Snagged the Black Diamond Razor Carbon Ski Pole for tours in the backcountry and occasional resort duty. I'll follow up at season's end with a report on durability, but I really like the pole out of the box. Low swing weight, nice big powder baskets and good attention to detail. Although the pics don't show it, the poles also ship with a rubber grip midway down on the aluminum section, which will be nice for traversing when you'd rather not adjust the pole length on the uphill pole.

I bought the Stoic Luft Down Insulated Sweater in the Lt. Jade / Cream color for my wife and can't recommend it in this color. While the jacket is very well made and warm, the choice to combine a semi-transparent material with black and white down feathers is strange. The jacket looks dirty right out of the box because you can see the black feathers in there. Also, the tag says that the jacket is reversible, which it is not, and the pockets barely fit her hands, which are pretty small. Since it is a very nicely constructed jacket, I can recommend the Berry/Cream color as it is not transparent and looks nice if that's the color you are into.

The Metolius Ultralight TCUs are light, easy to place for being microcams, and not as pricey as C3s. I have taken a fall on the 00 - not a huge fall but it held like a champ despite the 6+ kn rating. Also, I won't place an alien ever again after seeing CCH's response to their QC issues over the past year.

The Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad is super compact and warm - great for trips when you can afford a bit of extra weight. It does take a while to inflate and it does have that "pool toy" feel to it, but if you're going to do fully inflatable versus a thermarest style pad, I think this is a great option.

My wife took the Women's Kelty Light Year Sleeping Bag on a trip to Moab this weekend and is relaying some pros and cons. On the plus side, the bag was light and highly packable and the construction was top notch. The narrower cut was great for her and the hood was particularly well made. The negatives were that this bag is not a 20 degree bag. Wearing long underwear tops and bottoms and a long sleeved t shirt, the bag was uncomfortably cold one night when the temp hit 36 degrees. This bag is almost perfect down to about 45 degrees, below that it is not the right choice.

The Mammut Focus Harness is good for a first harness, only thing it lacks is a haul loop. When you cinch it down there is lots of extra material on the belt (I'd say size down if you're on the border of sizes), and the elastic loop to secure the loose end isn't very well designed. But for $30, I bought this an extra for taking friends out to try climbing. Perfectly fine for that role.

The Pearl Izumi Focus Slim Fit Jersey is a decent jersey in terms of quality - mine still looks pretty new after a couple of years. However, beware unless you have skinny arms. Even when I was at my skinniest, the elastic on the arms was too tight. I've never been climber skinny - but was pretty thin and was surprised that the sleeve was uncomfortable. If you're a climber who likes a sleeve to fit tight on the arm, this might be a positive. The elastic waistband also has a tendency to ride up - so plan on wearing this with bibs.

Our team ordered this bib model for our kit and the quality is on par with the premium brands (castelli, etc) but the fit is clearly designed for Georgie Hincapie himself. Those teammates who were tall and relatively thinner in the legs loved the fit. I am 5'11", 170 lbs and I generally wear an XL bib and M jersey - but in this I had to go with a tight-fitting large bib b/c the XL went past my knees. Even the large was much longer than I usually prefer. If you have skinny to medium legs and you're 6'2" or more - this would probably be your favorite pair of shorts.

I buy the metal bead Contis to train on and have had great success. They last forever and still have enough sticky to be semi-decent should you opt to leave them on your training wheels if you leave wheels in the pit/van during races. I've finished a crit on these tires and it was interesting - but I didn't go down. Only caution is to carry a tire lever with you everywhere you go when you're running these - the bead is VERY tight.

I've had mine for 3 weeks now. During the recent east coast wintry mix it has been dry as a bone and no issues - pit zips vent well and quality appears to be everything I would expect from a $425 jacket.

Fit is a little strange but on me it hasn't been large as others describe. Mine is a bit slimmer than I'm used to - at first I thought it might be constricting but the "angel wing" construction actually does allow full range of movement (went cragging for a day and had no major issues). I'm 5'11", 170 lbs and certainly couldn't have gone down a size. I could have gone up a size, but M is probably the right one (I wear M in all other Marmot stuff). As others mention, It IS long, but not large (that's what she said).

While you won't wear these out with bad footwork and thus they are a decent beginner shoe, I think they might actually be not-sticky enough to reconsider, even for a nOOb. My wife went up a grade immediately when moving from this shoe to another mid-level shoe due to stickier rubber. Watching her climb in the Kumo was painful for everyone involved - smearing just doesn't happen on cold days. Positive: these will last forever (hard rubber) and we keep them for same-sized friedns who are new and need a loaner pair.

This is the best device on the market for a cyclist who wants every possible piece of data on heart rate mixed into their cycling data. The altimeter actually works as well (but only on the bike - it doesn't stay on if you're off of the bike so don't try to use it climbing or skiing). The incline measurement is also a cool feature. The bad: the power monitor functions by sensing tension on the chain (in basic terms) and doens't work. If you're looking to really train with power, this won't cut the butter as sometimes it's off by several hundred watts over an interval.

These are great for times when you need a tire that will train and race. If I'm going on a training trip where I may do a race or two, I take these. They are not as sticky as my Vittoria Corsa's, but they are much more durable and won't be done after a 500 mile week. If you want a race-only tire, I'd look elsewhere, but if you want a race oriented hybrid, these are the ticket.

I get really cold hands in the winter. These are so good that my hands stay hot on cold/wet February days on the East Coast. Also, I sometimes commute to work on my motorcycle and I find that these are warmer than my winter motorcycle gloves and stay windproof even when rolling at 70mph. I'm on my third pair and they last about 2 seasons of constant use.

Can't beat the price per pack ounce lost. I have used this bag in Shenandoah in the fall and will also vouch for its rating all the way down to 40 (easily) in a tent. After a summer & fall of heavy use my bag still looks new. Compresses down to about nalgene size easily. As with all ultralight gear, you have to be a bit more careful when zipping, storing, etc., but the benefits are worth the extra care requirements.

Got this for my wife when we had never climbed outside. She still uses it in the gym, and it is comfy and durable for that purpose. She doesn't so much like it outside due to the lack of a haul loop and the hard plastic gear loops, of which there are only two. Still, it is pretty stinkin' light so she may use it in the future for longer approaches or overnight trips if we're toproping or doing shorter sport routes.

This helmet stays where it should stay - actually fits my head better than a few other more expensive helmets I've tried. No features and it will look better with a few stickers but it gets the job done. I'll repost if I ever have the misfortune to get knocked on the head with a rock and let you know how it does.

I prefer the palm guard found on some other nut tools. This certainly works though.

I used these to fill out my rack that was started on a set of BD C4's. The Metolius Ultralight Power Cam set gives you the ability to double up on most sizes - only downside is that you'll need to have a slightly better eye than the C4's require due to a narrower range for the Met cams.

Good lamp but the clip broke on the first use. It only broke on one side so the lamp is still functional, just more delicate now. I have much respect for BD and am sure they'd make me whole if I took the time to send this back but it hasn't been a big enough deal to get me to the post office. In terms of light, this lamp is great. Have used it for getting some extra miles in after dark on backpacking trips and I always carry this one when climbing longer multi-pitch routes just in case.

I have ridden this shoe or its ancestors for 8 years now, one of which was spent earning my living on a bicycle. I will only ride Sidi for several reasons, first of which (especially now that I have to buy my own gear again) is that you can order every part on this shoe if you need to replace a buckle or something. I've got a pair of Genius shoes that I bought 5 years ago and they are still going strong after very heavy use. Nothing in cycling compares to the durability of Sidi road shoes. Their customer service is also great if you need it.

I carry about 90% of my weight in my ass, and these are still a bit large back there. I really don't know who they will fit (Me = XL bibs and Medium jersey). The chamois is nice and they last fine, just try before you buy.

This beaner looks super cool. As an additional perk, it also works pretty well, if you're ok with the smaller size. If your rack consists of one beaner and an ATC and your climbing is all on plastic, get something big like the BD rocklock, but this is nice to have for a variety of applications. I usually end up using it to lock my wife to things (muah ha ha) so that she doesn't meet me halfway up the crag when she's belaying.