This rope is great for everything. I have the 70m for stretching out leads or long top ropes. The dry coating does a fairly good job in all but the wettest of ice climbing conditions. I have used it on ice, granite, sandstone, you name it. It still looks and feels like the day I bought it. It is very soft and supple. It also is very clean. The split pattern is always very nice although it is a little tough to see on this rope if you are not used to it.

I have been using this pack for rock and ice climbing trips and i really like it. The ice ax system is very simple and works well to cover up the picks. There are a lot of straps for carrying a rope and it has a good amount of room for all your gear. It is a little sparse on features: no helmet carrier, crampon pouch, etc. but for a simple pack it has it where it counts. This pack is very comfy, ventilates well, and is very adjustable. It is a joy to have on my back.

These cams work well and feel nice. They are very light and make nice placements for the most part as well. Over all I really like them most of the time. My only problem with them so far is that they are not that durable. If you have them bent over at all in a weird placement or anchor or take a whipper onto them they get bent up pretty easy.

I just got nailed in the head yesterday with this helmet on with a rock and I'm still good to go.

Light, comfortable, adjustable, and most important it keeps your dome piece safe. I watched a climber get hit in the head with a rock about 5" around from about 20 or 30 feet up and he was fine. Good enough for me...

These are very durable and trusty cams. I have a handful as seconds to my C4s. I really like these in the smaller sizes where the c4S don't have as much as an advantage.

light weight, strong and not nearly as bulky as nylon. I just upgraded to this and love it.

These are really tough bags and have a lot of uses. Its nice for keeping your rope stored out of the light and dust. It's also nice to lay gear out on or sit on when things are a little wet.

These are super light and strong. They hold up very well in winter and summer conditions and stay very pliable. Great slings all around.

These are much better racks than the king cobras. They are secure, pretty straight forward to use and look good. These are less flexy than the Cobras and a little more durable too. The cable lock system is nice. The knob system for tightening it up is a little finicky and a bit annoying.

The tray are nice and wide but almost a little too bulky. I would also expect them to be much stiffer for how big they are.

These racks are easy to use and are particularly nice because you can throw your bike up there and it is set and you can let go of it. The cable lock system is very nice.

My biggest gripe with these racks is the amount of plastic on them. The way it is set up you have to rely on a piece of thin plastic not breaking or else your bike goes flying off. Having to tighten up that little knob in the front is a real pain too. These racks are kind of flexy too. I am always a little hesitant to put my bike on these, I much prefer the Thule side arms.

These racks are very stiff and solid for bikes. They will work on any bike I have ever tried to put in them. The trays re wide and will take big tires, the trays are also really solid and don't flex at all. These are very easy to use but a little tricky to setup the first time around.

The only real gripe i have with these racks is that you can steal a bike off of them pretty easy. I stole my own bike off of my car in under 20 seconds. I wish they would put a cable lock on these like the Yakima system. Another thing you can do is put the bike on backwards (in most cases some bikes wont do this) and then the bike will be much harder to take off the rack. But locks only keep the honest people out, so just be careful no matter what.

Having poles for hiking is key, particularly when you have a heavy pack or in the winter. These poles are very comfortable, the straps don't have any buckles to dig into you and are nicely padded. The extended grip is nice too if you are just using 1 pole or just need to grip it differently. The tips are very durable and I like the small baskets, they don't get in the way. The flick lock is much better than the twist lock system and the 3 sections let these collapse to a very small size. I have had to replace the lowest section on both of my poles, 1 i bent badly on a hike and the other one went MIA over the winter while butt sledding down a peak, but they are cheap to replace and take a lot of abuse, I would rather bend a $10 pole section then fall or break an ankle.

These are really nice for top roping. They are also kind of handy for acending a rope or self belaying. I think these devices can make people a little lazy though. I really think that a new climber should learn how to use an ATC before using one of these so that they learn how to properly handle the rope. As with any piece of climbing gear knowing how to use it is the most important thing.

Although people do use these for leading I would not suggest it. When these autolock they do not provide a dynamic belay, they stop the rope. A regular ATC or similar device will allow the rope to slip a little when catching a fall. In top roping this isn't an issue because the rope will be rather snug. When taking a lead fall you want a dynamic belay to reduce the force that the climber feels and to reduce the force taken by the gear.

Do you weight weenies really need to save the whole 29 Grams over an XP? This might be one of the most useless things BD makes. This might be fine for some short sport routes or in the gym but if you are going to buy an ATC just get a real one that won't leave you up shat creek if you need to come down on 2 ropes.

This is a great set for a day of top roping or as a backup device. It's very nice for beginners. The biner is really nice too as the square shape gives it more holding power. I mostly use my ATC Guide now for lead climbing but generally carry this as a backup.

Nuts are nuts, but its nice to get them from a company you can trust like BD. The color coding is nice and the geometry fits every time.

These are really good for the raven axes. If you try to use them on the adze of technical tools like the vipers they are just too bulky. I use mostly just pick protectors, but I use one of these on my mountaineering axes.

These screws are really nice. They start easily and they place quickly too. I like the little knob for turning in the screw, it works well for the bulk of the turns. The double hanger for multiple biners is key.

One thing to watch out for with these screws is that the tips of the teeth are very easy to mess up, the steel is fairly soft and won't take much abuse.

These tools have good and bad as with any tools. For me they are more bad than good.

I like the metal spike above the handle, its solid and sticks to the ice well. The geometry is ok and the clearance is good on the tools, matching is good on them too.

I don't like the handles, they are poorly shaped and my hands ache to hold onto them for very long. the geometry is ok but I find they are sometime hard to hit the way I would expect them too. I much prefer my Vipers leashless over these tools.

These shoes are pretty comfortable considering the angle and how tight they are, I have no problem wearing them for a couple hours non stop.

I wear a 45-46 in normal shoes and a 43.5 in these.

The edging is very solid on these shoes and the sole platform gives a lot of stability to your foot without loss of feeling.

My only gripe with these shoes are the top of the shoes. The closure system is fast an comfortable but the shoes have no grip for toe hooking. I found these shoes make it pretty much impossible to get any really solid hook unless the rock is very sharp.

These shorts are awesome. They are very durable and comfortable. They are a bit hard to get over your legs because the fly doesn't open very far. I really like mine and just wear them around even when I'm not biking.

I think this jacket is good for both all day outside and as a casual jacket. I wear mine all day out ice climbing and then to go to work or going out. It is very comfortable, warm and protects from the elements very well. I wish it had inside pockets, they come in handy and velcro wrist cuffs would be really nice for climbing too. the wrists don't bother me too much because they are fairly snug.

These gloves are very comfortable and warm. They also give fairly good dexterity for climbing and belaying. I have not had any trouble with them getting wet but I haven't used them in very wet conditions yet. They are a bit bulky but this hasn't interfered with my climbing at all. They also offer great protections for your hands. The sizing chart on backcountry seems to hold true, the glove feels small to wear but it is perfect when holding onto your tools.

The viper tools are very good tools over all. The new hydroformed shaft is much stiffer than the previous generation vipers. The shaft also has very good clearance over bulges.

The leash system works the same as the old vipers except they removed a little stud from the leash, I'm not sure why. I'm not 100% positive but I think you could use the older leashes if you just cut off that little stud on the bottom of the leash.

The laser picks are great on pure ice but you have to learn to use them, they are very sharp and will be a little hard to get out of the ice. The picks are also not very wide so mixed climbing is not the greatest for these picks. Going to a titan pick will be a good idea if you plan on doing any climbing involving rock. The laser picks also dull easily.

The fang and strike on the handle are awesome. The do a very good job of protecting your hands and also make the grip very steady for leashless climbing. If you have large hands you will have a hard time using the tool with both fang and strike if your gloves are heavy. I have medium BD ice gloves and its a squeeze to get my hand on the tool. They are also made out of plastic and I doubt that they will last that long, they seem pretty tough but cold weather and being hit constantly won't be good for them.

The tools are very natural to use for making placements. If you turn the tool around to use the adze or hammer however they can be quite awkward to use. The strike and fang get in the way a bit and make the tool a bit hard to handle. The adze I also feel curves down too much. I thing it would be easier to use it if it were a little more flat.

Overall I think these are great tools and are quite versatile.

I've been using these for rock and ice climbing. The are really nice for clipping tools to or screws while on the ice. for rock climbing I leave them on my harness and use them for extra runners and cordelettes. They don't move around on you too much (they do tend to shift slowing towards the back of my harness) and are really easy to get gear on and off of. If you want extra space on your harness these are a good cheap way to get it.

These tools are pretty nice particularly for the price. I particularly like the leash, it tightens itself when you weight it and is very comfortable. The leash also has a thing to keep it from getting too tight. The tools do not have very good protection for your knuckles which sucks. I has several bleeding fingers after climbing with these tools. They have a pretty nice geometry and are nice for climbing pure ice. These would make a very good tools for someone new to the sport. If you want to do more serious climbing I would suggest a higher end tool, you do get what you pay for.

My cyborgs fit in them... barely but it does keep them in as tight of a space as possible which is nice for packing them. You do need to be careful of the points. The mesh top is nice for keeping things aired out but I would still take my crampons out to dry after a day of climbing. The bag is much easier to use than point covers.

These crampons are great. You can set them up mono or dual point which is awesome, but without the right tools cutting the abs to work with mono can be a hassle. Unlike most ice climbing crampons these do not have a fully vertical frame which makes them a little more friendly for the ABS plate and hiking. I use mine for ice and general mountaineering. The bails and adjustment bar are pretty standard but they are more adjustable than the G-14s. These crampons work perfectly with my La Sportiva boots (Nepal Evo).

Every time you use this pack I think there is something else on it that makes it better. It does carry skis even though it says it doesn't. It has a place for everything and it is all accessible. It is prefect for rock and ice climbing trips. That is primarily what I use it for, but I'm sure it would be good for lighter backpacking trips. This really is the perfect pack for a day on the ice or rock.

I don't know why anyone would spend $400 on arc'teryx pants when you can get these. They have everything, removable suspenders, 2 way zippers on the fly, and hip vents, reinforced ankles, gaiters, waterproof knees and butt. they are a nice slim cut and a really good weight material. I can get my gore-tex pants over them no problem and they are comfortable. These will be perfect for ice climbing.

I like the integrated pad, I don't think its very hard to take it in and out of the bag or inflate. The bag is definitely snug. Im 6'2" and pretty thin, I got the regular length bag and I can move around in it ok and the length fits. if you want to have anything in your bag with you like your boots though you may want a bigger bag. I can fit mine in next to my chest pretty comfortably but I wouldn't want the bag any smaller.

This thing is really good and clean burning. It will boil water super fast. I would not suggest using it in cold weather though. When the canister is cold it does not have good pressure and you won't even be able to light the stove. If you use it in the winter keep the fuel in your sleeping bag so you can make your food in the morning without having to shove a cold metal fuel canister down your pants first... trust me...

These boots are great, they are extremely well built and the most comfortable boots ever. I mostly ice climb in these boots but also hike in them as well. One thing to be aware of is that when using crampons the heal bail can press into your heel if it is too tight. This isn't a huge problem is you are climbing but hiking in crampons like this can give you pretty bad blisters. Boots may be the most important piece of gear you can own so make sure you size them and fit your crampons properly.

This leash works well and is infinitely adjustable. It is pretty easy to use but the loop that you use to get in and out of it is pretty big and could get caught on things. I use this on a mountaineering axe but this would work well with ice tools that don't have specific leashes. One nice feature is the buckle that keeps the leash from getting too tight.

After buying these shoes in a 42.5, 43, 43.5 and a 44 even I ended up going with the 43.5 I have another pair of scarpas in a 46 too so I had a hard time sizing these. The backcountry guys really helped me out with returning the ones I didn't want and I'm really happy with the shoes. They haven't stretched out a ton yet but I imagine they will a bit more. They heel hook really well and have great smearing and edging traction. They also have a pretty sharp toe and I have never put so much weight on tiny features with such good luck as with these shoes. Top notch shoes overall very high performance if they are tight enough. I have a narrow foot and the tops are a little loose but I have never noticed it affecting my climbing.