Gear Guides

Last verified 26 August 2026 against Sno Cal editorial review.

Most gear guides are written for nowhere in particular. Ours are written for California — for Sierra storm cycles that dump three feet and then go blue for two weeks, for the drive up Highway 50 as much as the run down, and for spring corn in April when the rest of the country has packed it in.

Every guide here is built the same way: what the thing actually needs to do in these conditions, then a short list of what we'd buy, then the questions people actually ask. No affiliate link appears above the explanation of why it's there.

The guides

Best Snow Chains for California Which set to buy for the car you drive, why you can't buy chains at the checkpoint, and the prep that makes fitting them at night bearable. Read the guide → California Chain Control, Explained What R1, R2 and R3 actually require, what happens at the checkpoint, how to check current restrictions, and what Caltrans says to keep in the car. Read the guide →

More on the way Goggles, helmets, gloves, base layers and boot dryers are in the works for the 2026–27 season. If there's something you want covered, tell us.

How we pick

Three rules. We only list gear that's actually available — no discontinued models padding out a top ten. We say when the cheap option is good enough, because for a lot of people it is. And we say when something isn't worth buying at all: ski boots belong in a bootfitter's hands, not a shopping cart, and we'll tell you that instead of ranking six of them.

Some links are affiliate links, and we may earn a small commission if you buy through them at no extra cost to you. That never changes what makes a list.