Introducing the Men’s Journal Gear of the Year Issue With Keanu Reeves!
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As our nation nears its 250th anniversary, it’s worth celebrating what makes American goods special: restless ingenuity. This country has always been a confluence of ideas and talent—engineers, tinkerers, and dreamers building something better, then tearing it apart to build it again. The result isn’t just a product stamped “Made in USA.” It’s gear shaped by ambition, curiosity, and the stubborn belief the next breakthrough is always within reach. For our Spring Gear Special, that mindset became our north star.
Get Your Copy of the Spring Gear Special HERE.
We chased that spirit across disciplines and dirt roads, into workshops, test kitchens, and far-flung mountain ranges. Adventure sports photographer Christian Pondella pulls back the curtain on Mountains of the Moon in “Fever Dream in Focus,” capturing the kind of high-stakes imagery that only comes from living on the edge of the map.
For “Wild Provisions” Steven Rinella brings it back to camp with field-tested wild game recipes and hard-earned tips that turn a successful hunt into something more meaningful than just meat on a plate. And Marshals star Luke Grimes weighs in on the gear, gadgets, and good whiskey he actually relies on when the cameras stop rolling.
Of course, no celebration of American craftsmanship would be complete without hitting the road. In “Great American Road Trips,” we mapped out four iconic routes tailored to how you like to travel—overlanding rigs for the explorers, adventure motorcycles for the edge-seekers, camper vans for the drifters, and performance grand tourers for those who prefer to cover serious ground at speed. If your tastes skew more mechanical, “Handcrafted Horsepower” dives into the boutique builders breathing new life into old metal—think Viper-powered Jeeps and perfectly patinaed ’70s pickups hiding thoroughly modern guts.
Then there’s the bleeding edge. It would be borderline unconstitutional not to spotlight a true American marvel, so the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X leads off our “Gear of the Year” awards. After months of hard use, real-world testing, and more than a few debates in the office, we narrowed hundreds of contenders down to the pieces we can’t stop thinking about. These are the tools and toys that didn’t just hold up—they changed the game—and here’s a sampling of what made the cut.
This year’s mix leans hard into versatility, from the Decked 2.0 Drawer System turning a chaotic truck bed into a dialed mobile basecamp to the Midland GXT67 Pro keeping your crew connected when cell service disappears. At camp, the Jetboil Java delivers a proper caffeine fix in minutes, while the Turtlebox Ranger pumps out enough sound to carry across water, sand, or tailgate asphalt without missing a beat. Recovery and comfort get equal billing, too—the Rab Mythic Ultra sleeping bag redefines ultralight warmth, and the Helinox Chair Zero LT proves you don’t need to haul bulk to kick back in style. Even the small stuff hits harder this year, with Leatherman’s Blazer finally bringing the brand’s toolmaking pedigree to a purpose-built knife. It’s all gear designed with thought and intent—built not just to work well, but to make the entire experience smoother, smarter, and a hell of a lot more enjoyable.
“Made in America” is a tribute to the brands doing it all stateside—imagining, designing, and building without cutting corners. “Homegrown Horology” makes a strong case that American watchmaking isn’t just alive, it’s staging a serious comeback. Blades from ultralight folders to time-tested classics that proved their worth over months of use are featured in “Stateside Steel.” For cycling fans, “Freedom Flyers” dives into the details that matter to riders, from cult-favorite brakes to custom helmets to the kind of bike you buy once and never let go. Tech products highlighted in “Tech Titans” leaned into real-world utility, whether that meant satellite connectivity in the middle of nowhere or speakers light and powerful enough to rock an outdoor gathering. Must-have kitchen essentials in “America’s Test Kitchen” reminded us that U.S.-made gear belongs as much by the stove as it does in the field. Don’t forget to put American-made clothes on your back and boots on your feet, which is the focus in “American Goods” and “American Sole,” respectively—all durable and stylish pieces built to take a beating and come back for more. And, finally, for all the stuff you need outdoors we found gear for “Domestic Designs” that doesn’t just survive in all conditions—it thrives in them.
Brian Bowen Smith
That same made-in-America energy runs through the feature well—as well. Contributing writer Eric Hendrikx heads to ARCH Motorcycle HQ, where co-founders Keanu Reeves and Gard Hollinger are still pushing boundaries. For them, it wasn’t enough to spec premium components—they built their own American-made engine from scratch. “If you make your own engine, that’s your heart,” Reeves says. Now they’re putting that heart on the line, chasing a MotoAmerica Super Hooligan championship—documented in this summer’s six-part series Hooligans: The ARCH Racing Project.
Elsewhere, “Putting, Perfected” steps inside L.A.B. Golf, where performance gains come down to physics, not marketing speak. In “Mission: Failure” Leitner Designs pushes trucks—and drivers—to their breaking point in a brutal round of failure testing that asks a simple question: what gives out first? “Super Shapers” traces modern surf and snowboard design back to a teenage experiment that refused to stay small. Ever been confused deep down a dusty trail, but figured out how to extract yourself using onX? Then “Guardians of the Backcountry,” an in-depth look into how the digital map app uses humans to constantly fine tune their location information.
We didn’t forget the fitness element, either. There’s a hunter-focused pack workout in “Built for the Backcountry” that’s made to prepare your body for the realities of hauling loads out far afield. And in “The Last Word,” Kurt Russell, star of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, reflects on everything from Godzilla to the heirlooms that actually matter.
Let these stories inspire you to earn your stripes. Unicorns are just an experiment away—if you're bold enough to try.
Adam Bible, Gear Editor