Climbing
La Sportiva added a P3 midsole and laces to its super-popular Katana (Velcro) to produce the Katana Lace, an edging master that one tester said fits “like a glove.” The stiff slip-last is slightly asymmetric and slightly downturned, creating a comfortable performance shoe for all angles except super steep. Synthetic lining and an upper blended with leather and Lorica give the Katana Lace a low-stretch fit while still conforming to your foot. A 4mm Vibram XS Edge sole hikes slabs, thin faces..." go to full review
An excellent balance if you truly need comfort and performance in equal parts, plus bonus points for being one of the most sensitive out of the review while keeping the feet completely protected.go to full review
Instead of trying to add performance to a pure comfort shoe, La Sportiva took a top-of-the-line shoe and dialed back the aggressiveness by loosening the tensioning in the heel rand and flattening out the downturn. The result? A shoe that’s easy to wear all day, but still has enough high-end features (rigid forefoot for toeing in and edging, asymmetric toe for precision, and sticky Vibram XS Edge rubber) for performance on hard routes. The relaxed heel rand lets you stand comfortably at..." go to full review
Although many lady climbers have rocked the men’s Solution from La Sportiva since it came out in 2006, this year the Italian company made a few tweaks to make it just right for the feminine persuasion. Designers changed the shape of the last to better mimic a woman’s more slender foot, and they tapered the Achilles. The result? The shoes won’t shift around when your feet are in intensely delicate positions. Other than those small changes, this new iteration keeps all the great features of..." go to full review
Pay attention, gym rats! The days of sour, funky, repugnant climbing shoes are over. Not only are these mid-performance shoes machine-washable (throw ‘em in with regular detergent and then air dry, they won’t shrink, stretch, or change shape), but they’re also designed with sweaty, stinky feet in mind. The upper is three layers: a perforated outer for breathability, microfiber in the middle for structure, and a wicking fabric that’s lined with silver to prevent smell and keep you dry. These..." go to full review
It’s not often that a new crashpad comes along and makes our diehard bouldering testers stop obsessing over their skin and say “Wow,” but the Cirro did just that. “The unique design of this mat put all others to shame,” one photographer-climber said after carrying upwards of 35 pounds at a time in the pad. The taco-style, hingeless setup (single fold with one section of foam) meant there were no dead spots in the middle, eliminating the fear of bottoming out and creating a uniform amount of..." go to full review
Building off the success of the Futura’s No-Edge technology, La Sportiva decided to put that rounded toe on a lace-up shoe with a heel similar to the time-tested Testarossa to create the aptly named Genius. “A perfect example of the final product being more than the sum of its parts, the Genius is just that: snug but comfortable, an aggressive downturn, and incredible performance on anything from vert to super-steep,” said one tester who took them for single-pitch trad at Tennessee Wall and..." go to full review
This lightweight harness has been a top pick for serious sport climbers for the last few years, and the complete overhaul for 2015 boosted its versatility and comfort. “I opted for the Hirundos on everything from hangdogging my projects to all-day, dozen-pitch routes,” one tester said. This version gets extra cush and maintains a low weight and slim profile because of Petzl’s proprietary Fuseframe technology. Most harnesses have a webbing skeleton to provide strength with foam padding placed..." go to full review
“World-class, mega-dank! Thanks to perfectly soft edges, Ryan Gosling in ‘The Notebook’ sensitivity, and a delightfully comfortable fit,” one tester said. So comfortable that he wore them on the 13-pitch Yankee Clipper (5.10b) in El Potrero Chico, Mexico, and was still grinning and singing after a full day of edging on micro-nubs. The same tester onsighted three 5.12s in the Furia at crags around Chattanooga, Tennessee, choosing them because of their versatility and performance on verticals..." go to full review
Tagged as “the lightest carabiner set on the market,” these clippers barely tip the scales at 19.5 grams (about 0.7 oz.) per biner—hence the name. That’s about 20 percent lighter than the sveltest micro-biners out there. Put another way, a rack of 10 Edelrid Nineteen G quickdraws with 10cm Dyneema slings weighs less than a pound. (Using 18cm slings would add only an ounce to your harness.) Our tester loved the weight savings for the long routes and off-trail approaches at Red Rock Canyon in..." go to full review