Gear Reviews

The Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell and Fineline Stretch Full-Zip Pants on New Zealand's Milford Track.

Review: Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell and Pants

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Rain Jacket and Full-Zip Pants
Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Shell
$180, 10 oz./283.5g (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-3XL, women’s 2XS-2XL
Men’s: blackdiamondequipment.com
Women’s: blackdiamondequipment.com

Black Diamond Fineline Stretch Full-Zip Pants
$155, 9 oz./255.1g (men’s small)
Sizes: men’s XS-XL, women’s 2XS-XL
Men’s: blackdiamondequipment.com
Women’s: blackdiamondequipment.com

Few places test rain gear as brutally as New Zealand’s chronically rainy Fiordland National Park—which is where I put Black Diamond’s Fineline Stretch Shell and Full-Zip Pants through the paces in early December (late spring there) on two classic hut treks where rain occurs almost as prevalently as oxygen: the Routeburn Track and the Milford Track (photo above). In some of the heaviest and most relentless wind-driven rain I’ve encountered over four decades of hiking and backpacking, this jacket and pants performed quite impressively—and I saw their limits.

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The Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio.

Review: Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio

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Two-Way Radio
Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio
$110 each/$220 per pair
6.1 oz./172.9g (one radio only), 7.9 oz./224g (including carabiners and leash)
rockytalkie.com

Over more than 30 years of climbing and skiing in the backcountry, I’ve had a few close calls, some directly due to the inability of my partner and I to hear or see one another. One of my most trusted partners—a longtime friend who once saved me from a potentially long lead-climbing fall by leaping down a steep hill at the route’s base to reel in many feet of rope—also once took me off belay before I reached the top of a pitch and anchored myself; fortunately, I didn’t fall. After relying on the sketchy low tech of shouting and rope signals for much too long, I’ve found a vastly more reliable, light, and inexpensive solution: the Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio.

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The Patagonia Black Hole Pack 32L.

Review: Patagonia Black Hole Pack 32L Travel Pack

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Travel Pack
Patagonia Black Hole Pack 32L
$169, 32L/1,831 c.i., 1 lb. 12.6 oz./810g
One size
backcountry.com

If you’re like me, whenever you’re flying somewhere for a few days, maybe a week or more, you ask yourself the same question: Can I do this without checking luggage? Not only do I loathe paying a luggage fee, but I don’t want to give an airline the opportunity to lose my luggage. Plus, I like the convenience, low expense, and the ethically and morally correct choice (in this age of climate crisis) of using public transportation to and from airports—which is really only feasible when carrying one small, light, portable bag or pack. For me, the carry-on of choice is the Patagonia Black Hole Pack 32L.

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A backcountry skier in Idaho's Boise Mountains.

The Best Clothing Layers for Winter in the Backcountry

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By Michael Lanza

There’s one thing we can confidently say about the clothing layers we use in winter: We get our money’s worth out of them. While a rain shell or puffy jacket may rarely come out of our pack on a summer hike or climb, we almost invariably wear every article of clothing we carry when Nordic, downhill, or backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, trail running, or climbing in winter. That’s money spent wisely to make us more comfortable and safer.

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Backpackers at night with headlamps in a campsite in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, Yosemite National Park.

The Best Headlamps of 2025

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By Michael Lanza

A headlamp is unquestionably essential gear for hiking, backpacking, climbing, trail running, ultra-running and ultra-hiking, ski touring, and other backcountry activities that sometimes push into darkness (whether intentionally or not). But with so many to pick from, how do you choose which one to buy? Price? Brightness? Weight? Design and range of lighting modes? Go with a brand you know and trust? This review cuts through the information overload to help you pick the right headlamp for your adventures.

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