About Switchback
We buy our own gear, test it on real trails until it either earns a place in our packs or doesn't, and write up the trip planning to get you out there in the first place.
Switchback started in 2021 as a shared spreadsheet between three friends who kept buying the same gear and arguing about it afterward. It's grown into a small independent publication, still run out of Bend, Oregon, still built on the same rule that spreadsheet started with: we don't write about gear we haven't actually carried on a real trail.
How We Test
Every piece of gear reviewed on Switchback is purchased at retail by our editorial team, not supplied by the brand. We don't accept early-release samples in exchange for coverage, and we don't take payment from brands for review placement or scores. When a review links to a retailer, that link may be an affiliate link, which means we may earn a commission on a sale — this never affects which product wins or what score it gets. Our comparison scores are set before any affiliate relationship is considered, and a boot or tent that tests poorly says so, commission or not.
Field testing happens on real trips, logged by the people writing about them, typically across multiple trips and conditions rather than a single outing. We note our testing conditions, mileage, and methodology in every review so you can judge how much weight to put on our conclusions for your own trips.
Masthead
Contact
For gear review inquiries, corrections, or anything else: editors@switchback.egazer.com. We read everything, even if we can't reply to all of it.