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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Editor Maren Larsen called this bag “the best gift she’s ever received.” While the original version of the Lamina she tested is discontinued, this is the newest model. “The inside feels like a cloud wrapped in silk sheets, thanks to the polyester-taffeta lining,” she wrote. Read her full review here.
These gloves raised nearly $225,000 when they debuted on Kickstarter in 2016. Contributor Jakob Schiller is a big fan. "With a waxed and baked leather outer, waterproof-breathable membrane, and Thinsulate insulation, they're great for frigid resort ski days while being breathable enough for long backcountry missions," he wrote.
These gloves live in columnist Jakob Schiller’s car at all times. “The leather palm is tough enough for putting on chains or sawing wood but supple enough for riding a bike,” he wrote. “Wool on the back lets your hands breathe, and a wool lining inside keeps your digits warm, even when it’s below freezing.”
This polyester mask comes in a kit that includes a three-pack of filters and a protective storage pouch. It’s finished with an antimicrobial treatment that the brand says will diminish after 30 washes. One tester said the wire over the nose “gives a secure fit without feeling like Darth Vader.”
Our Gear Guy called the Lowball the only Yeti product you actually need. “I’ve been using this tumbler almost every day since August 2015, and after four and a half years of heavy use, it still works just as well as the day I got it,” he wrote.
Our testers Elizabeth Miller and Justin Nyberg called the Griffin “the most dynamic and customizable big-load hauler we’ve seen.” That’s what made this multi-day pack worthy of a Gear of the Year award in 2019. “If you often find yourself stopping to fiddle with the fit of your pack, the Griffin can solve that for you,” they wrote.
Columnist Graham Averill rounded up his favorite headlamps back in 2017, and some models on his list still hold up today, like the 280-lumen Inova STS. Averill liked its “swipe-to-shine interface that works just like your iPhone: slide your finger across the top of the headlamp to turn it on and adjust the brightness.”
The Daylite doesn’t come with a bladder, but there’s storage aplenty: 20 liters in the main compartment plus an exterior pocket. The sleeve in the main compartment can house a reservoir you buy separately, or it’ll accommodate a tablet or small laptop if you’re just using it for commuting. If you’re extra thirsty, two side bottle pockets boost the Daylite’s water-carrying capacity.
The Microlite won our Gear Guy’s insulated water bottle test. “It’s remarkably light, and is the least expensive of the bottles I tested,” he wrote. “It almost never pans out that the lightest, most affordable product also demonstrates the highest performance, but the Microlite 1000 really has it all.”
Our testers called the Cosmic Down 20 one of the best bang-for-your-buck sleeping bags in our 2018 roundup. It’s stuffed with 600-fill down, wrapped in a 50-denier ripstop polyester shell, and rated down to 20 degrees.
We called the Field Shirt the “Swiss Army knife of utility layers” in our Holiday Gift Guide. Made from organic cotton twill, the shirt is soft against the skin and holds up to activities like hiking or yard work.