User Rating: 5 / 5
Pete Edwards gives us his detailed thoughts on the Petzl bouldering pad range. He's been using these pads non-stop since they were released a few years ago. Based in North Wales and a dedicated boulderer, Pete's also explored blocs around Europe with the distinctive orange pads in tow. Gone are the days when pads were a piece of carpet and you risked breaking your ankles every time you slipped off. Now, bring your pads to the party!
The Ace is a premier climbing harness from German manufacturer Edelrid. They describe it as a 'super-light harness with 3D-Vent Lite technology for demanding routes on rock and ice.' With easy-to-use features like a single waist buckle, fixed leg loops and four wide gear loops, it caters for a wide range of activities: from sport onsights and redpoints where every gram counts, to long days in the mountains and hanging belays. The Ace fits the bill, and it fits Tom Ripley. Hear his thoughts about this bright green harness below.
User Rating: 1 / 5
Pete Edwards of Prowess Coaching compares the current Petzl GRIGRI model with the previous generation, and is surprised to see a few useful and subtle improvements. From Petzl themselves:
'The GRIGRI is a belay device with assisted braking (meaning it will help the belayer control the rope should the climber fall). Compact and lightweight, it can be used with single ropes from 8.5 to 11 mm. The assisted braking function makes belaying more convenient when holding a climber or catching a fall. The design of the handled camming mechanism enables exceptional descent control.'
Read Pete's thoughts on one of the most widely-used belay devices:
User Rating: 5 / 5
GB Ice Climbing Team member Emma Powell takes a look at Mantis Tools, which are birchwood and aluminium training 'axes' made for indoor climbing, and designed to replicate - as closely as possible - ice climbing and dry tooling. Mimicking the ergonomics, balance and kinaesthetics of ice axes, but with rubber pads which grip onto indoor climbing holds, you can now train and have fun tooling all year round, on all sorts of walls...
User Rating: 5 / 5
Holly Rees gives us her thoughts on the Wild Country Revo belay device.
Nowadays, most people use an 'assisted locking' or 'braking' belay device when sport climbing. These types of devices help catch a falling climber in a reassuring way, and keep the belayer happier as they provide greater locking security. They arguably provide a safer system when belaying for long hours, or when working projects. There are many models available, but they all have slightly different ways of operation - I couldn't get on with one of the most common devices. I was excited to test the new Revo. Here are my thoughts.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Tom Ripley reviews the Salathe helmet, a smart-looking lid from the German brand Edelrid. Distinctive in it's green and black colours, the hybrid helmet gives reliable protection and excellent ventilation - all for 200 grams. Read on to find out more.
User Rating: 5 / 5
James Taylor is a strong rock climber based in North Wales. He's one of those Dark Horse characters who's quietly cranking big numbers (E9, French 8b+, Font 8A+). He's also been on two big-walling trips to Brazil, and you can see a film about one of those trips here. James's strength comes from hours and hours of training, so he knows how to make sure his skin stands up to the test. Read James's thoughts on ClimbSkin's Hand Cream and Silicium Gel.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Ella Russell gives her thoughts on the new Holdbreaker X, a sports bra made specifically for climbers. From cool bouldering sessions to hot training days, and over six months, Ella's been able to thoroughly test the bra. Holdbreaker, a climbing company solely run by women, have spent several years designing the product; it seems worth the wait.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Pongoose is a unusually-named brand making clipsticks - extendable poles which enable you to clip a quickdraw into a bolt when sport climbing. Traditionally, this was virtually all they could do, but thanks to clever engineering, Pongoose have created a product which can also remove the quickdraw from the bolt, and have made it easier to clip the rope through a quickdraw. When sport climbing (a mostly 'safe' activity), there's no point risking a broken ankle in order to clip a high first bolt; you can also save lots of energy when 'working' a route (practicing it before a redpoint), by having the rope clipped above you, avoiding numerous falls as you try hard sections. Pongoose's '3-in-1' clipsticks are reviewed by After the Send.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Robbie Phillips takes a look at two of Scarpa's newest climbing shoes: the Drago and Chimera. They're soft, aimed at high-performance climbing, and have flashy colours! Read on to find out more...
User Rating: 5 / 5
Petzl’s dedicated ski mountaineering crampons series have been around a couple of years now which is more than long enough to test new technology and longevity. Petzl took a new approach to connecting the front and rear sections of the crampon and replaced the steel tension bar with dyneema rope or CORD-TEC in Petzl jargon. This not only reduces weight but also allows you to fold the crampons in half and reduce the overall pack size. Ross Hewitt takes a look...
User Rating: 5 / 5
For 2019, the Petzl METEOR has had a make-over and now comes with enhanced impact protection and a cool new look, Chris H gives us his review.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Killian Buckley reviews the Beal Opera 8.5mm 60m rope - a triple-rated rope for single, twin and half use, and with Beal's 'Golden Dry' treatment.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Petzl have produced a backpack for sport climbing, called 'KLIFF'. It's a simple, well thought-out bag which is ideal for the climbing wall or the crag.
Choosing a tent for UK conditions that you might want to use for pretty much everything from valley camping to mountain use has always been pretty straightforward in the past, buy a Quasar..... Need a bigger mountain tent? Buy a Super Quasar! Tents from a few other manufacturers have followed a similar design but in the last decade there have been lots of upstarts with a range of different designs. Can a pretender to the crown from Exped tick the boxes for our UK climate?
User Rating: 1 / 5
Total transparency: La Sportiva started supporting me earlier this year. They’ve asked me to write a quick review of their Miura VS shoes, and I happily obliged: for three months I’ve been edging, smearing, hooking and falling off in their shoes, and I’ve been really impressed with the fit, performance and rubber. My thoughts are below.
User Rating: 5 / 5
Petzl are well known for their long history of offering good quality and high performing headlamps although their range has been noticeably lacking a LED powered lantern design. Does the NOCTILIGHT fill the hole in the lighting range?
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