Perhaps the worst part about trad climbing is tripping over that $1,500 glorified weight belt slung over your shoulder. We tested the Hummingbird Hover gear sling/pack system ($59.95; hummingbirdmountaingear.com) on trad routes throughout Colorado and found it was a superb alternative to a traditional over-the-shoulder gear sling.
How much space do you really need in a pack? The 26-liter capacity of the Wild Things Guide Pack ($175, wildthingsgear.com) definitely raised my eyebrows. It’s minimalist for sure—no external pockets; the waistbelt is nothing but two-inch webbing; and there’s no framesheet, just a removable pad. But it proved to be just enough for all my multi-pitch days, especially as an “up and over” pack for climbs where we didn’t return to the base of the route.
Climbing magazine tested the newest backpacks for sport, trad, and alpine climbing. Here are the editors' favorites.
The Edelrid Caddy's ($44.95; edelridna.com) shoulder strap orients the broad, low-profile bag sveltely under your arm for easy carrying. The generous tarp features innovative grab loops on each corner that allow you to transport the rope easily between nearby climbs without folding everything up completely—no more dropping one corner and having the climbing rope spill out into the dirt.
Climbing magazine presents the “crag bag,” a relatively new category of packs that serves climbers who don’t lug their gear very far. These packs are minimalistic but hold everything you need, and some feature rope tarps and/or special configurations for organizing your gear for easy viewing.
After months of testing on hundreds of routes, Climbing magazine's editors offer up their picks for the most innovative, useful, and just damn good gear of the year. The Singing Rock Crux, Mammut Smart Alpine, Black Diamond Gridlock Screwgate, Petzl Grigri 2, Five Ten Arrowhead, Arc'Teryx Squamish Hoody, Beal Joker 9.1, North Face Verto, and Salewa Rapace GTX all won high praises and took home the Editors' Choice Award.
As the company’s name implies, Granite Gear makes climbing gear that will stand up to punishment, and this pack is a good example. The beefy Hypalon tool tubes and reinforced crampon patch practically dare you to work them over.
Although MontBell is a company dedicated to the principle of "fast and light," this pack practically forces the user to go heavy. The large-capacity sack is relatively shapeless and there are too few compression straps.
The workmanship is a thing of beauty and the packbag fabric is bomber, and whenever we had to fish something out, we appreciated the fact that it’s light-colored on the inside. In backpacking mode, we liked the large cargo pocket with the zipper running down the sack’s full length.
We’ve scrutinized the newest generation of high-tech rucksacks and assembled a choice selection.
Germany-based Vaude has recently returned to the U.S. market, and if this pack and its two-figure price tag are any indication, it’s going to give the home crowd a run for the money.
Clean, smart, and utilitarian, the Chernobyl is a pack designed for climbing. There is no internal frame and the capacity is on the smallish end of the spectrum — but we didn’t mind a pack that reminds us to keep it light.
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