5.10 Arrowhead REVIEW

This is 5.10's Anasazi Arrowhead.  I've posted about it before, but now I have the shoes so I can review them.  They are much better than what I expected them to be.  I love the rubber, and it sticks to holds like glue.  It's my first aggressive shoe, so still getting used to the pain, but once you get over that, they are really great shoes.  They are really comfortable and sensitive, and it is perfect for both bouldering and sport climbing.  It is $164.95, but I think that is is very much worth it.  Probably not the best first shoe though.
5 stars

Kong X REVIEW

The Kong X is a huge, auto-locking carabiner that I recently got.  It is actually really big, which is the first thing you would notice about it.  The auto locking feature is pretty cool.  I don't think it's the best possible carabiner for the Grigri because of its size, but it works.  With an atc, however, this thing is awesome!  It is super easy to handle, and you don't have to worry about locking the carabiner.  A very good carabiner, but it costs about the same as the Attache carabiner by Petzl.  If you use a Grigri, then I would still go for the Attach, but if you use an atc, then this is your carabiner, that is, if you are ok with the auto-lock.

Grigri 2 REVIEW

The Grigri 2 has been a much loved assisted-braking belay device for many years.  I now have one, and i think it lives up to what everyone else is saying about it.  The assisted braking feature works extremely well, especially for lead climbing, and it is much smaller and lighter than the Grigri 1, which also was a huge hit.  One thing about the Grigri is that it can take a while to get used to.  When lead belaying, you can feed out rope really fast without the brake kicking in and stoping you.  You have to hold down the middle part to make sure it doesn't stop you.  The other thing is that because the carabiner has to rub up against the rope, I would suggest to use a smaller carabiner, or else it will be really hard to feed out rope, or take it in.  Other than those two minor things, I like the Grigri a lot.

Black Diamond Momentum DS REVIEW

The Black Diamond Momentum DL harness is a great harness.  It doesn't go angry squirrel on you, which if you have been using gym rentals, is a big advantage.  It is very comfortable, and because the leg loops are adjustable, you can tighten it however you want for a better fit.  The waist does tend to slip a little above where it should be, but I'm not very big, so it would probably stay on a slightly bigger person.  Other than that, I'm very happy with this harness.

The Anasazi VCS REVIEW

I have posted about these shoes before, but today I got the chance to demo them, so now I can offer my opinion.  I love the Anasazis I have now that don't have the Stealth rubber, because they are very comfortable and very grippy.  But unfortunately, I did not like the new ones as much.  I think that part of the problem was that they were new, but I did not think that the grip was great.  the shoe kept sliding around on the rocks, and I couldn't get a solid grip with them.  The heel, however, was very good and comfortable, and I could get a solid grip on the rock and trust it.  I would have also liked the shoe to be a bit more sensitive.  I could not really feel the rock under the shoe, which I think is pretty important.  Overall, it's not a bad shoe, and I like the new one, just not as much as I like my old ones.

4 Stars