Breathable waders. A go-anywhere water filter. A collection of topographic maps on CD. Ten years ago, these and 22 other pieces of gear earned Field & Stream's very first Best of the Best Awards. While the items seem unimpressive or even quaint by today's standards, they illustrate how quickly sporting equipment evolves-"and how quickly hunters and fishermen can get lost in the never-ending onslaught of new gear.

That's why this section has grown and expanded so much since 1998. This time, we're devoting the lion's share of the magazine to Gear of the Year. That's still not enough room to include fishing tackle, which we're covering separately in March 2008.

Here, we report on gear in 11 major categories. Editors in charge of each assembled expert test panels, solicited gear from manufacturers, and chose testing locations. They evaluated nearly 400 pieces of gear and put all contenders through rigorous tests to see what truly stood out.

The culmination of all this effort follows. These are the products that we determined are the best of the year: ¿¿well-designed, dependable equipment that's worth your money. Period.

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Rifles Nosler Custom Model 48 Bolt Action The .375 Ruger Rossi Trifecta Barnes Varmint Grenade Marlin 308MXLR Ruger M77 Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger Weatherby Mark XXII in .22 LR or .17 HMR Bows Bear Truth PSE X-Force BowTech Guardian Diamond Black Ice Alpine Silverado RedHead Kryptik Hoyt Vectrix Mathews Drenalin previous   1 of 87   next>> Comment on This Article At 1:26 PM, 2008-08-20, michael buhler said: I am a PSE x force owner and i have cought all of the stuff from the mathews and hoyt people..but your article is on the money..the x force not only is much quieter, smoother, but blows the doors off of the other bows in all out speed and knock down ..the competitions bows look and feel like bows of eight years ago compared to this ..x force is one hot bow.mike b At 1:24 PM, 2008-08-20, michael buhler said: I am a PSE x force owner and i have cought all of the stuff from the mathews and hoyt people..but your article is on the money..the x force not only is much quieter, smoother, but blows the doors off of the other bows in all out speed and knock down ..the competitions bows look and feel like bows of eight years ago compared to this ..x force is one hot bow.mike b Your Name: Your Comments: Please keep comments focused on the subject (and profanity-free) or we may delete your post. Do not enter more than 10 lines. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. We require all participants in interactive areas to accept the terms of the Bonnier Corporation subscriber agreement. Please read the agreement before making comments. When you click on the button above to submit your comments, you are indicating your acceptance of and are agreeing to adhere to the terms of the subscriber agreement. We've partnered with a company called theFind.com to help you buy these products online at the cheapest prices available. To find this price, just click on the orange "shop for this product" button you'll see at the bottom of each product's page in this story. Once you do, you'll get a list of the online stores that carry the item, sorted by how much they charge for that item, from least expensive to most expensive. An important note: some products, such as firearms, are not included in this partnership. Happy shopping! Table of Contents: Rifles Bows Optics Shotguns ATVs & Trucks Blackpowder Tech Knives Clothing Boots Misc. Back to Main Index » See all Photo Galleries Hunting Features Big Game Whitetails Gamebirds Shooting Features Shotguns Rifles Gearing Up Features Best of the Best Gear Finder Where to Go Features Hunt & Fish Trip Search Fishing Features Fly Fishing Freshwater Saltwater Outdoor Skills Features Sportsman’s Notebook F&S Cooking Hunting Q&A Fishing Q&A F&S Radio Columnists Features Dave's Place Subscription Services Subscribe Change of Address All Other Inquiries E-Mail Newsletter Subscribe Unsubscribe Additional Resources F&S Forums The Gear Finder The Game Finder The Fish Finder Photo Contest Classic Cover Gallery Scope it Out Contact Us

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