We climbers last saw nitroglycerine in 2000, when Vertical Limit’s “alpinists” needed to hustle it up K2. Today, we’re treated to the WILD COUNTRY NITRO TECH-WIRE ($7.50/biner or $15.50/10cm quickdraw, wildcountry.co.uk), a sleek, full-sized wiregate with the weight — 1.24oz — of a mini. Wild Country shaves ounces via an I-Beam back, skinny, hooded nose, and Techwire gate (24kN/9kN/7kN). I used the biners for racking and ran the 10cm draws (with 10mm Dyneema sling; draw weight: 2.72oz) on a local proj. These airy, gunmetal-grey, quickclippin’ amigos helped stave off any lactic-acid explosions in my desk-jockey forearms.

—Matt Samet