Gear guides and trail knowledge
Start here, then go outside.
Everything there is to know about hiking gear and where to take it. Picks ranked from specs and buyer reviews, never paid placement.
Latest guides
Power Banks
Best Power Banks for Backpacking of 2026
A 10,000 mAh bank gives most phones roughly one and a half to two charges, and the ounces matter more than the number on the box. Eight power banks ranked on charge per ounce, ports and weatherproofing, from a three-ounce Nitecore to the Goal Zero Venture 75.
11 min readRead the guide →
Water Bottles
Best Water Bottles for Hiking of 2026
Plastic, insulated steel or soft? Eight hiking bottles ranked on weight, leaks, cold water and which filters screw onto them, from the Nalgene to the two-liter Platy.
11 min readRead the guide →
Binoculars
Best Hiking Binoculars of 2026
Eight binoculars light enough to bring every time. Why most hikers should pick 8x over 10x, what exit pupil does at dusk, and which popular pair to skip if you wear glasses.
12 min readRead the guide →
From Basecamp
Trails, skills and the words everyone uses without explaining. No gear pitches.
Photo: Ocean Star — CC BY 3.0, cropped
Skills
Winter hiking for beginners in the Northeast
In winter the Adirondacks and Catskills go quiet, you can see out through the bare hardwoods, and the spruce on the high summits turn white with rime. Getting started takes skill more than toughness: traction matched to the ground, layers you don't sweat through, and a day planned backward from sunset.
19 min readRead it →
What we cover
The words on the box
Gear listings are written in a language nobody teaches you. Every term our guides lean on has its own page, with a straight answer at the top.
Browse the whole glossary →How we pick gear
Research-backed picks
We weigh published specs against Amazon buyer reviews, so you can see what actually works.
Trail focused
No gym shoes or car-camping bloat here, just what works on dirt, rock, and ridgeline.
No paid rankings
Picks are ranked on specs and buyer reviews, never on who pays us.
For every hiker
Side-by-side comparisons that show why one pick beats another for your kind of miles.