Gear Of The Year Announced!
We here at Backcountry Skiing Canada take our gear pretty seriously, so when a product is awarded our coveted "Gear of the Year" it's a pretty big deal. This honour is bestowed upon the best six products we have reviewed over the course of the entire summer off-season.
The winning products have to perform flawlessly in the field, be innovative, posses well thought out design and generally just make us say "wow".
So without further delay, here are the winners of our 2014 Off-Season Gear of the Year Award:
MONT BELL DOWN HUGGER 900 SLEEPING BAG
Mont Bell has always impressed us as we have found every one of their sleeping bags to be top notch. What makes the Down Hugger 900 sleeping bag stand out is its incredible warmth, light weight, compressibility and interior space. If you are looking for one of the best -5°C bag on the market today, look no further!
Read the full review and view the video here.
SIERRA DESIGNS LIGHTENING 2UL TENT
Sierra Design's innovative thinking and approach to design has created a winner with the Lightning 2 UL Tent. Not only is this tent spacious, bright, well ventilated and easy to set up, it's also one of the lightest tents in its class. Sierra Design got everything right with this unique tent so do yourself a favour and check it out in person (or watch our video at the link below).
Read the full review and view the video here.
The Scarpa Kinesis Pro GTX hiking boots were a shoe-in for our Gear of the Year designation. They are beautifully made, bomb-proof, comfortable, high-performance footwear that seem like they’ll last for years and years to come. If you are looking for an example of Italian craftsmanship, from a family-owned company, pick these puppies up. Complimenti di nuovo, Scarpa.
Read the full review and view the video here.
We welcome the Platypus GravityWorks 4L water filtration system to our Gear of the Year ranks because it offers a simple, elegant solution that addresses an issue: Nobody likes to pump for fresh water. The GravityWorks system does it all and saves weight at the same time. From now on, it’ll come along with us on canoe/kayak trips and hikes—anywhere potable water is needed. Thanks Platy!
Read the full review here.
With all the features you'd ever want in a rain shell but built tough enough to use all year long the Marmot Artemis Jacket does it all. Narrowly edging out the Marmot Essence jacket for our coveted Gear of the Year Award the Artemis jacket offers up incredible breathability and stretch that you really appreciate on those long gruelling climbs and up tracks. It's also a looker to boot!
Read the full review here.
SEA TO SUMMIT SPARK III SLEEPING BAG
Seat To Summit has already taken home our Gear of the Year Award for their XT 2 Traverse 3D sleeping bag, but this years it's the Spark SP III's turn for the glory. It's ridiculously light weight, compact design and -5°C temperature rating makes it ideal for any adventure, even winter hut trips. Great things do come in small packages!
Read the full review here.
Check out the winners from previous years over here on our Gear of the Year page.