Published September 30, 2026 02:18PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
What to Know: <\/strong>Ranchers and cowboys test outdoor gear harder than anyone, working outside year-round across hundreds of thousands of acres\u2014where failure is not an option. Outside writer Jakob Schiller visited a Montana ranch and rodeo to find out their favorite, most trusted and torture-tested gear. Here are 10 items they swear by, including military-grade stainless steel sunglasses<\/a>, a versatile knife<\/a>, and a cowboy-approved cowboy hat<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n John Helle and his two sons, Evan and Weston, run 10,000 sheep on 100,000 acres in western Montana. They use the wool in their clothing brand Duckworth. The Helles and their crew of ranch hands spend all year outside, and I\u2019ve never met anyone who\u2019s harder on their gear.\u00a0Just to access the sheep, the Helles often drive 80 miles up rough dirt roads, torturing their trucks, dirt bikes, and the tires on both. They work outside in temps that fry your skin in the summer and dip to -40 degrees in the winter\u2014work that is often physical and dirty.<\/p>\n I recently visited their ranch and spent the afternoon driving around with Evan and asking him about the gear he uses most. That same weekend, I headed over to the nearby Dillon Jaycees rodeo to ask the cowboys about the gear they use during training, competition, and the 50,000 to 100,000 miles of driving they do each season.<\/p>\n What I came away with is a surprising list of gear that those of us who don\u2019t ride broncs or herd sheep can still use to be prepared when we head into the backcountry.<\/p>\n Plastic sunglass frames are great for those of us who just use them to drive a car or go for a run. But Parker Murnion out of Miles City, Montana whom I met while he was preparing for the team roping competition, said he needs metal frames for when he\u2019s out ranching. He loves Bex\u2019s version because they\u2019re made from military-grade stainless steel and will withstand two to three years of being dropped, crushed, and regularly abused. The large nose pads keep the glasses on when he\u2019s sweaty and the Wayfarer-style lenses provide plenty of coverage while looking good with a cowboy hat.<\/p>\n Before I went to Montana, I thought cowboy hats were all pretty much the same, minus a few style choices. I was dead wrong. Cowboy hats vary widely not only in shape but also in materials and craftsmanship, and all the cowboys I spoke to have spent years finding their favorite. Quanah Glade, a saddle bronc rider out of Miles City, Montana, said he prefers this model from Resistol because it\u2019s made from a substantial amount of beaver hair\u2014the sign of a quality hat\u2014and because it has always kept its shape, even after he\u2019s been thrown on his head. Kim Guinnane lives in Twin Bridges, Montana, and when I met her, she and her teammates on the Ramblin\u2019 Rose were getting ready for the rodeo version of a drill team performance. Like regular drill teams, the Roses perform athletic maneuvers, but they do it on horseback. When I asked her to show me a favorite piece of gear, she grabbed this Yeti Rambler bottle, filled with Moscow Mule mix that she and the other adult drill team members planned to enjoy once their performance was over.<\/p>\n Ross Griffin, a saddle bronc rider from Tularosa, New Mexico whom I interviewed in the parking lot of the Dillon Jaycees rodeo, said he regularly puts 50,000 miles on his truck each year while traveling from rodeo to rodeo. Other riders I spoke to said they\u2019ll travel nearly 100,000 miles. Flat tires are inevitable with that much time on the road so Griffin always carries this impact driver that makes quick work of changing a tire. He chose the Fuel version because it\u2019s more powerful than a regular impact driver, ensuring that he never has to fuss with stubborn lug nuts.<\/p>\n Evan Helle spends all year hauling feed and supplies up dozens of miles of dirt roads to the Duckworth sheep and shepherds. He has tested several different all-terrain tires but regularly comes back to the Goodyear Wranglers because they\u2019ve lasted thousands of miles more than others and, with a Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake designation, handle the Montana snow. Thanks to a strong, three-ply sidewall, he can also air down the tires for more comfort and traction over bumpy roads.<\/p>\n Dirk Tavenner, a steer wrestler from Rigby, Idaho, said he always has a knife<\/a> on him because he constantly needs to cut hay bale string, trim ropes, or cut steak for dinner. When I found him at the Dillon rodeo, he had this smooth-opening, three-inch Buck knife in his pocket.<\/p>\n Tavenner said, however, that his regular go-to and all-time favorite is a Benchmade Mini Bugout<\/a>. He loves the Mini Bugout because the S30V Stainless Steel blade is small but nearly indestructible, and the entire knife, when folded, easily fits in his pocket, where he always keeps it. (He actually takes the clip off because it snags on his horse saddle). Evan Helle herds sheep on public land with a horse, given strict vehicle regulations on some. But when he\u2019s on private land, this is his tool of choice. Silent and just as capable as a horse (even faster when he has to cover a lot of ground), the bike doesn\u2019t need food, doesn\u2019t get spooked, and lives in a garage without pooping. To avoid flats, he uses special foam donuts inside the tires instead of air. He also uses special, extra-sticky tires made by Plews that provide the traction he needs to climb tracks that would stop other dirt bikes. Haven Wolstein is a breakaway roper, an event where a calf shoots out of a slot and a rider on horseback chases it and ropes it around the neck. The clock stops when the rope pulls tight and breaks away from the saddle. I\u2019d never heard of the event but was impressed with its speed, where a winning time is usually under three seconds. Wolstein, who\u2019s from Helena, Montana, said one of her favorite pieces of gear is the custom belt buckle she built under her own company called C Hanging N, which is also her registered cattle brand. The parking lot at the Dillon Jaycees rodeo was filled with full-size trucks carrying these campers. Sage Newman, a saddle bronc rider out of Melstone, Montana, said they\u2019re the go-to model for rodeo participants because they\u2019re designed for this crowd\u2019s specific needs. Each camper is optimized to sleep as many adults as possible, enabling rodeo riders to carpool between events to save money and pass the time in good company. The campers also come with black-out curtains so everyone can sleep in after a late night of competition. Newman\u2019s camper was on a 2025 Ram 3500 truck that he and his traveling partners regularly drive 80,000 miles a year. Skiers use buffs to protect their neck and face from cold weather. Ranchers and cowboys use something called a wild rag. Often made of silk, a wild rag is similar to a scarf and can be wrapped in a variety of ways to protect the neck. Wild rags are also used during the summer as face masks to keep cowboys from sucking in too much dust. I learned about wild rags at the Atomic 79<\/a> store in Dillon, Montana, which has one of the richest selections of high-quality cowboy gear in the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBex Rockyt OTG Sunglasses<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"cowboy](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cowboy_hat.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Resistol Black Gold Cowboy Hat<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"female](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/yeti_rambler.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Yeti Rambler 46-Ounce Water Bottle<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"cowboy](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/impact_driver.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Milwaukee M18 FUEL 1\/4-inch Cordless Brushless Impact Driver<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"Goodyear](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/truck_tire.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac RT Tires<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"open](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Buck_knife.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Buck 841 Sprint Pro Knife<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"Benchmade](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/mini_bugout.jpeg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Benchmade Mini Bugout Knife<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"Electronic](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/e-bike_herding_sheep.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Stark Future Varg EX Electric Enduro Bike<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"Cowgirl](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cowgirl_horse_buckle.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
C Hanging N Belt Buckle<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"Camper](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/truck_mounted_camper.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Capri Retreat Truck Camper<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
![\"cowboy](\"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/wild_rag.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)
Cowboy Images Wild Rag<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n