There are very few things that can tank morale on a camping trip like a bad night of sleep. Fortunately, with all the stellar sleeping pad options out there, there鈥檚 no reason for your gear to prevent you from getting your beauty sleep, especially when you鈥檙e car camping and you鈥檝e got the room to go big. We tested a variety of pads (and even cots) that prioritize comfort over weight and packability鈥攆rom smart options designed for literal car campers to pads so plush they can pull double duty as a guest room mattress. These are our favorites.

At a Glance

• Best Overall:
• Most Sustainable:
• Best Value:
• Best Guest Room Mattress:
• Best for Literal Car Campers:
• Honorable Mention:
• How to Choose Your Sleeping Pad
• How We Test
• Meet Our Lead Testers

All gear in this guide was tested by multiple reviewers. When you buy through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission. This supports our mission to get more people active and outside. Learn more.

Best Overall

Exped LuxeMat

Weight: 6.6 lbs (medium wide)
Thickness: 4″
Available sizes: Medium wide; long extra wide
Dimensions: 72″ x 25.6″; 77.6″ x 30.3″
R-Value: 7.2

Pros and Cons
鈯� Comfortable natural fiber exterior
鈯� Convenient wide-mouth carry bag
鈯� Can be difficult to deflate entirely

Every tester who slept on Exped鈥檚 LuxeMat had the same initial response: 鈥淚t felt like I was sleeping on my bed at home.鈥� The brand achieved this 鈥渞eal mattress鈥� comfort with an extra-cush self-inflating PU-foam core mattress and a quilted natural fiber topper. One tester slept on it for a week on their bedroom floor while waiting for her regular mattress to be delivered without any noticeable leakage or discomfort.

The four-way stretch organic cotton face fabric, quilted to wool insulation, has just the right amount of give to conform supportively to the shape of the user鈥檚 body, with the added luxury of wool鈥檚 breathability and cotton鈥檚 soft next-to-skin feel. 鈥淭he top felt like a bed sheet, not a camping mattress,鈥� said one tester, who used the LuxeMat on a 40-degree June night in Wyoming. 鈥淎nd, since the cotton fabric is grippier than the synthetic materials used on the exterior of a lot of the camping pads I鈥檝e tried, my sleeping bag wasn鈥檛 slipping all over it.鈥�

At 25.6 inches across, 72 inches long, and four inches thick, the medium-wide LuxeMat (the smaller of two available sizes) is roomy enough for nighttime tossing and turning, but isn鈥檛 inordinately bulky to transport and store. The mattress鈥檚 sides and base are a durable 210D recycled ripstop polyester fabric that didn鈥檛 show a single scratch even after repeatedly being dragged between the tent and rocky Washington beaches for oceanside naps. Zippers on the sides can be used to secure sleeping bags and quilts, or to attach another LuxeMat to make a camp bed for two. A pocket on each side (one stretch, one zipper) is perfect for storing phones and glasses overnight.

The mat self-inflates, but you鈥檒l need the included foot pump to top it off and reach your desired pressure鈥攁 simple and quick process; getting all the air out during deflation proved a little tricker. Since the wide-mouthed, 30-by-8-inch carry bag can easily accommodate the extra bloating, our testers didn鈥檛 mind, but it鈥檚 something to consider if you鈥檙e worried about every inch of storage space.

Most Sustainable

Big Agnes Circleback

Weight: 2.1 lbs
Thickness: 4.5″
Available sizes: Regular; long
Dimensions: 72″ x 25″; 78″ x 25″
R-Value: 4.7

Pros and Cons
鈯� Circularly recyclable
鈯� Versatile
鈯� Hard to fit back into the stuff sack

In the world of sustainable product design, the gold standard is circularity鈥攊tems made so that they can be broken down and remade without a constant input of new materials and output of waste. We鈥檝e never tested a camping pad that achieves that standard鈥攗ntil the Circleback, which uses a TPU air bladder that is 100-percent recyclable and an insulating cover made entirely of recycled and recyclable polyester. When it鈥檚 time to retire the pad, Big Agnes will take it back and reuse every last scrap.

Sustainability aside, the Circleback鈥檚 modular insulation system is worth close consideration from anyone looking for a classic, do-it-all inflatable sleeping pad. With the removable cover, the Circleback has an R-value of 4.7, making it plenty comfortable in three seasons鈥攐ne tester stayed warm and snug on an October trip in the North Cascades with overnight temps around freezing. Without the cover, the Circleback becomes a stripped down, lightweight summer pad.

Testers praised the extra polyester insulation, cushioning, and noise-muffling properties the polyester taffeta removable cover affords, but some testers found themselves sliding off the slick surface. 鈥淓ven at a flat tent site, I woke up a couple mornings on the ground, with the pad next to me,鈥� said Seattle-based tester Maeve Axtell, who used the 4.5-inch-thick pad on a three-night trip outside of Bozeman, Montana. Keeping the pad at a moderate to low firmness helped, but Axtell cautioned that it might not be ideal for restless sleepers.

Despite the pad鈥檚 laudable comfort, the whole kit packs down to 6 x 13 inches (regular), making it a solid option for short backpacking trips where the priority is comfort over size or weight.

Best Value

REI Camp Dreamer Double Bed

Weight: 9.3 lbs
Thickness: 4″
Available sizes: XL (Single Person); double
Dimensions: 78″ x 55″

Pros and Cons
鈯� Easy inflation
鈯� Soft
鈯� Easy to pack
鈯� Slow deflation

At less than $300, the Camp Dreamer Double is one of the most affordable two-person sleeping pads in the high-end memory foam mattress category, with little sacrifice to comfort or durability.

Like many pads in this niche market, the Camp Dreamer uses horizontal polyurethane foam cores to provide stability and cushion, offering 4-inches of lift鈥攍ess than some of the more deluxe models, but, for most sleepers, plenty plush and warm (with a cold weather-friendly R-Value of 6.6). After a 30 minute self-inflation time, the included pump sack delivered the final plumping through a designated inflation valve. 鈥淚t鈥檚 convenient enough that I鈥檝e started bringing it even if it鈥檚 just me and the dog,鈥� says category manager Ryan Stuart.

The stretch 30-denier recycled polyester top fabric was soft next to skin and quiet, while the 75-denier bottom was tough enough to handle a gravel parking lot. Deflation was a bit arduous鈥攚e took a cat nap halfway through the two minute process鈥攂ut once collapsed, it slid into a stuff sack the size of a large bear canister without a fight.

At 55 inches wide (two inches wider than most standard double mattresses) and with all the bells-and-whistles of higher-priced competitors, the Camp Dreamer Double is a no-compromise solution for comfort-seeking couples.

Best Guest Room Mattress

Big Agnes Captain Comfort

Weight: 6.4 lbs
Thickness: 5″
Available sizes:聽Single; double
Dimensions: 78鈥� x 30″; 72鈥� x 41″ ; 78鈥� x 52鈥�

Pros and Cons
鈯� Super wide and supportive
鈯� Hard to get back into stuff-sack

It looks like camping pad, but, according to our testers, it sure doesn鈥檛 sleep like one. 鈥淔elt more like my mattress at home,鈥� reported Ryan Van Horne, a Campbell River, B.C.-based tester.

The 50-denier polyester face fabric is cotton-soft and stretchy, and the high density foam, with horizontal coring for compression, creates a firm and supportive feel right to the edges. After self-inflating, just a couple of breaths topped it up to five inches high and 30 inches wide, with a winter-rated R-value of 8.3. It gobbles up tent space, but provides plenty of room to toss and turn. 鈥淚 could sprawl like I do at home,鈥� says category manager Ryan Stuart, who used it on a mountain biking road trip in the B.C. Interior. Our only complaint came when it was time to pack up鈥攚e struggled to get the pad small enough to fit into its included stuff sack.

The 75-denier polyester bottom fabric is about average for the category, and we didn鈥檛 notice any durability issues after normal use and abuse. The Captain Comfort lived up to its name with solid sleeps, even over rocky, stick-ridden campgrounds.

Best for Literal Car Campers

Exped MegaMat Auto

Weight: 8.5 lbs
Thickness: 4″
Available sizes: One size
Dimensions: 76″ x 52″ (top width; bottom width is 39″)

Pros and Cons
鈯� Specifically contoured to fit in a car
鈯� Warm
鈯� Stable
鈯� Expensive

Exped designed this pad specifically to turn the back of a Tesla Model X into a glass-ceilinged bedroom, but it also happens to work perfectly in most other compact SUVs, wagons, and even truck beds.

The head of the T-shaped pad is 52 inches wide, filling up a three-seat back row or a three-person backpacking tent before slimming down to 39 inches to fit around wheel wells. Standing four inches high, it does an admirable job of smoothing out the bumps and humps of a vehicle鈥檚 interior.

Cracking the dedicated inflation valve nearly filled the open-cell foam pad on its own, and it tops off easily with the included hand/foot-style pump. Ryan Van Horne, a Campbell River, B.C.-based tester, reported that it held full inflation for six days of base camping on a rock climbing trip to Quadra Island. It deflates surprisingly quickly for such a big pad, and the roll-top- style stuff sack swallowed it without a struggle.

Rated to R-8.1, it鈥檚 plenty warm for winter use. Wherever we used it鈥攊n a Subaru Outback or a tent, solo or with a partner鈥攖he brushed 50-denier polyester top was, in the words of one tester, 鈥渨onderfully soft and quiet.鈥� The open cell PU foam didn鈥檛 transmit movement, either鈥擵an Horne slept right through the night next to a fidgety partner.

Honorable Mention

REI Co-Op Campwell Folding Cot

Weight: 17.8 lbs
Sizes: One size
Dimensions: 76鈥� x 25鈥� x 18鈥�

Pros and Cons
鈯� Easy to set up
鈯� Supportive
鈯� Not insulated
鈯� Heavy

A cot is a nice sleeping option for anyone looking for a bit of extra structure or a setup that more closely resembles their bed at home. Our 78-year-old tester was pleased to be able to spare their stiff, aging muscles the chore of standing up from the ground first thing in the morning after sleeping on the Campwell folding cot in Oregon鈥檚 Wallowa Mountains.

Even younger testers who prefer traditional sleeping pads said that if they were to get a cot, they鈥檇 opt for this one. 鈥淚t was so easy to set up, and much more supportive than my old inflatable pad,鈥� said Virginia-based tester Peggy Lynch. The Campwell doesn鈥檛 have any built-in cushioning鈥攖he top is a layer of sturdy 300-denier recycled polyester fabric. But Lynch reported sleeping well with a foam pad stacked on top, which also provided insulation.

While many foldable cots are bulky and awkward to carry (and the ones made of multiple pieces are a chore to set up), this one fits in a tubular bag approximately the size and shape of a typical folding camp chair. At 17.8 pounds, it鈥檚 not exactly lightweight, but a carry strap makes it easy to transport over short distances, storage is easy thanks to its accordion-style folding mechanism, and setup takes less than 30 seconds. Blocky feet protect the tent floor from the cot鈥檚 steel legs, creating a wide, stable base.

How to Choose Your Sleeping Pad

Foam-Filled vs. Air-Filled

We recommend picking a modern, self-inflating, foam-filled pad. A purely air-filled pad might save money, but won鈥檛 be nearly as warm, comfortable, or supportive.

Self-inflating foam pads should inflate most of the way within roughly a half hour, depending on the model, and come with inflation sacks or pumps to finish the job. Our favorite pumps have a snug connection point with the pad and a large air chamber that鈥檚 easy to roll and push with minimal effort. Campers who don鈥檛 want to wait can invest in an electric pump, like Exped鈥檚 battery-operated Widget Pump. Almost all foam-insulated camping pads have high enough R-Values for winter camping (above 5.0), but it鈥檚 worth double-checking if your adventures will include sub-freezing nights.

R-Value

This ubiquitous term will inevitably crop up when searching for the most appropriate pad for your outdoor activity. R-value is a universal measurement that rates a sleeping pad鈥檚 ability to resist heat transfer. R-values in sleeping pads typically range from 1-7. A pad with an R-value of up to 2 works in temps with an expected nighttime low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit; an R-value between 2 to 3.9 works in temps with an expected nighttime low of 32 degrees; an R-value between 4 to 5.4 works in temps with an expected nighttime low as cold as 15 degrees; and a pad with an R-value of 5.5 or higher works in temps down to an expected nighttime low of zero degrees.

Packability

When you鈥檙e car camping, packability isn鈥檛 as big of a concern as when you鈥檙e backpacking and need to cram all of your gear into one backpack. For that reason, the best sleeping pads tend to be thick, wide, and much heavier than their backpacking counterparts. Still, if you have a small car or limited storage, packed size might still be a major consideration. Some of the sleeping pads on this list pack down quite small (about the size of a large bag of potato chips), while others are beasts.

Material

Aim for a higher-denier material on both the top and bottom of the pad, especially if you plan on dragging it outside for stargazing, or share your bed with a canine.

How We Test

Unlike lightweight sleeping pads used for backpacking, the pads we focused on for this category ignored the confines of weight and size and embraced the luxury of toting your bedding in the trunk of your car. They鈥檙e thick. They鈥檙e wide. They鈥檙e cozy.

Over the course of two seasons of testing, we tried 34 different pads in vehicles, under the stars, and even took a couple of the lightest on a backpacking trip, checking for faulty valves, evaluating ease of use, and, most importantly, vetting comfort level.

Category manager Miyo McGinn slept on four different pads for at least a week each in her bedroom, making the best of a bad situation after she pulled a back muscle and couldn鈥檛 get comfortable on her bed鈥檚 worn-out mattress. McGinn spent 18 nights on the Exped Luxemat, our favorite pick this year, and can confidently say that it was just as comfortable as her new deluxe memory-foam replacement mattress that finally came in the mail.

Meet Our Lead Testers

Miyo McGinn is an assistant editor at 国产吃瓜黑料 based in Bozeman, Montana. She has camped in a dozen different states and four continents, but Washington state, where she grew up, will always be her favorite place to pitch a tent. Miyo got her start reviewing gear as 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 gear editorial assistant in 2021.

Ryan Stuart usually sleeps better on a sleeping pad than on his bed at home. After innumerable nights spent beach camping for surf, mountain bike road-tripping, and bumming around crags across the West, Stuart has become a discerning connoisseur of luxurious car camp mattresses. For this category he tapped a team of avid campers all based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

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Ski jackets get more attention, but we think it鈥檚 much harder to find a great pair of ski pants. And more important, too. Your legs do a lot more moving in skiing than your upper body, so if your pants are too tight, too baggy, or just don鈥檛 sit right, you are going to notice. Plus, pants spend more time in contact with other surfaces鈥攕itting on the chair, soaking in the slush, kneeling in the snow鈥攕o durability and weather resistance really matter. We sorted through two dozen new ski pants and bibs to find these six standouts that will fit better and help you stay out longer.

The Winners at a Glance

• Editor鈥檚 Choice: Stio Figment Bib
• Best For Frigid Conditions: Flylow Baker Insulated Bib
• Best Universal Fit: Orage Exodus Insulated Pant
• Most Eco-Conscious: Patagonia Stormshift Pant
• Best Budget Buy: Eddie Bauer Chair Six
• Best Weather Protection: 686 Gore Pro 3L Thermagraph

The Reviews: The Best Resort Ski Pants of 2024

Editor鈥檚 Choice: Stio Figment Bib ($479)

Weight: 2 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Excellent weather protection
• Functional pocket placement

Cons

• Belt is not adjustable enough for thinner skiers

Usually, the first time wearing a bib pant involves a few stops to make adjustments. Not with the Figment. Adjusting the fit required just a quick tighten or release of the Velcro tabs on the suspenders and a pull on the waist belt. Done! Whether sitting, carving, or picking his way down the steeps off of Whistler鈥檚 Peak Chair, category manager Ryan Stuart didn鈥檛 notice the pants again. 鈥淭hey felt like a custom fit,鈥� he says. Articulation in the knees, gusseting in the crotch, and stretchy shoulder straps that stayed put played a big role in ensuring everything sat as it should. Beyond fit, the proprietary weatherproof-breathable membrane was impenetrable, even sitting in a chairlift puddle for a 20-minute ride. The pocket layout was equally dialed for resort riding. The two hand pockets were accessible sitting or standing, the bellowed thigh pockets easily carried extra gloves, and the chest pocket could hold a beacon or other valuables. Finally, Stio beefed up the recycled polyester face fabric in the knees and seat to a burly 150 denier. With a relaxed, but not too baggy look and a timeless color-blocked style, these bibs are ready for years of abuse.

Bottom Line:With an inner thigh vent and an uninsulated design, these bibs are optimized for the resort but ready to play beyond the boundary line too.

Best For Frigid Conditions: Flylow Baker Insulated Bib ($430)

Weight: 2.2 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Super durable in high-wear spots
• Just the right amount of insulation

Cons

• Buckles on the bibs conflict with packs

These insulated bibs were designed for skiers like tester Paul Karchut, who skis fast, works hard, and breaks things. Flylow took their popular Baker Bib shell pant and stuffed it with 40 grams of recycled insulation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the right amount to cut the cold, but not make them unusable once the weather warms up,鈥� says Karchut, who tested them in temps ranging from -30 to 20 degrees F skiing in the Canadian Rockies around Banff. Heating up on bootpacks and skin tracks, he cracked the mesh backed thigh vents. There were pockets in all the right places: hands, thigh, back, and two on the chest. And the fit was dialed for an athletic guy like Karchut, though stockier skiers might find the bibs snug. As a mostly reformed telemark skier, Karchut also appreciated the durability. The 150-denier polyester was already stout, then Flylow cranked it to 1,000 denier around the articulated knees and the cuffs. His only gripe was that pack straps overlapped with the oversized bib buckles. Small quibble for Karchut, who happily wore these all winter long.

Bottom Line:A tough bib for resorts skiing in colder zones.

Best Universal Fit: Orage Exodus Insulated Pant ($325)

Weight: 1.7 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Stretchy materials helped with fit and mobility
• Lightweight insulation

Cons

• Narrower fit

Tall, short, stocky, or thin, these pants were body inclusive, shape-shifting to fit every tester. Velcro tabs on the waistline played a big role, providing several inches of adjustment. Four-way stretch throughout the pants also helped. The Oeko-Tex waterproof-breathable membrane, recycled polyester exterior fabric, and synthetic insulation had plenty of stretch. Add articulation through the knees and gusseting in the crotch and even a tester whose massive quads filled out the pants said he never felt restricted. The fit is narrower than some might like, but the 60-gram insulation seemed just right for typical winter conditions. No tester complained about them being too warm鈥攖hey are super lightweight for insulated pants. And 鈥渢he pockets are perfect,鈥� reported Ryan Stuart. Sitting on a chairlift, he could pull his phone out of the hand pockets without contortion and he could stuff the thigh pockets without them bouncing around or feeling bulky.

Bottom Line: Best for resort skiing in cold weather and a good choice if your waist size tends to vary through the winter. Hello, apr猫s beer gut!

Most Eco-Conscious: Patagonia Storm Shift Pants ($400)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Size: Regular, short, XS-XXL

Pros

• No PFCs
• Comfortable wear and fit

Cons

• Bulky two layer design
• Some fit concerns

We were rooting for these pants even before testers reported loving them. They feature the new Gore Tex ePE membrane, which is the first waterproof-breathable barrier from the industry leader that includes no perfluorinates, or PFCs. These forever chemicals have long-term health and environmental concerns. Patagonia went even further and eliminated PFCs in the DWR and the rest of the two-layer design. The change resulted in no loss in performance: We stayed dry all day during a soggy, above-freezing snowstorm in the Coast Range near Whistler.

The lining is a comfort booster. It feels soft next to your skin (and wicks moisture, too), slides over the roughest of base layers, and adds a hint of insulation. That鈥檚 welcome on cold days, but not an issue in warmer weather. Overheating on the bootpack up to Blackcomb鈥檚 Chimney, tester Ethan Sjogren said that opening the mesh-lined outer thigh vents instantly dumped heat. 鈥淏ut they didn鈥檛 let snow in when I forgot to close them.鈥� After 20 days of use, he reported that the pants were still in good shape, with no signs of wear around the cuffs thanks to oversized scuff guard patches. Some testers reported inconsistencies in sizing, but with multiple length and size options, everyone should be able to find a pair that fits.

Bottom Line:Casual resort pants that will ease (some of) your environmental worries.

Best Budget Buy: Eddie Bauer Chair Six Shell Pant ($229)

Weight: 1.3 lb
Size: Regular, tall, S-XXL

Pros

• Resort to backcountry design
• Great value

Cons

• Thigh pocket gets floppy

The Chair Six Shell Pant is all about value. Normally, $200 will get you ho-hum quality, but Eddie Bauer outfitted these pants with a three-layer fabric for more packability, better weatherproofing, and superior breathability. The membrane is EB鈥檚 proprietary Weatheredge Pro, which boasts 20,000 mm of water resistance. 鈥淚 was shocked when I saw the price,鈥� reported tester Chris Baikie. 鈥淭he pants performed about as well as the Gore Tex pants I鈥檝e owned, but cost about half as much.鈥� He tested the weather resistance during a full day of skiing in the drizzle at Vancouver Island鈥檚 Mount Washington Alpine Resort.

In nicer weather, the hot-running tester appreciated the inner thigh vent, which ran right through the crotch with two-way zips. 鈥淚 could use it as a regular vent or unzip it all the way,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique design that would be welcome on hot ski tours.鈥� He found the 75-denier polyester fabric with a hint of stretch was burly enough for the ski hill, but not too bulky for slackcountry laps. His one complaint: Packing too much into the big thigh pocket made it floppy. Otherwise, these are an awesome deal for shell-loving skiers.

Bottom Line: Budget shell pants with top-shelf quality and materials.

Best Weather Protection: 686 Gore Pro 3L Thermagraph Bib ($600)

Weight: 2.9 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Super tough and highly waterproof
• Lightly insulated in all the right places

Cons

• Pricy
• On the heavier side

These bibs proved that believing in science will lead to more skiing. 686 paired Gore Tex鈥檚 most durable Pro waterproof-breathable membrane with a 150-denier face fabric that feels like rhino skin (which is the name of the gray fabric color). Then they added panels of Polartec Alpha, a synthetic insulation developed for U.S. Special Forces, to the seat and knees, where research shows the body feels cold the most. They also placed vents on either side of each leg to engineer a cooling cross breeze. And they built a water bladder system into the lumbar area, because the human body performs best and stays warmer when properly hydrated. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 the insulation, the Gore Tex, or actually being hydrated, but I felt more energetic all morning,鈥� said Ryan Stuart, who tested them during several soggy days of skiing. 鈥淭hese are the most waterproof pants I鈥檝e tried.鈥� Testers reported the fit on the baggy side of the spectrum and running a little large for the size. But unlike most 686 pants, these are made for skiers, with a scuff guard around the bottom of the legs and a gaiter that played well with ski buckles. They are pricey, but then science and technology is never cheap.

Bottom Line: When staying dry is your biggest challenge, these are the bibs you should own.

How to Buy

Consider these six factors when buying ski pants.

Waterproofing: Because pants spend more time in contact with the snow and potentially wet surfaces like chairlifts, waterproofing is even more important than in jackets. Pick pants with a waterproof rating higher than 15,000 mm with sealed seams to prevent water from seeping in.

Breathability: While it鈥檚 crucial to keep water out, you also want your ski pants to be breathable, so sweat vapor doesn鈥檛 leave you wet from the inside. Look for pants with breathable membranes and venting zippers. For the resort, mesh-backed vents are best, so you can ski with them open.

Insulation: Consider the level of insulation you need based on the conditions you typically ski in and your personal preference. Uninsulated shell pants paired with base layers offer versatility. Insulated pants will always be warmer and are good for colder regions. For reference, between 40 and 60 grams of synthetic insulation offers a versatile warmth.

Fit and Mobility: To help fine-tune the fit, look for pants and bibs with adjustable waistbands and shoulder straps. Articulated knees, gussets, and stretchy materials help with mobility, which plays into fit. Finally, check that boot gaiters and venting zippers are compatible with your boots and body shape.

Durability: Metal edges, kneeling in the snow, and sitting on chairlifts, all take their toll on ski pants. To add longevity to your gear, look for pants made from higher-denier materials and reinforcements in key zones, like knees, seat and, especially, around the boot cuff.

Features and Extras: Consider additional features that may enhance your skiing experience, including the number and placement of pockets, integration with jackets and powder skirts, and RECCO locators.

How We Test

• Number of testers: 16
• Number of products tested: 26
• Number of chairlift laps: 5,000-plus
• Most vertical skied by a tester: 1.7 million feet

Testing ski pants is all about vertical. The more time our testers spend sitting on chairs, turning on snow, and hiking to the goods, the better they can judge whether a pant is good or great. To make our test team, testers have to log at least 30 days per season. We recruit from across the continent and try to find a variety of skier types and interests to give us as diverse feedback as possible. We send them each several pairs of pants to test and ask them to put in at least a couple days with each item. We also ask them to hand each pair off to friends and ski buddies to try, too. Once the flakes start melting, we check back in with our test team to record their feedback and find out which ones stood out from a winter of testing. These are the top six.

Meet Our Lead Testers

Ski buddies of Ryan Stuart, our Lead Tester and category manager, say it鈥檚 tricky to keep track of him at the resort. Not so much because he skis so fast, but because he鈥檚 always wearing something different. Is it the red jacket and black pants today or the yellow jacket and gray pants? His helmet doesn鈥檛 help either. As the technical editor at Ski Canada Magazine, he also tests lids and other ski gear. When he鈥檚 not on the slopes or traveling the world to write about skiing, Ryan鈥檚 at his desk on Vancouver Island. He鈥檚 a full-time freelance writer focused mostly on the outdoor world and is working on his first book, a history of skiing in Canada.

Other integral testers include Canadian Broadcast Corporation weekend radio host Paul Karchu, whose flexible weekday schedule allows him to chase storms around western Canada. He visited nine resorts last winter, the highlight being a 20-inch day at Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.

The post The Best Men鈥檚 Ski Pants of 2024 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

More comfortable, better for the environment, and longer lasting. Those are the takeaway trends from the top resort ski jackets for this year. But after sorting through nearly 40 jackets, it鈥檚 the diversity that really stands out. Whether you want all the warmth you can get, layering under a minimalist shell, or the best deal on the slopes, you will find it among our top picks from four months of testing during one record-breaking ski season.

The Winners at a Glance

• Most Comfortable: Dakine Sender Stretch 3L
• Best For All Conditions: Helly Hansen Alpha 4.0
• Most Stylish: Strafe Hayden Jacket
• Best Value: Columbia Highland Summit Jacket
• Best For Sigle-Digit Temps: Mountain Hardwear First Tracks Down Jacket
• Best Resort-Meets-Backcountry Jacket: Rossignol Evader
• Most Eco-Friendly Insulated Jacket: Marmot Lightray
• Best Breathable Shell: Trew Cosmic Jacket
• Most Versatile: Salomon QST Jacket
• Best Weather Protection: Arc鈥檛eryx Sabre Jacket

The Reviews: The Best Men鈥檚 Ski Jackets of 2024

Most Comfortable: Dakine Sender Stretch 3L Jacket ($495)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Well organized pocket placement
• Stretchy, soft material

Cons

• Baggier fit than some skiers will like

The Stretch won admirers for the sum of its parts. The first thing everyone noticed was its namesake. The recycled and recyclable polyester that comprises the jacket has a buttery feel and a couple inches of give in every direction that makes good on its name. Tester Adam Jaber said the stretch made the fit seem custom. On its own the jacket is a little baggy. It pulled on easily over multiple layers on a chilly day at Vermont鈥檚 Stratton Mountain and never restricted touring during spring laps at N.H.鈥檚 Tuckerman Ravine. Plus, the long cut with an even longer tail kept flakes from wandering where they shouldn鈥檛. When Jaber crashed hard, no slush slid into his pants. That sealed the deal for a jacket he was already loving. The five exterior and two interior pockets were right where he wanted them, the hood easily fit a helmet and cinched down snug, the pit zips dumped excess heat, the shell-style jacket was watertight in wet conditions. He even liked the color options. 鈥淭his is my favorite sub-$500 shell,鈥� said Jaber. 鈥淒akine knocked it out of the park. Buy this jacket and get the matching pants.鈥�

Bottom line: If you like it baggy, this was the best shell jacket we tested.

Best For All Conditions: Helly Hansen Alpha 4.0 Jacket ($475)

Weight: 2.4 lb
Sizes: S-XXL

Pros

• Insulated phone pocket
• Warmth without stuffiness

Cons

• Narrow cuff gaiters don鈥檛 play nice with cuffed gloves

Think of the Alpha as the best kind of environmentally-friendly choice鈥攐ne without compromise. The four-layer design starts with an outer shell of Ocean Bound fabric, a polyester derived from salvaged fishing nets and marine plastic, backed by Helly鈥檚 proprietary waterproof-breathable membrane. Then there鈥檚 PrimaLoft Black Eco Ocean Bound, a recycled synthetic insulation. And finally a silky interior lining. The sandwich of layers is definitely warm, said ski instructor Chris Grover, who wore it with just a baselayer down to 15 degrees F. But even closer to freezing he rarely overheated because the insulation has holes in it that do a good job of locking in the warmth when it鈥檚 cold and releasing the excess heat as the interior temperature rises. These are just a few of the jacket鈥檚 many nice touches: an insulated phone pocket, fleece-lined hand pockets, adjustable powder skirt, Recco reflector, detachable hood, wrist gaiters. Fit was ideal for Grover鈥檚 broader shoulders and chest, but the sleeves might come up short on lankier testers. But his favorite feature is the independent collar and hood design. He could deploy the hood even with the collar zipped up snug around the chin.

Bottom line: The breathable insulation makes the Alpha an ideal resort jacket for zones with big variations in winter temperatures.

Most Stylish: Strafe Hayden Jacket ($519)

Weight: 2.4 lb
Sizes: S-XXL

Pros

• Great fit and comfort
• Best wrist gaiters we鈥檝e used

Cons

• On the bulky side

Slipping into this jacket is like getting a warm hug. The quilted interior lining is soft and smooth and glides on over midlayers. The stretchy wrist gaiters slip on unnoticed and still lock out cold and flakes. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have a thumb loop so they fit great and don鈥檛 interfere with gloves or poles,鈥� said Ryan Stuart. The hand pockets are fleece-lined. Both the recycled and waterproof polyester outer shell and PrimaLoft Silver P.U.R.E. recycled insulation (60 grams in the sleeves and hood and 100 grams in the body) have four-way stretch. Testers never felt constricted, even throwing tricks in the park. All together, the Hayden has the substantial feel of a weighted blanket鈥攁nd the same comfort. Another chilly tester was warm enough down to 10 degrees F with two baselayers underneath. And it鈥檚 customizable: The hood zips off and there are hidden vents for dumping heat. 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 want to take it off,鈥� Stuart said.

Bottom line: The perfect ski travel jacket for mid-winter trips, ready for whatever weather and casual enough to wear out at apr猫s.

Best Value: Columbia Highland Summit Jacket ($200)

Weight: 1.1 lb
Sizes: S-XXL; 1X-6X; LT-5XT

Pros

• Great price for warmth
• All the features we like

Cons

• Boxy fit on some

Our testers were loving this jacket even before they saw the great price. It鈥檚 loaded with all the handy features we expect鈥攑ass pocket, inside zipper pocket, wrist gaiter, hand and chest pockets, powder skirt, and a helmet-friendly hood鈥攑lus a few nice extras, like a goggle lens pocket and a drop tail. Tester James Sjogren especially appreciated the latter while sitting on a soggy chairlift at Whistler. Instead of a soaker, he slid off warm and dry. The proprietary Omni-Tech waterproof-breathable membrane helped and did a great job of deflecting coastal (read: moist) flakes. Even more clutch to the jacket鈥檚 impressive warmth for bulk ratio was the Omni-Heat Infinity, a metallic inner lining that reflects body heat back to the body. 鈥淚t was like a thermostat,鈥� Sjogren says. 鈥淭hroughout the winter, I wore the same layering and was always comfortable.鈥� Come spring, it got a little warm, but a less athletic skier could probably extend the season. Sjogren liked the look of the jacket, but older skiers weren鈥檛 all fans. And on some testers the cut looked boxy. But if it fits, this is a fully loaded jacket at a bargain price.

Bottom line: A great value ski jacket for anyone who has trouble staying warm.

Best For Single-Digit Temps: Mountain Hardwear First Tracks Down Jacket ($350)

Weight: 2.5 lb
Sizes: S-XXL

Pros

• Plenty of warmth for frigid days
• Good value for a down puffy

Cons

• Limited temperature range
• Front snaps tricky with mitts on

Unless you鈥檙e perpetually chilly or live in Fairbanks, this probably won鈥檛 be your everyday resort jacket. But when the polar vortex drops in, it will keep you smiling and skiing, said category manager Ryan Stuart. He used it in 9 degrees F record lows on Vancouver Island last winter. That may not sound that bad, but when it plunges into the single digits in the Pacific Northwest, it feels colder than minus-40 in Alberta, he insisted. 鈥淯sually the moist cold gets into my bones and I鈥檓 the first guy to head in to warm up, but with the First Tracks I was the one going for another lap.鈥� The staying power comes from responsibly sourced, 650-fill down wrapped in a two-layer, windproof, recycled polyester outer. More protection came from an insulated hood that easily fit over the biggest helmet head, wrist gaskets that sealed glove leaks, and a draft collar that insulated the front zip. On the down side, the snaps on the draft collar were tricky to manage with thick gloves on. In warmer conditions, mesh-backed pit zips kicked up the A/C when needed, but, even wearing just a baselayer underneath, the First Tracks became a sauna above 25 degrees F. With good looks and a reasonable price, the First Tracks can do double duty as an around-town puffy and cold-weather ski jacket.

Bottom line: Ideal resort jacket for intermediate and advanced skiers who run cold or a dedicated cold-weather companion.

Best Resort-Meets-Backcountry Jacket: Rossignol Evader Jacket ($425)

Weight: 1.8 lb
Sizes: S-XXL

Pros

• Good looks
• Stretchy fabric and fleece backing felt cozy

Cons

• Wrist gasket interfered with social updates
• Watch the sizing: medium fit like a large

鈥淣ice jacket.鈥� Tester Chris Baikie heard it over and over wearing the handsome Evader. The praise wasn鈥檛 just external. Baikie says the waterproof-breathable fabric combo had plenty of stretch and the design was roomy. It made it easy to add layers and move freely without feeling constricted. A thin, fleece lining from the neck up added a touch of warmth and next-to-skin comfort. Together, the jacket felt bomber, supple, and cozy all at the same time. The high, fleece-lined collar sealed his admiration. Zipped up snug in a blizzard, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 need my Buff,鈥� he said. In above-freezing temperatures the pit zips helped dump excess heat, and being a shell he used it right through the spring corn cycle. His biggest nitpick: the thumb loops on the wrist gaiters interfered with texting. 鈥淔irst-world problems, I know,鈥� Baikie said. More noteworthy is the sizing, Baikie usually wears a large but a medium Evader fit perfectly. The shell style was packable enough to take backcountry skiing and ideal for people who run hot. Overall, Baikie says this jacket is less 鈥渘ice鈥� and more 鈥渘iiiice!鈥�

Bottom line: One jacket to go from the backcountry to the frontcountry in style.

Most Eco-Friendly Insulated Shell: Marmot Lightray Gore-Tex Jacket ($375)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Sizes: S-XXL

Pros

• Environmentally friendly
• Lightweight for insulated jacket

Cons

• Stocky testers found that it fit snug

Environmentally friendly stats may be the headline for Gore Tex鈥檚 new ePE membrane, but its performance is what stood out to testers wearing the Lightray. Gore developed ePE to cut carbon emissions compared to its existing membrane formulation and to eliminate PFCs, toxic 鈥渇orever鈥� chemicals. The new membrane is also thinner and lighter, without impacting weather resistance or breathability. In the Lightray, that produced one of the lightest-feeling insulated ski jackets our testers tried. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a warm set up without being too sluggish or bulky,鈥� said Patrick Lowkes, a Vermont-based weekend warrior. Marmot paired the ePE with a recycled polyester, lightweight exterior fabric, PrimaLoft Black insulation and a soft liner. Skiing at Okemo Mountain, it kept Lowkes toasty down to 15 degrees and dry on a rainy day. Big and easy-to-operate armpit venting prevented overheating as the thermometer climbed. Another standout feature was the price. Testers thought this was one of the best deals we ran through the paces this year.

Bottom line: The best bet for value and environmentally conscious shoppers looking for an insulated shell that won鈥檛 weigh them down.

Best Breathable Shell: Trew Cosmic Jacket Primo ($499)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Sizes: XS-XXL

Pros

• Hood deploys without undoing zipper
• Super breathable

Cons

• Needs an interior zipper pocket

The Cosmic is a classic style from Trew, but the company鈥檚 new-last-season Primo fabric takes it to the next level. The jacket retains the same design: loose fit, double hand and double chest pockets, pass pocket on the sleeve, long pit zips, and one of the best hoods in the business. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 even have to undo the neck zip to get the hood up over my helmet,鈥� said Chris Grover, a ski instructor at Vancouver Island鈥檚 Mount Washington. The only thing missing is an inside zipper pocket. The minor detail became even more insignificant thanks to the Primo fabric and a few laps of hiking to inbound chutes in a 33 degree snowstorm. 鈥淚 got pretty warm and it was snowing heavily,鈥� Grover said. 鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 get wet!鈥� Trew worked with Toyota Textiles to develop Primo, its woven nylon waterproof-breathable fabric. It鈥檚 abrasion resistant, has a hint of stretch and proved to be both exceptionally waterproof and highly breathable. It鈥檚 also recycled and Bluesign approved. A nice variation on this year鈥檚 earth tone theme, the Cosmic comes in the cheery colors we鈥檝e come to love from Trew.

Bottom line: An excellent shell option for those who run hot and work hard.

Most Versatile: Salomon S/Lab QST GTX Pro Jacket ($700)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Size: S-XXL

Pros

• Bomber weatherproofness
• Excellent fit for a variety of body shapes

Cons

• The bold bumblebee look is not for everyone

This jacket is winning in both directions in the tug of war between packability on one side and features and weatherproofing on the other. At 25 ounces this is no minimalist shell, but it鈥檚 also not heavy for the category. 鈥淚t was my only shell for a weeklong backcountry hut trip and I never regretted the choice, even when I wasn鈥檛 wearing it,鈥� said category manager Ryan Stuart. On the other side of the line, it has every feature we look for in a resort jacket. There are pockets galore: five on the exterior, including two vertical hand pockets that work exceptionally well for holding an open beer. The hood is easy to cinch snug鈥攅ven with mitts on鈥攁nd 鈥渕oved with my head,鈥� said Stuart. The GoreTex Pro membrane is bomber, keeping testers warm and dry in everything from howling wind to pouring rain. And the articulated and slightly longer cut fit multiple testers just right, whether they were skinning, boot packing with skis over a shoulder, sitting on a lift, or crushing bumps. The yellow and black combo wasn鈥檛 anyone鈥檚 favorite, but once the jacket was on, no one complained.

Bottom line: One shell for backcountry, slackcountry, and resort skiing.

Best Weather Protection: Arc鈥檛eryx Sabre Jacket ($750)

Weight: 1.6 lb
Size: XS-XXL

Pros

• Durable construction
• Warmth and comfort of flannel lining

Cons

• Longer sleeves and narrow waist didn鈥檛 fit all testers well
• Pricey

Vancouver-based Arc鈥檛eryx has staked its reputation on making gear worthy of playing in the foul weather of its Coast Range backyard. So it made sense to us to hand it off to some folks who do so for a living. Ski bums, pro patrollers and ski instructors in the Sea to Sky region took the Sabre for laps in weather that ranged from rain-on-snow to bluebird pow. It returned from 15 days of abuse by four different testers in near pristine shape. 鈥淲hat a wicked jacket,鈥� was a typical comment. Another tester found the features (pass pocket, interior pocket, two hand pockets, powder skirt, and a helmet-compatible hood) were just the right amount and worked ideally, even with gloves on. 鈥淭he pocket placement was perfect,鈥� he said. Some testers complained that the fit was a little long and narrow. But everyone was onboard with the material choice: a Gore Tex waterproof-breathable membrane sandwiched between a soft shell-like outer and a thin flannel liner. The latter added a nice feel to the jacket and a hint of insulation that backed up the solid weather protection. 鈥淚t rained and blew all day,鈥� said one tester. 鈥淚 was never cold and my base layer was dry when I got back to the car. Amazing.鈥�

Bottom line: An excellent Arc鈥檛eryx jacket for shell lovers who wouldn鈥檛 mind a little more protection and warmth.

How to Buy

There are literally hundreds of ski jackets to choose from, which could make shopping overwhelming. To help whittle down your choices, ask yourself five simple questions.

Insulated or not? This is a matter of preference. Do you like to wear an uninsulated shell and dress in layers or wear a warmer jacket with just a base layer or two? If you鈥檙e not sure, here鈥檚 our advice. For milder parts of ski country and if you ski hot, we recommend a shell style jacket, so you don鈥檛 overheat and can adjust to the conditions. Pick insulated if you regularly ski in temperatures below 20 degrees, if you鈥檙e always chilly, or you live in the south and travel to ski.

Do you need waterproof fabric? We generally recommend buying a jacket with a waterproof membrane 鈥� we鈥檝e gotten wet just about everywhere we鈥檝e skied. The exception is for insulated jackets. Chances are you are only wearing these when it is cold out and getting wet isn鈥檛 an issue. For insulated jackets a windproof membrane is sufficient. The best measure of a membrane鈥檚 waterproofness is a water column measure. Look for 20,000 mm and above.

Do you like the way it looks? To love a jacket you have to like the way it looks. That means color and pattern and also the fit and cut 鈥� in other words how baggy it is. This can be tough to tell online, though pictures with a model help.

Does it have the features you want? Our minimum is a pass pocket, helmet compatible hood and hand pockets. Powder skirt, interior zip pocket and vents are nice additions. Everything after that is gravy. Figure out what you need and find the jacket with those features. For instance, if you like to carry an extra goggle lens make sure there鈥檚 a pocket big enough.

Does it fit properly? More than just the style, this is about whether the jacket allows for a wide range of movement. Look for features like articulated sleeves and stretchy fabrics to improve mobility and adjustable cuffs, hem and hood to customize the fit. Trying on a jacket, it should have room for all the layers you usually wear, plus one.

Can you afford it? We think you get what you pay for and generally a higher priced jacket is going to work better and last longer. But there are many great value jackets, as well. They might not be quite as refined or use as high-quality materials, but they get the job done without breaking the bank.

How We Test

• Number of testers: 16
• Number of products tested: 39
• Number of ski days logged: more than 500
• Number of resorts skied during testing: 43-plus

We鈥檝e seen just about every kind of ski jacket in use on the hill, everything from floater suits to sequined denim. So the first step in testing ski resort jackets is defining what makes a jacket suitable for skiing at the resort. To us, this category prioritizes jackets that put features ahead of weight and packability. They tend to have pass pockets, powder skirts, and helmet-compatible hoods, but otherwise it鈥檚 a diverse lot that includes down puffies, thin shells, and everything in between. Once we decide if a jacket qualifies as 鈥渞esort,鈥� we call in samples to test and distribute them around a team of testers that live in just about every corner of the continent. Mostly we let testers just go skiing. We think this is the best way to figure out what works and what doesn鈥檛. As they log days with the apparel, we ask them to think a little deeper about key variables like fit, function, breathability, warmth, and weather resistance. We also ask them to hand the jackets off to other skiers to get different perspectives. Each tester fills out a feedback form, and from that we whittle our list of jackets down to the nine standouts that you will find reviewed here.

Meet Our Lead Testers

At some point last winter, category manager Ryan Stuart celebrated his 40th year on skis. He learned to ski at six years old on the T-bar at Calgary鈥檚 Paskapoo Ski Hill, now Canada Olympic Park. The other 39 winters have taken him around the world, from Japan to Italy, Alaska to Vermont. Last year he tested ski jackets in Utah, British Columbia, Quebec, and on Vancouver Island, where he lives. When he鈥檚 not trying out ski resort apparel, he鈥檚 running the ski test for Ski Canada Magazine and working on a book about the history of skiing in Canada. @ryanpstuart on Twitter

Tester Adam Jaber is the creator of Out of Collective, a network of outdoor related podcasts that includes his own Out of Bounds Podcast. He鈥檚 also the marketing manager for Colorado Skis & Bikes and a motivated skier. He logged 71 days last year at 19 different resorts in four countries. @adam_jab on Instagram

Chris Baikie figures his dual ski roles are ideal for jacket testing. Every Friday he volunteers with an adaptive ski program. Teaching anyone to ski means 鈥渟tanding around a lot,鈥� he says. 鈥淵our gear has to be waterproof and weatherproof or you will freeze.鈥� The role also involves plenty of bending over, a good test of mobility. Then on weekends Baikie tries to up his run count, while trying to ditch his ripping kids. He鈥檚 working hard and skiing fast, putting jackets through the other extreme.

More From the 2024 Winter Gear Guide

The post The Best Men鈥檚 Ski Jackets of 2024 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Sleeping pads might seem like glorified pool toys, but modern backpacking and car camping mattresses are packed full of impressive tech. From hollowed-out cores to reflective coatings to graduated baffles that act like bumpers on a crib, these hyper-engineered pieces of gear are all but guaranteed to win the war on backcountry insomnia.

The Winners at a Glance

Best Backpacking Pads

Editor鈥檚 Choice: Therm-a-Rest Neo Air XTherm NXT

Best Comfort-to-Packability Ratio: Rab Stratosphere 5.5

Most Sustainable: NEMO Flyer

Most Versatile: Big Agnes Boundary Deluxe

Coziest: Zenbivy Light Mattress

Best Car Camping Pads

Best for Literal Car Campers: Exped MegaMat Auto

Best Guest Room Mattress: Big Agnes Captain Comfort

Best Value: REI Camp Dreamer Double Bed

How We Test

Number of Testers: 23

Number of Nights Slept 国产吃瓜黑料: 60

Coldest Night: 18 degrees with three inches of snow

Warmest Night: 102 degrees

Highest Elevation Tested: 9,000 feet

Sleeping bags get all the glory, but in reality, pads are just as important. Without a warm enough sleeping surface, even a top-of-the-line down bag will do little to insulate you from the cold ground. To that end, we took 19 sleeping pads into freezing shoulder season conditions, like the snow-covered high-alpine desert in New Mexico, to push the limits of their warmth ratings. We tested durability in all manner of climates, from the boreal forest of Minnesota to the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, to make sure the test models weren鈥檛 prone to puncture while dragging them in and out of tents and setting them up over stick-laden, rock-strewn campsites. Compressibility, ease-of-inflation, and durability of valves were also major factors when putting together our final list.

We chose 14 testers with varied interests and outdoor experience, ranging in age from 18 to 60. One is a recent high school graduate on his way to U.S. Army combat medic training. Others are veteran ultra-hikers, runners, and cyclists whose priority is to pack light. Two more are longtime paddlers who care less about weight and more about staying warm and dry in a wet environment.

When each tester finished using their test pad, they filled out a feedback form gathering thoughts, critiques, and opinions related to the warmth, support, comfort, and durability of each. Then we compared notes and picked the winners.

By far the best part of the process: We slept outside on days we otherwise would have been tucked into our own cozy beds, which led to plenty of Milky Way encounters and at least one night of shimmering Northern Lights.

Meet Our Testers

Stephanie Pearson

Backpacking sleeping pad category manager Stephanie Pearson has slept in a cave in Tasmania, in a tent at Mount Everest Base Camp, and under the stars while lost in the Australian Outback. She鈥檚 a fitful sleeper.

Ryan Stuart

Car camping sleeping pad category manager Ryan Stuart usually sleeps better on a sleeping pad than on his bed at home. After innumerable nights spent beach camping for surf, mountain bike road-tripping, and bumming around crags across the West, Stuart has become a discerning connoisseur of luxurious car camp mattresses. For this category he tapped a team of avid campers all based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Patrick Greehan

Greehan is a coach for the Duluth Devo Mountain Bike Program. He currently races gravel, mountain, and fat bikes with a focus on long distance and ultra events. He is an avid bikepacker who takes trips year-round in Northern Minnesota.

Tim Pearson

Tim Pearson is a retired U.S. Army First Sergeant based in San Antonio, Texas, with 22-plus years of experience sleeping outdoors in the field, including austere environments like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Joshua Pearson

Joshua Pearson lives in San Antonio, but recently enlisted as a combat medic for the U.S. Army. After basic training, he鈥檒l spend four years stationed in Alaska. He spends his summers outdoors hiking and solo camping.

Best Backpacking Sleeping Pads

Editor鈥檚 Choice: Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XTherm NXT ($240)

Weight: 1 lb (regular)
Sizes: Regular, Regular Wide, Large
R-value: 7.3
Pros: Off-the-charts warmth-to-weight ratio; very packable
Cons: Mummy dimensions are too slim for some; still a bit crinkly

Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 NeoAir XTherm was already a bit of a unicorn in the backpacking world when it came out in 2012: crazy warm, packable, and lightweight. The new XTherm NXT must be a flying unicorn, then, since it鈥檚 better in nearly every way. For starters, this pad sports an impressive bump up in R-value from an already winter-ready 6.9 to 7.3, which is unheard of for a one-pound pad. At the crux of this extreme warmth-to-weight ratio is an additional layer鈥攖he pad now has five鈥攐f Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 proprietary coating, a thin metalized film woven into the pad鈥檚 interior that reflects heat back at your body and minimizes heat loss. Surprising bonus: the fifth layer also minimizes the notorious crinkly 鈥減otato chip鈥� noise this pad鈥檚 predecessor was known for. Therm-a-Rest uses the same construction pattern in the NXT as in the last version (two triangular baffles stacked on top of each other) to create a stable surface with minimal heat loss, but increased the pad鈥檚 thickness by a half-inch to a plush three inches. The bottom of the pad is wrapped in tough 70-denier nylon, which is more than twice as durable as the standard 20-30-denier nylon seen in comparable pads. And yet, the NXT is only a single ounce heavier than its predecessor. 鈥淭he first thing I noticed was how much less bulky it was than my older version,鈥� says Patrick Greehan, a longtime user of the original NeoAir XTherm for ultra bikepacking races like the Arrowhead 135, a frigid late January event in northern Minnesota. The new XTherm is a half-inch shorter than outgoing version鈥攁nd a full two inches shorter than Greehan鈥檚 5-year-old XTherm鈥攑acking down to a tiny nine-inch-by-four-and-a-half-inch package, roughly the size of an overstuffed business envelope. Blowing up the pad is a cinch with the accompanying pump sack, which inserts into a new easy-to-grasp 鈥渨inglock鈥� valve that keeps the air in all night. Greehan reported that the pad held air remarkably well鈥攏ot just for one, but two nights in a row. If we have one complaint, it鈥檚 that some of our testers found the mummy-shaped pad to be too narrow. But that didn鈥檛 dissuade Greehan, who intends to use the XTherm NXT as his go-to pad for all ultralight pursuits, summer through winter.

Bottom Line: Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 NeoAir XTherm NXT offers the best warmth-to-weight ratio of any sleeping pad, ever.

Best Comfort-to-Packability Ratio: Rab Stratosphere 5.5 ($140)

Weight: 1.7 lbs (regular)
Sizes: Regular, Large
R-value: 5.5
Pros: Lightweight; warm; comfortable
Cons: Pricey

British mountaineering company Rab has been designing highly-technical sleeping bags for more than four decades, but 2023 marks the brand鈥檚 first foray into sleeping pads. We鈥檇 like to know: What took them so long? While the Stratosphere 5.5 isn鈥檛 the lightest pad in Rab鈥檚 new lineup, the mat鈥檚 plush comfort, quiet 75-denier recycled polyester fabric, hefty insulation, and packability quickly rose to the top. For starters, the outer baffles on the vertically-baffled pad are raised slightly higher than the others, which act like bunkers on a crib. 鈥淚 love the graduated baffles, which help keep you centered on the pad so you don鈥檛 slide around,鈥� said tester Ariella Gintzler, who used it over three nights backcountry camping on the flanks of Mount Taylor in New Mexico. 鈥淚t鈥檚 plush in terms of surface area,鈥� she reported, meaning that other pads of this ilk have a more conservative footprint. 鈥淏ut that pays dividends in sleeping through the night.鈥� Blowing up the cushy hybrid rectangular pad (its four corners are gently rounded) to a thickness of 3.1 inches is fast and easy: it takes about ten puffs into the included inflation sack. That plush loft isn鈥檛 just for show: The pad鈥檚 250 grams-per-square-meter of 100 percent recycled polyester insulation gives it an R-value of 5.5, plenty warm for deep shoulder-season expeditions like those our testers took into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Minnesota, where frost is common in mid-September. For a pad this well insulated, testers were impressed with its Nalgene-size packability. Its innovative stuff sack is elasticized on the side rather than at the top, which made it exponentially easier to cram and go when our testers experienced an unexpected snowstorm on the CDT near Grants, New Mexico.

Bottom Line: The Rab Stratosphere 5.5 is a warm, plush, and packable pad for any adventure

Most Sustainable: NEMO Flyer ($150)

Weight: 1.4 lbs (regular)
Sizes: Regular, Regular Wide, Long Wide
R-value: 3.3
Pros: Sustainable; comfortable; quiet
Cons: Cold in shoulder-season weather

NEMO鈥檚 2023 Flyer is one of the few sleeping pads on the market to go through the Bluesign certification process, a strict sustainability audit from the well-regarded Swiss company. In the case of this pad, the outer fabric and stuff sack are 100-percent recycled 20-denier polyester. The trim, stuff like the circle cord, cord lock, webbing, and woven labels are also Bluesign-certified. Needless to say, NEMO has gone above and beyond the typical greenwashing tactics to make the Flyer more sustainable than most modern pads. But the Flyer is more than just a branding story. The secret to the self-inflating pad鈥檚 comfort is in its horizontal polyurethane foam baffles (which are not Bluesign certified). Sixty percent of the open-cell foam is hollowed out, creating open air cells that are nested together, with connective valleys between the baffles that protect the pad from bottoming out. So the sleeper gets the best of both worlds: a lightweight pad with cushy air-and-foam support. One tester, a high-school mountain bike coach, took the Flyer to a September weekend race in southern Minnesota where the temps dipped into the high 40s. He found that the lower-profile two-inch-thick oval pad made it easier for him to sleep in a wide variety of positions without sliding off. The big win for another tester, who tried it while on a week-long trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness: The soft 20-denier nylon fabric made almost no sound, which kept her tent mates happy. While both testers were cozy using this pad in the height of summer, when evening temps bottomed out in the upper 40s, they struggled with this pad in true shoulder season temps. The Flyer鈥檚 comfort and support does come at a cost. While on a backcountry hiking trip in New Mexico, another tester noted that while the pad does self-inflate, it was still slightly flaccid even after 15 minutes of tent setup, requiring a few extra puffs to top it off. It also packs down to roughly the size of two Nalgenes鈥攔elatively bulky for a backpacking pad.

Bottom Line: The NEMO Flyer is a comfortable, environmentally-conscious pad for casual summer trips.

Most Versatile: Big Agnes Boundary Deluxe ($180)

Weight: 1.6 lbs (Regular)
Sizes: Regular, Long, Wide, Wide Long, and Extra-Wide Long
R-value: 4.3
Pros: Comfortable and plush; comes in a size for every body
Cons: Scratchy; crinkly recycled face fabric

Most pads come in limited sizing, which doesn鈥檛 make for restful nights for many backpacker body types. The Boundary Deluxe is the exception, with a rectangular pad that comes in five sizes, enough to accommodate almost every body type. For a canoe trip in northeast Minnesota鈥檚 Boundary Waters, where weight and packability isn鈥檛 as big of an issue as it is on a backpacking trip, our 5鈥�9鈥�, 143-pound female tester chose the middle-of-the-pack 25-by-72-inch option. That鈥檚 a luxurious five inches wider than most standard-sized pads. She found that for canoe camping, the added luxury was worth the extra weight and bulk, offering ample surface area for wiggling into a comfortable sleep position without falling off the pad. It鈥檚 also plenty sturdy, with a soft 40-denier nylon shell wrapped with spandex on the top to give it some stretch and a 70-denier recycled nylon ripstop bottom for extra protection from sharp objects like pens, knives, and rocks. The pad features two low-profile valves on the top. Using the accompanying inflation sack, the Boundary Deluxe took just a few minutes to inflate. When it came to packing up camp, it easily compacted into a 5-by-8-inch roll, about the size of a pineapple. With an R-value of 4.3, the Boundary Deluxe is solid for three seasons, especially because it inflates to 4.25-inches, at least an inch higher than other insulated pads, meaning that it sits farther from the damp, wet ground. But it鈥檚 also got a layer of water-resistant Primaloft synthetic insulation and another layer of heat-reflective film to contain body heat. 鈥淚t kept me warm on a snowy, 35-degree night on the Continental Divide Trail below 11,300-foot Mount Taylor,鈥� reported 国产吃瓜黑料 Gear Editor Benjamin Tepler. 鈥淎lthough my butt did get cold when it dipped into the 20s the next night.鈥�

Bottom Line: The Big Agnes Boundary Deluxe is a luxurious three-season pad that comes in a multitude of sizes.

Coziest: Zenbivy Light Mattress ($189)

Weight: 1.3 lbs (Regular)
Sizes: 20×72, 25×72, 25×77, and 30×80
R-value: 5
Pros: Quiet; comfortable
Cons: Face fabric and valves feel fragile

Zenbivy is best known for its Light Bed, an ultralight setup where, instead of just a pad topped by a quilt or mummy, it鈥檚 an intricate, zipperless system that includes an ultralight half sheet with down hood that attaches to a pad, topped by a down quilt attached via hook-and-loop closures. While our testers found the entire system to be a bit bulky and fussy, they loved the foundation: the Light Mattress. With each vertical baffle on this rectangular mattress filled with 180 grams of insulation per square meter鈥攖he bare minimum required to reach an R-value of five鈥攊t鈥檚 only an ounce or two more than comparable three-season pads. Our tester used it in northern Minnesota on a few nights throughout October, with nighttime temps dipping below freezing. He woke up covered in hoar frost, but felt warmth radiating from below, which convinced us that, for most climates, this qualifies as a four-season pad. Testers liked the reversible air valve鈥攑op it in one way to inflate, pop it the other way to adjust or deflate鈥攂ut worried that the repeated motion could loosen the surrounding enclosure over time and cause leakage. One of this pad鈥檚 greatest selling points is its coziness factor: Because the Light Mattress is meant to be paired with a half sheet and an ultralight quilt, its soft 20-denier polyester taffeta shell fabric was chosen for direct skin contact. (We didn鈥檛 experience any snags, but you鈥檇 be wise to avoid sharp objects). As a result, it鈥檚 softer and more comfortable than other face fabrics we tested, with a quietness that kept our testers鈥攁nd their tent mates鈥攄eep asleep.

Bottom Line: The Zenbivy Light Mattress is light for its warmth with a super-soft face fabric.

Best Car Camping Sleeping Pads

Best for Literal Car Campers: Exped MegaMat Auto ($400)

Weight: 8.5 lbs
Thickness: 4 inches
Sizing: One size
Pros: Specifically contoured to fit in a car; warm; stable
Cons: Expensive

Exped designed this pad specifically to turn the back of a Tesla Model X into a glass-ceilinged bedroom, but it also happens to work perfectly in most other compact SUVs, wagons, and even truck beds. The head of the T-shaped pad is 52 inches wide, filling up a three-seat back row or a three-person backpacking tent before slimming down to 39 inches to fit around wheel wells. Standing four inches high, it does an admirable job of smoothing out the bumps and humps of a vehicle鈥檚 interior. Cracking the dedicated inflation valve nearly filled the open-cell foam pad on its own, and it tops off easily with the included hand/foot-style pump. Ryan Van Horne, a Campbell River, B.C.-based tester, reported that it held full inflation for six days of base camping on a rock climbing trip to Quadra Island. It deflates surprisingly quickly for such a big pad, and the roll-top- style stuff sack swallowed it without a struggle. Rated to R-8.1, it鈥檚 plenty warm for winter use. Wherever we used it鈥攊n a Subaru Outback or a tent, solo or with a partner鈥攖he brushed 50-denier polyester top was, in the words of one tester, 鈥渨onderfully soft and quiet.鈥� The open cell PU foam didn鈥檛 transmit movement, either鈥擵an Horne slept right through the night next to a fidgety partner.

Bottom Line: The Exped MegaMat Auto is a high-end foam sleeping pad built for SUV interiors.

Best Guest Room Mattress: Big Agnes Captain Comfort ($250)

Weight: 6.4 lbs
Thickness: 5 inches
Sizing: 30鈥� x 78鈥�; 41 x 72鈥�; 52鈥� x 78鈥�
Pros: Super wide and supportive
Cons: Hard to get back into stuff-sack

It looks like camping pad, but, according to our testers, it sure doesn鈥檛 sleep like one. 鈥淔elt more like my mattress at home,鈥� reported Ryan Van Horne, a Campbell River, B.C.-based tester. The 50-denier polyester face fabric is cotton-soft and stretchy, and the high density foam, with horizontal coring for compression, creates a firm and supportive feel right to the edges. After self-inflating, just a couple of breaths topped it up to five inches high and 30 inches wide, with a winter-rated R-value of 8.3. It gobbles up tent space, but provides plenty of room to toss and turn. 鈥淚 could sprawl like I do at home,鈥� says category manager Ryan Stuart, who used it on a mountain biking road trip in the B.C. Interior. Our only complaint came when it was time to pack up鈥攚e struggled to get the pad small enough to fit into its included stuff sack. The 75-denier polyester bottom fabric is about average for the category, and we didn鈥檛 notice any durability issues after normal use and abuse. The Captain Comfort lived up to its name with solid sleeps, even over rocky, stick-ridden campgrounds.

Bottom Line: The Big Agnes Captain Comfort is a soft, supportive pad that鈥檚 spacious enough for a guest room.

Best Value: REI Camp Dreamer Double Bed ($279)

Weight: 9.3 lbs
Thickness: 4 inches
Sizing: XL (Single Person); Double
Pros: Easy inflation; soft; easy to pack
Cons: Slow deflation

At less than $300, the Camp Dreamer Double is one of the most affordable two-person car camping pads in the high-end memory foam mattress category, with little sacrifice to comfort or durability. Like many pads in this niche market, the Camp Dreamer uses horizontal polyurethane foam cores to provide stability and cushion, offering 4-inches of lift鈥攍ess than some of the more deluxe models, but, for most sleepers, plenty plush and warm (with a cold weather-friendly R-Value of 6.6). After a 30 minute self-inflation time, the included pump sack delivered the final plumping through a designated inflation valve. 鈥淚t’s convenient enough that I鈥檝e started bringing it even if it鈥檚 just me and the dog,鈥� says category manager Ryan Stuart. The stretch 30-denier recycled polyester top fabric was soft next to skin and quiet, while the 75-denier bottom was tough enough to handle a gravel parking lot. Deflation was a bit arduous鈥攚e took a cat nap halfway through the two minute process鈥攂ut once collapsed, it slid into a stuff sack the size of a large bear canister without a fight. At 55 inches wide (two inches wider than most standard double mattresses) and with all the bells-and-whistles of higher-priced competitors, the Camp Dreamer Double is a no-compromise solution for comfort-seeking couples.

Bottom Line: A deluxe double pad that鈥檚 over $100 cheaper than comparable models

How to Buy

For such a seemingly simple piece of gear, sleeping pads are surprisingly complex. Buy the wrong one, whether it鈥檚 too short, too narrow, too delicate, too heavy, too cold, or too hot, and you can quickly turn a camping trip into a sleepless purgatory. Before you buy, there are three major things to keep in mind.

The Type of Pad

Closed-Cell Foam: Lightweight, inexpensive, and virtually indestructible, closed cell mats are a decades-old favorite. The downside? They鈥檙e bulky, have low R-values, and aren鈥檛 particularly comfortable.

Air Pads: These pads, which derive all their insulative properties from air and often some combination of synthetic or down fill and reflective layers, are lightweight and extremely packable. The flipside is that they can be punctured, rendering them useless unless you can properly patch the pad in the field.

Self-Inflating Pads: Self-inflating pads insulate with a combination of air and open-cell foam. These pads can be quite warm, comfortable, durable, and also (eventually) inflate on their own. They tend to be bulkier and heavier than air pads.

R-value of the Pad

This ubiquitous term will inevitably crop up when searching for the most appropriate pad for your outdoor activity. R-value is a universal measurement that rates a sleeping pad鈥檚 ability to resist heat transfer. R-values in sleeping pads typically range from 1-7. A pad with an R-value of up to 2 works in temps with an expected nighttime low of 50 degrees Fahrenheit; an R-value between 2 to 3.9 works in temps with an expected nighttime low of 32 degrees; an R-value between 4 to 5.4 works in temps with an expected nighttime low as cold as 15 degrees; and a pad with an R-value of 5.5 or higher works in temps down to an expected nighttime low of zero degrees.

Intended Use

What time of year, where, and how you intend to use your pad are crucial pieces to the puzzle. Bikepackers who race Alaska鈥檚 Iditabike will want to invest in an ultralight, insulated air pad with a high R-value. Car campers might want to take advantage of the extra space and splurge on a double-self-inflating pad. Thru hikers who can鈥檛 afford a puncture and have space to strap their pad to the outside of their pack may gravitate toward a closed-cell foam pad.

When it’s time to upgrade your gear, don鈥檛 let the old stuff go to waste鈥揹onate it for a good cause and divert it from the landfill. our partner, Gear Fix, will repair and resell your stuff for free! Just box up your retired items, , and send them off. We鈥檒l donate 100 percent of the proceeds to .

The post The Best Sleeping Pads of 2023 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

With trail runners leading the way as the most popular footwear on-trail, it would be understandable to think that the traditional hiking boot is on its way out. But this year鈥檚 test suggests something different: Most of the 40 models we tested proved mightily that proper hiking boots and shoes make backpacking easier and more comfortable, protect our feet and ankles, and stick to roots, rocks, and dirt.

But the push to go fast does permeate the entire field. And that鈥檚 a good thing. It means lighter weights, a nimbler feel, and smoother striding, no matter the style of boot. The very best men鈥檚 hiking shoes and boots鈥攖he ones that made this list鈥攚ill help you walk with less effort, leaving you more energy to go further and faster while savoring the journey along the way.

The Winners at a Glance

Best for Long Hikes: Adidas Terrex Free Hiker 2

Best Value: Hi-Tec Trail Destroyer

Best Day Hiking Boot: Oboz Katabatic

Best Overall: Asolo Tahoe Mid GTX

Best for Rough Trail: Tecnica Forge 2.0

Best Speed Hiking Boot: Salomon Cross Hike 2 Mid GTX

Best for Fast-Packing: Salewa Pedroc Pro Mid PTX Boot

Best Backpacking Boot: Merrell Rogue Hiker Mid GTX

Best Mountain to City Hiker: Danner Mountain 600 Leaf GTX

Best Alpine Boot: The North Face Summit Breithorn Futurelight

How We Test

Number of Testers: 16

Number of Products: 40

Number of Miles Hiked: 600-plus

Number of Blisters: 3鈥攑retty good for the mileage

Mostly we just let our testers do what they do best: walk. We called in 40 different hiking boots and shoes and handed them out to 16 testers with instructions to put on some serious miles. They took short hikes and 30-mile backpacking trips, on trail and off. They scrambled up peaks and down canyons, logging more than 600 miles in total. As they trekked along, we asked them to consider everything from fit to grip, cushioning to stability. Because pack weight can influence all these variables, we had them hike with both light loads and heavy packs. And to understand how boots and shoes performed in different weather conditions and environments, we spread testers and samples across the continent, from coastal British Columbia to New England鈥檚 windy summits.

Meet Our Lead Testers

Ryan Stuart

Ryan Stuart has been lacing up for more than 30 years. Growing up in Alberta, Canada, he started hiking as a teenager on the world class trails of Banff National Park, before moving on to the coastal hikes and lonely mountain trails of Vancouver Island, where he now lives. His hiking resume spans the world, from Australia to Ireland, northern Canada to the U.S. southwest.

Lindsay Elms

Lindsay Elms was running ultra races and knocking off Fastest Known Times long before they were trendy. Originally from New Zealand, he鈥檚 lived on Vancouver Island for more than 30 years. He鈥檚 one of only a few people to have climbed all of the Canadian island鈥檚 6,000-foot peaks.

Adam Jaber

When he鈥檚 not dreaming up new marketing strategies for Colorado Ski & Bike, Adam Jaber is the host of the Out of Bounds podcast, an outdoor industry-focused radio show. Research for both jobs includes plenty of time in the snow and dirt.

The Reviews: The Best Men鈥檚 Hiking Boots of 2023

Best for Long Hikes: Adidas Terrex Free Hiker 2 ($200)

Weight: 14.1 oz.
Sizes: 7-13
Pros: Sock-like fit, very cushioned ride
Cons: Unstable in uneven terrain

From box to trail, the Free Hiker 2 is like no other hiking boot we tested this season. The style and color combinations split opinions between 鈥渞efreshingly different鈥� and 鈥渙bnoxiously loud.鈥� The mix of a stretchy, knit upper (which is missing from the Gore-Tex version of this shoe) and extra thick foam midsole give it a cushy ride we rarely experience in a hiker. The seamless knit-and-mesh upper, made from recycled ocean plastic and polyester, pulls on like a sock, sealing the top of the boot above the ankle and stretching to secure the foot even before tightening the laces. The thick, rockered expanded TPU midsole is both squishy and energetic. 鈥淚 felt like I was floating and being propelled into the next stride at the same time,鈥� said men鈥檚 footwear category manager Ryan Stuart. After a 10-mile walk with plenty of time spent on a logging road, his legs felt surprisingly fresh. There鈥檚 not a lot of protection, however: no rock plate or waterproof membrane, the heel counter comes up just half an inch and offers little stability, and only a thin rand armors the lower part of the upper. The boot felt stable enough to carry a 20-pound pack for long day hikes on smooth surfaces. But on bouldery and rooty trails or under heavier loads, the Free Hiker 2 felt imprecise and wobbly. Traction was more consistent鈥攚e never slipped in dry or muddy conditions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 damn comfortable to wear,鈥� summarized Stuart.

Bottom Line: The Adidas Terrex Free Hiker 2 is ideal for long day hikes on even trails.

Best Value: Hi-Tec Trail Destroyer Low ($50)

Weight: 8 oz.
Sizes: 8-13
Pros: Great value; good support
Cons: Durability concerns

Bargain hunters, here鈥檚 your quarry. The Trail Destroyer offers the best value of all the hiking shoes we tested. 鈥淒efinitely sacrificed some style, but the comfort and support was unreal for a shoe at that price point,鈥� said Upstate New York-based tester, Adam Sauerwein. Hi-Tec calls it a trail runner, but we found it worked best as a light hiker. Hi-Tec paired its low cut and mesh upper with an EVA foam footbed, a lightweight shank for stability, and a dual-density, cushioning and supportive EVA midsole 鈥攁ll the basics we look for in a day hiker. It excelled at short distances, light loads, and smooth paths. Hiking up to 10 miles with a daypack, they proved comfortable and capable. The shallow-lugged outsole gripped a variety of surfaces better than we expected, and the flat laces never came undone. And, while the mesh upper soaked through in wet grass, the breezy fabric beat the heat in summer temperatures. As Sauerwein teased, these are not the coolest-looking hikers, and durability and longevity are the cost of the enticing price. For the casual hiker, though, these are a great buy.

Bottom Line: The Hi-Tec Trail Destroyer is an inflation-buster for summer dog walks and day hikes.

Best Day Hikers: Oboz Katabatic Low ($140)

Weight: 12.7 oz.
Sizes: 7-15
Pros: Stable; excellent cushioning
Cons: Some break-in required

Comfort and stiffness are often in opposition when it comes to hiking boots, but not in the Katabatic. The combination of a supportive TPU heel cup and single-density EVA midsole created support without sacrificing a gentle ride. 鈥淚鈥檓 a very heavy-heeled hiker, and these were like walking with springs in my heels,鈥� reported Alabama-based tester, Seth Kromis, after hiking 10-miles in them with a day pack. A slightly rockered sole helps, absorbing some of the pounding and adding momentum into the next stride. Testers found that the mesh upper was plenty breathable for temperatures into the low 80s, while Brent Anderson, a bike mechanic from Cumberland, British Columbia, liked how nimble the shoes felt: In rooty and rocky terrain, solid grip and a tactile forefoot kept him moving fast. Surprisingly for a low cut hiker, it did require a few miles to break in the TPU bumper that protects the toe, but felt comfortable and easy-walking afterwards.

Bottom Line: A hiker mullet: trail runner feel in the front and the stability of a boot in the back

Best Overall: Asolo Tahoe Mid GTX ($200)

Weight: 17.6 oz.
Sizes: 8-13
Pros: Versatility; comfort
Cons: Thin laces

After 30 miles of speed-hiking in the Tahoe, prolific Courtenay, B.C.-based climber and runner Lindsay Elms is rethinking his strategy of only wearing trail runners. 鈥淭he boot was extremely comfortable, even after wearing it all day,鈥� said Elms. The Gore-Tex-backed polyester upper was supple right out of the box and kept water out during a soaking day hike. The stiff midsole softens at the toe for a springy stride, particularly while going uphill. And the narrow outsole, which doesn鈥檛 extend beyond the outline of the upper, was stable and nimble in rough and uneven trail conditions. The mid-height boot and high-density rubber and EVA midsole helped provide support, particularly when Elms wore a heavier pack. 鈥淚 could move over uneven terrain with very little boot movement,鈥� he reported. Scooting up logging roads, jogging down mountain bike trails, or smearing on mountain ridge lines, the proprietary, wide-lugged outsole stuck. After 30 hard miles, the outsole shows some wear, but the rest of the boot looks mint. The next time he slows down enough to walk, said Elms, these will be on his feet.

Bottom Line: The Asolo Tahoe Mid GTX is a versatile boot for all kinds of hiking.

Best for Rough Trail: Tecnica Forge 2.0 GTX ($310)

Weight: 22.2 oz.
Sizes: 7-14.5
Pros: Stable and supportive; versatile grip
Cons: No lace lock

What does a ski boot maker know about hiking? A good deal, apparently. Tecnica applied the same attention to detail on the Forge 2.0 as it does to its ski boots. The result is a fusion of old materials and new construction technology that testers enjoyed as much on multi-day expeditions as they did on steep and speedy day trips. Tecnica started with a 1.9-millimeter Nubuck leather upper backed with a full Gore-Tex bootie and a rubber rand around the front half of the shoe. Following miles of cobble beach walking on Nootka Island and scree and bushwhacking in the B.C. Coast Range, these boots are still pristine and kept out water during soaking rains. The Vibram outsole with multiple lug shapes and grip-zones stuck in a variety of trail conditions, including on exposed basalt steps to a Vancouver Island summit, where the approach shoe-like pattern at the toe came in handy. Through all the rough terrain, our ankles were supported without feeling restricted. Tecnica sandwiched the EVA midsole between a lasting board and a protective plate, which offers a nice balance of comfort and support. 鈥淭hey were stable off trail with a heavy pack, but didn鈥檛 feel clunky walking on a logging road for two miles,鈥� said Ryan Stuart, 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 men鈥檚 hiking boot category manager. The one missed detail: a locking eyelet at mid-height would make adjusting the lace tension between the upper and lower parts of the boot easier.

Bottom Line: The Tecnica Forge 2.0 is ready for heavy loads or rugged terrain, but happy to roll down a trail, too.

Best for Speed Hiking: Salomon Cross Hike 2 Mid GTX ($190)

Weight: 14.5 oz
Sizes: 7-14
Pros: Nimble; great wet performance
Cons: Not supportive enough for backpacking

The Cross Hike looks like a trail runner on steroids, and that鈥檚 exactly how it performed, crushing technical day hikes with a precise feel and excellent traction. 鈥淭he grip is huge,鈥� reported Easthampton, Massachusetts-based tester Adam Jaber. In wet terrain and on steep dirt, the deep, sharp, and chunky Y-shaped lugs dug in, while the soft rubber held tenaciously to rock. On the way down, a line of lugs at the heel edge helped with braking. 鈥淚t felt confidence-inspiring,鈥� Jaber said. Combined with a lightweight and a narrow sole width, he was dancing through technical terrain that would normally slow him down. And there was just enough cushioning and support to keep his legs fresh, too. The Gore-Tex membrane proved bomber in soggy conditions and comfortable in temperatures that ranged from the 50s through the 80s. A few dings? While it is a mid-height shoe, support was lacking once pack weight hit about 30 pounds. Also, watch the fit: some testers found that the Cross Hike runs a half size small. But for day hikers looking to go fast in unstable terrain, the Cross Hike is an impressive performer, particularly if you live in wetter parts of the country.

Bottom Line: The Salomon Cross Hike 2 Mid GTX is a good choice for speedy day trips in rough terrain and foul weather.

Best for Fast-Packing: Salewa Pedroc Pro Mid PTX Boot ($200)

Weight: 13.8 oz
Sizes: 7-14
Pros: Comfortable; excellent grip
Cons: Boot top rubs

The Pedroc Pro offers speed and nimbleness in an impressively comfortable package. Whether straining his calves up the 2,000-foot vertical foot Boundary Creek Trail, or lugging a 100-pound load for a short distance to assess stability, tester Sam Weiner鈥檚 feet were always happy in these boots. 鈥淚 have wide feet, busted toes, and ankles that have been broken more times than a McDonald鈥檚 ice cream machine, and these boots never gave me a hotspot or a blister,鈥� said the Stanley, Idaho-based biological technician for Idaho Fish and Game. The toe box is roomy. A removable heel cup and laces that integrate into the hard plastic eyelets around the ankle allowed Weiner to customize a snug fit. The EVA foam midsole absorbed some of the pounding on long day hikes, although the Pedroc performed best with moderate to light loads. And big, chunky lugs add impressive traction that grip sand, dirt, gravel, and mud. Salewa鈥檚 proprietary Powertex waterproof-breathable membrane kept Weiner dry when he plunged right into an Idaho creek to get a better view of spawning Kokanee salmon and on hot, sweaty hikes. Through it all, the double-weave ripstop upper proved durable, if a little rough on bare skin, something Weiner said can be remedied by tall socks.

Bottom Line: The Salewa Pedroc Pro is best for fast and light missions, from day trips to light overnights.

Best for Backpacking: Merrell Rogue Hiker Mid GTX ($249)

Weight: 18.7 oz.
Sizes: 7-15
Pros: Great traction; lightweight durability
Cons: Occasional issues with the tongue

The Rogue is a backpacking boot that moonlights as an approach shoe, winter boot, and a light hiker. A two-piece midsole, high-rising heel counter, full shank, and tall cut upper offer stability with heavy loads in uneven terrain: It felt rock-solid with 30 pounds on the back without the weight penalty of a chunkier boot. High-tenacity ballistic mesh nylon keeps the upper light, breathable, and tough. Merrell chose to wrap the entire package in a trail running last to give the boot more of a low-shoe feel. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a huge luxury to get the benefits of a robust boot鈥攕tability and protection鈥攚ithout paying a weight penalty,鈥� said Tim Peck, who tested them for months on some of New Hampshire鈥檚 toughest hikes. Even with a Gore-Tex membrane, testers reported dry socks while hiking in 90-degree heat with 100-percent humidity. (On the other end of the extreme, the Rogue has catches for snowshoe bindings and gaiters). Peck鈥檚 only complaint: the tongue occasionally twisted to the side and let debris into the boot. Otherwise, he reported, they made him feel faster, in large part thanks to the Vibram Megagrip outsole. On the wet slabs of Mount Osceola, the scree fields of Vose Spur, and the slippery roots of the Marlborough Trail, they 鈥渟tuck to the ground better than any other shoe or boot I鈥檝e ever worn,鈥� he said.

Bottom Line: The Merrell Rogue Hiker is a good choice if you mostly backpack, but want to wear the same boot on any two-footed adventure.

Best Mountain-to-City Hiker: Danner Mountain 600 Leaf GTX ($230)

Weight: 17.6 oz.
Sizes: 7-15 (regular and wide)
Pros: Solid weather protection; handsome; sustainable materials
Cons: Not supportive enough for heavy loads

Danner took its popular Mountain 600 hiker and went on a major sustainability kick. The leather now comes from certified tanneries that follow strict sourcing and labor practices. Plus, the polyester lining is 100-percent recycled, the footbed is a mix of recycled rubber and bio-oil, and the Gore-Tex lining is 30-percent post-consumer material. The midsole-outsole package remains the same鈥擵ibram SPE and Vibram Fuga, respectively. Both are long-lasting, and the Fuga can be resoled through Danner. Biggest win? The move to sustainability didn鈥檛 hurt performance. Hiking in the arid hills of New Mexico or the soggy mountains of Vermont, Luke Whelan, a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based tester, loved them: 鈥淚ncredibly comfortable and the perfect fit.鈥� Climbing Vermont鈥檚 Mount Mansfield, his feet stayed dry through puddles, rain, and hail, and he never lost traction on granite slabs or mud. The mid-height cut and TPU heel frame added stability for boulder-hopping, but not enough for multi-day loads. They look great around town, too. 鈥淚 wore these to the bar and they felt super stylish,鈥� said Whelan.

Bottom Line: The Danner Leaf is a classic-looking day hiker ready to ease your green conscience.

Best Alpine Boot: The North Face Summit Breithorn Futurelight ($280)

Weight: 19.5 ounces
Sizes: 7-14
Pros: Reliable weather-resistance; supportive, debris-deflecting collar
Cons: Poor grip in mud

The tougher the conditions, the more these sporty mountain boots excelled. The ripstop nylon upper, backed by TNF鈥檚 proprietary membrane, felt comfortable right out of the box and kept 国产吃瓜黑料 gear columnist Jakob Schiller鈥檚 feet happy in a wide range of conditions and under loads up to 50 pounds. He tested them in dry, 80-degree heat on a few day hikes around Santa Fe and then in 10 inches of snow on a four day hunt in the mountains near Taos, New Mexico. 鈥淭hey breathed well during warmer hikes and kept my feet absolutely dry after trudging through the snow for three days straight,鈥� he reported. 鈥淭hey literally saved my feet on the hunt.鈥� Not surprising, considering the model name: These are mountaineering-ready boots with a crampon-compatible heel, a fiberglass-reinforced shank, and a lug pattern that bit into loose scree and slippery snow. Lacing to the forefoot and around the sides of the upper boot provides a precise fit. A rubber rand protects the lower boot from scuffs and punctures. And the Lycra top seals out trail debris. They didn鈥檛 feel especially cushy, says Schiller, but 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 feel a ton of fatigue, either, even after long days.鈥�

Bottom Line: With best-in-test stability in rough footing, the North Face Summit Breithorn Futurelight is perfect for everything from light mountaineering to off-trail backpacking.

How to Buy Hiking Boots

Fit

The most important consideration for hiking boots is fit. They should feel snug (but not tight) everywhere except around the toes, where you want a little extra room to accommodate foot swelling and to keep piggies from hitting the end of the shoe on downhills. All footwear brands come with their own idiosyncrasies鈥攆inding the exact right fit will take trial and error. So it鈥檚 best to try boots on before purchasing. Ideally, go to a brick-and-mortar retailer later in the day when your feet have swelled a little, bring your favorite hiking socks, and try on several pairs. When you get home, resist the urge to use your new boots right away, and wear them around the house for a few hours. This will give you an early sense of any issues while retaining the option of returning them.

Hiking Style

Next, think about the type of hiking you鈥檒l be doing. For light-and-fast hiking, a lower cut and softer, more flexible midsole is preferable. For heavy pack loads or mountainous terrain, an above-the-ankle boot and stiffer midsole may work better, along with shanks and heel counters, which add even more rigidity and support. Many boots and trail runners also come with a rock plate for protection from bruising on sharp trail protrusions.

Environment

Finally, focus on trail conditions and environment. For rainy or wet trails, a waterproof membrane will keep your feet dry. For a dedicated summer hiker or for hot and dry conditions, a mesh boot will breathe considerably better and dry out quickly. Turn the boot over and look at the outsole pattern. Most lug patterns offer versatile grip, but in general, wet trails benefit from a deeper and wider lug pattern, which digs into and sheds mud better. A sharp inside edge and lug-less smearing zone around the toe helps with scrambling on rock and slabs.

When it’s time to upgrade your gear, don鈥檛 let the old stuff go to waste鈥揹onate it for a good cause and divert it from the landfill. our partner, Gear Fix, will repair and resell your stuff for free! Just box up your retired items, , and send them off. We鈥檒l donate 100 percent of the proceeds to .

The post The Best Men鈥檚 Hiking Shoes and Boots of 2023 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Stooping in a lightweight, minimalist, backpacking tent while camping out of your car isn鈥檛 much fun. Neither is getting blown over in a flimsy, big-box-store mega shelter. With that in mind, we set out to find the most luxurious, well-designed, and storm-worthy car camping tents for lounging in style, no matter what the forecast looks like.

The Winners at a Glance

Best Overall: MSR Habiscape 4P

Best for Families: The North Face Wawona 8P

Best for Bad Weather: Mountain Hardwear Bridger 4P

How We Test

Number of Testers: 8

Number of Products Tested: 7

Number of Nights Out: 24

Number of Dogs Who Contributed: 3 (if a French bulldog counts as a dog)

We tested our latest crop of car camping tents with a diverse range of people, from a gaggle of teenage girls to a vanlifer, and told them to use and abuse their samples. On remote beaches, in middle-of-nowhere campsites, and next to RVs, testers threw parties and let their dogs wrestle inside. We asked testers to focus primarily on livability, with volume, weather-resistance, tent height, pockets, durability, and ease of set-up at the forefront.

Meet Our Lead Tester

Ryan Stuart became a freelance writer when he realized he鈥檇 never get paid to play doing any of his other passions, possibly because he has too many of them. He鈥檚 a pretty good skier, decent paddler, hiker, and runner, and loves to make mountain biking, surfing, and rock climbing look harder than it is. Whenever he can, he practices those activities from a campsite somewhere far from other humans.

The Reviews: The Best Car Camping Tents of 2023

Best Overall: MSR Habiscape 4P ($500)

Weight: 12.7 lbs
Height: 73 inches
Interior Space: 62.5 sq. ft. + 23.5 sq. ft. vestibule
Pros: Lots of livable space; highly weatherproof
Cons: Mediocre ventilation

There鈥檚 a lot we liked about the Habiscape, from the generous elbow room (86 square feet including the vestibule) to the ample standing height (73 inches), but it was a pocket that hooked us. Next to the door MSR built in something they call a 鈥減ass-thru pocket鈥濃�攁 bug mesh-lined portal that鈥檚 accessible from both inside and out. Without opening the door, testers could reach through to grab car keys, bug spray or a headlamp. 鈥淚t seems like a little thing, but the convenience was huge,鈥� says Chris Baikie, a British Columbia-based tester. 鈥淭here were definitely fewer bugs in the tent because of it.鈥� Set-up for the Habiscape requires two people, but the asymmetric design and color-coding helped make it quick and easy. The dome structure and low-hanging 68-denier polyester fly stood up to a 20 mile-per-hour windstorm with little flapping. The rest of the tent is equally tough, with the same 68-denier poly on the floor, 40-denier ripstop nylon walls, and 7000 series aluminum tent poles. We had to duck under the vestibule door to get inside, but it provided enough room for a cooler and gear, and kept drips out of the tent during rainstorms. A second door came in handy for frequent nighttime bathroom excursions. The Habiscape packs down easily, and ends up smaller than many tents of its size, at roughly nine inches by two feet. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost perfect,鈥� says category manager Ryan Stuart. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not even that heavy.鈥�

Bottom Line: A dependable, durable option we鈥檇 recommend to just about anyone looking for a car camping tent.

Best for Families: The North Face Wawona 8P ($699)

Weight: 18.1 lbs
Height: 77 inches
Interior Space: 112 sq. ft. + 44.7 sq. ft. vestibule
Pros: Massive vestibule; room divider
Cons: Large footprint makes it hard to fit into some campsites

The Wawona is big all over鈥攁nd that鈥檚 a good thing. In a decade of tent testing for 国产吃瓜黑料, this might be the biggest tent that category manager Ryan Stuart has ever slept in. There鈥檚 plenty of room for eight to lay down in the 112 square foot area, though we mostly tested it with smaller groups. Cumberland, B.C.-based tester John Waters used the Wawona like a bunk house at his in-laws’ cabin on British Columbia鈥檚 Denman Island. By hanging the optional mesh wall, which splits the tent down the middle, he created two rooms and stuck his two kids on one side, while he and his wife enjoyed a bit of privacy on the other. The mesh pockets in each corner are big enough to hold a laptop. The expansive, 45-square-foot vestibule alone is nearly the size of a three-person backpacking tent. 鈥淵ou can stand up in it,鈥� remarked Waters. 鈥淲e had two deck chairs and a small table in there.鈥� He wasn鈥檛 as keen on the door. It opens wide and tall鈥攏o stooping or ducking required鈥攂ut the bathtub floor is 10 inches tall, enough to create a tripping hazard, particularly for fast-moving kids. The complementary high-cut fly, however, left lots of room for venting windows while preventing sideways rain from entering. Most impressive was the set up. 鈥淚t鈥檚 huge, but I still managed to get it up by myself,鈥� says Stuart. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 rare for any car camping tent.鈥� Color-coding and manageable pole lengths were key for raising the roof on this mansion. Ironically for those trying to avoid RV camping areas, the eight-by-eight footprint is so big that it can be hard to fit the Wawona into smaller, tent camping-only campgrounds.

Bottom Line: A monster tent for the biggest of families and longest of trips.

Best for Bad Weather: Mountain Hardwear Bridger 4P ($780)

Weight: 18.6 lbs
Height: 66 inches
Interior Space: 62.5 sq. ft. + 69 sq. ft. vestibule
Pros: Bombproof design, big vestibule
Cons: Pricey, smaller second door

There are two types of car campers in the world: those who cherry-pick sunny weekends, and those who head out no matter the conditions. Mountain Hardwear drew on its mountaineering tent heritage to design the Bridger for the latter. The thick, 68-denier ripstop polyester on the fly extends right to the ground on all sides鈥攁 rarity in this category鈥攖o keep rain and backsplash away from the tent. Aluminum tentpoles create a domed main structure, while a separate hoop pole lifts the fly, giving the Bridger both a roomy- and weather-shedding shape. During a thunderstorm in Pennsylvania鈥檚 Allegheny National Forest, where winds whipped up to 30 miles per hour, testers created a bombproof pitch using adjustable stake-out loops at each of the six pole-tent connection points, as well as guy-out attachments on the fly. The main vestibule is bigger than the tent itself, with a floor and removable storage panel that has six pockets large enough to fit a bike helmet, and opens far from the interior for drip-free entry. 鈥淭he vestibule is effectively a mud room,鈥� said tester Adam Sauerwein, a roving Vanlifer. Four more mesh sleeves inside hold smaller items, like headlamps and phones. The storage adds livability to the tent, which Sauerwein says feels roomy for four. Setting it up for car camping was simple, he says, with color-coded poles, although packing it back up is a bit awkward, owing to a tight stuff sack. The premium fabric and extra square footage makes the tent heavy, though not especially bulky for its size. And $780 is a lot to shell out for a car camping tent鈥攖here are tradeoffs for storm-worthiness and spaciousness. But if you plan to car camp in all seasons, the robust build promises years of dependably dry nights.

Bottom Line: The Bridger does a tent鈥檚 main job鈥攑rotecting campers from the weather鈥攂etter than most in this category.

How to Buy

Start with the number of people who will be sleeping in the tent and add at least one. No one ever complained about a little extra elbow room, and ultra-wide car camping pads often need extra space. Next consider packability: If you have limited storage or trunk space, a more packable option will make jamming it between all of the coolers and propane easier. Height is crucial, but comes with a tradeoff: Being able to stand up to get dressed or stretch your legs is nice, but means it will be harder to set up, especially if you鈥檙e doing it solo. Feature-wise, look for ample pockets for staying organized, big vestibules and/or high bathtub walls that protect the interior from drips, multiple venting options, and roomy doors. Of course, a tent鈥檚 principal job is to protect you from the elements, so weatherproofing should be a primary consideration. A fly that reaches to the ground provides the most coverage, but can also limit venting, making for uncomfortably stuffy conditions when it鈥檚 hot. A tall pole structure is susceptible to high winds, so make sure the tent has plenty of guy-out points for stabilizing and protecting the tent from gusts. Price is always important, but think more about value. Spending a bit more for a tent with more durable materials, like higher denier fabrics and burly aluminum poles, will save you money in the long run.

When it’s time to upgrade your gear, don鈥檛 let the old stuff go to waste鈥揹onate it for a good cause and divert it from the landfill. our partner, Gear Fix, will repair and resell your stuff for free! Just box up your retired items, , and send them off. We鈥檒l donate 100 percent of the proceeds to .

The post The Best Car-Camping Tents of 2023 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The fall of 2022 was supposed to be a chance for bike retailers to catch their breath after two crazy years.

A month after lockdowns had them wondering about their future in the spring of 2020, they suddenly couldn鈥檛 keep up with demand. For a year and a half, staff worked overtime as Americans rolled out their dusty steads or bought new ones. A 50 percent increase in riding, plus supply chain snafus and factory lockdowns dwindled inventories. Then, just as supply and demand evened out last fall, a new challenge walked into stores dressed like a delivery person: a glut of bikes and parts arrived during the darkest days of the year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been waiting for this inventory for a year or more,鈥� says Nick, the owner of two Utah bike shops, who asked that we not use his real name because he didn鈥檛 want to alienate his sales reps and dealers. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e getting it all at once and at the worst possible time. No one is buying bikes or getting their bike serviced in the fall and winter.鈥�

His shops received so much inventory that Nick ran out of space and had to rent 10 storage units.

鈥淲orse than excess inventory is that it鈥檚 not the right mix of inventory,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e have too much of this, too little of some things, and did we even order that?鈥�

When his main supplier launched a new gravel bike with a major marketing campaign, Nick didn鈥檛 have a single model in stock.

鈥淲e鈥檙e supposed to be a launch partner, but they had no bikes for stores at the same time they had every color and size available on their website,鈥� he says.

But he can鈥檛 complain. 鈥淒uring the inventory shortage all the manufacturers gained a lot of power,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey decided who got inventory.鈥� Now, he worries if he rocks the boat he鈥檒l lose even more access to the bikes or get dropped as a dealer. That’s why we agreed not to use his real name.

It’s all costing Nick money鈥攊n storage fees, staff time and debt financing. And things may only get worse. All of the dozen people we talked to for this article say Nick鈥檚 situation is the norm. With bills piling up, bike retailers will start discounting what they can. Nick will have to match prices. With demand slowing鈥攈e says it鈥檚 already 10 percent lower than last year鈥攈e expects spring 2023 inventory to arrive long before he has sold most of the just-arrived 2022 models, which will lead to more storage issues, more discounts, slimmer margins. The vicious cycle could spin out of control. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to get more difficult before it gets better to the point some dealers are not going to make it,鈥� he predicts.

But smart and creative independent bike shop owners are finding ways to work with the inventory challenges by doubling down on service, embracing the new pandemic cyclist, and finding ways to reach novel customers near and far. Despite a busting bike market, inflationary woes, and increased competition from their suppliers and the used market, these shops are optimistic about the future.

Bull whips and snake bellies

The pandemic-fueled inventory roller coaster is not news to any outdoor related retailer. Even other specialty niches like paddling shops are facing challenges with out-of-season inventory piling up, too much of this, and not enough of that. But in many ways the bike industry suffered more during the last three years than other verticals and thus its woes are more extreme, says John Williams, the former president of Live to Play Sports, the owner of Norco Bikes and the distributor of .

First, manufacturing is more concentrated. For instance, just a handful of factories in Taiwan and China produce most of the premium bike frames worldwide. The bike supply chain is also more complex. Even budget friendly bikes include dozens of parts. One unavailable component stalls delivery of the whole bike. And during the pandemic, bike riding boomed more than most outdoor activities. The U.S. Census department says participation increased by 50 percent in New York City. Nationwide bike industry sales jumped nearly 50 percent in 2020 and 2021, , according to NPD Group, a business research company.

The result is what’s known as a bull whip effect. As retailers saw demand for bikes surge, they ordered, say, 25 percent more inventory than normal. When the inventory didn鈥檛 arrive in time, they ordered the same amount from someone else and started hoarding what parts they did have. Distributors took that 50 percent order and added their own 10 percent bump. Brands did the same, asking factories to make 70 percent above what they would normally need. Two years later the whip is finally snapping. Missing parts arrived, factories caught up with back orders, cargo ships sailed, port strikes ended. Now all the inventory is arriving in warehouses and shops, at the same time that consumer demand is falling, recession and inflation talk is locking up wallets, and the used bike market, particularly online, is overflowing.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like the belly of a snake after a big meal,鈥� Williams says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take time for the inventory bulge to move its way through the system.鈥�

Some brands are helping retailers digest. , a Canadian company, has extended its payment terms to give shops more time to sell the bikes it just delivered. Some brands are allowing dealers to rewrite orders, says Williams, something they normally wouldn鈥檛 do. And SRAM, a components maker that rarely allows deviation from its minimum advertised price guidelines, gave shops permission to put 200 SKUs on sale.

鈥淥ur goal is to create demand so that our retailers, partners, and we at SRAM are in the best position regarding inventory going into next spring season,鈥� said

To Williams, that shows retailers are in a power position. 鈥淎ll the product has to make its way through the supply chain and the majority of it will still sell at retail,鈥� he says. But that doesn鈥檛 mean the next year or so won鈥檛 be tough for bike shops. Williams says it鈥檚 time to be creative, reimagine the in-store experience and offer something not available online.

It鈥檚 not all about sales

is a good example of what that could look like. There is almost no inventory at all in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania store. And that鈥檚 exactly how Isaac Denham wants it.

鈥淚 managed a traditional bike store and watched $250,000 worth of inventory collect dust,鈥� says Denham, who opened Befitting in 2018 with store manager Victoria Edwards. 鈥淚 wanted to do everything in my power to keep our inventory dollars low.鈥�

In fact, the duo prefers to call the store a fitting studio, not a bike shop. Instead of rows of bikes and walls of helmets, there’s a fit bike, which they can adjust to mimic everything from an extra small mountain bike to an extra large triathlon bike. Before the pandemic customers would come in for a fit appointment and then Denham or Edwards would order the bike and parts. With multiple distributors within a few hours of their shop, they would have everything the next day to build the custom bike and deliver it to the client within a week.

In the summer of 2020, once they could restart fit appointments, the landscape shifted during the 2020 lockdown and bike boom. Delivery was no longer an option and they couldn鈥檛 beat direct-to-consumer online prices. Rather than fight it, they went with the flow. Now after the fit appointment, they tell the clients what to order online. When the parts arrive, Edwards and Denham build the bike.

What seemed like a loss was actually good business. For a 90-minute bike fit appointment Befitting charges $300. An average $1,000 bike might put $250 in a store鈥檚 register, but that鈥檚 before subtracting the cost of shipping, storage, credit card fees and shop time to build and sell the bike.

鈥淎 bike sale looks good on paper, but bike fit is more profitable,鈥� says Denham.

And it creates more loyalty, adds Edwards. 鈥淢y fit clients are telling me stuff about their body they have never told anyone else,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat intimacy builds trust and creates clients, not customers. The difference in relationship is big.鈥� Edwards says he has many 鈥渃lients鈥� who drive an hour to have their bikes serviced at Befitting.

Embrace the new riders

Obviously not every bike shop can focus on a luxury service like fit. But everyone can focus on building a community and Patrick Hogan, the senior research manager for the , thinks there is an untapped market of consumers looking for a welcome sign.

In late 2020, PeopleForBikes, which represents 320 bike-related suppliers, commissioned . Of the 2,803 respondents, a quarter got back on a bike for the first time in a year or more during the pandemic. The eight percent who were brand new riders were more likely to be women and minorities.

鈥淭he lesson, I think, is there is a lot of opportunity to grow the sport with audiences not typically targeted with marketing and communications,鈥� Hogan says.

When the study asked what it would take to keep them riding, Hogan says the top two responses were infrastructure and community. Advocating for bike lanes is a logical move for some bike shops, he thinks, but it鈥檚 a long play. Finding ways to welcome new riders into the sport is a shorter term lever that any retailer can pull.

鈥淚f you engage them in the sport, they鈥檙e probably going to purchase more product,鈥� says Hogan.

Befitting used to have beer and pizza night every Friday. But like group riders, movie nights, event sponsorship and other classic forms of community engagement, the party nights died during the pandemic and are slow to reemerge.

There are simpler options. Right from the beginning of the pandemic, bike shop in Cleveland, Ohio, concentrated on one thing: getting people on bikes, quickly. Instead of the five week service waits at most shops, staff worked overtime to keep turn-around time to three weeks or less, says manager Antoine Powell.

鈥淧utting your nose to the grindstone makes a good lasting impression,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think we got a lot of new faces in here with word of mouth about our service time.鈥�

When they noticed new riders balking at the price of a bike, particularly e-bikes, they introduced financing. Offered through a third party, the retailer eats the interest on the payment plan. But it helps close sales, ensures customers don’t buy an inferior product, which might turn them off cycling, and gets them riding right away, rather than later with a layaway plan, says Powell. Customers are pleasantly surprised by the option.

鈥淢ore people riding good bikes, means more people enjoying riding, which expands the bike culture,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l benefit later.鈥�

Every shop is national

Both service and engagement rely on the inherent challenge of selling bikes online: They are too complicated for most people to build and tune out of the box. It鈥檚 why traditionally bike shops have had very local markets. But locked stores and contactless services changed the behavior of cyclists just as much as any shopper. Tapping into this shift presents opportunities for retailers, says Cameron Simpson, the head of North America for BikeExchange, an online marketplace where hundreds of bike shops sell their inventory.

鈥淥ur retail spaces are becoming antiquated. But the people that are riding bikes stay youthful,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e need to keep up with the demographic.鈥�

Part of Simpson鈥檚 role is engaging with the individual shops that partner with BikeExchange. To manage their inventory challenges some are tapping into niche markets, like working with hotels or cruise ships to supply rental fleets for their guests. Others, like Dallas, Texas-based Playtri, are buying shops and franchising to use economies of scale, like for balancing inventory between stores. But the most productive strategy is to expand online to find new customers beyond the neighborhood, says Simpson.

About 20 percent of all retail sales happens online, according to the U.S. Census department. The number for the bike industry is much lower, says Simpson, but it鈥檚 growing. Sales on Bike Exchange鈥檚 marketplace increased by 120 percent between 2019 and 2020 and another 60 percent in 2021. 2022 was flat, but conversion rates increased, says Simpson. More telling, the number of BikeExchange retail partners has increased from 130 nationwide in 2020 to more than 200 today, as more and more shops look for ways to move overstocked inventory, Simpson says.

Even on a more local level online is powerful, says Tuvi Mrakpor, a sales associate at Sweet Pete鈥檚 Bike Shop, a business with two locations in Toronto, Ontario.

For most of 2020 customers weren鈥檛 allowed in stores in Ontario. Sweet Pete鈥檚 had to pivot to digital and virtual. Now, even though there are no restrictions, they continue to conduct significant business online, he says. It鈥檚 not just customers in Toronto either. They鈥檙e selling bikes into other markets where customers can鈥檛 find the specific model they want locally.

鈥淭he store is functionally a warehouse,鈥� says Mrakpor.

The challenge is delivering the bikes. For out of town customers, Sweet Pete鈥檚 builds the bikes up like they would with an in person sale, carefully rebox it, and pay to ship the bike with Canada Post or a courier company. That still requires the customer to put the bike back together. Simpson says other stores bought vans and bike trailers so they could deliver ready-to-ride bikes. And BikeExchange saw this as an opportunity and started an offshoot business, Kitzuma Cycling Logistics, that specializes in delivering fully assembled bikes from shops to customers across the country.

鈥淭he industry has flat out tried to avoid online,鈥� says Simpson. 鈥淭hey can no longer put off that this is where consumers want to shop.鈥�

Bike service online?

The advice seems to pull retailers in two directions. Service and engagement is all about offering something that鈥檚 unavailable online. But it also points to a potential future where the bike shop is more of a showroom. With bikes still dominating most retailers’ sales and revenue stats, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, that鈥檚 a hard move to make.

John Williams has some simpler advice for retailers: Look for ways to embrace new customers and don鈥檛 panic. There will be chaos. There will be disruption. But when the snake stops looking like a beach ball there will still be bicycle retailers.

鈥淧eople have been calling for the death of the independent bike dealer for 30 years,鈥� Williams says. 鈥淏ut they are the fabric and soul of the industry. Brands need them. Consumers need them.鈥�

And that won鈥檛 change until someone figures out how to tune gears or change a tire online.

The post Fallout from the Pandemic Bike Boom聽 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

This is an exciting time to buy a big tent, as designers tinker with everything from architecture and durability to patterning and pockets. Here are the three best camping tents for your next roadtrip, or non-backpacking adventure, where a little luxury goes a long way.

NEMO Aurora Highrise 4 ($400, 13.75 lbs)

The dome-style NEMO Aurora Highrise 4 prioritizes indoor comfort. Two crossbeam poles lift the roofline enough for a six-foot tester to stand up, and tilt the sidewalls outward, yielding enough elbow room to keep three men comfortable without any turf wars. Details also helped: eight pockets, two mesh windows with fabric shutters, a plaid patterned floor, and two 19.5-square-foot vestibules. Critically, the 68-denier polyester fly and 150-denier PU-polyester floor stood up to brambly tent sites and trampling by bike shoes without a scuff.

Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 2 ($600, 12.25 lbs)

In the case of the Big Agnes Wyoming Trail 2, innovation comes in the form of a covered patio. The 44-square-foot vestibule is more than a foot taller than the 34-square-foot two-person tent it鈥檚 attached to. On a car-camping bike trip in the British Columbia interior, we filled this front patio with a table and chairs for two; at night, we cleared it to fit a pair of mountain bikes, a cooler, and a host of other car camping gear. Using trekking poles, we pitched the vestibule鈥檚 two doors into awnings to add even more living space, while an additional door at the back meant late-night exits were still easy. Testers struggled to wrestle the Wyoming鈥檚 four lengthy center poles (plus two smaller supports) and gigantic fly, but doing so paid dividends when a storm whipped up 30-mile-per-hour gusts: our shelter barely wiggled. Still, at only 12 pounds, the Trail 2 is way more portable than its 78 square feet of covered space would suggest.

REI Wonderland X ($1,249, 35 lbs)

For truly luxurious living, we love the 70.5-square-foot REI Wonderland X. It鈥檚 wide enough to engulf a picnic table and tall enough (six feet three inches) to back a small SUV into the vestibule. Twelve separate poles lift the fly first; the tent body then hangs from toggles inside the rain fly. This allows you to dry-pitch in rainstorms and choose from three interior configurations: center the mesh body to yield a small vestibule on each side, move it backward to create one big vestibule, or use the fly on its own. No matter how we set it up, the tent stood tall during a 20-mile-per-hour gale.

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Most of the time, choosing a sleeping bag and pad is about compromising comfort for the sake of weight. Car camping eliminates the need for such concessions. There are plenty of great such options on the market, and picking a winner is difficult when every product invites a nap. So we homed in on a few main criteria: packability, portability, and features. Here are the car camping sleeping bags and pads that stood out for delivering both extreme comfort and ease of use.聽

NEMO Jazz ($300)

Best Solo Bag

Everything about this 30-degree synthetic bag feels indulgent, from the 77-inch girth (roomy enough for side sleeping) to the removable, washable microfiber liner sheet that buttons into the inside for added coziness. That鈥檚 in addition to an oversize draft collar and an extra-large insulated hood. The Jazz is stuffed with synthetic insulation designed to mimic the warmth and packability of down. On a 40-degree night in Tofino, British Columbia, one tester stayed so toasty he had to crack the two full-length zippers for ventilation. When it鈥檚 time to break camp, just drop it in the storage duffel, no stuffsack cramming required. Bonus: the fill and silky 50-denier ripstop polyester fabric are fully recycled. 6 lbs

Hest Foamy ($299)

Best Solo Pad

Three Benjamins for a sleeping mat? Trust us, Hest鈥檚 newest offering is worth it. For one, it鈥檚 made from a memory foam that鈥檚 infused with billions of small air pockets, which help retain gentle support even in subfreezing temps鈥攗nlike home-goods varieties that turn hard below 40 degrees. Then there鈥檚 the waterproof nylon bottom shell, which paid off when we spilled our Nalgene on the tent floor. A built-in strap system helps roll the pad up for transport. This does little to save space (packed up, the Foamy is more than a foot thick and two feet wide and the size of Oscar the Grouch鈥檚 garbage can). But during a 32-degree night on a Rocky Mountain logging road, we slept so soundly we forgot to complain. 11 lbs

REI Camp Dreamer Double Sleep System ($299)

Best Couples Bag

The only thing separating this sleep set from the one you use at home is that REI designed the fitted sheet to stay put on an air mat (its elastic sides are only six inches deep, ideal for double-wide camping pads). The kit pairs that sheet with a synthetic-insulated quilt, removable hood, and cotton top sheet, all of which pack into an included storage bag. Arrange the pieces together to lock in warmth or layer them unattached for easy heat dumping. The set doesn鈥檛 have a temperature rating, though one couple slept cozy down to 45 degrees. But the real winning feature is washability: simply remove the sheets to clean your sleep system between trips. 7.19 lbs

Ust Fillmatic Doublewide Air Mat ($180)

Best Couples Pad

Be careful when you pull out this two-person pad. Its three-inch-thick cushioning and large size (four feet two inches across and six feet eight inches long) spell such comfort that the pad had a way of making testers forget what they were supposed to be doing. (Some immediately wanted to lie down and take a nap on the soft, bouncy expanse.) Luckily the Fillmatic mostly self-inflates in a few minutes and thus requires little focus to set up: just open a valve, wait a bit, and then top off the pad with a minute or so of huffing and puffing. The internal foam structure is firm, warm enough for winter use (R-value of 6), and sized to fill most two-person tents. 8.3 lbs

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Build community. Hire passionate staff. Know your customer.

Everyone understands that these are the keys to a successful specialty retail business. But they’re also easier said than done. So when we called up some of the nation’s most successful shops, we didn’t just ask for their strategies for selling winter gear; we pressed them to divulge the details. Turns out, running a top winter store isn’t complicated鈥攂ut it does require dedication, long-term strategy, and just plain being a good person.

Read on for inspiration from nine leading retailers across the U.S.

Secret No. 1: Own a Niche

Case study: Outdoor Gear Exchange, Burlington, Vermont

Top-selling winter brands: Salomon, Atomic, Rossignol

Key stat: 50 staffers attended the shop’s employee ski demo day last year.

When Mike Donohue and Marc Sherman added winter gear to Outdoor Gear Exchange (OGE) in the late 1990s, they focused on their passion, telemark skiing. Twenty-five years later, the store has added 140 staff and expanded to just about every category of outdoor gear. Meanwhile, tele sales have plummeted鈥攂ut Sherman and Donohue never abandoned the sport.

鈥淭elemark might be in decline, but there鈥檚 still a dedicated crew,鈥� Donohue said. 鈥淭hey drive from states away to shop here. It鈥檚 an annual pilgrimage.鈥�

The draw is expertise. OGE stocks a large variety of telemark gear and employs staff who know the sport and how to service the equipment.

The shop looks for staff with passion and knowledge for tele, and incentivizes them to learn more with demo days and peer-to-peer instruction. That way, the buyers know the best gear to carry, and sales staff can talk minutia with customers.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e going to sell it, you have to have expertise in the niche,鈥� Donohue said. 鈥淥therwise, it鈥檚 wasted stock.鈥�

Secret No. 2: Treat Staff like Gold

Case study: Alpenglow Sports, Tahoe City, California

Top-selling winter brands: DPS, Black Diamond, Arc’teryx

Key stat: The store’s speaker series has raised more than $1 million for local nonprofits.

Nobody wants a revolving door of employees, but figuring out how to retain good people can be a major challenge for retail.

Store owner Brendan Madigan said the reason Alpenglow has such a low turnover鈥攎ost employees stick around for several years, and the buying team averages 15 years of experience鈥攊s a combination of compensation, perks, and culture.

鈥淚 want to buck the idea that you can鈥檛 make a career at a retail job,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always tried to run Alpenglow like a big business.鈥�

That starts with compensating staff at the generous end of the pay scale. Madigan pays as much as he can afford (he declined to share salary numbers), with raises coming at least once a year to keep up with inflation. 鈥淪taff don鈥檛 need to get rich, but they do need to get paid well,鈥� he said. Perks for full-time employees include matching IRA contributions, flex days, paid vacations, a ski pass, and one annual hardgood product of their choice (he works with reps to offset the cost).

Equally important is making employees feel like they鈥檙e part of a team. Everyone is a middle manager, he says, with the power to make customers happy on the fly. 鈥淗aving responsibility leads to them feeling more invested in the business,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e give them room to grow and shine.鈥� That鈥檚 backed up by veteran staff who are tasked with spreading the company culture to the next generation, which they do through staff ski trips and a speaker series.

The payoff comes in the tough times. Seasoned buyers know which companies are only going to fulfill 60 percent of an order and can make the risky call to buy 140 percent to compensate, or find a comparable product to stock instead.

鈥淎 lot of that is by feel,鈥� Madigan said. 鈥淵ou never know if it鈥檚 going to work out, but you feel a lot better about it when it鈥檚 someone with 15-plus years of experience making [the call].鈥�

Secret No. 3: Take Customer Service to the Next Level

Case study: Cripple Creek Backcountry, Colorado/Washington

Top-selling winter brands: Salomon, Scarpa, Dynafit

Key stat: 95 percent of gear-related appointments end in sales.

Well before COVID normalized shopping by appointment, Doug Stenclik had already seen the advantage of one-on-one experiences for customers, staff, and the bottom line.

Starting in the fall of 2018, Stenclik, the co-owner and founder of Cripple Creek Backcountry, encouraged his staff to skip the classic 鈥渨alk to the ski wall鈥� sales style in favor of getting to know the customer first. At the company鈥檚 six shops in Colorado and Washington State, employees were trained to ask extensive questions about the customer鈥檚 motivations and interests before they even began to talk about gear. That evolved into a formalized list of questions, and then, shopping by appointment.

Stenclik said he worried about customer and employee buy-in to this labor-intensive process at first, 鈥渂ut I knew if I could get everyone to commit, [one-on-one appointments were] going to provide the best experience for everybody.鈥�

Appointments became required at the onset of the pandemic. Today, the shops are happy to have people walk in off the street, but about 70 percent of customers still make an appointment and fill out a questionnaire beforehand, either online or over the phone. The questions ask for data like weight and height, but also dig deeper. For instance, people who want a boot for uphill or fitness skiing would provide their boot size and what other brands of boots they own, as well as attach pictures of their feet. The store then matches the customer with an employee who also likes to tour for exercise. Before the customer even sets foot in the store, the assigned salesperson has figured out their best two or three boot options.

The process saves everyone time. Cripple Creek stores work together to share inventory, moving sizes and models around to where they鈥檙e needed. When the customer walks in, the salesperson is waiting with the preselected boots. The customer doesn鈥檛 have to wait for help because sales staff are busy or come back later because the right size wasn鈥檛 in stock.

鈥淲e鈥檙e closing more sales,鈥� Stenclik said. 鈥淚f we just said, 鈥楬ere are the only two boots for you to try,鈥� customers would want to shop around. But because we鈥檙e making specific recommendations, based on research, we win them over.鈥� And though staffers were initially skeptical, Stenclik says, three years in, they鈥檙e realizing that investing time ahead of the appointment streamlines the overall process, as they don鈥檛 have to choose products on the fly, hunt for inventory, or make special orders.

For all, Stenclik said, 鈥渢he response has been really positive.鈥�

Secret No. 4: Sweat the Details

Case study: Skimo.co, Salt Lake City, Utah

Top-selling winter brands: Dynafit, Scarpa, La Sportiva

Key stat: In 2020, sales doubled over the previous year.

Just based on its name, one might suspect Skimo.co is more than its single retail location. Scroll through the website, and you鈥檒l also discover that it鈥檚 much more than an online store. The business鈥檚 goal is to educate customers, said James Roh, marketing and content manager. 鈥淥ur mission statement is to be experts on the topic of backcountry skiing,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t boils down to getting people into the right gear so they have as much fun as we do.鈥�

That starts with stuffing the website with information. Staffers write blog articles and in-depth gear reviews. There are detailed descriptions of classic ski tours in ten states from staff and customers. A fill-in form helps buyers sort through the confusion of matching boots and bindings. And an entire section compares packs, skis, poles, and more in data-rich charts.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a bunch of gear nerds,鈥� Roh said. 鈥淲e weigh and measure everything that comes in the door.鈥�

All those resources play a role in attracting online customers, who make up about half of Skimo.co鈥檚 business. But they also drive in-person sales. 鈥淢any people come into the store for the first time after using our website as a resource for years,鈥� Roh said. He often sees staff and customers referring to the website on the store floor, going over the different options and comparing specs.

It鈥檚 a lot of work keeping the site up to date, but Roh said it鈥檚 key to their success. 鈥淥nly a few customers are interested in that much detail,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut our attention to the details shows we鈥檙e a resource and the place to go for backcountry ski gear.鈥�

Secret No. 5: Figure Out What Your Community Needs

Case study: Bill Jackson’s Shop for 国产吃瓜黑料, Tampa, Florida

Top-selling winter brands: Obermeyer, Spyder, Salomon

Key stat: Ski-related sales declined in 2021 by about 40 percent (because there were no ski club trips)

This South Florida shop played a big part in building the area鈥檚 surprisingly large ski community. But co-owner Darry Jackson knows that nurturing that community requires more than a few movie nights鈥攊t means getting people to join the club, literally and figuratively.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 need a ski club if you live in Denver,鈥� said Jackson. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 harder to go skiing from Florida, so clubs are huge here.鈥� Tampa Bay is home to four ski and snowboard clubs, and the largest has more than 4,000 members. Cultivating relations with these clubs has been an essential part of the Jackson family鈥檚 business success.

Jackson鈥檚 parents started the shop as an army surplus store after World War II and, when they noticed people coming in to buy jackets for skiing in the 1950s, they began carrying ski apparel. By 1970 they were stocking skis. Around the same time, a ski club president noted Jackson鈥檚 and his brother鈥檚 growing reputations as outdoor guides (they鈥檇 been leading scuba diving trips to the Caribbean). He asked Jackson to run a club trip to Buttermilk resort in Aspen, Colorado. It kicked off both Jackson鈥檚 passion for skiing and an ongoing relationship with the local ski clubs.

Jackson started holding his pre-trip meetings in the store鈥檚 classroom, then offering space to other ski club leaders for planning sessions, annual parties, and board meetings. Although he doesn鈥檛 lead trips anymore, Jackson thinks it鈥檚 important for the store to stay involved. 鈥淚 try to go to all of their meetings and parties,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s years go by, the leadership with any club keeps changing, and [the shop] must maintain a personal relationship with all of them.鈥�

Each club organizes up to 20 trips a year with around 20 people each, plus a couple of parties of 150 or more. Jackson extends store hours to accommodate the meetings. 鈥淏ecause everybody is too busy talking and socializing, we don鈥檛 sell as much as you鈥檇 expect with several hundred people in the shop,鈥� he said. But he knows they鈥檒l be back.

Secret No. 6: Invest in Vendor Relationships

Case study: Peace Surplus, Flagstaff, Arizona

Top-selling winter brands: K眉hl, The North Face, Cotopaxi

Key stat: The store sold two miles鈥� worth of toboggans in 2o21.

Like just about every other outdoor store last winter, Peace Surplus struggled to keep up with the demand for items like gloves, goggles, and helmets. But when many others couldn鈥檛 restock shelves, founder Steve Chatinsky leaned on 40 years of goodwill. As a result, he was getting fresh orders all the way through the pandemic.

鈥淚 had the right connections and relationships to find the products I needed,鈥� Chatinsky said. Instead of calling his sales reps, he went right to the top, talking to national sales managers or even company presidents. They were willing to not only take his call, but also jump through hoops for him, searching inventory, scouring warehouses, and rushing shipping, because Chatinsky had been there for them.

After he founded the shop in 1973, Chatinsky made sure he treated sales reps, suppliers, competitors, and the greater outdoor industry really well. He did the simple things, like pay his bills on time. But he also bought products that reps really wanted him to, even when he wasn鈥檛 that keen. 鈥淲hen you throw them a bone, they notice,鈥� he said. He became a member of buying groups, like Grassroots Outdoor Alliance and Nation鈥檚 Best Sports, and supported them by joining committees and attending their seminars and shows. On his morning walks, he often stops by the other outdoor stores in Flagstaff to shoot the breeze. The local REI sends customers to Peace Surplus, he said.

鈥淭he outdoor industry is a small industry,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople notice if you鈥檙e a good person.鈥�

Without all that time and effort, going over his sales reps鈥� heads last winter probably would have backfired. 鈥淚f I was pushy and arrogant, I would have pissed people off and ended up at the bottom of the ladder,鈥� Chatinsky said. 鈥淚 was a good person, and last year, it paid off.鈥�

Last November, Chatinsky sold Peace Surplus but agreed to stay on to help the new owners get started. His first lesson: investing in relationships has real value.

3 More Secrets

Case study: Sunlight Sports, Cody, Wyoming

Keep newbies warm:聽If a rookie comes in looking to rent skis, staff will start by talking about the importance of good socks and gloves. “When you start with ‘This is how to be warm and comfortable,’ you’re ensuring they’re going to have a good time,” said co-owner Wes Allen. “That’s a known formula for success. They’re going to trust us and come back.”

Case study: Lahout’s, multiple locations, New Hampshire

Follow your customers:聽This 102-year-old ski shop could have stuck with skis, but when the staff noticed more people coming to northern New England for year-round recreations, it added seven more locations that sell summer gear, too. “Now we see the same skier four or five times a year, instead of just in the winter,” said Anthony Lahout, co-owner and grandson of the founder.

Case study: 国产吃瓜黑料 Brands, multiple locations, Georgia

Use trips to boost sales:聽When customers book a guided kayak or boat trip through 国产吃瓜黑料 Brands, they get an email with detailed info on how to dress for winter excursions and a 15 percent discount code to gear up in one of the shops. “The retail team is trained and knowledgeable about the experiences,” said CEO Mike Overton. “It helps build our clientele and has been really successful.”

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