Marcus Lin

About

Marcus is an ultralight backpacking obsessive whose base weight is 9.2 pounds and who has an opinion about every gram in your pack whether you asked for it or not. He's a certified mountain guide who leads backcountry trips in the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, and he puts gear through multi-day trips with detailed field notes, GPS tracking, and a food scale that his hiking partners have learned to tolerate. His sleeping bag reviews include actual temperature measurements inside the bag at 3am — not the manufacturer's EN rating, the real number when you're at 11,000 feet and the wind is howling. He maintains the most comprehensive ultralight gear spreadsheet on the internet (14 tabs, 300+ items, weight verified to the tenth of an ounce), and he's been a Leave No Trace Master Educator since 2019, which means he'll also judge your campsite selection.

5 years of experience in outdoor gear.