After hundreds of miles across the John Muir Trail, the San Diego Trans County Trail and a chunk of the Colorado Trail, one long-distance hiker has published her annual gear verdict for 2026 — and it's a useful reality check for anyone kitting up for a backpacking trip.

The star of her list is the SamBob Alpha Direct 60 hoodie, the lightest fleece in SamBob's Alpha lineup (which also comes in 90 and 120 weights). She wanted a breathable mid-layer she could hike in by day and sleep in by night without overheating, and this delivered. Alpha Direct fleeces draw criticism for being pricey and fragile, but after a full season she's seen no holes, no excess wear and no notable odour — light enough, she argues, to justify the premium.

The BearVault BV ONE canister is another winner. It's convertible: screwed up it holds about four days of food, screwed down just one, so it shrinks in your pack as you eat through it. It weighs around two pounds and works for everything from weekends to longer trips. One big caveat: while it's approved by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, it's not yet on the approved lists for Yosemite, Kings Canyon or Sequoia — the very parks the John Muir Trail passes through. If a canister is required on your route, check the local list before you buy.

On the failure side, the Nitecore NB10000 power bank let her down two years running — refusing to charge or draining suspiciously fast, at one point forcing her to ration phone battery with days still to go while hiking solo. She's switched to Anker, accepting the extra weight for reliability, though she still rates Nitecore headlamps and notes plenty of hikers swear by the brand.

The Katadyn BeFree filter also fell from favourite to flopped. On the Colorado Trail it clogged completely by day two after some silty water, and because it can't be backflushed, there was no fix. She's now a Sawyer convert: backflushing restores the flow like new, which matters enormously where glacial, sediment-heavy water is the norm.

Her apparel pick is the Jolly Gear Triple Crown button-down (a Sawyer collab), worn for all 200 miles of her JMT hike. It offers UPF 30 sun protection, a sun hood, roll-up sleeves and a ponytail hole — and converted a former button-down sceptic. Her only gripe: the fabric holds onto dirt and doesn't come out of the wash looking fresh.

Why does this matter for travellers? Because gear failures in the backcountry aren't just annoying — a dead battery or clogged filter can genuinely compromise a trip. The recurring lessons here are to test gear before you commit, carry equipment you can service in the field, and always verify permit-specific rules (like canister approvals) rather than assuming a well-reviewed product is allowed everywhere.