Every year our editors test the latest backpacking gear essentials to find their favorites, displayed in our Editors’ Choice gear awards.
For five months, we crisscrossed continents, climates, and comfort zones to put the newest outdoor products to the ultimate hiker’s test. A final, weeklong gauntlet in the Pyrenees Mountains, in Spain’s Catalonia region, was the finishing touch: By its end, we had elected these 12 winners of this year’s Editors’ Choice Awards.
We've been giving out Editors' Choice Awards for 25 years—and these 11 products have stood the test of time.
Our top picks for fall and winter camping and adventuring.
A lightweight backpack, custom-molded boots, and the best lip balm we've ever tried: meet our favorite gear of the season.
How do you separate good gear from great gear? Six months of backpacking around the globe will do it. Our testers hiked, camped, climbed, and paddled in heat, cold, rain, snow, and wind to winnow hundreds of promising products down to a few dozen finalists.
After months and miles of testing, we found 12 products that set new benchmarks for performance, innovation, and value. From tents with wide-open views to the comfiest sleeping pad we've ever used, here's the best gear you'll find this year.
Trail beta gets a community-oriented app.
Say goodbye to the tent-bound blues.
Practice makes perfect with this full-featured avalanche pack.
This responsive insulation works hard because you do.
This jacket has all the warmth of a puffy, but none of the puff.
Make room for new skins. But not much room.
The gold standard of touring boots gets lighter and stiffer.
These skis won’t weigh you down or jostle you around.
Upgrade every meal with this ultralight and ultratasty guac.
Wool is the latest and maybe final solution to a timeless problem.
This sock is the foundation of comfort on long-haul ski tours.
When you want an extra pack but don’t want to carry an extra pack, take this featherlight bag.
The most livable group tent out there gets better.
One of our favorite waterproof/breathable fabrics gets an eco-friendly upgrade.
This superlight merino/synthetic top works in all temps.
This no-fuss filter fixes every problem with squeeze hydration.
Banish sore hips and pack sway with a new hipbelt that moves with you in all directions.
The backpacker breakfast staple gets a long-overdue upgrade.
Save weight and money with this minimalist recliner.
Stay high and dry with a chair that’s so light you’ll never want to leave it behind.
Full storm protection was never this stretchy.
If you’ve been waiting to get a premium down bag because of price, stop waiting.
Upgrade your next trip with one of these tasty, trail-friendly brews.
Defy the snow with these nine new winter camping essentials.
This smartwatch is primed for crushing some trail.
It lets you text your friends in the backcountry.
These ultradurable cables pack small and withstand abuse.
Finally, a full-featured GPS watch that cares about vert as much as you do.
This compact touchscreen GPS unit is beautifully simple.
Do gadgets belong in the backcountry? When they help you play harder, they do.
These goggles fit seamlessly with all helmets.
They offer the best field of vision.
One lens to rule them all.
Get the best bang for your buck.
These shades transform into glacier goggles.
These lenses offered the best clarity.
Innovative insulation kept testers’ hands toasty.
Backcountry rippers dug this versatile glove.
Call it storm armor for your paws.
Check out Josette Deschambeault's author page.
Check out Josette Deschambeault's author page.
Check out Josette Deschambeault's author page.
Check out Josette Deschambeault's author page.
This sock was designed with the ski tourer in mind.
This light sock doesn’t skimp on features.
Keep your hands toasty and charge your phone at the same time.
Be a hero: Haul heavy winter loads.
This insulated bottle is the thinnest and lightest in its class.
Powder is no match for these beginner-friendly snowshoes.
They got the job done in (almost) all conditions.
Runners will love these lightweights.
It has everything a mountaineer needs to stage a crevasse rescue.
It’s the smartest avy pack to date.
We hauled big loads with this avy pack.
It’s a shovel. It’s an axe. It’s a . . . Shaxe!
Check out Ryan Horjus's author page.
Check out Ryan Horjus's author page.
A classic just got better.
Edges that lock together stay together.
Now you can tour with a fat pow board.
This splitboard-specific boot is ready to climb.
When it gets deep, there’s no better rig.
These skis delivered a best-in-class ride.
They can handle all conditions, top to bottom.
We dug these hard-charging fat skis in the sidecountry.
Walking is effortless with these futuristic boots.
We loved technical descents on these light-but-stable planks.
Don’t carry more weight than you have to.
It’s a true one-ski quiver.
This four-buckle boot is ultracustomizable.
The hardest-charging boot in our lineup actually has an incredible range of motion in walk mode.
This boot charges as hard as it climbs.
We loved this anatomically shaped featherlight on long, gentle tours.