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Affiliate Disclosure

Thru Picks may earn a commission when you buy through links on this site, at no extra cost to you. Rankings and kits are never paid placements. Commission rates do not influence rankings.

Last updated August 30, 2026. This disclosure applies to the entire site: the homepage, every ranking, every Pack Shakedown kit, Field Notes pages that link to products, and any other page with a buy button.

The short version

Some links on Thru Picks are affiliate links. If you purchase after following one, we may earn a commission from the merchant or their network. You pay the same price you would have paid without the link. Rankings, scores, badges, and kit lists are independent. Commission rates do not decide #1, #2, or #3.

The line under the navigation — “We may earn a commission. Rankings are not paid placements.” — is the short form of this page. It appears before the first buy button on the homepage, every ranking page, and every kit page, and it links here.

Why this page exists

This is a disclosure of a material connection. It is provided to meet the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s guides on endorsements and testimonials in advertising (16 C.F.R. Part 255), the same family of rules independent publishers use when they link out to shops.

Thru Picks is an independent editorial site. We are not REI, Garage Grown Gear, Amazon, or any brand named on a card. Product names identify gear. They are trademarks of their owners.

Affiliate networks and merchants

Thru Picks participates in select affiliate programs. This is how those relationships work.

Garage Grown Gear via AvantLink is the primary partner for cottage and ultralight brands commonly used by long-distance hikers.

REI Co-op via Impact is used when a top-ranked product is available at REI, so hikers have a reliable retail option with a strong return policy.

Additional merchant programs may be used when a ranked product is only available through that retailer. Manufacturer sites are used only when no retailer lists the item. Dual links stay in place when both Garage Grown Gear and REI (or another shop) have a real product page.

Published program figures we currently route on: Garage Grown Gear 8% with a 30-day cookie (AvantLink). REI Co-op about 5% with a 15-day cookie (Impact). Amazon Associates is secondary. Amazon Associates attributes qualifying purchases to the Session Amazon names, not a house cookie-hour. Those rates never decide a rank.

When you click a product link and complete a purchase, Thru Picks may earn a commission. You pay the same price you would pay going direct. Commission rates never determine rankings or scores. A higher-paying link does not move a product higher on any list.

A product must first earn a top-three ranking based on published thru-hiker surveys and independent testing before an affiliate link is added. We do not accept payment for rankings, favorable placement, or inclusion.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Every page that contains affiliate links carries a clear disclosure. The short line — “We may earn a commission. Rankings are not paid placements.” — appears near the top of ranking and kit pages, before the first affiliate link. We follow Federal Trade Commission guidelines on material connections and endorsements. We do not impersonate any merchant, use their trademarks improperly, or run trademark-bidding campaigns.

This structure lets us support both independent cottage brands and major outdoor retailers while keeping rankings independent. The gear still has to earn its place on the list.

How the shortlists are built

The top three in each category are Thru Picks composites. They are built from published thru-hiker surveys — including Halfway Anywhere’s Pacific Crest Trail work — and independent testing we actually read. Street price is a small part of the score. It never overrides the lock. Other outlets’ scores are an input, not a reprint.

Badges such as Best Overall are assigned on this site. They are not OutdoorGearLab, Wirecutter, or REI awards. Full method, weighting, sources, and the current last-updated date: Sources & method.

Prices and stock

Cards may show a typical street figure or a listed price fetched from a public shop page. Merchants can change price and stock without notice. Confirm both on the merchant page before you buy. GEAR UP is the live shop page.

Tracking

Buy links currently go to the merchant or manufacturer product page with no Thru Picks tracking parameters on the URL. When affiliate programs are approved, those destinations may become tagged affiliate URLs. Clicks can be counted in-browser if analytics is enabled. After you leave, the merchant or their network may set cookies under their privacy policy. See Privacy Policy.

What we do not do

  • Sell a rank, a badge, or a kit slot
  • Let a brand write the “why it ranks” copy
  • Reorder a list when a commission rate changes
  • Call a Thru Picks badge another outlet’s award
  • Reprint another publication’s scores or charts

Contact

Partnerships, corrections, and disclosure questions: [email protected]. Who we are: About. Use of the site: Terms of Use.

Last updated August 30, 2026. Methodology · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact