Favorite New Gear from 2025

Each year I try out different outdoor equipment as I dial in my painting and hiking supplies. In 2025 I experimented with more new things than usual, and I wanted to share thoughts on the items that are now a permanent part of my kit.

Before I dive in, a note: you do not need the latest and greatest hiking equipment to be safe and have fun out there!

New tent- Tarptent Moment DW

This was the most expensive and biggest change in my 2025 equipment, and I’m so happy I added it! I’m working on an in-depth review, but for now, the best vote of confidence I can give this one-person tent is that I used it on EVERY trip last year. During more than 33 days of backpacking this was the shelter I reached for over and over again.

My prior go-to tent was the Hilleberg Akto, also a solo shelter, which I still love and adore, but it is heavy... pushing over 4lbs. The Moment DW starts at about 2 lbs 4oz. Shaving nearly 2lbs off my base weight for $300 (the price I got when I bought it via the Tarptent sale in November 2024, likely higher now due to tariffs) was a huge change that I really felt on longer trips. The Moment DW was also an easy shift from the Akto because they both share the same basic shape- central arched pole, tapering to two ends, with space inside and a nice vestibule.

Upgrades and additions I made:

• on a few early season trips I got cold from the airflow through the mesh at the ends of the tent and the doors (I got the “solid” interior which is 2/3 nylon, 1/3 mesh). With my mom’s help we sewed panels onto the end mesh vents, sealed up one door mesh are fully, and made the other door’s mesh coverings openable with snaps. As someone who sleeps cold this helped a TON.

• added bright reflective guy lines to the main pole attachment points and replaced the end lines on the tent with the same line, as the line that came with the tent was failing a bit with odd bends in the line core, the only flaw with the tent and easily fixable! I also affixed light short pieces of line to the four bottom edges of the fly, which I can stake in windy conditions.

• Added a Tyvek ground cloth

• extra six stakes to be able to guy out all four bottom edges of the fly plus the pole anchor lines (these account for most of the added weight).

• These additions bring the weight of my entire tent kit to 2lbs 11 oz.

Used Patagonia R1 Fleece

For the past three years I’ve challenged myself to buy five or fewer new clothing items each year (this includes items I am gifted or given to test). I have a soft spot for fleeces, and was so excited to realize that you can get really awesome deals on Patagonia R1s on ebay. I got two of them, and brought one on each backpack and day hike this summer, as well as to Nepal with me.

The R1 allowed me to shuffle a few things in my kit, and overall save some weight:

-          On all but the coldest trip to the Easton Glacier, the R1 allowed me to skip my thinner puffy jacket (the Arc’teryx Nuclei or Proton) which saved me over a pound on most trips.

-          My new layering system for adding warmth throughout the day is now the R1 plus Feathered Friends Ellia, and raincoat over all of that if cold enough.

-          On the trail I wear a Smartwool tshirt and wool blend sun hoody, which the R1 easily fits over!

-          In camp, I no longer carry a spare clean tshirt. Instead, I bring the Ibex Nuyarn Protech zip t-neck that weighs just a bit more than the tshirt, and often layer that under the R1 for sleeping on cold nights. Works great!! I used this combo every night in Nepal.  

New Pen for my art kit - Lumos

I added the Tom’s Studio Lumos Duo to my painting kit. This aluminum body pen is pricy, but super durable, and replaced the two other pens I used to carry (a brush pen and a fountain or micron pen) thanks to the dual tips. It also excels in temperature swings- even when it froze every night in Nepal, as soon as I warmed it up inside an interior pocket, it worked right away, and I had zero leaking problems which is a huge improvement over fountain pens! I love the bright pink color, too, as I am much less likely to lose it!

Ibex Protech zip t neck (Nuyarn fabric)

I got this layer for my trek in Nepal, and fell in love with it. Super light, slightly fluffy feeling. breathable, and just super cozy. The biggest benefit I think is the lightness- it really is just so light in the women’s medium that I bring it every trip. This plus the R1 led to a huge shift in my layers last year that I plan to continue.

Patagonia Altvia pant

Also bought used from Patagonia's Worn Wear Program for Nepal and then used all summer for backpacking. These pants are just so comfy, and proved quite durable thanks to the different fabric panels. Longest trip was 8 days in the Glacier Peak wilderness, and they worked great. I like the tapered pant leg that just fits over the top of my boot well, preventing dust, debris, and snow from falling into the boot. And the assortment of pockets are great. The pants also have a nice included belt, too, and the belt/pocket seams aren’t too hard to arrange around my hip bones, which is an issue in many pants. Any fold or seam on the bony iliac crests leads to substantial bruising, so being able to shift these pants into the right spot is important.

Small drawbacks:

• the more breathable panels in the pants can be bitten through by mosquitos if stretched tight across a thigh or other part of the leg. If painting in terrible bugs and sitting around for an hour like I did, pay attention with bug spray to these areas. I will be using Permethrin to treat the pants this year, as I wish I’d done on that trip!

• The leg fit can be variable from pant to pant- the blue ones I got had a little bit of extra fabric around the hips, the grey pair of the same model looked like clown pants. Hopefully Patagonia will adjust this patterning issue in the next iterations.

Zpacks/ Evolved Supply Co. Wool Blend Mirage Sun Hoody

I was sent this great garment to test over the prior summer, and so far I'm loving it! Out of all the merino wool sun shirts I've tested, this is the closest to my dream shirt. Not perfect, but getting quite close. Lightweight yet good upf 40 protection, it is comfortable on all but the hottest days outside (I wore it on 80F days no problem, and only found it too hot in high 80s/low 90s. But, in these higher temps even my synthetic shirts feel hot, too.

Minimal stink even after a few days of wear, and I LOVE the zipper neck, it is just such a nice feature to have when I want extra ventilation. It also dries well. I had to size down, to a Small from my usual women's medium. The small fits my 5'7 127lbs frame with longer torso and moderately wide shoulders well. The light mint color is great for sun.

Only drawback is that the merino blend does hold a bit more odor on longer trips than my 100% merino thicker base layer from Ibex. But, it is SO much better than a synthetic fabric, and on my longest trip with it - 8 days - I found the smell only got most noticeable on day 5, and was ameliorated with washing the shirt's underarms in a creek (no soap).

I also found that I wanted to hand wash this instead of machine washing, as the seams felt like they got a little smaller with the one cold machine wash I did. I hand wash with shampoo or handsoap, and washing the armpits regularly with antibacterial hand soap helps a lot with preventing smells, too! After a really dirty or long trip I let it soak in a bucket of cold water with soap.

I am excited to try a few more this year, but so far this is the best one I've found!

What was your favorite gear last year?