Trail, the UK’s biggest and best-selling hiking magazine, has announced the winners of its coveted Gear of the Year awards.

Trail has been the leading authority on outdoor kit for more than three decades, with its team of testers reviewing hundreds of products every year, it provides unrivalled buying advice to readers. The 2024 Gear of the Year awards recognise the standout products in eight core hiking gear categories, including best waterproof jacket, hiking boot, backpacking tent, and backpack.

After months of testing and fierce debate, the winners are revealed in the May issue of Trail magazine, which goes on sale today, 11 April. Alongside the 100-page free Gear Guide, this issue of Trail also guides you across Snowdonia’s 8 most exciting mountain ridges, shows you how to bag Ireland’s 3 highest peaks in one walk, and helps you plan a campervan adventure that lets you sleep closer than ever to your favourite hikes.

Oli Reed, Editor of Trail magazine states “The early months of the year are always tense in the Trail office, because we spend most of that time arguing over who should win these awards! But, as always, our testers have done their job brilliantly and picked out what we believe to be the eight standout hiking gear releases of 2024.”

“We take these awards seriously, because we know buying hiking kit is a big investment and that our readers want products that will not only keep them safe and comfortable on their adventures, but also hopefully last them for many years. Outdoor gear has come a long way in recent years, in terms of key factors such as performance, design, sustainability and value, and these awards recognise the brands and products we believe tick every box. Congratulations to all of the winners!”

Best waterproof jacket: Mountain Equipment Makalu

Best mid layer: Craghoppers CO2 Renu fleece

Best hiking boot: AKU Trekker Lite III GTX

Best hiking shoe: Arc’teryx Norvan LD3

Backpack: Osprey Sirrus 26

Best headtorch: Petzl Swift RL

Best backpacking tent: MSR Tindheim 2

Best sleeping bag: Sea to Summit Spark SpIII

Find out more about the winning gear in this month’s Trail Magazine, which comes with a free 100-page Gear of the Year supplement, on sale today, 11 April. And for in-depth reviews and video of each product, go to www.livefortheoutdoors.com

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For further press information, please contact:
Jyoti Mand – Senior Communications Executive, Bauer Media UK

jyoti.mand@bauermedia.co.uk

About Trail Magazine

Trail is a monthly magazine for everybody who loves hiking, backpacking, climbing mountains and exploring the great outdoors. Basically, if you like chucking your mountain kit in a rucksack and heading for the hills at the weekend, Trail has you covered. It’s been the UK’s biggest and best-selling hillwalking magazine for over 30 years and every is issue packed with award-winning writing and photography, mapped walking routes, expert reviews of all the latest outdoor gear, interviews with the biggest names in mountaineering, and expert advice from mountain pros on how to improve your hill skills.

About Bauer Media UK
Bauer Media UK reaches over 25 million UK consumers through a portfolio of world-class, multi-platform media and entertainment brands including heat, KISS, Grazia, Empire, Magic, Absolute Radio and the Hits Radio Brand Network. These brands offer commercial partners access to highly engaged audiences, with creative solutions underpinned by insight and instinct. Bauer Media UK is part of the Bauer Media Group, one of the world’s largest privately owned media businesses with media assets all over the globe.