GEAR OF THE YEAR

These are our Best in Test winners and other standout performers that we think you just can’t live without to ensure 2017 is your best year yet...

BEST INSULATION Marmot Astrum £190

While down generally has a greater warmthweight ratio, it’s also more vulnerable to moisture. Great comfort, warmth and practical features get this synthetic insulator a top score. This jacket is made entirely from stretchy breathable materials, even the insulation stretches, so it never feels restrictive. There’s a great hood, two roomy chest pockets and it squashes down nicely. Our tester this winter described it as: “A superb jacket for British winters, with the stretch insulation and other details setting it apart.” Weight 488g (men’s M) Material Stretch ripstop nylon with Thermal R Active synthetic insulation Sizes S-XL (men’s) XSXL (women’s)

BEST ALL ROUND WALKING BOOTS Zamberlan 960 Guide GTX £210

When attempting to choose the best boot of the year we thought about its suitability for general hillwalking, its comfort, build quality and fit. The 960 Guide has a thick leather upper with minimal stitching and specialist water resistant treatment, with a Gore-Tex lining to add further protection. A rubber rand circles the boot, making it more robust and the deep lugged Vibram sole gives excellent grip. It’s comfortable and rolls over rough, rocky ground offering plenty of support when carrying overnight gear. It will also take a crampon at a push and is sized for both men and women.

A winner on many counts.

Weight 1894g (pair, men’s 46) Material Hydrobloc nubuk leather with GoreTex lining Sizes 40-48 (men’s) 37-43 (women’s) both inc half sizes

BEST HEADTORCH Petzl Reactik £65

The Reaktik is features laden. It can adjust automatically to distance, or run for a set period of time to conserve battery. On full throttle, it throws out an impressive 220 lumens (good for night nav) and lower power modes are well suited to camping. There’s a red bulb for night vision and you can swap out the rechargeable batteries for AAAs – invaluable on a long trip. Small and reasonably priced for the tech, for hillwalking, camping and night navigation, it’s great. Weight 114g Power source micro USB rechargeable Li-Ion or 3 x AAA batteries

BEST DAYPACK Vaude Brenta 30 £100

Winner of Best 30-35 litre Rucksack for the past three years in a row, this is simply an excellent all-rounder. It’s comfortable to wear, with a mesh back panel holding the pack away from your body, and extremely practical. There’s a roomy lid pocket, stretchy side and front pockets, all useful for stashing kit on the go. You can access the main body from the top or a zip near the base, and compression straps keep the profile neat and walking poles secure. Few of these features will strike you as ground-breaking but they simply work well. It’s simple practicality that ranks this pack so highly.

Weight 1116g Capacity 30 litres

BEST GAS STOVE Primus Lite+ £105

An efficient, versatile stove, the Lite+ is designed to work as a tower but can also be adapted for use as a traditional topmounted stove. When we reviewed it one gas canister lasted 1 hour 47 minutes, the longest of any on test. “There are bigger and faster stoves, but none combine quality, features, performance and value so well,” said our tester.

Weight 438g Avg boil time 500ml in 3m 40s

BEST WATERPROOF JACKET Mountain Equipment Lhotse/Manaslu £330

Mountain Equipment describe this as its premier hard shell and it’s well established as a topquality mountain jacket. Why’s that? It performs brilliantly in almost every aspect. It’s made of extremely robust and breathable Gore-Tex Pro with an Alpine fit, which is neat while allowing unrestricted movement. There’s an excellent hood which moves with your head and three large pockets, none of which are obstructed by either a rucksack hipbelt or a harness. The only thing it lost points on was value but, in fairness, even this is comparable and for the outlay of cash you get a brilliantly designed, bombproof jacket.

Weight 528g Material 3-layer GoreTex Pro 40D with 80D reinforcements on highwear areas Sizes S-XXL (men’s Lhotse) 8-16 (women’s Manaslu)

BEST SLEEPING BAG Rab Neutrino 600 £380

High performance and light weight quickly become the ideal on overnight trips, and won this Sleeping Bag of the Year. Stuffed with 800 fill power hydrophobic down, it keeps you warm down to -8degC, resisting moisture more effectively than standard down. The durable outer is feather light, allowing the down to loft well. It’s roomy, has a full length zip and shoulder baffle to help trap warmth. All this adds up to an impressively comfortable bag with low weight and small packed size.

Weight 1188g Material Pertex Quantum with 800 fill power hydrophobic down insulation Packed size 22x24cm

BEST TWO-MAN TENT MSR Elixir 2 £225

An exceptionally spacious interior, considered design and reasonable price tag make the Elixir 2 our pick of twoperson tents. This sturdy, freestanding tent has more liveable space than most with extra headroom and quite upright walls, thanks to its crossover pole design. It has a large footprint, two doors and two huge porches so you can stash your kit outside, leaving the interior for sleeping. It pitches quickly and easily with colour coded poles. All of this is great for the price and weight, which, split between two walkers drops to 1.3kg. Weight 2640g Packed size 51x17cm

BEST SOFT SHELL Mountain Equipment Frontier Hooded £120

An exceptionally breathable jacket and lighter than most. The Frontier has a variety of great features, including three readily accessible pockets, adjustable cuffs and hem and a very wellfitting hood. Our tester called it “a great all-rounder soft shell jacket that is at home in many hill and mountain situations.”

Weight 536g (men’s L) Material Exolite 210 stretch double weave soft shell fabric Sizes S-XXL (men’s) 8-16 (women’s)

BEST OVERNIGHT PACK Osprey Atmos /Aura AG 65 £190

This pack was the top scorer in both our men’s and women’s large rucksack tests, with one tester calling it “near-perfect”. What makes it so? Features, performance and fit, in particular, its unique AntiGravity back system. Widely spaced suspended mesh covers the entire back of the pack, from shoulders to hipbelt – distributing weight evenly and making it the world’s first pack with vented hipbelt. That hip belt practically clamps to your body and when fitted properly the pack feels both airy and snug. Other useful features are all present too: plentiful accessible pockets, a floating lid for overpacking and compression straps. Greater comfort with larger loads and practical design push this to the top of the pile.

Weight 2344g (Atmos, L) Sizes M-L (men’s Atmos) S-M (women’s Aura)