Gear Reviews

A backcountry skier in the Galena Summit area, Idaho.

The Best Gloves for Winter 2027—and All Seasons

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By Michael Lanza

Are you looking for gloves that keep your hands warm and dry in all seasons—yes, in winter, of course, but also models for spring through fall—and are made to last for years? As a professional gear reviewer who gets cold hands easily and spends many days outside year-round, from resort, backcountry, and Nordic skiing in the deep cold of winter to hiking and backpacking, trail running, biking around town, and working outside in cool temps at any time of year, I’ve used many types of gloves and learned a lot over the past three decades about how to select the right gloves for a variety of uses.

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A skier on Pilot Peak in Idaho's Boise Mountains.

The Best Mittens for Winter 2027

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By Michael Lanza

Let’s start with two truths about mittens: 1. We know they’re warmer than gloves. 2. We often choose gloves over mittens, anyway, for some reasons that make sense and some reasons that, well, don’t make much sense. Whether you need them for resort skiing or snowboarding, hiking, walking, snowshoeing, bike commuting, trail running, clearing snow, or something else, this review covers the best mittens for a wide range of temperatures and cold-weather activities.

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Gregory Paragon 60 2026 update.

Review: Gregory Paragon 60 and Maven 58

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Backpack
Gregory Paragon 60
$300, 60L/3,661 c.i., 3 lb. 10 oz./1.65kg (men’s SM/MD)
Sizes: men’s Paragon SM/MD and MD/LG, women’s Maven XS/SM and SM/MD
Women’s Maven 58: backcountry.com
Men’s Paragon 60: backcountry.com

This fall, I spent five weeks living out of a backpack in Europe, including a five-day hut trek through the Carnic Alps and countless hours hauling gear through train stations and across cities. For this job, I needed a pack that could remain comfortable and organized while carrying a substantial amount of weight. I chose the 2026 update of the Gregory Paragon 60, having been impressed by it during its 45-mile maiden voyage in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, and it provided the perfect home-away-from-home for my possessions for the whole trip.

The centerpiece of the trip was our family’s trek of the Carnic Peace Trail, which follows a rough ridgeline on the Austrian-Italian border, but I also had four other weeks of various mountain and urban activities to consider while packing. As a result, I ended up with an absolute pig of a pack—somewhere slightly over 50 pounds after adding food and water for the trek—and the Paragon carried the weight resolutely: The perimeter alloy frame with fiberglass cross-stay prevented any barreling or folding of the pack under this heavy load. I actually found this pack to offer some of the best heavyweight comfort I’ve worn, with my back not substantially bothered by about 50 pounds—though I’m 26, exercise a lot, and weigh 180 pounds, and many users would find a lower maximum comfortable weight.

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Review: Black Diamond Solution 2.0 Hoody

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Hooded Insulated Jacket
Black Diamond Solution 2.0 Hoody
$299, 13.8 oz./390g (men’s medium) 
Sizes: men’s S-XL, women’s XS-XL
Men’s: blackdiamondequipment.com
Women’s: blackdiamondequipment.com

The Black Diamond Solution 2.0 immediately struck me as a unique layer: at first glance, it’s a puffy, but upon deeper inspection, it’s lighter (in weight and insulation) than many synthetic puffies, and also features windproofness and high water-resistance, giving it features found in shells and insulation layers.

I’ve tested the Solution 2.0 as a midlayer and outer layer resort skiing on windy and wet days of moderate snowfall in spring and as my outer layer in chilly campsites while backpacking in the Wind River Range and elsewhere over the summer with the goal of resolving this dichotomy, and I found myself impressed by its performance—the Solution repels wind and water well and provides good warmth for a synthetic puffy of its weight.

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The Black Diamond Distance Wind Shell.

The Best Ultralight Hiking and Running Jackets of 2026

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By Michael Lanza

You’re out on an all-day hike or a long climb or trail run or ride in the mountains. The weather forecast looked pretty good before you set out—but no one shared that memo with the wind that just started hammering your summit ridge, or the spitting rain and hail now pelting you as you contemplate the sudden drop in temperature and the miles between you and shelter. The question now is: What’s in your pack?

If you’re smart—and the weather forecast didn’t look to awful—it’s an ultralight jacket that takes up little space, but is about to gift you with just the right amount of weather protection when you need it.

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