WeighMyRack

All the fancy marketing lingo seems to be backed up by a fantastic product; these ropes handle very, very, nicely whether climbing or belaying. Edelrid struck just the right balance between stiffness and suppleness to make tying knots easy, clipping simple, and feeding adequate slack while belaying a leader smooth.go to full review

On straightforward steep ice, they were easy to trust, required minimal “kicking,” and I felt secure while standing on my feet without any need to “get used to them.” A wide platform and stiff under foot, they took very little effort to feel stable, heels low, and relaxed. To me, it was noteworthy, and worthy of me writing this review: I felt confident on my feet during the very first route, and a wild route it was! In my opinion, Cassin has another winner with the Blade Runner Crampon and I..." go to full review

At first glance, the Petzl screws racked well and hung on a standard ice clipper normally but the weight (or lack of) was immediately noticeable, as expected. It was like they weren’t there. Literally. The hangers have a large clipping hole and were very easy to get on and off the ice clippers on my harness. I liked having the bright and distinct color coded plastic crank lever and felt like the opacity of color would end up being quicker to see and decipher than the metal version. Maybe it’..." go to full review

They succeeded by creating a carabiner that hit their strength requirements while keeping the carabiner just under full size. The carabiner shape has a bent back, as many of DMM’s biners do, that they say increases the safety and handling because it fits in your hand more naturally. They also added groves on the back of the spine to reduce slippage, especially when wearing gloves. In the video, Chris mentions them as “grippy grips,” which I really hope is the technical term.go to full review

The Thor features a shrouded nose. Aside from a full-blown keylock, the shrouded nose is one of my favorite wiregate features. The main intention is to help avoid accidental opening, as when the carabiner slides across rock. Although not advertised as such, my experience is that a shrouded nose helps a lot to reduce snagging of the nose when clipping or unclipping. To add a keylock nose to this ‘biner, it likely would have upped the price about $5 for the consumer as the manufacturing..." go to full review

DMM made the smart decision to hot-forge this baby so they could take weight away from the spine and transfer that material to make the top of the carabiner super strong and rope friendly. Where the rope runs you’ll find fat round stock, that will help prevent kinking and make it easier to take in or pay out rope. The other main stress point, where the carabiner contacts the harness has a specialized shape to sit properly in the belay loop, a great feature for a belay specific carabiner.go to full review

The Micro Jul was designed to accompany their groundbreaking Flycatcher rope, the thinnest half rope on the market at 6.9mm. The problem was the Flycatcher was so skinny there wasn’t a single belay device rated to handle a rope that thin. After designing the Micro Jul specifically for skinny ropes, they realized that the belay device had so many helpful features it was worth making another one that could handle “standard” rope diameters. Thus, the Mega Jul was born, identical in..." go to full review

It took a year and a half to develop the Fuel which Black Diamond likes to say combines the best performance of the Cobra (BD’s carbon fiber tool) and the modularity of the BD Fusion.

The Fuel is made from a single piece of hydroformed aluminum. They claim this makes for a lighter feel, superior swing and better handling.go to full review

Creating this harness was a very collaborative process involving the sewers and designers who create all the prototypes in Italy, and the CAMP USA crew who were driving the requirements and ideas from Colorado.go to full review

The X-Light is super versatile, due to the movable pommel, making it an ideal companion for someone who spends time on glaciers and occasionally climbs moderate ice. A mountaineer in the Cascades will find this tool handy to climb all the intermediate volcano routes.go to full review