Gear
Archive
Pack Raft: A small inflatable raft that can be rolled up to fit in a backpack.
Nalgene bottle: A durable, wide-mouthed vessel originally designed to hold chemicals.
Doug Tompkins: Businessman and crusading conservationist who cofounded the North Face and Esprit.
Heart-Rate Monitor: A device that measures a wearer’s heart rate; particularly useful for monitoring exertion in athletes.
Surfboard Fin: A structural element, usually made of wood or fiberglass, attached to the bottom of a surfboard to aid maneuverability.
Double Vacuum: A technology dating back to 1892 that suspends one container inside another, leaving a small amount of air between the two to insulate the inner contents from external temperature changes.
Lifetime Warranty: A company’s promise to repair or replace an item that breaks.
USGS Topographical Map: A detailed representation of a landscape, created by the United States Geological Survey, and a rare example of something every bit as beautiful as it is useful.
A rapid sequence of radical innovations, such as appeared in cycling between 1984 and 1987, the sport’s Age of Enlightenment.
Fly rod: A skinny stick, usually 6 to 13 feet long, used in conjunction with a reel, a line, and hand-tied simulations of in-sects to catch fish.
Leatherman: A multitool invented by Tim Leatherman after wishing he had a pair of pliers while working on a rust-bucket Fiat with a pocket knife during a 1975 European road trip.
Wetsuit: An insulating garment that allows individuals to spend more time in cold water.
Jack O’Neill: A former commercial fisherman widely credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit.
Blimp-tired bicycles were developed for one of the most grueling endurance races in the world. But then everyone else realized how much fun they were.
Pulaski: A wildland-firefighting tool that combines an ax and an adze and is used to clear brush and small trees.
A sturdy, purpose-made fishing boot that has become the gold standard of footwear in the 49th state.
Garmin Forerunner 201: The world’s first all-in-one GPS-enabled running watch, released in 2003 by Kansas navigation company Garmin.
The Perfect Size Wheel: An elusive and controversial hoop that allows mountain bikers the ability to optimize progress over rocky terrain.
Founders of the Recreational Equipment Co-op (REI), which the couple started in their West Seattle home in 1938 as a way to help climber friends gain access to cheaper ice axes and harnesses by ordering bulk gear from Europe.
Telescoping front forks and articulating rear frame triangles that absorb bumps and shocks.
The brand of zipper that is likely keeping your britches up at this very moment. Headquartered in Tokyo, 81-year-old YKK (short for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushikikaisha, which translates as Yoshida Company Limited) was founded by Tadao Yoshida, who started making custom zippers to take advantage of breaks and…
Jeremy Jones: A pioneering big-mountain snowboarder and snowboard designer.
Swiss Army Knife: The world’s first consumer multitool, designed by cutler Karl Elsener with two blades, a screwdriver, and a can opener.
Westfalia: A breed of Volkswagen camper van prone to expensive repairs, yet beloved by those who own them and coveted by road-trip dreamers everywhere.
A category of gear that came into being in the late 1960s as more and more skiers ventured beyond resort boundaries.
Gone are the days of rangers in fire lookout towers. Now, mountain-top cameras are being used to spot smoke and flames.
Military-strong material with smart features for any civilian
Treat your feet right with bright art and classic comfort
Surfer Jamie O’Brien and his team made the fiery stunt look easy. But turns out, it took months of planning and some very specific gear to get right.
Towable as hell but built with enough room to host dinner parties
Some our favorite images from this year's Tour de France stages in the French Alps.
When you build the two millionth edition of an iconic 4x4, it deserves special treatment
Tenth Mountain Division: An Army outfit specializing in mountain warfare, devised during World War II around the idea that it was easier to make troops out of skiers than skiers out of troops.
A cool concept that does fisheries good
Glaciers! Trained grizzlies! $3.25-million dollar cameras! An inside look at the hottest bike flick of 2015.
The future has arrived, and because it’s built to fit you perfectly, it’s not going anywhere
Patagonia pulled on a thread and found migrant workers suffering under servitude in its supply chain. Will its disclosures prompt other brands to air their dirty laundry (or even look for it) as well?
A full-suspension 27.5+ built expressly for bikepacking? Who’da thunk?
Or you can at least get around onerous fees by tethering to it when you’re abroad
The $8,000 hanging shelter of your dreams
A brewery in New Zealand is fueling cars with beer
With crash-filled stages, an American competing for the podium, and an astonishingly dominant performance by Chris Froome of Team Sky on Tuesday, it’s been an exciting start to the 2015 Tour de France. These images do the action justice.
Putting the new bikepacking rig through its paces on the Tour Divide
Mood light, spotlight, emergency light—all in one adventure-ready box
The Wikipedia (and Google Street View) of the outdoors will change your life
A lid that incorporates turn signals and brake lights into its shell
It’s taken a decade, but an American is finally riding out of Lance Armstrong’s shadow and putting the U.S. back in contention at the world’s biggest bike race
Getting into paddling is a good call. Blowing your money on unnecessary gear is not. Here’s exactly what you need.
Makers of this crowdsourced device say it can save you from drowning
The six swim trunks you should be wearing this summer
Now you can truly see how you stack up versus the pros
Surfski (noun): The fastest, tippiest kayak. If you’re just getting into the sport, this is the boat for you.
Crowdsourced innovations promise to replace the old bike lock for good
How Whistler Blackcomb plans to save its disappearing glacier—along with a huge slice of business—with snowmaking technology
Blame the race organizers and the intense competition
Light, smooth, and durable.