With seven years’ experience as a dedicated climber to draw from (pardon the pun), Adam Riser can tell you a thing or two about climbing gear—he’s been doing exactly that for the past two years at Backcountry.com. Adam began as one of our invaluable Gearheads in customer support, and then decided to put his knowledge and mad writing skills to use in our content department. It’s his job to describe the gear you’re drooling over, and if it was up to him, he’d probably write about nothing but ropes and ice screws. Climbing influences nearly every decision Adam makes. He met his wife in the search for a climbing partner, fell in with Backcountry.com after guiding a former employee up Mt. Rainier, and drives a beater truck so he can save money for climbing trips.

You’ll find Adam wherever there are steep cracks, ice, or routes with long approaches. This guy eats, sleeps, and breathes climbing—be it sport, trad, or ice. Even with all his expertise, Adam is always willing to climb with beginners so long as they try hard and have fun. We picked Adam’s brain for a list of his favorite climbing gear. In his own words, here are a few things he recommends.

Petzl Elios Helmet:

A good helmet is key for alpine climbing and sketchy trad routes. The Elios fits as well as any helmet I have ever tried, and it is very light without being as fragile as an injection-molded helmet.

Five Ten Anasazi VSC Climbing Shoes:

These are my go-to shoes for bouldering, sport climbing, and technical trad routes. They are just stiff enough to allow precision edging, and just soft enough to smear very well. I can quickly take them off to give my feet a break while belaying, and the synthetic lining keeps stretch to a minimum.

Black Diamond Neutrino Carabiners:

These superlight carabiners are slowly replacing my entire rack. I use them for everything that doesn’t require a locker. Their gate is just as large as a full-size ’biner, so you don’t feel like you’re clipping your rope through a key chain.

Black Diamond Micro Stoppers:

When I start up a thin crack climb, these tiny stoppers are always on my rack. They’ve saved my butt more times than I can count. I’ve taken some massive whistlers onto the middle sizes, and they have always held well. Take care cleaning them; don’t get all agro with your nut tool or you’ll bend the wires.

Mammut Tubular Dyneema 8mm Slings:

This is another piece of gear that’s replacing all my old stuff. At first I had a hard time trusting these super-thin slings, but now I use them all the time. When you’re on a really long route and you have 15 shoulder-length runners, these guys save tons of bulk. I also use a really long one for my cordelette if I’m on a route that won’t require cutting it up for rappels.