I'm lucky. I get to test all the best, most expensive gear. Lots of what I see is really, really good, but I try to remind myself that I came from dirtbag roots (living out of a truck, river guiding) and always found a way to have fun no matter what gear I was using. The same goes for the rest of the Outside staff.
Every year, we wind up with a long list of runners up, all fantastic in their own right. Here are some of the pieces of gear that came oh-so-close to earning a spot.