This is Outside's biggest and most comprehensive Summer Gear Guide ever, full stop. While that sounds hyperbolic, it's the plain truth. Over the past two years our team—including editors from Backpacker, Climbing, Trail Runner, and Pinkbike—completely rejiggered our testing processes and protocols to bring you, our members and readers, the best possible finished product we can.
It all starts with testing. We've standardized our testing protocols to ensure that no fewer than three people test the simpler items included in this guide, such as board shorts and headlamps. For larger categories, such as backpacks, that minimum number is raised to eight. These testers are from all over North America, from the deserts of the Southwest to the forests of the Northeast. We've worked hard to include product reviewers of diverse backgrounds, experience, and body types to get a broad range of perspectives. These athletes, mothers, grandparents, and students then provide their feedback to our category managers, who collate all of that data and then synthesize it into the top picks for each roundup you see. Finally, they write the copy and undergo an intensive editing process.
And we no longer simply provide reviews. Now, in each of our digital roundups, we provide specific information on how we tested, insight into current trends, and buying tips to make your search for the best outdoor gear easier.
Yes, we still make a print version of the Summer Gear Guide, and it is still beautiful, but it represents only the greatest hits and the high points of the products included. The digital version you are looking at now features far greater depth and breadth, not to mention 149 additional products across all the gear we cover. And this is just the beginning: we'll continue to invest in our Gear Guides to provide readers with the most in-depth and relevant product reviews that we can, season after season. We'll see you outside!
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