2019 gear

• BD has an ATC guide aimed for half/twins
• Camp copied the petzl connect adjust
• CT has a new "stiffy" draw with a gate you can hold open for "tricky" clips
• Edelrid makes their 9,000 new version of a jul device
• Evolv has new shoe from Woods/Robinson with a crazy closure
• Five ten has a new entry shoe "asym", mid top "grandstone" (another bulky toe mid top, finger cracks and offwidths exist on the same routes, why don't shoe manufactures get that), new dragon vcs and lace pics
• Grivel twin gates are getting a big thumb tab recess
  G22 with replaceable front points
• Sportiva, update katana velcro, pythons are back (and a womens version), testarossa is no longer endorsed by mcdonalds
• Mammut is offering the wallrider with MIPS
• Scarpa has a new mid level downturn shoe "arpia", flashy colors in the "furia80", and a instinct "VSW" (even more low volume last maybe?), vapor V is updated again
• Tenaya has a couple good new offerings

Hobo Greg wrote: The Grandstone is coming back?!?!

Who knows, isn't this like the hundredth time 5.10 has shown some mid top at a trade show in the last 6 years with none of the rest coming to market?  At least in this photo the toe looks even blunter/bulkier than the originals. 

Whoever is designing the new Five Ten shoes needs to be fired...or maybe something more drastic.  Seem promising, but dear lord they’re an eyesore.

BD Solution 'Guide' harness with more durable outer fabric. I like the solution but the durability wasn't quite there for me, interested in that one.

Also DMM alien clones, and some more pics of the 'new' BD C4s.

5.10 Grandstone toe box is enormous.

Not on the retail / affiliate circuit but the HandBuilt Alliance / D4 Big Wall Gear is making some major innovations in portaledge design.  

Four new portaledge designs - limited runs in 2018, readily available Spring 2019.

wallrider w/ mips is interesting.....one helmet for climbing, ski mtnring, bikes, etc?

I really wanted to believe that the Edelrid Gigajul would be cool, but after watching a couple videos, it seems like a heavier megajul with more ways to mess up the various belay setups. Maybe I don't understand what's new and great about it, but it seems gimmicky to me. I'll stick with my megajul.

Matt B wrote: I really wanted to believe that the Edelrid Gigajul would be cool, but after watching a couple videos, it seems like a heavier megajul with more ways to mess up the various belay setups. Maybe I don't understand what's new and great about it, but it seems gimmicky to me. I'll stick with my megajul.

If it fixes the apparently aweful friction in guide mode I would personally be interested.

Ted Pinson wrote: Whoever is designing the new Five Ten shoes needs to be fired...or maybe something more drastic.  Seem promising, but dear lord they’re an eyesore.

Aleon and Dragons don't look too bad...

and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for La Sportiva changing only the colors of Testarossas, and NOTHING ELSE!!! Is this where believing in god would help me?

Lena chita wrote:

Aleon and Dragons don't look too bad...

and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for La Sportiva changing only the colors of Testarossas, and NOTHING ELSE!!! Is this where believing in god would help me?

The only other change to the testarossa is that the heel is now full covered in rubber, kind of like the solution but thinner rubber 

Us poor FiveTen feet people, waited at least six years for a high top and the Grandstone is clunkmaster we get? Couldn't even think up a new name for a whole new shoe? Sportiva got it right  (if TCs fit) years ago and Scarpa and FiveTen miss in 2018 and 2019 respectively (somewhat ridiculous to bury a shoe six months before anyone gets to wear it, I realize, at least I did try, and try to like, the Maestro)

And, Petzl looks to have kept the stupidly unsafe magnetic buckle on the Meteor. Why? After removing the magnets, my current Meteor still can become unbuckled mid route because the buckle is so shallow and wimpy (kinda like me, ha), and yes I always test on the ground.

Nick Drake wrote: 

• BD has an ATC guide aimed for half/twins

Finally!  Been waiting for someone to make a double-rope-specific ATC for years! 

Kevin Mcbride wrote:

The only other change to the testarossa is that the heel is now full covered in rubber, kind of like the solution but thinner rubber 

Darn! Hopefully it is thin enough, but I better stock up on old Testarossas. That is one reason why I preferred Testarossa's over Solution... the soft heel. Shit! :(

Looks like edelrid has their own version of a microtrax now, wonder what the price point will be because that's awesome.

Nick B wrote:

If it fixes the apparently aweful friction in guide mode I would personally be interested.

That's a good point. It looks like it might belay more similarly to other devices in guide mode compared to the megajul's backwards rope feed into the device. Feeding slack / lowering in guide mode is my only gripe with the megajul, so hopefully this one fixes that. A better auto blocking rap mode would be appreciated as well. Currently I use it in ATC mode with a prusik. It was hard to tell from the limited videos I could find if these improvements were incorporated in the Gigajul.

Lena chita wrote:

Darn! Hopefully it is thin enough, but I better stock up on old Testarossas. That is one reason why I preferred Testarossa's over Solution... the soft heel. Shit! :(

Don't worry, the heel is still soft, they just added some rubber on the sides. No reason to panic

Lena chita wrote:

Aleon and Dragons don't look too bad...

and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for La Sportiva changing only the colors of Testarossas, and NOTHING ELSE!!! Is this where believing in god would help me?

Aleon looks cool.  New Dragons visually look terrible compared to the original, even if they look vastly improved from a performance standpoint (yay toe rubber!)

Eric and Lucie wrote:

Finally!  Been waiting for someone to make a double-rope-specific ATC for years! 

There has been one that is excellent on doubles/twins: Petzl Reverso 4 :) truly much better than the ATC on thin  ropes. But wears out quicker than an ATC and not great with fat ropes, so I still use an ATC for sport, cragging, fat single ropes, etc. 

Matt B wrote:

That's a good point. It looks like it might belay more similarly to other devices in guide mode compared to the megajul's backwards rope feed into the device. Feeding slack / lowering in guide mode is my only gripe with the megajul, so hopefully this one fixes that. A better auto blocking rap mode would be appreciated as well. Currently I use it in ATC mode with a prusik. It was hard to tell from the limited videos I could find if these improvements were incorporated in the Gigajul.

where'd you find the videos at? I did a quick search for it on utube and nothin came up

Linnaeus wrote:(Petzl also previously made the original Reverso in a smaller version for thin twins, the Reversino, but for a number of reasons those original versions were not great devices). 

I still use my Reversino for twins but it is due for replacement so I am very happy to hear about the future BD offering. Reversino is so light and compact.

Linnaeus wrote:

There has been one that is excellent on doubles/twins: Petzl Reverso 4 :) truly much better than the ATC on thin  ropes. But wears out quicker than an ATC and not great with fat ropes, so I still use an ATC for sport, cragging, fat single ropes, etc. 

(Petzl also previously made the original Reverso in a smaller version for thin twins, the Reversino, but for a number of reasons those original versions were not great devices). 

Yes, I have used the Verso (the non-guide-mode version of the Reverso; never been a fan of guide-mode belaying) for a few years now, and it is indeed one of the best devices out there with thin ropes.  BUT, it is still not designed (or, sized) specifically for thin ropes, and when rappelling on 7.5mm ice ropes, it simply does not provide enough friction.  I keep being amazed that no manufacturer (that I knew of, as I'd never seen the Reversino) would not simply make a scaled down version of their standard ATC-style device.  Anyway, looking forward to this BD device, even though I'd rather see something from Petzl or Wild Country... but maybe BD will start a trend and the others will follow.