My Favorite 10 Pieces of Gear from 2025

I was busier than ever in 2025.

With my wife completing her clinical evaluations, and my daughter entering elementary school, my daily schedule became an unending series of school drop-offs, extracurricular pickups, and Zoom meetings. My bandwidth for outdoor adventures became painfully thin, and I sought out activities that delivered the most bang-for-endorphin buck.

I bid farewell to my beloved meandering bike rides and all-morning skiing sessions, and instead embraced trail running, indoor cycling, swimming, and pre-dawn hikes. I sought out gear that could withstand short bursts of abuse followed by long periods of neglect. I’d use a piece of gear for an hour, toss it into the back of my Subaru, only to fish it out several days later to one again be doused in sweat or covered in mud and dust.

The gear I used most frequently in 2025 reflected this daily regimen of mistreatment. And the stuff I loved were the shoes, shirts, ski boots, and packs that survived the ordeal. Here are 10 pieces of gear I loved in 2025.

Coalatree Kachula Adventure Blanket Greater Zion Edition

Is this product a puffy blanket, a sleeping bag, a hoody, or a storage bag? All four. The Kachula became my daughter’s go-to blanket for its cozy versatility. At first glance, it looks like a standard puffy blanket, but the thing can also be worn as a hoody, and it can be snapped together to form a warm sleeping bag. There are also sizable pockets that my kiddo fills with her stuffed animals during sleepovers or campouts. I wholeheartedly recommend this blanket for any parents looking to keep their kiddos entertained and warm on a trip to the backcountry. And the Greater Zion edition is emblazoned with a gorgeous design inspired by the Utah national park, and 20 percent of the proceeds go to the park’s charitable foundation.

Salomon Elixir Gore-Tex Hiking Shoes

These aren’t the lightest, quickest, or sexiest hiking shoes out there—in fact, the Salomon Elixirs are designed for the heavy-duty rigors of thru-hiking. I didn’t complete any thru-hikes this year. But on Wednesday mornings in the fall, I’d take to the rocky and punishing trails in Boulder’s foothills for several hours of pre-dawn hiking and trail running. I was often navigating tricky terrain in the dark, and the Elixirs were pretty much idiot-proof. I never once worried about twisting an ankle or spraining a knee, because the massive and tough soles of these shoes always seemed to land flat. Even when I misjudged a rock or stepped awkwardly—which I did a lot—the shoes overcompensated for my clumsiness. You will bang them into logs and rocks and sticks along the trail. But you won’t care. Walking in them is like driving a 1968 Buick. You could drive through a paint store and not even notice it.

Fender X Teufel Rockster Go 2 

This powerful little speaker became the entertainment MVP in my house this year. When I first got it, I stationed it next to my indoor cycling setup and used it to blast Metallica or the Bill Simmons Podcast (depending on my mood) during my 45-minute workouts. But when the weather got nice, the speaker became a must-have on camping trips, outings to the local swimming pool, and backyard sessions on our trampoline. Unlike most handheld Bluetooth speakers, the Rockster Go 2 packs full-throated bass with no tinniness. The battery life was far superior to other Bluetooth handheld devices I’ve had in the past. During one family BBQ, it kept us jamming to tunes during a volleyball game that went from the mid-morning well into the late afternoon.

Giro Gritter MTB Shoes

Expensive racing cycling shoes aren’t supposed to survive more than a season or two. That’s because they’re built to be lightweight and stiff, but not necessarily hearty and robust. I’ve spent more than a year beating and bashing on my Giro Gritter mountain biking shoes, and they are still just as stiff and sturdy as they were on Day 1. I credit a lot of this to the new low-profile Dual Li2 Dials made by fit system BOA. I’ve struggled with high-performance shoes featuring BOA dials in the past, because I tend to over-tighten them and break the dials or tear the cords. But I have yet to put a dent into the Li2 dials, and I hope they survive more of my harsh treatment.

Osprey Talon 6

I recently opened my trusty Osprey lumbar pack and discovered detritus left over from my various outings in the spring and summer: mummified mandarin orange peels, a crusty bottle of dried sunscreen, a spare 29-inch cycling inner tube and a CO2 cartridge, and a tattered trail map. The Osprey Talon 6 was my go-to pack for short hikes with my kiddo, trail running sessions, and even mountain bike rides. My model is probably eight seasons old, and while the orange color is starting to fade, the fabric is still as strong as it was when I purchased it. I love the pack for its massive storage compartment and for its smart weight distribution. You can over-stuff it with items and not feel the weight on the trail.

The North Face Sunriser Hoodie

The dream of any lazy endurance athlete is to find a piece of clothing so versatile that you can wear it no matter the temperature, condition, or sport. I’ve very nearly achieved this dream with The North Face’s Sunriser Hoodie. It was my go-to garment in the summer and fall for predawn hikes and trail runs in the foothills. Credit the shirt’s flashdry fabric for wicking my sweat and keeping my cool. But as the season changed, I continued to reach for the Sunriser Hoodie for my early-morning skinning sessions at the ski resort. I wear it either as my base underlayer beneath my soft shell, or as my primary layer on warmer mornings.

The North Face Lightrange Sunriser 2-in-1 Shorts

The lower half of my hiking and running kit, these shorts wick sweat and handle odors better than any running pants or shorts I wore this year. I frequently would sweat in them for several hours on the trail, only to wear them into the nearest cafe for a post-workout coffee. Not once did I have to worry about my BO chasing the other cafe guests away. They remained fresh even after living in the back of my Subaru for a day or so. These shorts also became a swimsuit in a pinch.

Tecnica Mach1 LV 120

I’ve skied since the mid-eighties, and for most of this time I have endured awful foot pain. I was cursed with misshapen feet—they are long, narrow, and remarkably low-volume. Throughout my life I’ve struggled with all types of footwear, but ski boots are the worst. I have to ratchet them down to their tightest setting just to get any power transfer between my feet and skis, and this over-tightening always leads to cramps, pinching and pain. I solved my problem in early January when I purchased Tecnica’s low volume-specific model, per the advice of former Outside associate editor Jake Stern. The boots revolutionized my skiing. I was able to shred all day at the resort with fantastic control and no pain. It isn’t often that an activity feels like new after nearly 40 years. But that’s just what these boots did for me.

The Ski Pack

 

I wrote a lengthy story about The Ski Pack back in April, and explained how the device was invented by two Colorado school kids as part of an extracurricular problem solving program. I still marvel at this invention and rely on it for my own family days at the slopes. Here’s the Cliffs Notes on why this thing rocks: It is a backpack-style ski carrier that even a small child can use to carry his or her skis from the car to the lift. When not in use, it crumples down to the size of a handkerchief and rests in your pocket with little or no bulk. While this may seem simple, it’s a quality that sets it apart from other minimalist ski carriers.

Arc’teryx Sabre SV

The ski industry’s dedication to breathability has produced a wide range of awesome shells and coats that wick moisture out while keeping warmth in. Alas, the delicate membranes used in these garments aren’t always the most durable. I’ve learned this the hard way. My skiing style tends to replicate that of a boulder crashing through trees and over rocks on its way down a mountain. Most of my coats now sport patches from my frequent crashes and tree-strikes.

I’ve taken the Sabre SV on a handful of outings this winter, and thus far no tears, rips. or scratches. I credit the coat’s N100d fabric for the bomb-proof construction. No, this coat isn’t the lightest, and I probably wouldn’t wear it while ascending the skin track. But for a cold day of tree skiing in deep powder, the Sabre SV is tops (now we just need some more snow).

Honorable Mention: Shokz OpenSwim Pro

I got back into the swimming pool in early 2025 and learned the hard way that waterproof headphone technology is still in its infancy. Here’s the glitch holding the tech back: Bluetooth signals can’t travel underwater, so you can’t stream music from Spotify or other streaming services to your headphones while they are in-use. There are some contraptions that overcome this technological hurdle, but these are expensive or cumbersome. Instead, most waterproof headphones work the old-fashioned way: you download an Mp3 from the Internet to your computer, and then upload them to the device’s memory. This method, of course, is tough for anyone who belongs to a streaming service. But I found the Shokz Open Swim to be a user-friendly product in this category. I use them in the water and on land. And while I wish they would allow me to stream music, I have found ways to download Mp3 files onto them to enjoy a workout in the water.