When it comes to activities that require gear to get started, climbing generally isn’t the most expensive outdoorsport—but it’s also not the cheapest. Putting together a full gym kit, with shoes, chalk, a chalk bag, harness, belay device, and locking carabiner, can easily amountto over $200.
Decathlon is trying to make the outdoors more accessible with itsaffordablegear. The French company operates its own in-house brands,such as Quechua (hiking and camping), (paddle sports), and (climbing and mountaineering). The Simond line touts for $45, for $55, and a for $70. While some of these products aren’t jaw-droppingly inexpensive, their prices are lowerthan those of mostname brands. There’s a difference between low-cost and cheap, though, so I decided to test out the gear’s technical chops.
For this test, I focused primarily on Decathlon’s least expensive options, to findbudget-friendly beginner climbing gear. I tested these products for a month, climbing three to four times a week both indoors and out,bouldering, top-roping, and lead-climbing.
Shoes ($45)
Simond’sbaseline shoe, the , has a price you won’t find anywhere else except in some extreme sales (and even then, sizes are often limited). Other shoes for beginners, like ,retailfrom $80 to $100.The price and simple build of this canvas shoe had me skeptical, but after a month of testing, I was pleasantly surprised by its performance.
Climbing Shoes Rock has a flat footbed, which is ideal for beginners, because the shapedoesn’t force your foot into an uncomfortable arched positionlike a more down-turned shoe would. I found the rubber tread sticky enough to trust my feet on slab climbs. The toe box is snugԻ gaveme control to pull on overhungor vertical moves—though only to a point, as it won’t give you the same results on roofsas an aggressiveshoe will. The lace-up design works well if you want a bit more adjustmentwith fit (as opposed to), so you can keep it relaxed on easier climbs or crank down on a tough route.
For a shoe with some extra comfort and higher ankle support, the is also a solid option. It’s still very reasonably priced, at $65,but it has more padding at the heel and tongueԻ comes up higher on the ankle than the Rock does, which makes heel hooks more stable. It took a few sessionswearing the Rock+ to get comfortable in my foot placement (which is normal for most new climbing shoes), but once I did, the shoe excelled at sticking to small nubs,smearing on granite slab, and handlingbasic heel and toe hooking indoors and outdoors. The Rock+ uses rubber, which is known for its durability and isthe same rubber foundin most Tenaya shoes. Simond doesn’t specify the type of rubber in the Rock shoe.I only started to really notice limitations on both shoes once I got into the V4 and V5range, doing awkward heel hooks.
The bottom line for all climbing shoes: finding the right pairdepends on your foot shape and how tight of a fit you want. I recommend trying on several sizes and types, including men’s and women’s, regardless of your gender. For more information on this topic, check out our101 videoon how to buy your first pair of shoes.
Harness ($55)
Simond’s most basic harness, the , sells for $45, but I would recommend itsfor $55, which is just a couple bucks cheaper than a comparable harness, like . That $10makes a difference—it’s fully adjustable, has two tie-in points in the front, and four gear loops, whereas the Easy 3 uses a single tie-in loop and only has two gear loops. The extra loops are onlyimportant if you plan on climbing outdoors, because you’ll most likely be carrying more gear (draws, protection, runners, webbing, etc.), but the single tie-in loop is the big kicker here; it makes the harness less comfortable, because the leg straps have to go all the way up to the waist beltas opposed to leg straps that are connected by webbing, and will wear down quicker, because the single tie-in loop has to handle both belaying and tying in, so I suspect it will weardown twice as fast.
The climbing and mountaineering harness has an extra double-backed buckle on the waistband, which makes it more adjustable than the Easy 3. With the climbingharness on, I didn’t notice any place where it dug in or felt uncomfortable whilehanging in it for several minutes. It also gets bonus points for plastic buckles (compared to less user-friendly G hooks on harnesses like the Black Diamond Momentum) on the bungee straps, which come in handy if you need to use the bathroom.
Chalk Bag ($17)
If you’re looking for a simple, compressible chalk bag, look no further than . Thestiff rim and large opening makeit easy for your hand to get intoduring precarious rests on long routes, and the drawstring closure is easy to open and close with one hand. There’s also a small elastic strap on the side for a chalk brush. The Diamond isn’t Simond’s , and there arechalk bags from other brands with similar price points, but for a quality chalk bag,anything under $20 is a good deal in my book.
I’d recommend pairing this bag with a chalk ball, like the ($5), especially in a gym setting, where there are a lot of climbers in a closed space. Chalk bags can easily be stepped on or knocked over, and using a ball goes a long way to make sure your chalk actually stays put.Plus, I’ve found that using a ball gives your hands a nice coat without over-chalking. It’seasy to apply, has a comfortable consistency, and works as it should.
Belay Device and Carabiner ($20 and $10)
Simond’s hardware prices aren’t drastically different frombrands you can find at retailers like REI or Backcountry. There are equivalents that are more expensive, but the difference is minimal—generally $10.
There’s nothing groundbreaking about Decathlon’s belay device or locking carabiners, but there’s also nothing wrong with them. Itsclips and screws shut easily and isjust as strong as most other carabiners,with a tested breaking strength of 25 kilonewtonson the major axis (the average locking carabiner has a strength of 21 to 27 kilonewtons). The doesn’t have a guide mode, so it wouldn’t be my choicefor multi-pitch climbs, but you don’t need this feature for the gym or single-pitch sport routes. It also doesn’t have an auto-locking feature, like the ,so if your climber is hangdogging,it becomes a little tedious. Otherwise, the device is easy to use and smoothly handles the rope.
Optional Item: Rope ($70 for 35 Meters)
If you plan on lead climbing in a gym, many places require you to bring your own rope. Firstcheck the height of your gym’s wall. Indoors, you generally don’t need a rope exceeding 40 metersin length (unless your go-to gym is somewhere like , in Edinburgh, Scotland, or the , in Salt Lake City, which feature walls 21 to 30 meters high, in which case you’d need a 50-to-60-meter rope). I wouldn’t go shorter than 30 to 35 meters as a general rule of thumb. A 70-meter rope for indoor climbing would be excessive.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a 35-meter gym rope for less than this . The dynamic rope is rated for up to (most gym ropes are rated between sixԻ tenfalls)and gives a comfortable catch. My climbing partner took a ten-foot fall, and the rope was springy enough to absorb the impact, making the fall easy for both climber and belayer.The rope’s static elongation (6.3 percent) is slightly lower than other comparable ropes, like the Black Diamond 9.9-millimeter rope (7.6 percent)—that meansyou lose less ground after taking a break at a bolt or on top rope, but it also might result in a less cushy fall.My one minor issue with Simond ropes is their tendency to get twisted and knotted during the first three to four uses. On the first use, even after flaking the rope twice, the rope knotted itself midclimb. After 10 to 15 climbs, the rope started to get less twisted, but it’s something to be mindful of;maybe run it through a carabiner or belay device a few times to help it untwist.As a bonus, the 35-meter rope fits perfectly into the ($4), so you canbring itto the gym without the hassle of a lugging a huge bag.
The Bottom Line
Decathlon’s climbing line performed well across the board. After taking the kit lead climbing and top-rope climbing in the gym, sport climbing outdoors on sandstone and granite, and bouldering in Yosemite, I don’t have any major complaints that would lead me to discourage others from purchasing the gear. I was impressed with some features of itsshoes and harness, especially for the low price. If money isn’t an object, and you want the absolute best, Decathlon’s starter kitisn’t for you. However, if you’re new to climbing or don’t want to shell out a ton of money, Decathlon’s collection is a solid place to start.