Gear

Here is a collection of some of my favorite gear.

Climbing Holds:

All the climbing hold companies I can find. Asterisk (*) denotes approximately how many sets I own from that company. Pictures coming soon.

http://climbingholdreview.blogspot.com/ is a great place to learn about new climbing holds with in-depth reviews and short movies of them climbing on a variety of holds.

http://www.routesetter.com/ is a great place to learn about setting routes and learn tips and tricks from the industry leaders. Many of the premier route-setters and hold shapers frequent this webstie.

• Atomik Climbing Holds* (first set of holds bought for my original wall off of ebay)
  
• ASANA*
• Climb-It**
• Cheap Holds
• Contact Climbing**
• Climbing Holds.com (reseller for Moganic, Etch, others)
• Detroit Rock Climbing (DRCC)* – quality is absolutely insane, leaps and bounds above anything else
  
• E-Grips Climbing Holds*
• East Coast Holds
• ENTRE PRISES**
• Etch Holds****
• Franklin Handholds***
• HRT HOLDS (European, look amazing)
• Lapis climbing holds (Euro)
• Metolius Climbing***
• NICROS**
• Project Holds*
• Revolution Climbing*
• Rock Candy Holds
• So iLL Holds, Bags, Pads, and Clothes****
• Synrock climbing holds
• Stone Age Climbing (RIP)
• Teknik Handholds Inc.
• Three Ball Climbing Holds
• VooDoo Climbing Holds
• Woodie Worx

Photography Equipment :

• Nikon DSLRs: Have used Nikon DSLR’s for the last several years. Always impressed by the build quality and the ergonomics. Currently using the D200 as my main camera.
• Lenses: Using only Nikon lenses. Primarily use the 12-24mm f/4 which is an amazing wide-angle and my main go-to lens. For telephoto I use the 70-300mm f/4 VR which is a quality lens for its relative lightness; easy to pack and carry it holds up to most everything. I need a few faster lenses (and looking at a prime or two) but between these two 98% of my applications are covered.
• Flashes: Have a Nikon SB-600 and SB-800. The 800 is amazing, the 600 is good but not as versatile as the 800.
• Radio Triggers: Using the Radiopopper Px system and find it to be really easy to use and a nice extension of the Nikon iTTL system.
• Flash Accessories: Lots of little things that I am trying to figure out. So far here are my favorites:
  • Honl Speed Grid: Great way to quickly concentrate and diffuse light. Use a lot while bouldering.
  • LumiQuest Softbox III: Easy to use and handy for quick softer light
• Other Accessories:
  • A couple of batteries (damn D200 eats batteries)
  • Wireless remote for long-exposure (kind of crappy)
  • Small flashlight (always handy in the bag)
  • Really Right Stuff ballhead BH-40: Once you purchase a good ballhead you will wonder why you waited so long.
  • Manfrotto Tripod 055CX3: Not the most compact, however really like all of its features.
    
  • Must read Tripod Article: http://www.bythom.com/support.htm
• Carrying Systems: The most important part is how you get all that equipment places as all too often people have nice cameras but bad carrying systems and in-turn they never bring their cameras with them.
  • Waist System: This is my primary system that I use when climbing or hiking when I will be carrying something else on my back. Primarily I do a lot of bouldering so my crash-pad is on my back (which usually do not have great straps for heavy loads). Therefore having all of your heavy camera equipment around your waist makes it really easy to carry and therefore have quick access to it while hiking.
    • Current set-up was gleaned from http://karlgrobl.com/EquipmentReviews/CameraBags.htm
    • Includes the LowePro Deluxe waist-belt with the Toploader 65 AW.
    • This holds my D200 with both the 70-300 f/4 VR and the 12-24MM within the Toploader. I can also put in my Radiopopper triggers and a few other accessories.
    • On the other side I attach my flashes in their original cases with a carabiner.
    • Fully loaded I can easily grab my camera out of the pouch and take photos without missing a stride. A huge advantage and something I wish I had in China when I was doing a lot of street photography.
  • Backpacks: I have a couple including the DaKine Sequence and other snow, backpacking, hiking, etc specific packs. Most the time I just throw in what I need into a regular pack and carry it that way. Still not a huge fan of having to take off the pack to get to the camera but will use that in most ski/snowboard situations where other methods are not feasible.
    • Looking into these packs as they look fantastic: http://www.fstopgear.com/
    • Current Snowboard backpack that I love is the Marmot La Meije unfortunately discontinued it was designed by the late Doug Coombs and an extremely well thought-out pack. Although not designed for photography I usually just throw in the D200 with the 70-300 and cruise with that. Having a dedicated shovel, probe, other pocket is key to keeping things organized and keeps the main compartment snow free and easy to access.

More to Come…