A Good Time to Buy Hiking and Backpacking Gear? Right Now – GWC Mag

By Michael Lanza

If you’ve been thinking you need—or want—a new backpack, tent, boots, sleeping bag, rain shell, down jacket, or some other piece of hiking or backpacking gear or apparel, right now is one of the two or three best times of year to grab excellent deals. Most brick-and-mortar and online retailers are holding major sales, offering deeply discounted prices on new and recently new gear. If you want to save yourself serious cash (and who doesn’t?), read on for my recommendations for favorite models of packs, tents, jackets, and other gear, and links to the best sales taking place right now.

Online retail sites like backcountry.com and moosejaw.com are holding sales right now, as are many brands that make high-quality gear like ospreypacks.com, featheredfriends.com, hyperlitemountaingear.com, patagonia.com, blackdiamondequipment.com, arcteryx.com, outdoorresearch.com, msrgear.com, seatosummitusa.com, beyondclothing.com, bioliteenergy.com, ibex.com, and thermarest.com.

See all reviews of gear from Feathered Friends, Osprey Packs, Outdoor Research, Black Diamond, Patagonia, Hyperlite Mountain Gear, Arc’teryx, MSR, Sea to Summit, Beyond Clothing, Therm-a-Rest, Ibex, and BioLite at The Big Outside.

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Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Join The Big Outside to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here for my e-guides to classic backpacking trips. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip.

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Make smart, informed choices by starting with my expert gear reviews, which draw from my experience of more than 25 years reviewing hiking and backpacking gear, previously as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and many years running this blog. See a categorized menu of all reviews at The Big Outside, as well as links to my gear-buying tips, at my Gear Reviews page.

Or click directly to these stories at The Big Outside, where I review only the top-performing outdoor gear and apparel:

“The Best Backpacking Gear of the Year”
“The 10 Best Backpacking Packs”
“The 10 Best Backpacking Tents”
“The Best Ultralight Backpacks”
“The Best Sun Shirts”
“25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories”

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“The 12 Best Down Jackets”
“The Best Rain Jackets for Hiking and Backpacking”
“The Best Trekking Poles”
“The 8 Best Headlamps”
“The 10 Best Hiking Daypacks”
“The Best Ultralight Hiking and Running Jackets”

You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by making purchases through any of the above affiliate links or links at this blog to an online retailer. Thanks for doing that, I appreciate it.

Buy smartly. Read my “10 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear”
and
“Why and When to Spend More on Hiking and Backpacking Gear.”

Make yourself into an expert gear buyer by reading my expert tips on choosing the right backpack, tent, boots, sleeping bag, and rain jacket, and these stories:

“The Top 5 Ultralight Backpacking Tips”
“5 Things to Know Before Buying Backpacking Gear”
“How You Can Tell How Warm a Down Jacket Is”
“5 Smart Steps to Lighten Your Backpacking Gear”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

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