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Over the past year and a half, the Anasazi Lace-Up from Five Ten (commonly referred to as the Pinks) have become my go-to climbing shoe for outdoor climbing around the Portland area. They are a stiff, flat lasted shoe that performs excellently on terrain ranging from slabby to slightly overhanging. These shoes fit great and perform even better!go to full review

One small feature that led me to choose the Reverso over the ATC Guide is the orientation of the guide mode loop. The loop is oriented horizontally in relation to the device (perpendicular to the tubes), meaning that when it’s clipped into an anchor, the tubes are naturally oriented in the direction of pull. This is not the cause on the Guide, which has a loop oriented vertically.go to full review

The Edelrid Jayne II was my first climbing harness. In truth, I showed up to the shop, looked for an inexpensive option, and just grabbed one off the shelves. At the time, I didn't know what to look for in a harness, but I was lucky enough to have grabbed a great option without even knowing. The Edelrid Jayne II is a highly adjustable harness with Easy-Glide buckles that make adjustments a breeze. It's a fantastic harness for beginners: it is generously padded, reasonably priced, and doesn't..." go to full review

Admittedly, BallNutz are not the most practical piece of pro. That said, they are extremely useful in certain situations where other pro might leave you hanging, or not as the case may be.go to full review

For starters, the HoodWire has a very stiff gate action with a rather uncomfortable shape of the wire. The Helium has a much more natural feeling gate action that I much prefer. The Dyon has a wonderful gate opening, beats the HoodWire in weight by 4 grams while being larger, and has a nose that’s somewhere on the order of half the width of the HoodWire.go to full review

Bottom line is that my offset nuts are the number one piece that I place early and then miss later on in the route--they fit easily into a shocking number of cracks, seat and conform to the rock (the alloy is softer than standard aluminum nuts), and usually feel more secure than other standard nuts.go to full review

One of the reasons that I switched to a lightweight helmet is I realize that heavier helmets are simply not as comfortable and I'm more likely to wear a helmet if it's comfortable. After I tried on a friend's, I realized that I didn't even notice that I was wearing it, so I started wearing one all the time. The Penta comes in blue, gray, red, and white.go to full review

Overall, the Mega Jul is an extremely versatile and lightweight belay device with high braking performance that assists the belayer with lead falls. Basically it'll be there for you to protect your climber when you need it most. go to full review

The other cool feature on the Pyramid is that it has ridges on the outer sides that disperse heat, meaning you don’t get burned on long rappels. When it comes to rappelling and lowering, the Pyramid is a pro. Smooth and steady, this device makes descending feel dream-like.go to full review

For anyone that is looking for their first pair of climbing shoes, I would point them in this direction every time. They are a shoe that provides you with all of the tools you need to improve your climbing, and they aren't going to smash your feet while doing it. Depending on how much you climb, these shoes could last you years as well, preventing you from having to keep investing more money and allowing you to keep climbing.go to full review