2023 Climbing Gym Gear Review: 7 Must-Haves for an Amazing Session

My local gym posts a “please remove wet shoes” sign on snowy or rainy days. It makes sense — wet, muddy feet trash gym floors. But it can be a pain if you’re wearing snow boots or laced approach shoes. The Sleuth Slip-Ons ($80), which, per the name, slipped easily on and off. And they solved that issue and the dreaded bathroom-break dilemma too. I don’t want to go in there with my rock shoes on! But I also don’t want to go barefoot or put my street shoes back on either!

The Five Ten Sleuths are advertised as low-profile mountain bike shoes that slip well into the pedals. They look like boat shoes. But the sole is grippy Stealth rubber. Five Ten uses a dot matrix of the white, nonmarking Marathon Classic compound, which was great in winter when the “approach” to the gym (i.e., my sloping driveway and the gym’s parking lot) was a slushy, icy mess.

I’m a big fan of Mystery Ranch packs. They can be spendy, but it’s always worth it for a well-built, comfortably carrying, hard-wearing item. I’ve rocked its Tower 47 crag pack for 4 years. I was excited to see the Superset 30 ($165), essentially a gym version of the Tower 47. It likewise has tons of pouches, zipper pockets, and carrying straps. Mystery Ranch wants to keep your kit hyper-organized.

One issue at the gym is shared space. It’s polite to keep your stuff accessible without a yard sale, as with a tote or duffel. The Superset 30 addressed this problem with its double-option closure system. Thanks to the full-length back-panel zipper that accesses the main body, it’s a top-loading backpack and a duffel.

Here’s the deal with brushes: They all clean holds, and their functionality is universal. And back in the day, before the first boar’s hair brushes came along from Lapis, we all happily used toothbrushes.

These days, there are a ton of brush options. They all initially seem to do the job well. But diligent usage quickly separates the excellent from the mediocre. With the lesser options, the head/neck often snaps due to plastic fatigue, or the bristles wear out too quickly. Also, some brushes are just too bulky to fit easily in your chalk bag’s brush sleeve.

Talk is cheap, but good climbing chalk most definitely is not. And a chalk-pot spill is always a minor financial tragedy. Osprey addressed this issue with its Zealot Chalk Bucket ($35). It has the traditional roll-top closure you see with chalk buckets but adds three embedded magnets around the collar. The bucket automatically snaps shut when not rolled down. In other words, you can pull open the Zealot, chalk up, then drop or even fling it to the pads. It will automatically snap shut, retaining your precious chalk.

This feature was so handy at the gym. Chalk spills inevitably arise from falling to the mats and creating a temporary depression that upsets an open chalk pot. I tested the closure time and time again on my home wall and at local bouldering gyms. I put the Zealot stupid-close beneath me on boulder problems. I fell or jumped down to see what would happen, which, well, was nothing. No spillage, and even when I landed on it, it only exhaled the tiniest puff of chalk.

The older I get, the more recovery tools live on my exercise-equipment shelf. And these days, some make it into my chosen climbing gym gear selection. There are knots and kinks to unravel, swollen forearms, and trapped lactic acid to flush out between burns. The latter is probably our biggest concern as climbers.

While it’s not a forearm-specific tool, the R1 Percussion ($129) has been a great portable self-massager. It certainly worked well on the forearms, mainly via its bulb tool. It was also an amazing pressure-point/deep-tissue massager for the rest of the body. It lasted a long time. ROLL Recovery promises a 7-hour battery life via a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. This made it easy to keep in my gym bag and whip out as needed.

Even if you aren’t a serial chalker, the holds are always so gunked up at the gym that you have no choice but to fill your pores with magnesium carbonate. I already have leathery skin prone to dry-firing, splitting, and cracking, especially during Colorado’s cold, dry winters. So I immediately head to the bathroom after gym sessions to wash my hands and get the chalk off. But that alone isn’t enough — we gym rats also need our lotion.

One favorite is Rhino Repair ($19 for a 3.5-ounce bottle), which I slathered on post-climb. It’s perfectly formulated for dry or chalk-battered skin. It’s a blend of water, various tree and plant oils, xanthan gum, emulsifying wax, and other ingredients. It felt cooling and hydrating on my pelt but didn’t leave a greasy residue. I especially loved it after long sessions when my tips burned from crimping. It dulled the pain and made it so I could use my hands the rest of the day for typing, household chores, etc.