The Black Diamond Mercury 55's pivoting hipbelt made it one of the most comfortable packs in this category. The multiple access points made packing and locating items a breeze and the fully seam taped zippers provided extra weather protection.
Overall, we believe the BCA Float is the best avy pack on the market for Winter ‘12/'13. It has the essential features of the best packs, with a very simple-to-refill canister recharge system.
The Lontra gives you all the protection you need to make it through the winter. They’re more cumbersome to use than other FiveFingers models, but maintain all the design and performance features that make this footwear so fun to wear.
The engineering of the Wary 33’s airbag system is best in of this year’s airbags. It’s simple, solid, dependable, and abuse-ready. The backpack itself is a fully-featured, well-organized all-day ski touring pack with a bomber construction.
As the second-lightest and most stripped-down avy pack in our test, the Mammut Light R.A.S. 30 is good option for those seeking to save every ounce they can. In order to save weight, Mammut skimps on a few features many backcountry users might appreciate.
This is a good helmet for all-mountain skiers and gets high marks for style as well as performance. The lightweight hybrid construction may be a trade-off for durability but the fit, comfort and functionality are well above average.
This is a solid showing for K2s first goggle, providing good but unexceptional performance—but a great value. It is a base-model goggle without the features of higher-end models but provides good visibility in a stylish package.
The Gregory Savant 58 backpack is lightweight, comfortable, and provides some nice features for weekend and extended-weekend trips. While it performs adequately compared to other backpacks in this category, the pack has a few frustrating design shortcomings that buyers should at least be aware of.
Among hybrid hatchbacks (and only hybrid hatchbacks), the Ford C-Max is a worthy choice for those who want more people and gear room—and a better price. Performance is not its selling point.
The Soleus 2.0 GPS is a mid-line unit GPS running watch that can upload and export data.
Polar’s RC3 is the company’s first GPS running watch that fully incorporates GPS technology, whereas in the past Polar GPS watches required bringing along an exterior pod.
If you’re part of a ski/snowboard-mad family and have a van, wagon or SUV with a long roofline, the fairly-priced Rola is worth a look. Its simple installation, insanely great price, and attention to design details make it a stand out.