Rudy Breteler

These puppies are just what I had in mind for racking my C4s. It is impossible to appreciate just how small these biners are online. They are about the size of many of those novelty ("not for climbing") carabiners that you see on car keys or water bottles, and almost as light--and yet they are full strength. I would not use them for regular trad climbing purposes (as in for extendable quickdraws) because I think that it would be too difficult to clip the rope through these when pumped, but I absolutely appreciate them for racking my cams, and am considering buying more for racking my hexes as well.

I freaking love this pack. Let's be clear; it is bigger than anything that 90% of people who go backpacking will ever need. For those 10% of us who live for long gear intensive expeditions and deep winter travel, however, this is the pack of dreams. I personally hate tying anything other than my Z Rest to the outside of my pack (meaning I like to keep the tent on the inside, where its weight can stay close to my body), so this extra big backpack is perfect. I've used it a great deal in all kinds of conditions and not had any issues with anything breaking; this pack is solid! I can fit enough gear for a week of backcountry camping, plus rock climbing gear, my rope, and food, and carry it more comfortably than any other pack I've ever tried on would allow me to. This pack is very heavy, but that weight translates into LOADS of support, which is crucial for carrying heavy loads. My favorite part about it is how easy it is to access everything. There are a whopping FIVE points of entry to the main compartment; one from the bottom, one on each side, one from the front of the pack, and one from the top. Most packs offer only top and bottom entry, making it much harder to organize your gear effectively or find crucial items quickly.

These were my first shoes (I've since upgraded to something more advanced) but I never regretted the purchase once. They were very comfortable for all day use, and they are very versatile; great for all different kinds of climbs. If you are doing tricky bouldering problems or short sport routs and don't plan on wearing your shoes for more than fifteen minutes at a stretch, maybe you will want something more technical. But for any kind of climbing which involves keeping your shoes on all day (the kind I like most) it is best to go with a comfortable shoe--and this is a very comfortable shoe, as far as climbing shoes go.

I bought this harness for my sister. She loves it, and I was so impressed with it that I bought the men's version (Momentum AL) for myself. These harnesses are lightweight, durable, and very comfortable to hang in. As with many items in climbing (and life) I don't see the need to spend more money when this does the job perfectly.

I always try to have at least two or three more of these than I think I will need clipped to one of my gear loops on any kind of climb that I do. I use them for constructing anchors (I try to use only lockers in my anchor systems), for securing my ATC Guide to the master-point on guide mode when belaying a second, and for securing myself to my anchor (also something which it is best to do with lockers). This biner is small, and the nose does catch on webbing and rope as other reviewers have said, but for me this is more than made up for by its lighter weight and cheeper price. This biner is almost as light as a non-locker, which means that carrying these instead of larger lockers lets me carry a couple of extras; important, because one thing that a climber almost always can use more of in an emergency self-rescue scenario (or any unplanned scenario for that matter) is extra locking carabiners.

I use this as my primary belay and repel carabiner in conjunction with my ATC or ATC Guide. It serves very well in that function. I originally bought two when they were on sale so that I would have a second one for use with master-points on multi-pitch routs with more than two climbers, but I gave my other one away to my sister. I plan on buying a second one as soon as I see one on sale or know I will need it for an upcoming climb (no rush right now)

Upgrading to the ATC guide is far more convenient than my previous method of redirecting a hip belay on a standard ATC through the anchor master-point while girth hitched to a double-length sling clipped to the top shelf. The only drawback to belaying directly off of the anchor is the loss of a dynamic belay afforded by the other method, but I still think that overall it is far safer, especially because of the autolock (my second is still safe if the party above me kicks off a loose rock and takes me out of commission while I'm belaying her.) Lowering is a bit jerky, especially when you first start. Make sure to keep your hand on the brake strand when lowering to maintain control of the speed. For even better control you have to rig up a tricky little redirect which attaches the lowering hole to your harness, allowing you to control it with your body weight (be sure to add a prussic backup if using this method). Doing so isn't usually necessary in normal climbing; I would only rig such a system in a rescue scenario. The ATC Guide also allows you to safely belay two seconds at the same time, so that a party of three can climb as fast as a party of two (or a party of four as well; leader ascends, belays two seconding climbers, than begins to lead the next pitch as one second belays him from below and the other belays the fourth climber from above). I have no betta as to how this device compares with competitors such as the Petzl Reverso 3. I've heard that this works better with beefier cords and the Petzl works better with thin ones, but I have no personal experience to back that up. My main reason for buying the BD instead of the Petzl was that, with the addition of the grippy teeth (which I almost never use for standard belaying and repelling on my 10.3 rope) and the guide functions, this device looks and handles exactly the same as my trusty old ATC, giving it a nice feeling of familiarity.

This rope holds up very well. I've read what others have said about the sheath being lousy, but that hasn't been my experience; still no fuzz. I've also taken some long pendulum type falls where the sheath has been dragged across the granite in a manner which would expose the core on a lesser cord, but my Zephyr has survived without any damage that I can't live with. There is no doubt that this rope is heavy (I have the 60m) but for my uses the extra durability and strength of a 10.3 more than compensate.

I'm very happy with this harness. After I bought my sister the Primrose AL for her birthday, I decided to pick up the male version for myself because I was so impressed with the shape and design of hers. The harness that I was using before was an old Mammut gig that I bought in one of those starter packages (harness, chalk back, belay device and locking biner) way back when I was in high school. I don't want to knock Mammut harnesses because I understand they make some wonderful products (and I'm pretty sure that they stopped making the terrible harness that I bought years ago), but my new BD harness is about half the weight, far more comfortable, and it doesn't scare the living daylights out of me every time I lean back to the sound of the velcro joining the front padding together ripping, making me think the harness is coming undone. The gear loops are much burlier on this harness, giving me the confidence to clip my new expensive cams to them, and I love the full strength haul loop--it gives that extra assurance and also flexibility for certain advanced rescue scenarios. All in all I'm very happy that I upgraded to a new harness, especially since I now have my old one as a spare for lending out to new climbers.

I love this puppy. I'm wearing it right now!

This helmet is great. It fits my head perfectly and is comfortable enough that in no time I forget that I have it on (except when I bang my head against overhanging rock and am cheerfully reminded of its presence.) It fits a headlamp great. I haven't actually climbed at night with one, but I mounted my Petzl headlamp to it last night for my halloween costume and it stayed in place just fine through plenty of dancing and merriment. I bought the bright orange one because I love sporting the full-on dorky mountaineer look at my local craig. If you are a woman (with long hair) looking into buying this helmet, you should consider spending a bit more money for the female Elia version. Petzl made a great promotional video for it which is worth watching regardless of whether or not you are helmet shopping just to watch the beautiful women climbing in an absolutely stunning location; http://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/news/products-news-0/2010/03/29/elia-climbing-and-mountaineering-helmet-designed-women The same technology, testing, and care to detail which Petzl put into designing the helmet in that video goes into all of their products, which is why I consistently turn to them when it comes to gear which may save my life. My caution before buying this helmet would be to never order the size 1 online unless you are specifically buying it for a child under the age of 10. I bought this at my local climbing shop where they had both sizes, and I was shocked at how tiny the size 1 is. If you think you have a small head and want the size one, make sure you go to a shop and actually try one on to double check that your head is small enough, unless you are willing to deal with an online exchange (I know the goat is great about this, but no need to abuse their kindness).