Most climbing gear advice is either a list of affiliate links or someone telling you their favourite thing is the best thing. This is meant to be the version that helps you decide.

The short answer for anyone starting: rent shoes, borrow everything else, and buy nothing for a month. After that, shoes first, and take your time over them.

Climbing shoes

The one purchase worth getting right, because a pair that hurts will quietly stop you going. Everything else can wait until you know you like this.

Fit is the whole question, and most of the advice you will hear about sizing down is overdone.

Start here

• Climbing Shoe FAQStart hereEverything in one place: types, sizing, resoling, when to replace them.
• How Tight Should Climbing Shoes Be?The sizing question, answered without the folklore about pain being necessary.
• What Affects How Climbing Shoes Fit?Why the same size fits differently across brands and lasts.
• The Best 11 Climbing Shoes Under $100If you are buying your first pair and do not want to spend much.
• Socks With Climbing Shoes: 7 Reasons For, 4 AgainstThe argument both ways, since people are strangely certain about this.

Chalk

Cheap, and more consequential than it sounds. The differences between types are real, and the rules about flying with it catch people out.

Start here

• Climbing Chalk FAQStart hereTypes, what the additives do, and how much you actually need.
• The Best Chalk For Climbing and BoulderingWhat to buy, and where the differences stop mattering.
• Chunky vs Fine ChalkTwo textures, two use cases.
• Liquid vs Dry Chalk for BoulderingAnd why dry wins for most people most of the time.
• Can You Bring Chalk On A Plane?TSA rules, before you find out at the security line.
• Can You Climb Without Chalk?Yes. Whether you should is a different question.

Ropes, harnesses and belay devices

The gear where getting it wrong has consequences beyond a bad session. Worth understanding properly rather than buying on price.

If you are new to ropes, learn the device before you buy one. Most gyms will teach you on theirs.

Start here

• 6 Of The Best Belay Devices For BeginnersStart hereWhat to buy first, and what each type is doing differently.
• How To Belay With Assisted Locking DevicesUsing the device most gyms will hand you.
• Should You Upgrade To Assisted Braking?When the upgrade is worth it and when it is not.
• How Should Your Climbing Harness Fit?The fit check that matters, done properly.
• How to Put On a Climbing HarnessSix steps, in order, including the one people skip.
• How To Care For Your Climbing RopeWhat shortens a rope life, and when to retire one.
• The Evolution of Belay DevicesUseful background on why devices work the way they do.

Bouldering kit

Bouldering needs the least gear of any discipline, which is most of why people start there. Outdoors changes that.

Start here

• The Minimal Gear For BoulderingStart hereThe genuinely short list, for indoors.
• The Top 5 Crash Pads For BoulderingThe first real purchase for outdoor bouldering, and how to choose.
• Should You Wear A Helmet For Bouldering?A question with a less obvious answer than you would expect.

What to wear and what to pack

Mostly you already own it. This section exists because the question stops people turning up, not because the answer is complicated.

Start here

• What To Wear While BoulderingStart hereWhat works, what rides up, and why you probably already own it.
• Clothing For Climbing In The GymThe roped version, where a harness changes what works.
• What Women Should Wear ClimbingHead to toe, including the bits other guides skip.
• How Much Does Rock Climbing Cost?A full breakdown, and the order to buy things in.
• What to Bring on a Climbing Day TripThe packing list for a day out.
• Top 5 Things In Your Climbing PackThe five that earn their weight.
• 37 Things Climbers Bring to the MountainsThe long version, for multi-day and alpine.
• A Climber’s First Aid KitWhat to carry, and what you will actually use.

Gear I have tested

Specific products, used properly before writing about them, with what each one is genuinely for.

Start here

• Scarpa Arpia V LVStart hereWho they suit and how they wear.
• Which La Sportiva TX Guide Is Best?Picking between the approach shoe versions.
• Scarpa Ribelle Run Kalibra GWhether this is the right trail shoe for you.
• Ocun Crack Pro GloveFor anyone starting to jam.
• Which Petzl Connect Adjust Is Best?Choosing between the versions.
• Black Diamond Crampon Rope Toe BailWhen retrofitting beats replacing.
• Black Diamond Trail Back Trekking PolesWorth it for approach hikes, or not.

Looking after it

Gear lasts far longer than most climbers get out of it, and the difference is almost entirely maintenance. Shoes are the expensive habit here.

Start here

• How To Clean and Disinfect Your GearStart hereEverything, by material, without wrecking any of it.
• How To Prevent Climbing Shoes From SmellingPrevention, which is easier than the cure.
• 11 Cheap Ways To Fix Smelly ShoesThe cure, when prevention did not happen.
• How To Clean Your GrigriKeeping the mechanism working the way it should.
• 23 Climbing Gear Storage IdeasFor rope, shoes and rack, when it has taken over a room.

Where to go next

Once you have what you need, the gear stops being the interesting part. What changes your climbing after that is what you do with it.

Start here

• Climbing for BeginnersFirst session, grades, safety, and what nobody explains at the front desk.
• The Climbing Training HubHow often to climb, how to tell whether it is working, and what to work on.
• 20 Climbing Drills, Grouped by What They FixTen minute drills with video, sorted by the problem each one targets.