Gear Reviews

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Petzl Elia Helmet Review

It was exciting news when I saw the ads for the new Petzl Elia helmet, encouraging Steven Segal to re-grow his manly locks because this was the perfect brain bucket for him. I, like many, laughed at the creativity of the marketing campaign, while at the same time was intrigued by the idea of a helmet that you could rock a pony tail in.

August 27th, 2010 | Tracy Wilson | 2 comments | Continued
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CU Belay Glasses Review

Sport climbing is generally all about, well, climbing. You’re not worried about gear, or runouts (mostly), you simply focus on the moves and have fun. As such, there are a variety of items that make their way into my pack while sport climbing that could be considered luxuries in other climbing situations: Gri Gri, belay gloves, stick clip, flip flops, and now…belay glasses.

August 20th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 2 comments | Continued
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Best of Summer Outdoor Retailer 2010

I had good intentions. All of my appointments would be in the morning and early afternoon, leaving the evenings free for some climbing. Somehow the OR Show just has a way o f taking over, however, and climbing didn’t happen. We did get to check out a lot of the latest and greatest coming out [...]

August 12th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | Comments Off | Continued
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Summer Outdoor Retailer 2010 Update

It’s been a great show so far, and the overall vibe is very upbeat. We’ve been posting updates on the Facebook page, and will continue to do so the next two days, with more in depth coverage coming here on the site sometime next week.

August 5th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 1 comment | Continued
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Black Diamond Launches New Climbing Packs

To an outside observer, this would look really strange. There we were, at about 13,000′ on the Southwest Ridge of Mount Sneffels, and Jeff Achey and I were actually putting big rocks into our packs for the remainder of the ascent. We were on a press trip, to try out the new climbing packs from Black Diamond that will launch in spring 2011.

July 30th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 5 comments | Continued
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Busted Climbing Myths!

Everyone’s got their favorite climbing myths, but these sites show you why those myths are false, with some solid research and testing behind their results.

July 23rd, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 3 comments | Continued
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New Petzl GriGri Coming In 2011

All I can say for Petzl is that they sure stay tight lipped over there until they are ready to launch something. I asked about a GriGri that would work with skinny ropes at the last Outdoor Retailer show and they told me nothing was in the works. Well, it looks like maybe we’ll get [...]

July 16th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 2 comments | Continued
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Outdoor Research Climbing Clothing Review

If you grew up in the Northeast, or the Northwest, you probably had a pair of those Outdoor Research gaiters, and in your mind they were forever relegated to being the kinda-dorky-hiking-gear company. Well, apparently I haven’t been paying close attention, because these guys are now putting out clothing for everything from rock climbing to mixed climbing. I had a chance to check out some of their climbing oriented pieces this spring, and I was impressed, to say the least.

July 9th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 0 comments | Continued
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Rock Climbing Colorado, 2nd Edition

Many years ago now, I came out to Colorado for a summer of fun in Estes Park. Not knowing where I’d want to climb, I bought a copy of the Rock Climbing Colorado guidebook, as it seemed to have good info on many different areas. Times have changed, and guidebooks have come a long way since that original edition. Full color photos are the norm, with heaps of useful info guaranteed to get you climbing more and fumbling around looking for routes less. And so the old standard of Rock Climbing Colorado has finally been upgraded into the 21st century.

July 2nd, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 2 comments | Continued
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Scarpa Instinct Review

I have to admit, I have never really been a fan of Scarpa shoes. I’d had a chance to try a few when I was working at Climbing Magazine for their shoe reviews, and they always seemed a little clunky to me. I mean, why would I wear those when I had my trusty Sportiva’s instead? After test driving the Scarpa Instincts, however, I have to say they have made some serious progress, and now offer shoes that can compete with the best of them.

June 25th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 0 comments | Continued
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Black Diamond Demon Pack Review

I have a love/hate relationship with specialized gear. The simple part of me wants one piece of equipment for a given task, something that works well in all conditions. The realist, however, knows that what’s good in one situation doesn’t work well in another. Sometimes I need a pack that can carry everything but the kitchen sink, and sometimes I just need a little guy for some local sport cragging. And that’s where the Black Diamond Demon comes in.

June 4th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 1 comment | Continued
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Spring Gear Review Roundup

It’s been a busy spring, and we’ve had the chance to put some excellent new gear through the ringer to see how it stacks up. Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve taken a look at so far this year.

May 31st, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 0 comments | Continued
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Five Ten Grandstone Review

The perfect Indian Creek shoe is an elusive thing. You want it to be comfortable, so when your jamming your toes into cracks the pain is minimized as much as possible, but not so sloppy that you can’t milk the occasional foot hold for all it’s worth. You also want them to be durable, because they are going to take a serious beating if you’re spending a significant amount of time there. The new Five Ten Grandstone combines all these things into what I think is pretty close to the perfect crack climbing shoe.

May 18th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 5 comments | Continued
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La Sportiva Boulder X Review

The Moab area saw a cold and snowy winter this year, and on my first trip to Indian Creek for the season, we had to contend with some pretty muddy and snowy approaches. I had just received the La Sportiva Boulder X approach shoes and figured what better conditions to see how they handled. Thankfully [...]

May 7th, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 2 comments | Continued
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Metolius Long Draws & FS Mini Carabiners

The folks at Metolius are a crafty bunch. It seems like they are always searching for the next best thing, or how to make existing products that much better. The Master Cams were huge, and then of course we got Offset Master Cams, which fill a small but important niche on any trad rack. Now come two more additions we like: the Long Draw and FS Mini Carabiners.

April 23rd, 2010 | BJ Sbarra | 1 comment | Continued