“If you’re projecting steep climbing that requires you to pull hard with the toes or technical heels, this is your shoe,” said our HV tester, who used them in the gym and on local sandstone. Our LV tester echoed this, saying, “Love the precision for overhanging foot placement and heel hooking. I really trusted the sturdy heel.” She also got lots of compliments on the shoe's colors and looks.go to full review

Lowa puts as much care into their climbing shoes as they do their famous boots, and this sock-like, rubber-heavy shoe performs similarly well. The rounded toebox made frontpointing a little tricky, but the vacuum fit and XS Grip rubber made these shoes edging machines. The soft fit, single Velcro closure, and big pull tabs on the rear of the shoe meant easy on-off between climbs.go to full review

“I used these for 16 pitches in a day at Castle Rock [granite face and trad] and some sport,” said our tester. “They held edges well on 5.11+ face, jammed great on Country Club Crack, and worked well on mixed terrain.” The General has become a favorite for all but gym climbing, and he praised the chiseled toe in both hand and finger cracks. For a high-top trad shoe, they are remarkably precise.go to full review

This innovative shoe has a distinct look—the “flowery,” ridged toe-hooking rand/patch and spray-on 3-D rubber graphic—that translates into wicked performance for toe-hooking, drags, scums, etc. It was a beast in heel hooks and heel-toes, thanks to the snug, stiff-ish fit and molded heel cup—testers noted “zero slippage.” The Narsha was a great, precise shoe on steep sport, especially edginggo to full review

A fluent, versatile, hard-wearing low-top trad shoe with great foot protection and a rounded toe best for cracks. The Aspects tend toward stiff and take break-in for smearing, but are reliable edging monsters—on a Boulder Canyon thin-face 5.11+, one tester felt like he could “stand for hours,” then segued into a second-pitch 5.11 layback crack with no problem.go to full review

When it's all said and done, however, you can find bird feathers heavier than this thing, so if you need a lightweight helmet, the revamped Sirocco is an impressive piece of equipment. I'm honestly not sure where helmet design can go from here, besides some kind of force-field generator that is powered by a chip implant in your neck. But until that dystopian day arrives, the Sirocco is a top offering for a comfortable, lightweight helmet that also (finally!) looks good.go to full review