Backpacking Light is the most authoritative place on the Web for hiking equipment information. A lot of thru-hikers, who test gear to the limits, hang out there. Even if they are chiefly concerned with grams, they do research into other properties like R-value and cubic feet per minute so that they can calculate cubic feet per minute per gram.

BPL‘s articles are only available to subscribers. Their forum posts contain more information, but they’re scattered and sometimes reference the articles. Trying to figure out what gear you should get can take hours of combing through forum posts.

If you want a single source of outdoor gear advice, Mark Verber’s guide is gold. He has an emphasis on lightweight backpacking, but informatively discusses all the options, including lowest cost. And he continues to update it based on new products (although there are broken links here and there). I can’t imagine a backpacking wiki would be any better.

If you only read one section, read about softshells and stop buying another unbreathable, overpriced GoreTex jacket every year. Mark introduced me to the Marmot DriClime; I’m currently shopping for another one because I wore holes in the durable fabric from heavy use.