the well-regarded gear brands are all very good and which one is best for you is mostly a matter of fit, style, local conditions, and cost sensitivity.
that said:
- I've been loving Altra trail runners last few years, they've grippy, light, and have a wonderfully wide toebox. alas I tend to destroy a pair in well under a year
- Black Diamond stuff is almost always great. most of it isn't aimed as hikers, but their line of hiking poles has many great options
- Cold Cold World makes my favorite backpacks and day packs, they're light, tough, and lacking in bullshit features. no idea where you're based but IME in SLC sometimes carries them.
- for random hats and gloves I usually look at OR first and maybe Black Diamond second
- for stuff that I think is going to get seriously rained on I trust the brits and try to line up a piece from Rab, but only if I can find it discounted
but again, stuff is so high-quality these days that can be hard to wear things out at all unless you're using it pretty seriously. so what I mostly do if I need a bit of gear is try to find it for a huge discount on sierra trading post.
