Top 10 Gear Picks

For serious winter snowshoeing over hiking trails and in the backcountry, you’ll want a winter hiking snowshoe that is durable, with aggressive crampons for traction, and a secure binding system that locks your boots to the snowshoes. If you’re interested in getting off the grid and snowshoeing through steep terrain …

Winter hiking boots have evolved tremendously over the past 10 years and are now lighter weight and more comfortable than ever before. Gone are the days when you needed to choose between military surplus boots, plastic mountaineering boots, or heavy pac boots to keep your feet warm. Today’s winter boots …

Winter backpacking backpacks are more specialized than regular three season backpacks, with a stronger emphasis on heavier weight loads, external attachment points, and durability for carrying bulky gear with sharp points like snowshoes, skis, ice axes, and crampons. They also favor more pockets and the ability to access and put …

Sporks are one of the backpacking industry’s greatest inventions. It’s a wonder that they’re not more widely used since having multifunction utensils would be such a great way to cut down on the plastic utensils polluting our oceans and urban landscape. Perhaps more amazing, is the amount of creativity and design …

Freestanding tents are the holy grail of backpacking and mountaineering tents because they can be set up quickly just about anywhere, on wooden tent platforms, rock, sand, snow, and even climber’s portaledges, without having to be staked to the ground first. Because they’re so desirable, many tent manufacturers claim that their …

Adjustable length backpacks let you change the torso length of a backpack so it does a better job of transferring weight from the shoulders to the hips. Traditionally, backpack companies have dealt with torso length by forcing you to choose between small, medium, or large frame heights which may or not …

Backpackers and campers have a wide range of stoves available to them ranging from all-in-one stove systems to general purpose units that can be used across a wide range of temperatures and locales. Backpacking stoves fall into three categories: isobutane canister stoves which are best for solo cooking and short …

Ventilated backpacks, also called suspended-mesh backpacks, keep you cooler and drier when backpacking in hot or humid weather or when you’re carrying a heavy load. First invented by Deuter Packs, they’re one of the most sought-after backpack features by backpackers. While many backpack manufacturers claim that their backpacks are ventilated, …