Best sports and outdoor gear compared

Outdoor equipment is sold on aspiration and used in weather. The gap between those two is where most disappointing purchases live, so we score gear against the conditions it is genuinely specified for rather than the scenario in the photograph.

For waterproof clothing that means the hydrostatic head in millimetres together with the breathability rating — a jacket can be waterproof and still be unusable on a climb because moisture has nowhere to go — plus whether the seams are taped and how the membrane holds up after washing. For sleeping bags, the EN 13537 comfort rating rather than the extreme figure, which describes survival, not sleep. For footwear, the drop, the stack height and the weight in the actual size sold, since manufacturers quote the lightest one they make.

For anything electronic — watches, bike computers, lights — we look at battery life under continuous GPS or at full output, not at the standby figure, and at whether the data can be exported without a subscription.

Durability weighs heavily here because the equipment is used in places where a failure is not merely inconvenient. Repairability, availability of spares and the warranty terms in the fine print all feed into the cost-and-value component.