Leave it to the innovators at Arc'teryx to take a mundane item like a rope bag and turn it into something new and snazzy. The Pali features the standard polyurethane-coated ground sheet that keeps your rope out of the dirt, but departs from the norm by utilizing a roll-top closure....

The Joker has multiple-personality disorder. This 9.1mm lead cord is the first-ever rope certified for single, half or twin use. At 53 grams per meter, it's also the lightest-weight single rope made, just nudging out the BlueWater Dominator and Mammut Revelation, both 9.2mm single ropes that check in at 55 grams per meter....

Have faith! There are ropes that do not kink, are extremely supple, light (62 grams per meter) and resilient. Such are the qualities of the Live Wire 9.8mm, a super cord from the German company Edelrid, one of the oldest climbing rope manufacturers in the world....

This hardcore rope from Edelweiss is light and right for sporty sends and long onsights. As a bonus, it comes in a red, green and yellow rattlesnake pattern....

You often don’t realize how badly something sucks until you try something that doesn’t suck. Case in point: rope tarps....

My new route, John Henry, is a meandering peregrination up a scruffy, overlooked crag 20 minutes from the office....

I like many things to be kinky, but my climbing rope isn’t one of them. ...

Maxim Chalkline 10.8 climbing rope is reviewed by Rock and Ice, the climbing magazine....

Millet Silver Triaziale 9.8 climbing rope is reviewed by Rock and Ice, the climbing magazine....

Petzl has introduced a new line of dynamic ropes from 8.2 to 10.7mm. Coming in as the sportiest is the Fuse, a 9.4mm cord available in 60- and 70-meter lengths. ...

On paper, the PMI Arete is a perfect rope for me: thin, light (62.6 grams/meter), strong (8 falls) and a few bucks less than ropes of similar size....

Sterling Ion 9.5 climbing rope reviewed by Rock and Ice, the climbing magazine....

Sterling Nitro 9.8 climbing rope reviewed by Rock and Ice, the climbing magazine....

The Edelweiss Performance 9.2mmΠ- $177When I ponder all things climbing-related and Teutonic, images of hulking bermenschen cranking one-arms off mono......

Yates/Bluewater Slimline EliteSlimline: $215 for 60-meter dryMy friend James, an Alaskan native who flips trucks like pancakes, dragged me out to Utah......