Puddles formed on the worn trail as the water beaded off my Alpha SV. I pulled the helmet-friendly hood up and cinched it down. Even with it secure around my face, I could turn my head without being restricted. I pulled the bottom hem tight to keep in some warmth as the temps sagged down to about 45 degrees. While others hunkered down, I stayed dry and comfortable. I could have enjoyed an afternoon tea, were there willing company.

On the trail with rain spitting, I appreciated that the Alpha SV is pack-compatible. I could access two decent-sized chest pockets where I stashed a snack and later put my smart phone to keep it dry. There are two inner zip pockets for small items and a mysterious shoulder pocket, all of which can be accessed while wearing a pack or harness. My sleeves stayed in place with Velcro cuff closures. When I walked enough to generate some heat, I easily vented it through the pit zips. Arc’teryx keeps it light and sleek.  It doesn’t have much glitter or glam because it just gives you what you need.: a solid, durable shell that will keep you dry.
-Cristina Rose Mastrangelo

Tested In:

Good For: Biking, Skiing, Snowshoeing, Hiking

www.petzl.com, 6 ounces
“Throw away all your old flashlights and headlamps,” said our tester after taking the NAO on a three-week road trip. “The reactive-lighting NAO is the only headlamp you’ll need, or want to use.” We don’t take the word “revolutionary” lightly, but the new NAO headlamp is worth getting excited about. In contrast to other lamps, the 400-lumen NAO has a beam that automatically adjusts to focus on your target. If you’re pouring over topo maps, the light adjusts to a wide beam with low output. When you look out the tent fly to see if it’s a raccoon or bear rustling by the picnic table, the beam focuses, with greater light intensity for—drum roll please—a distance of 300 feet. Other advantages include fewer manual adjustments and a better burn time than any other headlamp we’ve tested. The NAO comes with a single rechargeable lithium battery that’s guaranteed for 300-plus charges—we didn’t do the math, but that’s a lot of alkaline batteries you won’ t need to buy. Each charge provides nearly five hours of use in high Reactive mode (the auto-adjust) or eight hours in low Reactive. You can set the lamp on a constant function, which disables the sensor, but cuts significantly into the battery life, as the Reactive power setting really does make power use more efficient. The rechargeable battery can be replaced with 2 AAA batteries, but our testers swear that the rechargeable battery ups the lamp’s performance. We were leery of the downloadable battery management program that allows you to adjust the light intensity, burn time, and beam distance on a computer, but are happy to report that even techno-troglodytes found it easy (and fun) to customize the lamp’s performance. The easiest option is using the custom profiles pre-programmed to enhance performance for specific activities like climbing, running, trail running, and hiking. Two features worth noting: a big off-on knob that’s easy to manipulate with gloves or in the dark and a water-resistant shell that never leaked, even during a monster Texas monsoon that one tester encountered while night hiking up a mesa near Lajitas.

www.sierradesigns.com

Not so this deceptively sleek 15-liter panel loader, built atop a plastic back panel covered with large foam and mesh bumps. The back panel, along with a wide, soft waist belt, makes the Rohn very stable, even on bouncy trail runs with a partial load and a full 100-ounce bladder. It hugged our backs without getting super sweaty, even with southwest monsoon humidity on 100-degree day hikes, thanks to huge air channels. “The die-cut shoulder straps were wide enough to be comfortable even when I was hauling 20 pounds of water, ropes, and carabiners into tight slot canyons,” one tester noted.

Useful features included mesh bottle-wand pockets; internal pockets and sleeves for bike pumps or avalanche probes; a single outside pocket large enough for goggles, with a key clip inside; twin hip belt pockets sized to hold smart phones, GPSunits, or four energy bar apiece; an internal compression system for the hydration pocket that could be tightened via a cordlock on the right hip, bike light attachment points, and a removable bungee net on the pack front to help augment capacity.

The packs’ bullet shape stayed out of our way on diagonal stride cross-country skiing and chairlift rides. Its combination of simplicity, stability and all-around utility has made it the go-to day hauler for our primary tester since he began using it in March of 2012.
-Steve Howe