Gimme Shelter: The Best Backpacks, Sleeping Bags and Tents

More modest and realistic in larger base-camp tents is the line from Paha Que Wilderness.

The company's family-oriented tents (the Temescal starts at $450) actually make great base campers: big, airy and with nice netting to keep out the bugs. And at 32 pounds, this tent can be reasonably carried in pieces by two or three.

If you cannot live beyond the pup tent, I recommend what Hilleburg is doing with its tunnel tents. These odd-looking tubes of camping luxury are practically bulletproof. They are made for hanging out on ice in Sweden, after all. I like the new for 2007 Kaitum 3 ($595), which has 42 square feet of space, simply amazing for a portable tent.

If you must go even lighter, go with the new Yukon ($580) from Integral Designs, coming out in late October. Integral specializes in super-light shelters for true hiking and climbing nuts. (My sister is one such trekker climber, so I can say such things.) And this tent is a sub-four-pound ultralight workhorse, with decent vents, and can be simply assembled.

The Best Bedding and Bags

Once you're at camp, in your tent, the problem becomes getting a good night's rest.

Why suffer? Bring a real bed. A company called Aerobed just released a 7-inch-thick mattress that weighs less than five pounds. Twin and full sizes retail for less than $200.

I am a big fan of Travel Hammock's two-pound camping hammock, which comes with a matching mosquito net ($55). Simply tie the ends to two trees and you are snoozing large. I also like what Tent Cot has done with its bugproof bed ($195). And Slumberjack is making some very nice, traditional sleeping bags. The Baffin +20 degree bag ($130) is a sensible down affair with a nice zipper and mummy shape; it is light and will keep you comfy on your mattress or cot.

But if you must have the best, it must be from Valandre. These French uber-bags are the high-altitude climbers' choice: perfect seam work, smooth zippers and tons -- tons -- of down. One six-pound Valandre bag is rated down to an unbelievable -58 degrees Fahrenheit. That's really, really cold. And the Swing 700 is an excellent bag for average camping and hiking. It has a +5 degree rating, great shaping -- and a searingly expensive $380 list price.

However, the award for cleverness in sleeping comfort goes to Big Agnes. Agnes integrates a sleeping mat directly into a sleeve that runs along the bottom of the sleeping bags. In other words, the mattress and bag are one unit. This brilliant innovation means is no rolling off at night. I loved it. My pick of the company's Park Series bags, the Hog Park +20 degree bag, is huge and oh so comfy -- and at $129, very much a bargain.

Now, considering all this potential camping luxury, is there really any point in giving any of it up for a slighter lighter load or longer hike in? Not to me.

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