The Best Hiking Tech of 2016
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Spending the night outside just got brighter, cleaner, and easier.
MSR Guardian Water Purifier
Backcountry water pumps are easy to use and durable. Trouble is, most strip out only protozoa and bacteria, not tiny viruses. Enter the Guardian: the filter’s pores are ten times smaller than the competition’s, stopping even the smallest bugs.
Price $350
Goal Zero Nomad 7 Plus Charger
Solar panels can be finicky, draining the device you’re trying to charge when daylight wanes. Not so the netbook-size Nomad 7. A light sensor keeps tabs on how much sun’s available. If clouds roll in mid-charge, the unit powers down and then resumes when skies clear.
Price $100
Gerber 39 Series Micarta Knife
A good knife is as important as a good tent. We used the Micarta for everything from collecting kindling to slicing ripe tomatoes to powering through heavy rope—all tasks it excelled at because of its one-handed thumb lift and burly steel blade.
Price $170
Jetboil MicroMo Stove
The MicroMo boils water just as fast and simmers just as smoothly as Jetboil’s 32-ounce MiniMo, but in a svelter 27-ounce package. Expect to have water for two cups of coffee ready in about two minutes. It’ll also cook a freeze-dried meal in no time.
Price $130
Brunton Resync 6000 Charger
The wallet-size Resync 6000 packs enough juice to resuscitate your smartphone four times. But its coolest feature is the built-in solar panel, which lets you refuel the waterproof unit without an outlet. Just be patient: the process takes about 50 hours.
Price $90
Leatherman Signal Multitool
The Signal packs 19 essential trail tools into a sleek package that’s about half the size of your smartphone. Our two favorites: the fire-starting ferro rod and the 2.7-inch saw, which made short work of twine and twigs.
Price $100