It still amazes me how climbing gear continues to find ways to improve every year. The pads I land on and the shoes I climb in today are undeniably better than

It still amazes me how climbing gear continues to find ways to improve every year. The pads I land on and the shoes I climb in today are undeniably better than the ones I was using just five years ago. Take shoes. Here's what the brand new Scarpa Instinct looked like nine years ago: https://www.climbing.com/gear/new-and-notable-scarpa-instinct-2010-gear-guide/ https://www.climbing.com/gear/new-and-notable-scarpa-instinc... Notice the tiny scrap of rubber they stuck on to the top of the thing. That was revolutionary at the time. Today, that rubber takes over the whole upper surface of the shoe. Here's a pair of mine in action last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcN3WETCDzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcN3WETCDzM Trust me, I tried that problem quite a bit harder back before rubber-topped shoes came into vogue, and there was no holding that toe hook. The method of the day was to use your heel, which was, well, harder. If you check out the shoe range of just that one company, you'll find that this is like their fifth most technical shoe. Kept around because old timers like me still like them.