8 Best Outdoor Clothing of 2026

The best thing we can say about the Benton Springs is that it disappears into a layering system. It is a light fleece, not much thicker than a heavy sweatshirt, and yet it holds real warmth for its weight — which is the entire job of a midlayer. Under a shell on a windy ridge you notice it; alone on a mild fall walk it passes as a normal jacket.

The cut is the part we did not expect to like as much. It is shaped through the waist rather than boxy, so it does not add the puffy outline most fleeces give you, and the elastic cuffs take up the extra sleeve length instead of leaving it bunched at your wrists. The hem sits above the hip, which is fine over jeans and less fine under a shell with a fixed drop hem.

Sizing is the frustration. The same size draws completely opposite reactions on whether it runs large or small, so measure your chest and use the chart rather than the size you wear in other brands. Colors are the other thing to check — some shades land darker or lighter than the photo. Neither problem is serious in a fleece you will mostly wear under something else.

Sun protection is the one category where spending more buys very little. This is the budget route into a UPF 50+ long sleeve, and it does the job: the fabric is thin, it dries quickly, and it does not turn into a sauna the way a cotton tee does at midday. It is also sold as a rash guard, so it handles water as happily as it handles a trail.

What surprised us is the sleeve length. Sun shirts are usually cut for an average arm, and this one runs long — genuinely useful if you are tall or have wide shoulders, and the reason it fits a broad range of people for the money. The body is relaxed too, which reads as airflow on a hike and as baggy if you wanted something close-fitting.

Sizing splits both ways: some sizes feel true and others feel a size up, so order the smaller of two options if you are between. The fabric is thin enough that a pack strap will eventually mark it, and nobody will mistake it for a technical layer. For hot, exposed days where the goal is covering skin rather than looking sharp, none of that matters.

A hood changes what a sun shirt is for. With it up, this covers your ears, the back of your neck, and the parting in your hair — the three places that burn first and the three places sunscreen is most annoying to reapply. On a shadeless stretch of trail or a long day on the water, that is the difference between finishing comfortable and finishing cooked.

The fabric is the same thin quick-dry stuff as the other sun shirts here, and it takes a soaking well. Wet it at a stream, put it back on, and the evaporation does the cooling for you. It packs to nothing, which is why it earns a permanent slot in a daypack from late spring through early fall.

We wondered whether the hood would be worth the fuss, and it is — with a caveat. It is cut big, which is great over a cap and floppy if you want something snug, and it is the most common sizing surprise with this shirt. The body is relaxed as well, so if you are between sizes the smaller one is usually right.

There are no logos, no zips, and nothing to chafe under a pack strap, which is exactly what you want from a layer you forget you are wearing. It will not keep you warm and it is not trying to. Treat it as sun cover with a built-in hat and it earns its place in the bag every summer.

Warmth per ounce is a silly way to shop for a hat, but this one justifies the measurement. The knit is thick enough to hold heat on a windy ridge and still breathable enough that you are not sweating under it on the climb, which is the balance most cheap beanies get wrong. It is the hat that stays on in the car afterwards.

Sizing is the thing to settle before you buy. There is no adjuster, so the fit is whatever the knit gives you: roomy enough for large heads, snug on others, with a cuff that rolls to take up slack but will not rescue a hat that is genuinely too small. If you are between, try it over the hair you will actually have on the mountain rather than a fresh haircut.

What we appreciate most is how little it costs you in comfort. There is no itch, no pressure line across the forehead after an hour, and the shape stays put under a helmet or a hood. Colors are the one place to check yourself — some shades land a little off the photo — but the hat itself is a plain, warm, well-made thing that does exactly what it promises.

Bibs solve a problem pants cannot. There is no waist gap for snow to find and no cold spot where a hem rides up under a pack, and the coverage runs higher up the back than any pair of snow pants. These do it with a water-resistant shell and enough insulation to sit on a cold lift without a second pair of thermals underneath.

The straps come over the shoulders like a tank top rather than crossing at the back, which is why they stay put when you bend to adjust a binding. The leg zips open wide enough to get the bibs over ski boots without taking your boots off, which is the detail that makes them genuinely practical in a cold parking lot.

Torso length is the deciding measurement, not your height. The legs run long and the rise runs short, so a long-torsoed skier can find the straps pulling while a shorter one gets a close-to-perfect fit. Order by your torso and be ready to size up if you plan to layer a fleece underneath.

The stitching is the part to inspect when they arrive, since the seams along the inner leg are where these wear out first under hard use. They also run warm, which is the point in January and less welcome in spring slush. For a handful of lift days a season, neither is a reason to look elsewhere.

These are not a hiking trouser and should not be sold as one. They are a warm base layer in a legging shape: brushed fleece inside, a smooth face outside, and enough stretch that they move with you under shell pants or jeans. On a cold morning they are the reason the first ten minutes outdoors is not miserable.

The fleece is the whole point, and it is thicker than most thermal leggings — thick enough that they are too warm indoors and too warm for anything but a genuinely cold day. Under snow pants, or with boots on a winter walk, they are exactly right. On a mild climb you will be stopping to strip them off.

Sizing and length are the mess. The cut runs both long and roomy depending on the size, and taller wearers find the ankle sitting well above the boot rather than covering it. Check the inseam before you commit, and if you are tall this is the pair to skip.

What we like is that they do not bind. Fleece leggings often turn into a wrestling match at the waist; these do not, and the waistband stays where you put it under a pack belt. Keep them for cold-weather layering, treat the size chart as a starting point, and they cost very little for the amount of winter they open up.

A balaclava is the piece nobody buys until they have had one bad day. On a windy ridge a face covering does more for comfort than another midlayer, and this one is thin enough to wear under a helmet or a hat without turning your head into a furnace on the climb.

Wind is what it is built for. The fleece face panel blocks a headwind and the neck section seals the gap between collar and chin, which is where cold actually gets in. At just under four ounces and folded to pocket size, it lives in a jacket without you noticing until you need it.

The mouth panel is the weak point. Breathe hard on a climb and it gets damp quickly, and the fabric over the nose bridge is where the seal sits — which means glasses fog, and no amount of adjusting fully fixes it. Pull the panel below the bridge and let your nose take the cold instead, or wear it lower on the face when you are working hard.

The fit is one size and it behaves like one size: snug on some heads, loose on others, and better under a hat than on its own if you are in between. What we keep coming back to is the price of admission. It is a small, packable fix for the worst twenty minutes of a winter day, and it earns its place in a pocket rather than a gear cupboard.