Tinker Tailor Solder Dye
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Engineers futz with things for a reason: that’s how breakthroughs happen. And as these 29 products demonstrate, there’s never been a better time to mess around.
Protection
Durable gear for a rough and tumble world
1. Packable Climbing Cradle. Built with hardy but featherweight Spectra fabric, the Petzl Altitude harness weighs just 5.3 ounces and takes up a fistful of cargo space in your pack. Leg-loop buckles let you slip it on without removing crampons or skis. $80
2. Ultralight Avy Insurance. Airbags are buoyant in an avalanche, but the extra pack weight can be a bummer on the way up. Mammut’s Light Protection Airbag 3.0 is svelte (just under six pounds), and shoulder-strap integration provides better protection when the snow slides. $730
3. Collapsing Bike Lid. Don’t worry, it holds its shape when it’s in use. From high-end cycling gearmaker Brooks England, the Carrera helmet has an accordion folding mechanism for easy storage. The look recalls the classic leather “hairnets” of seventies racing, but it meets crash-test standards. $170 and up
4. Tear-Proof Cycling Kit. Road rash is the bane of bike racing, which is why the fabric used in the shoulders of Scott’s RC ProTec jersey can stand up to a belt sander. (Seriously, Google it.) The secret? ITD ProTec, a material produced in partnership with the textile whizzes at Schoeller that adds carbon-fiber yarn to the polyester knit. $125
5. Backcountry Armor. Fresh from Voormi is the Inversion jacket, with ultra-thick wool in the shoulders, arms, and hood that’s as bulletproof as ballistic nylon yet more breathable and stretchy. A tightly woven wool-nylon mesh shrugs off rain, courtesy of a durable water-repellent treatment. $500
6. The Burliest Pants. We challenge you to wear a hole in these dungarees by urban-bike-wear company Chrome Industries. For the U.S.-made Wyatt Five Pocket jeans, the brand worked with Cone Mills to create raw denim with 8 percent Dyneema fiber, used in some climbing ropes. $150
Movement
Travel fast and free, from city to mountain
1. Float Like A Butterfly, Carve Like a Knife: Moment’s Deathwish skis are the first with wavy triple camber—small curves placed fore and aft of the bindings, plus a rockered tip and tail. The result: all-mountain sticks that float in powder and hold an edge on crust. $750
2. Rejoice, Ski Mountaineers: The lateral stiffness that makes for a good downhill boot is terrible for scaling steeps in crampons. Arc’teryx’s Procline bridges that gap. The two-piece upper cuff bends 23 degrees sideways for sure footing on rock and ice, then locks in place to rip big-mountain lines. $1,000
3. Iced Tee: Polartec’s four-season Delta fabric has a honeycomb structure that increases yarn surface area to move more heat and moisture. Cycling-apparel brand Kitsbow incorporates Delta side panels into its Radiator shirt for the ultimate warm-weather, casual-but-techy top. $69
4: A Jazzed-Up City Cruiser: Electric bikes have come a long way, but many are still clunky beasts championed mainly by early adopters. Faraday’s Dutch-style Porteur bike bucks that trend, pairing a 250-watt front-hub motor and integrated front and rear lights with eye-catching touches like bamboo fenders and leather grips. $3,500
5. Rock Wear With Flair: So Ill capitalizes on climbers’ footwear obsession with its Street climbing shoes. They blend technical features—like super-sticky Dark Matter rubber, developed for Navy SEAL boots—with throwback Velcro straps. $129
Connectivity
Next-level gadgets for tracking, logging, and playing
1. One Punchy Music Box: Libratone’s wireless Zipp Mini speaker pumps out crisp sound, not the muddy thumps and crackly highs of most Bluetooth boxes. Credit the fat subwoofer and dual tweeters. You can link as many as six of them via Libratone’s free app (Android and iOS). $249
2. All-in-One Fitness Pal: Garmin’s Forerunner 735XT has customizable faces and tracks your heart rate. It also maps your ride, run, or swim even when you leave your phone at home. But what we really dig is not having to constantly charge it—battery life can reach 11 days. $450
3: A Smartwatch With Panache: Why does TAG-Heuer’s Connected cost five times as much as other smartwatches? Swiss engineering and a mineral-glass screen with “depth” (the digital hands cast faux shadows). You still get push notifications, but the look is more elegant timepiece than dork device. $1,500
4: Go-Anywhere Sky Cam: At 1.2 pounds, the Vantage Robotics Snap drone is less than half the heft of any other serious quad on the market, yet it shoots both 4K and syrupy-slow 120-frames-per-second 1080p video. In a crash the body pops free, dissipating force. $1,295
5: Off-the-Grid Communicator: A handful of new backcountry devices let you send texts and location info without cell service. But the Beartooth goes further, giving adventurers the ability to make calls to other Beartooth users as much as five miles away. $149 for two
6: Wearable Stride Coach: Lumo’s Run fitness tracker clips to your shorts, which is a better spot than your wrist for monitoring cadence, braking force, and pelvic rotation. And you get immediate voice feedback via the Lumo app (Android and iOS), as well as simple suggestions for improving form. $80
Warmth
Smart tools to conquer the elements
1. Fog-free Fun: Abom goggles are moisture creep’s worst nightmare. The key is in the heat-conducting film layered between two pieces of polycarbonate, like a battery-powered version of your car’s defroster. Press the large button on the side and Active mode ensures an unobstructed view for six hours. $250
2. Snow Dogs: Redesigned with oversight from über-alpinist Conrad Anker, Smartwool’s PhD Outdoor Mountaineer socks are knitted from merino and nylon Indestructawool fabric, which the company says makes them 33 percent more durable than its earlier PhD series. A low-volume instep guarantees proper boot fit. $35
3. Rain or Shine: At the heart of Arc’teryx’s category-defying Firebee AR parka is W. L. Gore’s new Thermium, a breathable membrane designed to keep insulation dry, thus maintaining warmth. Arc’teryx pairs Thermium with 850-fill down for a 23-ounce parka that’s ideal for any lung-busting winter activity. $949
4. Hot Hands: Outdoor Research debuted its AltiHeat line in 2014, but the company doubled up on the warmth with this year’s Capstone electric gloves. Literally. These are twice as efficient as the old Lucents. Wires in the hands and fingers conduct heat from two lithium-ion batteries per glove, which OR stashed in the cuffs to keep the Capstones from being uncomfortably bulky. $500
5. Fire It Up, Then Pack It Away: Primus’s new seven-pound Onja stove is a legit camp cooker in a messenger bag with Scandinavian style. The oak cutting-board lid doubles as a serving tray. When you’re ready to cook the frame unfolds, with a base that’s sturdy enough to support heavy pots and dual burners nested low enough to shield their 10,000-BTU flames from the wind. $140
6. Performance Après: Once only the stuff of hard-charging apparel, the North Face’s Thermoball insulation is making its way into classier garments. The Lost Coast Shacket excels as light protection for post-ski beers, especially when style points count: the fold-down collar and chambray trim lend an air of cool. $149
Vision
Bright ideas with an eye toward style and safety
1. Versatile Camp Light: BioLite boosts its rep with the 500-lumen BaseLantern, which does double duty as a power hub that can juice a phone up to four times. The most ingenious feature: when it’s dark, the lantern switches on as you approach with your phone—perfect for those 2 A.M. nature calls. $100
2. Shades fit for 007: Dashing enough for Daniel Craig in Spectre, Vuarnet’s Glacier Glasses feature glass lenses that block UV and infrared radiation. Vuarnet dials in the shading to block snow and ice glare at the bottom and sun at the top, leaving the center nearly clear for unimpeded vision on sketchy terrain. $540
3. A Bombproof Like-Generating Machine: The Olympus Tough TG-Tracker action cam doesn’t need a case to withstand the rigors of the wilderness. It performs to a depth of 100 feet and at temperatures as low as 14 degrees. A built-in thermometer and pressure sensor tell you when you’re getting close to its limits. $350
4. Shoe Shine: Visibility is critical when running at night, but who wants to dress up like a neon clown? A great workaround is 4id’s Power Spurz, which attaches to the heel of your shoe and flashes twin LED beacons up to 2,000 feet. It’s featherweight, two button cells last 70 hours, and a clamp ensures it stays put. $20