Most gear gets bought once and used twice. The stuff that stays in the bag all season has usually earned it the hard way — by not falling apart, not fogging up, and not being the thing you're fumbling with when birds are already committed.
Headlamp with a red-light mode. Doesn't sound like much until you've blown out your own night vision — and everyone else's — digging through a blind bag for shells at 5:45 AM. Red light lets you find what you need without lighting up the whole spread.
A dedicated call lanyard, not just a call around your neck. Once you're carrying a hen call, a whistle, and a spare, a proper lanyard keeps them from tangling with binoculars, a sling, or each other at the exact moment you need one fast.
Layers you can actually shed. The walk in is warm work; sitting still in a blind at first light is not. Anything that traps you at one temperature for the whole hunt gets left behind by December.
Good gloves that still let you work a call and a safety. Warm gloves that cost you dexterity aren't warm gloves, they're a liability. This is the one piece of gear worth trying on in the store before you buy it, not just ordering by size.
None of this is exotic. It's just the stuff that keeps working after the third or fourth trip, which is really the only test that matters.