Hiking & Backpacking Gear Brands Ranked | 1 Million Miles of Testing!

[@chaseadventures]

Let me know what you think about this video y'all! Are you interested in seeing more videos like this one? Did any of the results surprise you?

[@safromnc8616]

Try the Trek - I think they do annual stats....

[@chaseadventures]

@@safromnc8616 nice I'll go have a look, appreciate it 👍

[@BradleyBrothersBushcraft]

Cool video idea for sure. I think what you said about REI is spot on. They make a wide spectrum of gear that sometimes can closely compete with their competitor. For example, I use the REI flex lite air chair because it is a bit lighter and cheaper than the helinox chair 0

[@chaseadventures]

Thanks! I totally agree and have the flex lite myself 🙂

[@corleyoutdoors2887]

Informative and beneficial video!

[@chaseadventures]

Appreciate you Corley, thanks man

[@psympl]

Glad you put all the information together to make the search for meta gear much easier! Well done, subscribed.

[@chaseadventures]

Glad it was helpful and welcome aboard!

[@overland63]

Small but important observation for video presentation... Always engage your viewers directly. Do that by looking right at the camera lens. You're always looking off slightly to your right and that doesn't work. Nice job overall though. Cheers.

[@chaseadventures]

Thanks for the tip Eden

[@safromnc8616]

Interesting - I tend to have brands I like (mostly cottage), brands I hate (mostly big brands like Patagonia) and brands I just can't use/don't work for me like Altra (no drop), Salomon (too narrow), etc. Some of the results surprised me, but I am mostly in tune more w/the AT.

[@chaseadventures]

Yeah I hear you. I really wish I'd had AT survey results to work with, maybe I can convince Mac to start doing those too 🙂

[@safromnc8616]

@@chaseadventures Someone on KZbin DOES do that. If I think of it or run across it, I'll let you know.

[@chaseadventures]

@@safromnc8616 please do! That'd be amazing

[@tomnoyb8301]

Shocking. Is this the list of largest companies, or best gear? Backpack - LiteAF, Shelter - Durston (by far the best, but not the biggest), Filter - HydroBlu, Wide Toe-box - Topo, Headlamp - NU-25 1oz, Rain-jacket 54"-chest - EE Visp. Nitecore almost doubled the weight of NU-25 and EE stopped carrying Visp. In many ways, products are actually getting worse this year. Only redeemed by Mr Durston, who advanced shelters remarkably.

[@chaseadventures]

Hey Tom, lots of great stuff in your list thanks for sharing. Yeah the study is based on thru hiker use and gear site reviews from outdoorgearlab, sectionhiker, and cleverhiker. It's meant to be an aggregate from multiple different sources of data as not to overly be biased by one. That said, I think smaller cottage brands make some phenomenal gear that may get used as often as it should.

[@tomnoyb8301]

@@chaseadventures - Not sure survey is capturing the best gear? It seems to be the most common gear? Maybe the gear most available from REI and/or outfitters, but some top-items are really not very good gear? Maybe not the worst gear, but definitely not the best? Durston, for example is incontestably best tent, but it won't show-up on your list for a year or two because of the survey methodology? There's really no excuse for packs to weigh more than 20oz in this day and age? It just seems like the best gear isn't making the list, probably due to distribution and/or marketing? Maybe change the video-title to, "Gear with best distribution channel?" Or "Gear with the biggest marketing budget?"

[@gadblatz4841]

​@@tomnoyb8301 Sounds like there may be some assumptions here. I'm not sure "no excuse" for over 20oz is quite right, for instance, in terms of pack weight. A lot of folks prefer or need frames for larger loads, and I think there's a lot of great packs in that category. Not to mention a lot variation in preference in terms of shelter or clothing that can really alter gear choices between hikers. I like the gear I use, but I appreciate when other folks find stuff that works for them. I especially realize that, thru hikers and folks who do a lot of miles per year might have gear they're more comfortable with and have used for years or that they really like. Someone might just prefer a less hype shelter or pack because they've grown accustom to it over however many thousands of miles. Who knows.

[@danielflaherty7794]

38% does not represent anything close to a majority. Sorry while I would agree with you on what you rate as the best in some of the areas I am not even 50% of the total USERS. Thru hikers are not the majority. As my math professor used to tell me”figures don’t lie, but liars figure”

[@chaseadventures]

Yeah for sure, thru hikers are a specific breed and their gear choices won't reflect ones that make sense for the average backpacker. We tried to balance things out by weighing the gear review sites. But ultimately take what you will if anything from the study. It was really just for fun 🙂