t cut it! You’re only as comfy as your coldest body part, thus foot insulation is mission critical in staying warm. Without booties, you will be locked in sleeping bag jail. With booties, synthetic or down, you are free to enjoy your evenings out of the sleeping bag in comfort and style.

This guide is entirely focused on lightweight and ultralight backpacking booties. Every model we cover is 10 oz or less, with the lightest down socks weighing 2 oz or less. We strongly recommend that you avoid full-tread booties designed for car camping, yurt-ing-, hut-ing, cabin-ing, etc, as they’re too heavy and bulky to feasibly carry while backpacking. For example, the most popular model in that genre – The North Face ThermoBall Traction Booties, is 6x heavier than Alan’s preferred system of GooseFeet Gear Down Socks + Over-Booties, yet they are approximately equal in terms of warmth.

Cold weather adventurers may also be interested in our guides to 0 degree sleeping bags, 0 degree quilts, winter sleeping pads, down parkas, and 4 season tents.

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