I learned the hard way that picking the right climbing harness size matters more than the brand or the color of the gear loops. On my third multipitch route, a borrowed harness rode up under my ribcage after a short slip, and I spent the next ten minutes hanging awkwardly while my belayer laughed. After […]

I grew up watching my dad pack a heavy steel climber through a half mile of Pennsylvania oaks before every November morning. Twenty years later, I still own a climber, but the ones I reach for now are half the weight, twice as quiet, and a lot kinder on my knees during all-day sits. Over […]

I've spent the last three months hauling eight of the year's best approach packs for climbing across granite slabs in Yosemite, limestone tufas in Kentucky, and glacier approaches in the North Cascades. Our team loaded each pack with 18 pounds of rack, rope, water, and food, then timed long approaches, tested harness clearance on multi-pitch […]

After 4 months of daily gym sessions and weekend crag trips, my neck was paying the price for every belay. I tested 8 climbing belay glasses from budget finds to premium picks to see which ones actually take the strain off your cervical spine and let you watch your climber with sharp, clear vision. I […]

Chalk builds up fast on holds. After three or four attempts on a project, the holds you once stuck cleanly feel like glass smeared with dust. That's why every serious climber I know keeps a dedicated climbing brush clipped to their chalk bag. The best climbing brushes restore friction in seconds, letting you send hard […]

I've been climbing for 14 years and I've owned dozens of carabiners, from bargain bin bins that rattled in the gym to UIAA certified locking carabiners I trust on multi-pitch routes. When my team set out to rank the best climbing carabiners on the market right now, we pulled 10 models from our gear closet, […]

I've been climbing for 11 years, and I still remember the day my first chalk bag fell off a boulder problem and dumped a cloud of magnesium carbonate across the gym floor. That cheap rental taught me a lesson the hard way: the best climbing chalk bags are not just pouches for chalk, they are […]

After 90 days of testing across granite crags, limestone sport routes, and indoor gyms, I've put together this guide to the best climbing gloves on the market. Our team belayed over 200 rappels, jammed 40+ crack pitches, and logged 500+ hours of rope handling with these gloves. We tracked palm wear, velcro integrity, dexterity loss, […]

After three months of testing the best climbing grip trainers on real routes and during our weekly training sessions, our team narrowed down eight standout options that actually build the kind of finger and forearm strength you need on rock. We logged squeeze counts, hang times, and how our skin felt after each session, and […]

I've been placing passive protection in granite cracks for the better part of a decade, and nothing kills a rack faster than a dodgy nut that walks out on a leader fall. After burning through three sets of stoppers over the years, I decided to put together this hands-on review of the best climbing nuts […]