One of the things we wanted to do here at NecessaryCool.com when we founded it was give everyone a place to feel at home reading about really cool stuff knowing that they were hearing from other people just like them. People who are out there on the streets and trails living life, not people in a office writing what their sponsors tell them to write about. We love gear, but lets face it, some places out there are telling you what you should like based on who pays their bills. Us? Well if we don’t like the gear, we don’t feature them. Take for example Rethink Clothing one of our sponsors, we like their shirts and we wear them ourselves, otherwise we wouldn’t tell you we do. It’s just not our thing. What is our
thing, is telling you how much we love the gear we do use, and letting you in on those wonderfully cool things we find out there in the world (Like the XSMG Super boat, dang I love that boat!).
Now on to the subject at hand, at our last meeting we all talked about how we needed to run a longer features that would really dive into the gear we love and use, first on the list was adventure gear and seeing as how I’ve been known to on occasion just vanish in search of a good adventure, it was decided I would start with the adventure gear I can’t live without. First up? Rock Climbing. I’ll be honest, I’m not a world class climber, but I do love a good cliff and don’t think I’ll ever find any feeling better then that of making it to the top of a climb you didn’t think you could complete.
Climbing Gear Part One
There’s a lot of great gear out there, however there are two brands for climbing gear I really prefer over the rest, I’m not saying they’re better then everything else out there, but out of all the gear I’ve owned and tried, these two have never let me down, prAna and Black Diamond are a staple of my gear collection, and here’s some of my favorites from them. (I should also say we’re not endorsed or sponsored by either of them)
Lets start with prAna…
prAna Chalk Bag
One thing I’ve learned is you need to take care of your hands, (duh) well in climbing you can use these wonderful little things called chalk bags. Chalk bags are really a Necessary tool for the climber, and to be honest it really doesn’t much matter what the brand is, I have a really nice Black Diamond bag, but when I was 11 my parents bought me a prAna bag at a climbing gym. I still have it, a little tan and black bag with the prAna logo
right in the middle. The bag itself is really straight forward, double stitched, with a insulated liner to keep your chalk in and the dirt out, and has a wide opening with a easy to open, easy to close drawstring, but what makes it stand out is that fact I’ve been using it for over 13 years. This bag IS the number one Necessary item in my climbing gear bag.
Packs:
Now before I get into all this gear, I gotta talk about gear bags, after all you’ll need something to haul all that gear around, I like these two myself.
Black Diamond Demon Pack
Features include, an easy to remove 20 mm aluminum stay & framesheet, padded hipbelt (which is important for those treks to your climbing spot, gear gets heavy), a tough cargo loop for your ice axe or trekking pole and it’s hydration compatible. For around $119 this is also a good value, it carries a ton of gear for it’s size and it’s tough and rugged enough to compete with packs in a higher price range. In my opinion this pack is perfect for climbing and my only real problem is it takes some creative thinking on your part to rig up gear on the outside of the pack. However, if you need to do that, you can and if you want a good value on a simple no frills you don’t need pack for your gear, this is my pick. Final Verdict? Very Cool. And for me Necessary.
prAna Slowboat Duffle
Tough and rugged this bag isn’t as big as the Demon, but it’s got enough features and style to make it stand out on it’s own. prAna makes good gear, and I’ve always been happy with my purchases from them, this is no exception. With front and back carry straps, tuck away shoulder straps, lots of places to stick stuff, straps on the outside for gear, easy to get to zippers and more. One thing I really don’t like about this pack is the straps are small and thin, making this pack great for short trips, but not so great for those treks that go on for miles. However, every pack has it’s purpose and this one is great for short trips and is perfect for going to climbing gyms. This is also a great everyday pack for non climbing endeavors, mainly because it looks cool on the street and has the ability to be used for more then just climbing gear. Final verdict: Goods features, good style in the woods and in the city and the tough durability to survive through your adventures, this is a Very Cool pack.
Carabiners:
All my carabiners are Black Diamond. I started using them cause they were the only ones I could find with a nice weight and function in my area. After a few years the sporting goods store starting getting more brands in stock and I tried a few out, however at the end f the day I still liked Black Diamond best. Great value and style, with amazing results. As far as I’m concerned everything here is perfect, you won’t see ant rating for the carabiners, just assume they’re Necessary.
Black Diamond Quicksilver Screwgate
I simply will not hook into a harness without a screwgate. Enter the problem, finding a good trust worthy biner that won’t way me down or break my bank. With a nice high peak in both ends the rope stays straight, and with $8.50 on the tag, this is my first choice. After all, my life is on the line and value isn’t everything, but if I can get both and feel safe with my choice, well that’s the only way I could say buy this carabiner.
Black Diamond Neutrino Rackpack
Designed for racking cams, these packs are $47.95 and even if you’ll never need to use them for their designed purpose, they’re plenty good for all those other things you’ll need them for… Like really cool keychains or hanging something off your pack.
Black Diamond Livewire
You need that good all purpose carabiner without a screwgate and this is a nice choice. The Livewire has a wire gate and runs $10.95, it also has nice details in it’s design that make you love it, rather then just like it.
Black Diamond Positron
Another solid choice for the all around biner, the Positron features a smaller size without losing the ease of use, and has two styles, bent and straight. ($7.95-$8.50)
So now that I’ve given you more stuff to spend your money on ( sorry John), I’m going to leave you hanging (Yeah I know, bad pun. I couldn’t help it) till next week, when I’ll have some more climbing necessities. (Helmets anyone?)
-Jef Price
Editor/Co-Founder