The flip side to a faster-feeding device is that the Neox lets a little more rope through in a fall—not a huge amount, but usually about 6 to 12 inches. Friends and I noticed this right away with the prototypes, and I’ve confirmed this by using the Grigri and the Neox in the same day. The upside is that the Neox gives a softer catch, and, in a trad-climbing setting, will likely exert less force on your top piece, helping to avoid the dreaded gear-ripper; the downside is that, close to the..." go to full review

I’m not a particularly light climber, so sometimes, even when bouldering, I feel like I need a stiff shoe that’s not going to bend under the arch. And while the Arpia V’s toe hooking capabilities leave much to be desired (they’re just not meant for it), the shoe has nonetheless played an important role in my indoor board climbing quiver. Every time an indoor boulder requires something stiff, I’ll grab the Arpia rather than waste a half minute finagling my foot into and then lacing up the..." go to full review

In Climbing‘s yearly review of the best new shoes, tester Justen Sjong—a climbing coach and impressive all-around climber who has established 5.14 big walls on El Capitan—noted the shoe’s great grabbing ability—an 8 out of 10—thanks to its ample flex (you can manually sandwich the Clue both upward and downward) and sticky, and half-length sole. “This is a great shoe for the intermediate to advanced climber who climbs in the gym 80 percent of the time and 20 percent outside on 10-..." go to full review

Ice climbing tools have come so far since the medieval days of straight-shafted instruments that it can be difficult to wade through all the modern-day options. Most ice tools have a balanced swing weight, comfortable grip, and aggressively shaped shaft to minimize pump and bruised knuckles. So where does a would-be consumer go from there? We’d point them toward Black Diamond’s all-new Hydra.go to full review