Every year a few brands drop new backpacking gear, but 2024 was honestly one of the best—and also one of the weirdest. In this video I run through most of the new hiking and backpacking gear that hit the market, from truly impressive ultralight shelters to comfort-first sleep systems, plus a couple products that made me stop and go, “Wait… what?” I keep it moving fast, but I hit the main takeaways: what’s actually innovative, what’s just a refresh, and what I think matters in real trail use. On the shelter side I talk about Zpacks branching out with the Pivot Solo (Offset + X-Mid vibes) and the redesigned Plex Solo Lite that’s ridiculously light for a fully enclosed tent. I also cover the MSR Hubba Hubba LT2 update and the Durston X-Dome situation—including why my pre-production issue turned into a real-world recall, and what that says about customer service. From there I get into ultralight bear-resistant food storage, the lightest puffy I’ve ever seen, tiny battery-powered pad pumps, the thickest/most comfortable Therm-a-Rest pad I’ve used, Zenbivy’s new -5° bed, satellite messaging upgrades, and the strangest gear of the year: an exoskeleton that (for me) still isn’t quite ready for prime time.