The carbon-fiber Cobra has the rigidity of a steel pipe with virtually none of the weight, and what heft there is, is mostly in the head, right where it should be. The best part, though, is the tool's feel....

The Cyborg is Black Diamond's teched-out crampon for ice and mixed climbing. Its materials, bindings, finish and adjustments are the same or similar to those used on the Sabretooth, so we'll stick to the details that are different. ...

The new Black Diamond Fusion is a retooled version of their former mixed and ice tool of the same name, and is heads and tails better. Notably, the new tool is four ounces lighter, five if you take off the removable spike, and has a stainless-steel head with an integrated hammer, rather than a modular head....

Black Diamond's new NForce ascender utilizes a unique four-bar linkage system that allows the handle to track up and down. This action pivots the cam and generates more clamping force when you weight the ascender. The result is a tool that grips icy and muddy ropes better than conventional jugs....

Clean, simple, elegant - a couple of years ago, I would never have used those words to describe a leashless ice tool with an offset grip. But that was before I held a set of the new Black Diamond Reactors in my mitts. While the security of leashes (the futzy bastards) will always occupy a fond place in my heart, leashless climbing is here to stay....

Black Diamond enters the stainless-steel crampon arena, replacing its chromoly steel (aka carbon steel) Cyborg, Sabretooth, Serac and Contact (latter two not reviewed) with stainless-steel versions....

I had ignored the Black Diamond Serac because BD bills the Serac for moderate technical terrain, and I thought it was intended for and limited [Black Diamond Serac Pro] as a general-purpose "snow" crampon. It really isn't, although it will certainly work in that role....

Black Diamond's Venom ice axes are hybrid piolets that combine design elements of technical ice tools with the proven design of a mountaineering axe.

Unlike most axes, the Venom, in both hammer and adze models, has an interchangeable pick, a feature that I am most excited about....

It's easy in this new world order of knobby-handled, leashless mixed tools to lose sight of reality. While we all might fantasize about sending M11 or kicking that little (OK, he's big) Russian's behind in the Ouray mixed finals, the cold hard fact is that we need tools that will actually climb ice, and usually need leashes....

The all-aluminum Corsa (7 ounces) is the lightest ice axe made. Now, for a few ounces more, you can get the Corsa with Sandvik Nanoflex stainless-steel reinforcements on the pick and spike. ...

These are the lightest steel crampons in the world. Paired with Scarpa's new super-light Phantom Guide (reviewed here), they create a performance combo that nearly competes with a fruit boot, but is warmer, and more versatile....

New to the market as of last season is the Spanish company e-Climb. The centerpiece of their line, the Cryo, is a water-ice and alpine climbing axe that boasts truly unique features. ...

Having nearly had a nasty accident when a clip-on crampon popped off my boot while leading, I was keen to try the new GSb system on the Grivel G14 crampon and Scarpa Freney XT boot....

Climbing early-season ice is always a humbling experience. Despite dry tooling up blocks on my home woodie, I find the first ice climb of the year wakes my hibernating tool-swinging arms....

Kahtoola MicroSpikes gear tested by Rock and Ice magazine....

Kahtoola Traction System (KTS) field test report by Rock and Ice magazine....

Since their introduction to the market roughly five years ago, leashless tools have revolutionized mixed climbing. ...

It’s easy in this era of leashless tools to forget our roots, that the very thing that for over 100 years has anchored us to the mountains themselves is the trusty piolet....

THIS FACE MASK’S gimmick is a “thermal conversion module”—basically a wedge of foam that seats under the nose and over the mouth, designed to capture warmth on the exhalation and use that trapped heat to warm air on the inhalation....

Trango SharkYou need a nut tool for teasing out obstinate wires; snaring inverted cams; using mini-cheat-stick-style for those just-out-of-reach place......