As certified mountain people and gear nerds, we're going to give you some gift ideas for the rock climber in your life. We'll start with the cheaper gifts between $5 and $20 and work our way up to the bigger ticket items.
Gifts / stocking stuffers for climbers (from $5 to $20)
Metolius Super Chalk Ecoball ($5.95 on Amazon
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I've been using these for a while. I prefer the Metolius Ecoball to loose chalk for a few reasons. First of all, this is non-marking chalk substitute. Normal chalk is a mixture of the white chalk powder and a drying agent. This product is simply the drying agent so it doesn't leave a mark. This is good for climbing in protected places or for hiding your first ascent project from poachers. Also, chalk balls are required in certain gyms. I find them less messy because I always tip over my chalk bag (or end up upside down somehow), dumping 20 ounces of white powder on my belayer and causing an anthrax scare. Chalk balls are great for the clumsy among us.
Black Diamond Neutrino Carabiner ($7.95 on Amazon
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A climber can never have too many of these. They're strong, versatile, cheap, and they last forever. These little guys come in a variety of colors which is extra handy for trad climbers. This is because the companies that make our cams, nuts, hexes, and other protection color their gear. Having a colored carabiner allows you to match it to the appropriately-colored piece of protection and be able to grab the right piece off your gear loops the first try. It's a small perk, but it shaves off a few seconds. You know how there's dog years? There is also an alternative time scale for trad leading. The three seconds a climber spends fumbling for the right piece of pro on trad lead feels like eternity plus twelve. Just trust me. Anyway, these little 'biners are perfect. Having a few extra carabiners on a climb can allow you to make an impromptu belay device and prevent you from dying. Dying: not cool. Carabiners: cool.
Black Diamond Nylon Runner (Starting at $5.95 on Amazon
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Runners made of webbing are also super handy. This is another gadget that you can never have too many of. Use them for extending gear, building anchors, or making a really floppy hula hoop. You really don't want to run out of these when you're trying to build an anchor. We've all had to MacGyver anchors out of suboptimal materials, and it's a horrifying experience. An extra 2-3 of these on my harness makes me feel safe.
Sterling Chain Reactor Anchor Chain ($20.71 on Amazon
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Anchor building is still one of the most polarizing topics in serious free climbing. A climber can tell you all about the differences between anchor chains, daisy chains, and other assorted anchor building/rappelling systems. I can say that anchor chains are great for a bunch of reasons and anyone who gets one will be happy they did, even if they don't use it all the time. I am partial to nylon as opposed to dyneema for these systems. This Sterling kit is very high quality and one of the cheapest I could find.
Petzl Maillon Rapide Screw Link ($5.95 on Amazon
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Petzl is a French company that names all of their products in fruity français. Allow me to translate into Freedom Speak: these little 2-inch loops of metal save my hide all the time. They're disposable get-out-of-jail-free cards. You want extras. A lot. The world of bail 'biners is an egalitarsomeone's gotta have them.
ian "take a penny, leave a penny"-style karmic loop. I'm going to be honest, I've never bought any of these, I just find ones that other people leave behind. Still,
ian "take a penny, leave a penny"-style karmic loop. I'm going to be honest, I've never bought any of these, I just find ones that other people leave behind. Still,
That's all for now, guys! I hope that's enough info for santa's elves to bring the rock climber in your life some small gifts and stocking stuffers. In our next installment, we'll talk about gifts from $20 to $100.
Happy Holidays!
Ariel Castro
Rugged Innovations
Happy Holidays!
Ariel Castro
Rugged Innovations
thin, low-profile design is touted to be second to none for placing in small pockets, thin features, or otherwise un-placeable rock.
($278.95 on Amazon) tent for the trip and went to Boca Lake in California. I'm going to spoil this whole review right now: we didn't find any sasquatches. 
appears to be visually inspired by bicycle helmets. It has 20 vents on the sides and back, making the Vapor one of the most breathable helmets on the market. It is also lightweight and low-profile. At 6.6 ounces it is the second lightest climbing helmet (the lightest being the extremely stupid-looking 
($110.00 on Amazon)); most other helmets weigh almost twice as much as the Vapor. The Vapor's pricetag is unique, too. At $139.95 it costs more than twice as much as some of its competition.
($55.96 on Amazon). Look at the picture on the right in the triptych below: brain stem = unprotected! Dislike.
. This knife is an upgrade from the classic Victorinox Swiss Army knife. If you take care of these tools and protect them from rust, these things last forever. I got a Victorinox Swiss Army knife as a present when I was growing up and have had it for nearly 20 years -- it's still sharp. This particular model has 30 different tools on it. If your dad is anything like mine, the most-used tool will be the wine corkscrew... Oh well. The 
to carry the knife in. The belt pouch is only $7.95 on Amazon and shows you put some thought into the gift.
is usually $120.00, but it's on sale for $27.26 on Amazon. That is an unbelievable 77% discount. This guy already comes with a sheath and belt holster.
is on sale for $34.95 on Amazon and is a perfect gift for a dad that wants to relax after setting up the campsite. This hammock comes with rope included to hang it up from trees. It weighs 13 ounces and can be packed up into a pouch the size of a football. It has nearly 5 out of 5 stars on Amazon. At $34.95, the 
. Unfortunately I don't have a lot great things to say about this helmet. Reading reviews of it online it's clear that people find it very comfortable. The praise stops there. Several people have said that the helmet tends to slide off the top of your head during use. This is unacceptable - the helmet needs to stay absolutely still on your head. If the helmet tends to slide back it can move during a fall and expose your kid's forehead to an impact. Why wear a helmet at all if it doesn't fully protect your head? The helmet does not have great ventilation vents. It sits high on the head which is obnoxious when you're climbing. I can't count how many times I've scraped the top of big helmets on an overhanging roof and nearly fallen. The straps are the least adjustable of the three helmets. I can't recommend the Camp Armour helmet in good faith. Fortunately, there are a couple of other good choices.
($59.95 on Amazon) is a really interesting product. It is designed to meet both climbing and cycling safety standards. In my experience, this is a very rare feature. If your kid is a climber and a cyclist this is the clear winner of the group. It has less coverage than the Mammut El Cap and has a higher profile, so it's not perfect for climbing. It does not have large ventilation holes like bike-specific helmets, so it's not really ideal for that either. I like to think of this helmet as a multitool; it performs several duties well, but not as well as a sport-specific helmet. With how frequently kids change sports, this may be a great purchase for your family! One feature of this helmet that I absolutely love is the included LED safety light on the back. What an awesome idea! This is great for peace of mind during low-light climbing and biking. It's like a lighthouse beacon for your child. The 
($59.95 on Amazon) is my favorite of the group of helmets for climbing. It's the only helmet with a brim, which is an excellent feature on sunny days. It has the most ventilation holes (12!) that allow junior's noggin to breath when it gets hot. One element of helmets that does get fairly annoying is that they tend to get in the way when climbing overhanging routes. You're climbing a roof section or crammed into a weird corner and the top of your helmet bumps the roof, jarring you and breaking your focus. It's not a huge problem but it can get annoying. The 
($29.88 at that Amazon link). You will notice that a velcro strap goes around the heel. Opening this velcro strap and the elastic band beneath it allow you to put the kid's toes in first, then pull the heel of the shoe down and under the kid's heel. It's a breeze to put on. This particular deal comes with a free DVD. At $30, this is one (if not the) of the cheapest climbing shoes on the market; it's nearly half the price of other shoes. This is a great choice for a beginner, because the price is so low that your kid can absolutely destroy these shoes and you're not out a whole lot. One thing to consider is that these shoes have a synthetic (rather than leather) upper, which makes them less stretchy. This is a consideration if your kid is experiencing growth spurts. Still, the elastic around the heel should allow the shoe to stretch moderately as your child grows. This is our choice for a
shoes have very pronounced heel boxes in my experience. Their shoes use a rubber called Stealth C4 which has great performance and is relatively long-lasting, too.
. In my experience, La Sportiva makes the longest-lasting climbing shoe. They are absolutely durable to the end. I have a pair of adult-sized