Tested: This Year's Best Outdoor Gear!

This issue is full of very, very good gear. But how do you separate the good from the great? Six months of backpacking around the globe will do it. Our testers hiked, camped, climbed, and paddled in heat, cold, rain, snow, and wind to winnow hundreds of promising products down to a few dozen finalists. Then we took those candidates on a final shakedown on the Lycian Way in Turkey, where we spent a week backpacking along the coast and in the mountains. We hiked all day and debated all evening, culling the list even further. What’s left? Eleven of the year’s most innovative products.

COLUMBIA OUT DRY EX DIAMOND

This jacket never wets out. Period.

Hard truth: Even the best hardshells have a weakness. Eventually, the durable water repellent (DWR) on the fabric’s exterior deteriorates. Instead of beading off the surface, water soaks in. And while the fabric doesn’t actually leak—you’re still protected by a waterproof/ breathable membrane—you’ll feel chilled, clammy, and generally uncomfortable until you take steps to revive the chemical DWR treatment. Not so for the EX Diamond. Columbia’s new OutDry Extreme technology solves the problem of disappearing DWR by skipping the DWR altogether. How? The shell’s waterproof/breathable membrane is on the outside, so the surface needs no extra waterproofing (a polymer overlay protects the membrane). It has the durability of a rubber rain slicker with out the sweat—testers found the shell plenty breathable. Columbia says the spaces between the overlay’s tiny diamond shapes enhance breathability.