Hiking

Backpacks virtually always have the same basic structure: a storage pouch hanging from a set of shoulder straps. The ME-2 dares to be different. This all-new backpack doesn't go over your shoulders at all, instead wrapping around your torso and catching a ride.

Austrian startup Fontus is developing a novel water bottle that is vaporware in just about every sense of the phrase. Not only does it not yet exist in the marketplace, but it is claimed to literally pull water vapor out of the air to fill itself.

The "world's smartest headlamp" is getting smarter. Petzl introduced its reactive Nao headlamp back in 2012 and has now returned with an upgrade, the Nao+.

Outdoorsmen (and women) looking to drop their backpacks have a number of new alternatives for hauling gear into the wild. Zuca adds the latest in the All Terrain, a burly, aluminum-framed roller with large, knobby tires and a hunger for rough, open spaces.​

While backpacks remain one of the most comfortable and popular ways of carrying everyday necessities around, they're not perfect. The Paxis backpack attempts to solve one downside, eliminating the need to take the pack off to access your most essential items.

What do you get when you cross a chair and a hammock? Why, Chammock, of course. Chammock is a small and compact chair that takes up very little room in your backpack, but which offers a comfortable chair when unfolded and hung between two trees.

Preparing for an outdoor adventure can involve throwing any number of gadgets in your pack before you set out. Aimed at lightening the load, startup Fogo Digital has developed a multi-purpose flashlight that squeezes a number of functions into a single pocket-sized device.

Over the years, the backpack has gained new and improved features, but it's remained essentially the same: a dual-strapped sack. The Offpiste UltraPack leaps forward a few evolutionary stages, strapping a gear-hauling triangle to your torso via a single strap for newfound athleticism.

Jarmund/Vigsnæs Arkitekter (JVA) recently completed the Rabot Tourist Cabin, a rugged cabin that shelters hikers in Norway's Okstindan mountain range, some 1,200 m (3,937 ft) above sea level.

In 2013, Hydrapak introduced its SoftFlask series of soft-sided TPU water bottles designed to collapse into your pocket. The all-new Stash combines this soft-sided design with a flat bottom that snaps together with the top, making the packed bottle even easier to transport.

Keeping mobile electronic devices powered up can be difficult for the modern camper and hiker. Windpax addresses such users with a collapsible, portable wind turbine system designed to not take up too much space in a backpack.

The Vertex Ultralight Backpacking Stove is a small, light stove that folds away flat when not in use. This makes it ideal for backpackers, hikers, and campers, who can use the saved space to carry more food.