As the other reviews have stated, these nuts are shaped perfectly. When I lead with my friends' racks, their stoppers always seem to take extra fiddling to get around irregularities in the crack. The scalloping, the curve, the rounded edges--these nuts place fast, clean easily, and are simply the best I've ever used. They've even arrested a fall or two, which isn't surprising, but definitely inspires confidence. I've also got the Peenuts, which supplement these bad boys perfectly--and are invaluable for pin scars. DMM makes the best nuts--period.

Been racking with these for a few months now, and I love 'em. They clip beautifully, and they're super easy to grab, even when you're panicked and thrutching. I alternate Heliums and Dovals on my rack for easy re-racking and visual inspection--it works great. The two 'biners practically fit into each other, which has all but completely eliminated the annoying tangling when carabiners bunch up on the gear sling. They're pricey, but they're totally worth it.

These cams have an extremely flexible stem that, so far, has held up to a fair amount of abuse. The #3, #4, and #5 are my three smallest cams (the #1 and #2 aren't quite strong enough for my free-climbing head game), and I trust them even when I'm pumped and ten feet over them. The trigger action is smooth even in the deep placements that you can get with these. The #5 is about the same size as a C4 .3, maybe just a little smaller, so they compliment my C4s nicely. They place quickly and solidly, and the doubled sling extends the piece nicely. Also, these are not a clunky as their tech-friend brethren.

I wasn't exactly sure what was meant by the whole anatomical-foot-bed / weight-transfer thing when I bought the Testarossa shoe, but, boy, am I ever now. I was climbing in some three-year-old Mythos (talk about an impressive statement about the quality of a La Sportiva shoe), and I found that I was having to adjust my climbing to factor in the probability of my foot slipping on micro-edges. No longer, boy. The Testarossas have stuck every itsy-bitsy hold I've tried them on. As it's winter and all of my favorite crags are colder than, well, they're cold, I've only used this shoe indoors. I'm more than a little certain that I'll only be more stoked about my sweet new shoes when I take 'em outside. Oh, I have wide feet, and they're breaking in just fine (my feet and the shoes, both). They're great; I love 'em.