Top 3 Brands

Personally:

1. Arcteryx

2. Patagonia

3. Mountain Hardwear

For apparel

Montbell

Arc’teryx

Patagonia

(Outdoor Research close behind)

Gear

Zpacks

Katabatic Gear

Enlightened Equipment

Aleve, in terms of being essential and superior to its alternatives.

Zpacks for sure.

Enlightened equipment

Western mountaineering

• Patagonia
• Dutchware Gear
• Snow Peak

There’s a lot of cottage vendors I could have mentioned (Hammock Gear, Warbonnet, ULA, FlatCat, Zelph, Batchstovez) which are doing great work – most very specialized based on what I have from them. The three vendors above are so consistent in a notable regard.  I really love the gear I get from them over years and years, which is why I keep going back to them for more.

Elemental Horizons

Western Mountaineering

Cascade Designs (Thermarest, Platypus, etc.)

Enlightened Equipment.

Tarptent.

KS Ultralight.

Patagonia. Say what you will about their pricing but they are a tremendous value on sale and they’ve always cheerfully patched up my worn out, beat up old garments for free.

Knowing that I can walk into any Patagonia store and drop off a torn jacket for professional repair is a huge ease on my mind and an important distinction in the buying process. The fit is usually good too.

Honorable mentions is Outdoor Research and Arcteryx, whom have both offered exceptional warranty service for free despite my insistence to pay for repairs. The quality of their products is top notch too.

Clothes:

Montbell

Patagonia

Darn Tough

Gear:

MLD

ULA

Trail Designs

MLD

Inov-8

Arcteryx

Pop Tarts

Snickers

Zpacks

1. Mountain Laurel Designs: bivy, backpack, tarp/shelters, rain mitts, etc
2. Katabatic Gear for quilts: pricey but solved all my complaints/issues with my prior quilt
3. Montbell: Lightweight and warm jackets/clothing, but fragile fabrics

Gear

Hammock Gear

MLD

Trail Designs

Clothing

Patagonia

Under Armour (Underwear, shorts, t-shirts)

OR

There are favorite brands and there are brands that I buy and then buy again. My go-to brands. In my case, the difference being price.

The ones that work for me and I go to regularly:

EMS – clothing

INOV-8 – shoes

Darn Tough

Everything else is based on scattered about. I have and enjoy…WM, EE, ZPacks, Arc’teryx, McHale, and OR to name a few.

1. zpacks
2. ZPacks
3. Zpacks

I’m not sure how they spell it anymore.

I freaking love my Zero and Duplex. However, nothing beats Enlightened Equipment for quilts!

Zpacks

Enlightened Equipment

Montbell

Clothes
Patagonia

Gear
Locus Gear
Hanchor
Enlightened Equipment

All the Zpacks love continues to surprise me – as it has for years. Their stuff is okay and light, but not very well put together. Functional but mediocre. Light years ahead of Bear Paw.

GooseFeet Gear

Patagonia

Zpacks

in any order… not just alphabetical!

These choices are based on where I have spent most of my money, and continue to live in my pack. There are lots of other great companies too, but I guess I would put these as my top 3.

I wonder about Zpacks too Dan. I splurged on an Altaplex this year but don’t really like the design (except for the weight). Seems impossible to get a good pitch and even at 5’10 and 1/2″ my bag usually touches the wall. That said I do use it because of the weight and maybe it’s just the nature of weight savings and having a single pole.

Hilleberg * Western Mountaineering * Icebreaker

Hyperlite Mountain Gear – Packs! And my Tarp

Arcteryx – CLothing

MLD – Bivy

Only 3 might be a bit hard, but…

Norrøna and Houdini – Clothing
Helsport and Hilleberg – Tents
Zpack – Backpacks

Budget oriented:
Borah Gear – tarp & bivvy
Granite Gear – Virga 2
Enlightened Equipment – quilt [when on sale]

I currently use products from Zpacks, HMG and Seek Outside. I want to like them but have too limited experience in them to make it to a top list for all year backpacking in the Scandes.

Today my answer is similar to Julie’s.

Norröna, Houdini, (Arcteryx is close)

Hilleberg

Western Mountaineering