I still remember the morning my chain snapped ten miles from home with no tools, no phone signal, and a long walk in cycling shoes. That single ride pushed me to build out a proper bike tool kit, and over the last three years our team has tested nearly every multi-tool and full bicycle repair […]

If you've ever tried to fish a granola bar out of a backpack pocket while scrambling over rocks, you already know why hiking fanny packs became essential trail gear. After testing dozens of waist packs across hundreds of trail miles in the Pacific Northwest and Sierra Nevada, our team narrowed the field to the eight […]

I have spent more than 800 trail miles testing hip belt pouches for backpacks on everything from weekend day hikes to multi-day backcountry trips. After that many switchbacks, sweaty climbs, and surprise rainstorms, I can tell you which ones hold up, which ones bounce, and which ones earn a permanent spot on my pack. This […]

After watching a friend lose 15 minutes re-threading a stiff leather belt through soaked belt loops on a rainy Tahoe loop, I knew I had to take the best hiking belts seriously. Our team has been testing outdoor gear as a group for over a decade, and over the past four months we strapped 12 […]