Solid and light - noticeably lighter than my BD nuts, and just as strong. The CNC machine work is beautiful, too. Honestly, they are a little nicer than the BD nuts for some placements - not all, but some. Mostly the ones where you have to hold onto the end of the loop and fish the nut way back into a crack to get to a good constriction. With my BD nuts, there have been the one or two random times that the nut head pushed up on the cable while trying to make a placement, which usually leads to lots of panicked swearing and cursing about how much I hate trad climbing.

On the flip side, you cannot do the aider trick of hooking the cable and cinching up the nut against a bolt without a hangar with these bad boys. Losing that cable loop is not the end of the world, but it is something to take note of.

4 out of 5 only because you spend more on this set of 10 nuts than on the BD set of 13 nuts, and the BD jobs come come with a racking biner. If shaving the grams is worth the premium to you, then these should be your choice.

But if I do (and I really hope I won't), what I'm using to find my buried friends is super easy to use and incredibly accurate. In the search mode, it practically inspires confidence - I will find anything emitting at 457 hz quickly and efficiently. In the guaranteed panic that follows a slide, that is invaluable to shave precious seconds from the rescue. Simply put, using this beacon (in conjunction with training, practice, and knowledge) is amazing and worth every penny. If the search mode is any testament to the capabilities of this thing, I'm willing to bet that the "Transmit" mode - you know, in case it's me who gets buried - is just as amazing.The only downside I can think of with this beacon is that now that I've got a Barryvox, all my buddies want to drop in before me. In case they get buried, they want me looking for them. Looks like I'm getting 3rd or 4th tracks down the mountain from now on.

They're comfy, have good support, and look great. I've worn them through the end of the winter here in Montana, and they held up very well to all of the wet and snowy conditions. A quality product from Patagonia.

The Papa G sunglasses are sweet. Good coverage, but they don't go way overboard like some shades. They're comfy, and stay on your face once you start moving around in them.

These are some pretty awesome shoes. Super sticky rubber, and they grip wet rock really well. The second time I used them, I had to hike up 2 miles of snow-covered road (we had no idea it was still snowed in) to get to the crag, so the wet rock thing I really put to the test.

They also double as my biking shoes - I ride with platform pedals, and they're just about perfect for that.

This thing is awesome for cooking food for everyone in your group. Boils water fast, and the neoprene insulation keeps stuff warm in the pot for a while afterwards. Great simmer capabilities, and with an 8oz canister or the nifty bottom-of-the-fuel stand, it is stable when cooking a full pot. One of the coolest things about this system is that the plastic lid seals up tight enough to keep leftovers in.

My only gripe with it is that the auto-lighter thing doesn't always work great. Half the time, I end up just using a lighter or a match.

I use these with various length runners as my extendo-draws for wandering up routes and as alpine draws. Lightweight, full-strength, and still big enough for most people to use with gloves on. Good stuff.

After two months skiing and snowboarding with these, they're done. Completely trashed. The leather palm on the right glove is split on the seam in a bad way along the pinky and ring finger, and the drawstrings are frayed and falling apart. Up until they died, they were really great, but only getting two usable months out of them is lame. BD is a brand that I trust a lot - my climbing rack is a testament to that - but I'm definitely not stoked with these gloves.

This is a sweet board. It's lightweight, and pretty cool looking, too. I'm riding the 161, and the purple/orange bottom catches a lot of attention when the base gets off the snow. The weight is really nice when you go and earn your turns - backcountry riding with this thing is a pleasure compared to other boards just because you're hauling less weight up the hill. It busts through crud half-way decently when things get tracked out - not as great as a heavier/stiffer board, but it does the trick, and what it lacks in busting, it more than makes up for everything else. It floats nice when it gets deep, holds a solid edge when maching the groomers, and gives lots of pop off of anything you hit.

I'll add my $0.02: This jacket is warm, soft, and goes with me skiing, climbing, to the bars, or anywhere else I can take it.

Here's a trick for getting rid of the piling and matting that will happen after wearing this jacket enough: Take one of those pet brushes - the ones with lots of the thin wire bristles - and brush your Monkey every now and then. This'll restore the loft and makes it really soft again, just like day 1. It doesn't damage the fabric, either.

This two-toned beauty will keep you going. I love it. I beat the crap out of it doing off-width/chimney climbing at J-Tree in 40 degree weather with the classic wind blowing, and it worked like a charm. The Windstopper did what it was supposed to do, and the material held up to the 8-grit sandpaper that is J-Tree. As long as I wasn't sitting in one place not moving for more than 10 minutes (read: windchill felt like 25), I was fine. Used as a mid-layer, and you're good to go for some pretty chilly situations.

Lack of pit-zips makes it probably not the most ideal for really high-intensity activities, but that's what your softshell is for. I used it for a lot of cooler-weather rock climbing, and it was great. It's also nice enough to wear it out on the town for a few post-crag beers.

I'm 6', 165lbs, and the M fits perfectly.

This bag does NOT work at 20 degrees. I wouldn't trust it to work at 30 degrees. I had the misfortune of using both the long and regular versions of this bag, and froze my butt off on a long climbing trip both at J-Tree and Bishop. I was doing everything right, too - the pad, zippers, everything was by-the-book. I ended up having to wear my undies, my fleece, and my downie to stay warm inside this bag.

When you wake up soaking wet and your buddies are covered in frost, you know that you're losing a lot of heat.

It'd be nice as a summer bag, but it's too heavy compared to other options out there.

I bought my first pair of Katanas about a year ago. They held up pretty well - I used them a ton - I probably had about 75 solid days climbing in them. When I realized that they were just about dead, I bought another pair. They are comfortable as hell, edge fantastically, and can smear with the best of 'em. I climb mostly on sandstone, so this is about all I get to climb on - dime edges and sloper smearing.

The reason these get 4 stars instead of 5 is that the heels seem to be loose in every pair I've tried on. Everyone I know who has these shoes (they're pretty popular at my gym) says the same thing - the heel is a bit on the big side. It's fine for most climbing, but when you're heel is a foot above your head and you're trying to clip, you really don't want to feel it starting to slip. In all fairness (the reason for 4 instead of 3 stars), I've never had a heel come out, but I have had it move enough to really make me think about it every time I put my heel up. You can look at the picture and see what I'm talking about. The leather patch in the back just looks loose.

I normally wear a 45, but sized down to a 44 for these shoes. A 5.10 44.5 won't fit me, but a La Sportiva 44 fits perfect. Go figure.

Bottom line: These shoes will work for 98% of you to climb something way above your ability.

Watch out for the '80s pleats - it has been a while since I've rocked pleated pants. I didn't notice it until the pants showed up. They don't seem to be as sturdy a material as my TNF convertible pants, and only time will tell how they hold up.

Other than the weight of the material, the pants are lightweight, very comfortable, shed water/dry quick, and they look pretty good, too. They come with a Teflon coating or something, too, so they repel stains and to make sure that your eggs and bacon won't stick to them.

My normal pants are 33/32, and the M/Reg pants fit perfectly. I'll be rocking these pants until my metabolism slows down.

The built-in panties are a bit much if you like to wear your own underwear, but it is nice to be able to tell all the chicks that you don't wear underwear when you are camping. Makes you seem more rugged. Chicks dig rugged.