Wild Country Single Rope Controller Belay System

Advantages: Fantastic design - great for beginners
Disadvantages: Can be difficult when using thick or stiff ropes

...There isn't much you can say about things like belay devices, but I do know that when you are just getting into climbing and there is an entire wall covered in strange climbing related objects it would be nice to have someone point you in the right direction. What is a belay and what is it for? Basically when you climb (99% of the time) you climb with a partner. Your partner is there to catch you when you fall and to do so so he or she needs some sort of device that gives full control of the speed of the rope. The rope is folded over and threaded through the hole in the belay plate, then the loop that has been threaded through is attached to your harness via a screw gate carabiner. The loose end of the rope should be hanging down towards the floor and the end attached to the climber points up. To stop the rope from moving the loose end... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: safe bit of gear, great forwall use and beginners
Disadvantages: can just be awkward and annoying - especially outdoors

...restricted now for the plastic bit. dividing the crab in half means that once used in the system and the plastic clip lock on, the bottom half is attached to you and the half contains the belay plate and rope. and it does one simple, but useful thing, now the crab cannot move round to the side and become cross loaded (where the rope pull is on the crabs width), so there will be no reduction in strength. because, if your not careful crabs can flip around on their side and reduce the force they can take. so it sounds like a nice life save device. on the other hand, its really annoying, in order to stop the plastic bit sticking out and flapping around it has to be clipped across both sides of the crab,and to do this the screw on the gate has to be locked. however, when you've got it crab clipped to you gear rack, or you taking it on and off... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: cost, easy to put up, replaceable poles
Disadvantages: outer rips easily, groundsheet wears easily

...This 3 man tent was bought for wild camping expeditions in lowland areas. I had hoped it would withstand being put up and down by enthusiastic teenagers! It can be purchased from Millets for a cost of £49.99. It weighs 4.9 Kg and has a hydrostatic head of 2000mm (most start from about 1500mm). It comes in a good size carry bag (20cm x 66cm) with great handles. The guy ropes are bright fluorescent yellow so not easy to trip over. Ease of use: The tent is really straight forward to put up and took 2 people about 10 minutes. There are 3 poles which are colour coded so that the right pole goes in the right place. It’s a bit fiddly to attach the inner area to the outer sheet and this took the most time. The poles split for folding and go through the loop areas really easily. Durability: I took three of these tents out on a really dry... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful