T Newman

Marketing and the speed at which you can gather info through the internet fuels the interests of most climbers/hikers/adventurers etc perfectly. I would wager to say that people who engage in these types of sports are hard-wired to constantly dial in their kit as best as possible, with the best materials, lightest weights etc. Maybe I'm wrong.....but I know that if there is something coming to market that I can buy which which will allow me to increase my performance in the mountains I am willing to give it a try, even if it's disposable.

+1 for door hinges! Great for precision placements and foot work.. I built an "ice wall" on the side of my garage.....looks more like a yard sale gone bad, but is a great trainer. I took a 1x3x10 piece of AZEK and cut as many odd shaped pieces out of it as I could and screwed them all over the garage. The AZEK hold up really well to axes and crampons.....much better than wood. The wood however gives you the added reality of chunks breaking off tho

Gotcha....and just slapped their names on the rope I guess. Interesting find.

I found 2 new(still in packaging - but clearly old) 60m dry Black Diamond ropes at a yard sale......When did they make climbing ropes?

Damn..... I can relate, but only because my golden retriever's name is bushwack. Her first six months all my boots looked like that.

Have you looked at the CCW Valdez? 40l, 2.2lbs and you can talk to Randy about modifications as needed.

For 1-2 day alpine climbing I love the Cold Cold World Chernobyl. Perfect in every sense and can be customized to fit your exact needs. Greater than 2-3 days I use a Cilo 45 and love it......Looking back I wish I spent the $$$ on the NWD tho.