Of all the gear reviewed in Wilderness each year, a few items become packing list favourites. Here’s the kit our gear editor especially loved in 2024.

Featured: Aarn Featherlite Freedom Pro with Balance Pockets

$694 / 1500g

This ultra-comfy, highly configurable pack won us over due to its load-carrying performance, particularly on multi-day trips. The posture-improving Balance Pockets make it a spine and shoulder saver, and the adjustable harness is the best I’ve used for comfort and agility. Weighing only 1500g, this 50 or 55l (+12l with Balance Pockets) pack has transalpine travel features, but it makes heavily loaded tramping more pleasant at any elevation. The ease of access to gear while on the trot is a bonus.

Lowa Randir GTX

$649 / 1385g (m), 1140g (w)

The Randir was one of our highest-ranking boots due to its design and technology, blending traditional tramping boot attributes with contemporary materials to create a light, comfortable and durable four-season boot. It has practical upper materials and a sole that will cope in the frontcountry or the deepest backcountry, on-track or off. Consider this boot for weekend to week-long trips, from bush to alpine passes.

Honourable mention: Topo Athletic Trailventure 2 WP ($350 / 882g (m), 743g (w)). An ultralight but tough fastpacking boot that won the wide-fit award.

Rab Xenair Alpine Light Jacket

$380 / 293g (m), 263g (w)

There was everything to like about this adaptable jacket, which was one of our highest-scoring products of 2024. Lightweight, packable and Primaloft-insulated, it has been a frequent companion on my tramping and bikepacking trips. It’s versatile as a hooded, insulated jacket for summer, or an extra cosy windproof mid or outer layer for colder months. It packs a lot of warmth for weight and is designed for active use with soft, stretchy, ventilating fabric and body-mapped insulation. Buy this reasonably priced jacket and you’ll often cram it into your pack.  

Honourable mention: Montane Phase XT rain jacket. It’s waterproof and durable with all the features needed for wet-weather tramping without being heavy.

Exped Ultra 7R Mummy

$370 / 581g

If I was to buy one mat for weekend trips to through-hiking and four-season use, the down-filled Ultra 7R would rate highly. It’s comparable to three-season mats in weight, yet, with a high 7.1 R-value, it holds a lot of warmth in a compact bundle. 

The 7R’s sharply tapered profile won’t suit everyone, but it trims weight and the mat is thick and comfortable with cradling side baffles and a soft-touch face fabric. 

For those packing light and wishing to sleep warm, this mat is very good value. 

Honourable mention: Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Xlite NXT ($550, 486g). The comfort king of lightweight three-season mats. It’s expensive, but a winner in the warmth-for-weight contest. 

Petzl Swift RL Headlamp

$280 / 100g

At just 100g, this 1100 lumen ‘smart’ light is a trailblazer. It provides efficient, economic backcountry lighting by automatically adjusting brightness depending on what you’re looking at, how bright the object is and its proximity. If you’re sometimes on the move at night, this headlamp is well worth the money.