The Best American Made Rock Climbing Gear
If you’re searching for the top climbing gear made in the USA then you’ve come to the right place. Nearly all of my personal climbing gear is American made and I love it. I had better spread the love for more sustainable and better quality local gear.
American Climbing Gear
Sterling ATS Belay Device
This is my favorite belay device ever made. It can be used as a figure 8 or plate style belay device. With the four horns I can easily lock off mid rappel to hang out and take photos or I can quickly adjust the friction level for a controlled descent. The ATS accommodates a wide variety of rope widths up to 11mm. Where to find them:
More Info/Current Pricing from Amazon
Misty Mountain Harnesses
Misty Mountain has a full range of bomber harnesses, from the very burly and heavily cushioned Titan to the lighter weight and versatile Intrepid, even lighter Bolt, and more. Misty Mountain’s Cadillac harness is the most comfortable harness I’ve ever used. I used a Cadillac for years but now currently use an Intrepid harness most days. Where to find them:
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Sterling Ropes
Sterling Ropes produces excellent dynamic and static ropes. I personally own and love my 9.8mm Evolution Velocity rope. Their dynamic ropes are durable yet supple, provide a light impact catch, and can take plenty of ugly falls. The dry coated versions extend durability even further. Where to find them:
More Info/Current Pricing from Backcountry.com
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Black Diamond Camalot Ultralight
Ask any experienced trad climber whose cams are the best and I bet you they’ll say BD Camalot Cams. BD Camalots are light, reliable, easy to use, hold well, and take stress from falls in a variety of directions. One of the greatest cams of all time, the C4, got even lighter with the Camalot Ultralight. The Camalot Ultralight shaves approximately 25% of the weight from its similarly sized C4 cam counterpart by replacing the steel cable with a dyneema core stem. Where to find them:
Camalot Ultralight
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Metolius Safe Tech All-Around Improved Harness
The comfortable Safe Tech All-Around is overbuilt with supreme safety in mind. This harness includes 4 heavy-duty load bearing gear loops plus 2 front pop-out loops for racking. It has dual belay loops for aid climbing and a full strength haul loop for lifting up a tag line. Check out all the positive reviews at Backcountry. Where to find them:
More Info/Current Pricing from Amazon
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BlueWater Ropes
BlueWater makes fantastic dynamic and static ropes, and are well known for their static canyoneering ropes which I have used extensively. I highly recommend their ropes for climbing and canyoneering. Where to find them:
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Metolius Master Cams
Metolius Master Cams are flexible, single-stem camming devices optimized for increased holding power with an optimized cam angle. They are CNC machined for precision and available in 10 sizes from #00 to #8, with sizes 7 and 8 being very light for their large size. The cams feature a color-coded sling and trigger, a Range Finder system to assist size selection, replaceable slings, and are 100% made in the USA and individually proof tested. Where to find them:
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BlueWater Ropes Webbing & Sterling Rope Webbing
Bluewater and Sterling make strong 1″ webbing with comparable specs. I have used webbing from both manufacturers but really can’t say one is better than the other. Both manufacturer’s webbing has a tensile strength of 4000 lbf and come in various colors, 30′ discs, and larger spools. Where to find them:
Bluewater Webbing
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Sterling Webbing
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Black Diamond Wired Stopper
Wired Stoppers offer excellent passive protection and deserve some consideration for your trad rack. Their more traditional trapezoidal design tends to be easier to clean than offset designs. In fact, some climbers actually prefer the inexpensive Stoppers to newer offset designs. Where to find them:
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Organic Climbing Crash Pads
Organic Climbing is a fairly small company making some of the best pads in the business. They’ve achieved this status by combining extremely high quality foam and durable fabrics with no nonsense (looking at you Mad Rock R3) design. Where to find them:
More Info/Current Pricing from OrganicClimbing.com
Metolius Climbing Nuts
Metolius offers two main types of climbing nuts made in the USA: Curve Nuts and Astro Nuts. Curve Nuts are asymmetrically tapered and curved for optimized placements in flaring cracks and pin scars, while Astro Nuts are made of silicon bronze for maximum bite and strength in those same types of placements. Where to find them:
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Organic Climbing Chalk Bags
All Organic Climbing chalk bags are unique since they’re thoughtfully made of recycled 1000d cordura nylon cutting scraps leftover from their crash pad manufacturing. They have a stiff rim for easy access and a plush fleece liner. Where to find them:
More Info/Current Pricing from REI.com
FrictionLabs Chalk
Frictionlabs provides high performance chalk including Unicorn Dust (fine), Gorilla Grip (chunky), and Bam Bam(super chunky). I personally use Unicorn Dust and love the stuff. Where to find them:
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