Great solid boot for serious hiking/mild to moderate mountaineering. Construction and materials are well made and excellently assembled - so far both rubber sole and leather uppers are proving very durable. The half shank allows a little flex around the ball of the foot but otherwise semi rigid. Most synthetic boots I've tried seem to flex around the ankle a lot more and are not as supportive so any weight disadvantages are outweighed by the increase in support. I do NOT have the GoreTex version but the rubber rand and the thickness of the leather uppers have prevented my feet from ever getting wet. Coupled with good gaiters which are worn in many situations anyway helps. If you are planning on using this for more than mild mountaineering, get a proper mountaineering boot with a waterproofing system incorporated and that can handle more crampon options as these do NOT have a front welt for crampon bail, although the rear DOES.

Omega Pac's classic Jake HMS biner is a staple found on most climbers belay loops. This is because of:
-- its unique pear shape design that ensures it is always loaded correctly - wide radius stock feeds super smooth - some may say it is a huge biner but its light and it just hangs on your belay loop anyway - I dont see this as an issue.
-- its unique side swing gate that offers that largest gate opening found on any HMS biner - never have issues clipping anything
-- its one of the strongest HMS biners out with incredible force ratings, while maintaining a light weight - can handle the biggest of whippers

That said. Omega Pacific has finally outfitted the best belay 'biner with a key-lock style gate to keep from catching.

I don't give 5's unless it is truly the worlds best most outstanding piece of gear that no one should live without......The Omega Pacific Jake HMS Keylock Quiklok gets 5 stars.

One of the few synthetic insulated jackets around - keeps warm when wet (unlike down) - packs very tight (like down) - very comfortable and fits well.

bottom line: great synthetic insulation layer i wear under shell without all the bulk and disadvantages of down.

Same as Mandala model pretty much. My day-to-day kicks for around town, to hang out in, to wear to work, etc. Really comfortable and the style is hella fly but not supportive enough to be hiking around off-trail much.

I gotta say, I was really disappointed by this one. The trailer that was one of the first videos ever posted on this site got me hyped up and really excited with some amazing camera angles and things I had never seen done to climbing films. The movie itself on the other hand did not include any of this. What it did do was effectively make Cedar Wright look like an idiot and with the exception of a few superhuman moves that they show Fred Nicole doing - whom there should have been much more footage of because he is the strongest climber on the whole video - I was pretty bored.

PROS: interesting looking area - some interesting effect work. Frederic Nicole - wow.

CONS: Zoomed out one-camera shots. Noone cares what Cedar Wright thinks about bouldering. Lengthy interviews that are boring.

OVERALL: Check out the trailer on the site - its awesome - but dont get too excited and honestly dont even waste your time sitting through the movie itself because its long and a bit boring - unless maybe you fast-forward through to the climbing bits.

NOTE TO MOVIE MAKERS: Seriously, the last thing people want to watch or listen to is another stoned-out-of-his-mind sounding boulderer, ok? They all talk the same way and say the same thing anyway..