Gear Picks is a curated selection of products we’ve tested and heartily recommend. We stand by this gear—and the brands that sell it—and many of our editors and writers use this stuff weekly. Whenever possible, we provide a link to a past review so you can make sure it’s something that suits your lifestyle—ideally at a steeply discounted price. Happy shopping—and gear-picking.
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Contributor Jakob Schiller included these pants in his holiday style guide. Schiller found the slim fit flattering and said the spandex-cotton blend “means they’re great on the bike if you commute to work.” They’re also stylish enough to wear at both the office and dinner parties.
The I/O Mags were a highlight of our 2019 Winter Buyer's Guide. Testers particularly loved the easy-to-use lens-swap tech, which relies on sturdy, hassle-free magnets to lock the glass in place.
We named this jacket the best uphill layer in our 2020 Winter Buyer’s Guide. “It’s as comfy as a cotton sweatshirt and treated with an interesting heat-regulating technology called ActiveTemp, made from a non-Newtonian polymer that becomes a liquid when cold, helping to block transmission of warm vapor,” we wrote.
Our testers hailed the Stretchdown as one of their favorite winter puffies. “Mountain Hardwear developed a loom that weaves the face fabric and lining simultaneously and creates the baffles without stitching,” one tester wrote. “A snug hood and 800-fill down retained warmth on 20-degree mornings.”
Our tester loved the ability to seamlessly swap between AAA batteries and the rechargeable ones that come with the ReVolt. And the torch has a max output of 300 lumens, which is nearly bright enough to light up an entire campsite.
In our 2020 Winter Buyer’s Guide, we featured this jacket as one of our favorite midlayers. “The Wolverine Cirque is for those of us who can’t decide what kind of midlayer to wear,” we wrote. This clever piece has the warm synthetic fill of a puffy, and the stretchy, quick-drying qualities of a fleece.
Packed with premium 850-fill down in the torso and synthetic insulation elsewhere, the Cerium LT is constructed to retain warmth where you need it (around your core) and manage moisture everywhere else. You’ll barely notice it in your pack: it weighs just 9.7 ounces.
The Tufly received big praise in our 2017 Summer Buyer’s Guide test of the best tents: “Might be the best tent I’ve ever used,” wrote one tester. It’s built to withstand three-season temperatures and has two doors and vestibules for easy access. That’s why we called it “a tent with every creature comfort you’d want at a drive-in campsite.”
We love the Klettersack for its beautiful, high-quality design. Our tester praised the bag's bomber construction: “The 22-liter pack features 1,000-denier Cordura fabric and heavy duty hardware so it'll put up with years of day-hike abuse.”
The Coleman Classic is one of our Gear Guy’s top choices for car camping. “The two 10,000-BTU burners take a little while to heat things up, but no one should be in a rush when out camping,” he wrote. “If anything ever breaks on a Classic—which rarely happens—replacement parts are easy to find, and the fixes are easy to make.”
One of our female editors’ favorite layers to cozy up in after a long day of skiing, the Better Sweater can also be dressed up thanks to the heathered knit face. We also like the zippered pocket on the sleeve, which is handy for keys and cards.