Trail & Kale

- Sponsored Ad - - Sponsored Ad - An 8x25, an 8x42, and a 10x42 can all look like sensible choices when you're shopping for binoculars. But those numbers tell you quite different things about the view you'll get and the size of the binoculars you'll be carrying. The first number is the magnification. The second is the diameter of each front lens, measured in millimeters. So 8x42 binoculars have 8x magnification and 42mm objective lenses. That's the basic explanation.

- Sponsored Ad - The Rossignol Vercors is billed as the brand's long-distance trail shoe, but that undersells it. After logging real miles in them across dirt, gravel, loose rock, and a little technical singletrack, what stands out most is how versatile they are; stable, protective, grippy, and comfortable across almost any distance. At $160 the Vercors also undercuts a lot of the premium trail competition, and it performs like something more expensive on challenging ground.

- Sponsored Ad - Arc'teryx has announced System 0, a new framework that rethinks how the brand designs, manufactures, repairs, and ultimately regenerates its products. The first product built under it is the Sperro SV, a mountain-grade GORE-TEX Pro hardshell that arrives September 4 at $1,200 through Arc'teryx stores and arcteryx.com. That price will stop plenty of readers right there, so let's deal with it up front.

- Sponsored Ad - These are the two modern lightweight boots in my hiking lineup, and on paper they're almost the same boot; within a tenth of an ounce on the scale (for my US 9), $10 apart in price, both waterproof, both with 4mm lugs, speed hooks, and serious out-of-box comfort. On the trail, they're built for slightly different lives, however. One is a pure trail hiker, the other is a crossover that's as happy on city streets as it is on the dirt.

- Sponsored Ad - The Kaha 3 vs Targhee IV question is hiking's version of the modern-or-traditional fork: Hoka's plush, athletic flagship against KEEN's durable leather workhorse. On the scale they're nearly identical (for hiking boot standards), within half an ounce of each other, so the usual weight tiebreaker is gone and the decision comes down to your feet, your terrain, and a $60 price gap. I've tested both, the Hoka Kaha 3 GTX and the KEEN Targhee IV Mid, on the same trails.

- Sponsored Ad - COROS has done its first collaboration with an apparel brand, and it picked well. The SATISFY COROS APEX 4 ($520) takes the mountain sport watch COROS launched last October and runs it through the lens of the Paris-based technical running brand that has spent the last few years quietly becoming one of the most distinctive names in running apparel. It goes on sale Friday August 21 at 4PM CET, at satisfyrunning.com and coros.com.

- Sponsored Ad - Nineteen years is a long time to wait for a sequel; but in this case. the Core 2, is worth the wait. The original Suunto Core launched in 2007, and it became the default wrist tool for thru-hikers, anglers, overlanders, and anyone who wanted altitude, weather, and direction without a charging cable in their pack. The new Suunto Core 2 is the first true successor to that watch, and Suunto has resisted every temptation to turn it into another GPS smartwatch.

- Sponsored Ad - Breaking in hiking boots has more folklore attached to it than almost any other gear topic I've talked about. Soak them in the bath, wear them in the shower, blast them with a hairdryer; I've read it all, and most of it ranges from pointless to actively damaging your boots. Here's the process I actually use on every boot I test, how long it genuinely takes for different boot types, and the one situation where no amount of breaking in will save your feet.

- Sponsored Ad - Hiking shoes are having a moment. Low-cut hikers now deliver most of what boots offer, with less weight and none of the break-in drama, and for many hikers they're the smarter buy. Every shoe here has been tested on real trails, and each pick links to my full in-depth review. If you have any question at all, drop it in the comments below. If you purchase through links in this article, we may earn a small affiliate commission.

- Sponsored Ad - I've spent years testing both sides of this debate, many of which on the same trails. Recent hiking boots like the Hoka Kaha 3 GTX and Keen Targhee, and trail running shoes like the Hoka Speedgoat and Saucony Peregrine are a few that have performed very well for the same purpose. So I'm not going to give you the fence-sitting answer. For most day hikers on most trails, trail runners are the better choice.