Blister

The La Sportiva Cobra Eco is an extremely versatile shoe that blends a fairly aggressive shape with a flexible design. I’ve been very impressed with its performance and comfort on a variety of routes, and the fact that most of its materials are made in a more environmentally friendly manner is an added bonus. Apart from the slight increase in price, the Cobra Eco does an impressive job of maintaining what made the original Cobra great, but in a more sustainable package.go to full review

The Scarpa Maestro Mid Eco is an incredibly comfortable climbing shoe that excels on vertical to less-than-vertical routes and long days. If you are looking for an all-day shoe with a wider, roomier last and value comfort over the absolute performance that a tighter fit offers, the Maestro Mid Eco is definitely worth a look.go to full review

The Petzl Meteor is a lightweight helmet that complies to mountaineering helmet standards and CE’s new “ski touring” standard. If you’ve shied away from helmets in the past because they were too heavy and uncomfortable and / or you’re looking for a ski touring or mountaineering helmet that comes in at a reasonable price and amazingly low weight, definitely check out the Meteor.go to full review

I think the Edelrid Bulletproof carabiner concept is an elegant solution to increasing the durability of carabiners while still keeping weight and cost at a reasonable level. They are significantly more expensive than standard draws, but the Bulletproof quickdraws do not wear nearly as fast and they’re still pretty light. If you consistently sport climb outside (no matter how hard you climb), I would absolutely recommend adding a couple Bulletproof quickdraws to your rack.go to full review

The Petzl Sitta is an excellent lightweight harness that performs well across all climbing disciplines. While I have some personal preferences that the Sitta doesn’t perfectly align with (primarily in the configuration of the gear loops), those do not detract from the comfort or the overall performance of the harness. But is the Sitta’s comfort, weight, and performance worth an extra $100 when compared to budget harnesses? That’s a question that you’ll need to answer by looking at your..." go to full review

The Black Diamond Shadow has a unique combination of traits that make it work best for a very particular group of people. For me, the combination of a poor fit (for my feet) and poor sensitivity negated the advantages that usually come with downturned and asymmetrical shoes. But if you climb in a place with severe overhangs and plentiful footholds and / or you have a low-volume heel and instep and medium-wide toes, the Shadow may, in fact, be the shoe that fits.go to full review

Edelrid’s Tommy Caldwell ProDryDT is an excellent all-round single rope offered both with and without Edelrid’s top-notch ProDry dry treatment. It handles well in a wide variety of belay devices and has proved to be very durable so far. The Mammut Infinity and Sterling Helix have a slightly softer hand if that’s your preference, but the TC ProDryDT isn’t cumbersome or stiff in by any means. This rope is a great option for those climbers who just want to pick up a single rope for all sorts of..." go to full review

The Boreo is an affordable, comfortable, durable, helmet that offers the additional piece of mind of passing Petzl’s side protection tests in addition to UIAA and CE testing standards. It’s not the lightest option out there, but if you’re looking for an everyday helmet that offers increased protection from side, front, and rear impacts, the Boreo is definitely worth a look.go to full review

The Black Diamond Vector is a very good, lightweight helmet that offers increased protection compared to some other lightweight EPS helmets like the Black Diamond Vapor and Mammut Rock Rider while still coming in significantly lighter than more traditional plastic options like the Half Dome and El Cap. This puts the Vector in a nice middle ground, and makes it a great choice for people who want a lightweight helmet but don’t want to skimp on coverage.go to full review

This is an area where the Agro deserves credit. The Agro is made with robust materials at the closure, is covered with rubber, and offers enough precision that scraping your foot across the wall is definitely your fault. All this combines to make the Agro super durable, something that I think is often under-appreciated in consumable goods like climbing shoes. After 25 days climbing in the Agro, I haven’t yet had to take it in for a resole, and if there’s any trouble with resoling it given..." go to full review