Black Diamond gloves reviews

A backpacker hiking the Highline Trail past Elbow Lake in Wyoming's Wind River Range.

25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories of 2024

By Michael Lanza

Sure, your backpack, boots, tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, and other backpacking gear matter a lot, and you should put serious thought into your choices when buying any of them. But little things matter, too. Various necessary accessories, convenience items, and small comforts accompany me on backcountry trips. Nearly three decades of field-testing gear—including the 10 years I spent as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—has refined my sense of what I like on certain types of trips and what I will not do without anytime.

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A backcountry skier in Idaho's Boise Mountains.

The Best Gloves For Winter 2024

By Michael Lanza

Looking for winter gloves that keep your hands warm and dry and are made to last for years? As a professional gear reviewer who gets cold hands easily and spends many days outside in winter, from downhill, backcountry, and Nordic skiing to trail running, biking around town, and working outside, I’ve used many types of gloves and learned a lot over the years about how to select the right gloves for a variety of uses.

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Gear Review: Black Diamond Soloist Winter Glove

Black Diamond Soloist

Winter Glove
Black Diamond Soloist
$110, 9 oz. (men’s medium)
Sizes: men’s XS-XL, women’s XS-L
blackdiamondequipment.com

Routinely getting cold fingers is a real drag when you like to ski fresh backcountry powder. I’ve tried a lot of gloves over the years, looking for ones that will keep my fingers from turning white, not cost a fortune, and allow me reasonable dexterity. For most of last winter and my first days on snow this winter, skiing the backcountry and resorts from Idaho’s Boise Mountains to Oregon’s Wallowas, I’ve pulled on the Soloist for cold days and never suffered painful digits.

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