I went to REI looking for a narrow pack that wouldn't get in the way when hiking through narrow slots between boulders or around trees but would still hold all my climbing gear(i.e. harness, rope, trad rack). Well luckily REI recently came out with the Catalyst and it does all that and more. It is very, very adjustable from when it is nearly empty and you tighten all the straps down or fill it to the brim and hang stuff all over the outside you can still get it to hug you body and be comfortable. The pockets on the waiste belt are very handy for a knife, keys or food. The gear loops are also great for any weird things that us climbers can come up with to clip to them. I'm just really stoked on the versatility of this pack and there's no beating the price for a pack of this caliber.

I recently borrowed this from a friend at the climbing shop. I personally loved it. I've only used a grigri a couple of times and have never even considered buying a grigri due to the excess weight and size. With the Cinch however it's compact size and light weight make it worth it to me to carry around, not to mention 20 bucks less than the grigri. I would agree with j_ung about the at first ultra sensitive lever but I'll tell you what, the whole reason I borrowed it was to teach my girlfiend a.k.a. first time belayer to belay me and after about 15 minutes of close to the ground work on top rope she had it down and we had a great day. I also ordered one later that day.

I've got the Red and the Yellow of these and I love them. I climb mostly at Joshua Tree and I use or could use these the majority of every route I go up there. They are obviously not meant for parallel cracks but for bottelneck type placments hence the offset. They are fairly wide and seem to be very stable and don't want to walk. If you're having trouble locating Hybrid Aliens you may want to give these a shot. I'm glad I did.

This thing is so Strong, Light and Cheap. This is the Gear Side of all my trad draws. I also rack all my cams on them.

I love these things. Super Light, Super Cheap, Easy Clipping. I have these paired up with Dovals on all my 24" Trad Draws. I can't decide between JC's or Doval's on which is my favorite.