Skip to main content

Clip higher and avoid dangerous falls with the Kong Panic climbing aid

Kong Panic
Every climber has been faced with that difficult moment on a hard route when the last bolt is far below you, and the next one is just out of reach. You have no choice but to climb higher and hope to make the clip before your body inevitably gives way to gravity, risking a potentially dangerous fall. Italian climbing gear company Kong has advanced the sport with the invention of the Kong Panic, a climbing aid that provides extra reach to distant bolts and anchor points. The device essentially serves as a quick-draw extension with added technical safety features.

The Kong Panic is made from tubular webbing and an inner flexible bar which contributes just enough rigidity to stand up straight while still allowing enough flexibility for the shaft to be bent in any direction the user desires. A loop hole on the far end is wide enough to be attached to a carabiner or quickdraw which is used to clip into your rope, while the head is built into a carabiner that boasts a unique, spring-loaded mechanism.

With the slight push of a finger, this mechanism holds the gate of the carabiner open and keeps it in place beneath the lip of the spring as you perform the clipping process. An open gate makes for easy, stress-free clipping. Once connected to a bolt, the pressure on the inside top portion of the carabiner releases the spring and shuts the gate closed. That maintained pressure prevents the gate from accidentally opening while clipped, even when forces are applied from the outside. The gate will not open until it is lifted free of the bolt for removal during route cleaning.

The Kong Panic is ideal for use at the sport climbing crag. The innovative aid is perfect for reaching distant bolts when onsighting, providing that extra reach for clipping bolts on hard projects, or when you’re exploring unknown territory and want to take an extra measure of safety.

Kong has long stood by its mission to provide safer climbing technology to an industry where risk is a prevalent factor. The device is available in both standard 30-centimeter and extra large 45-centimeter lengths. You can purchase the Kong Panic for $30 through Barrabes and other online retailers.

Amanda Ellis
Amanda is an outdoor junkie and digital nomad with an insatiable hunger for gear. Based out of Raleigh, NC she travels to…
Goodbye, coolers. The EcoFlow Glacier doesn’t need ice — it makes it
The EcoFlow Glacier is a fridge shaped like a cooler with its own battery,

Every cooler operates on borrowed time. It leaves for your camping trip brimming over with crisp produce and ice-encrusted beer that looks straight out of a Super Bowl commercial, and returns with a soggy block of foil-wrapped cheddar cheese floating in a pool of mustard water. Mother Nature always wins.

Perhaps that’s why I was so enamored when I saw the EcoFlow Glacier at CES 2023. Less a cooler than a mobile battery-powered fridge on wheels, the sleek electric Glacier not only obviated the need for ice, it would make ice for me in 18 minutes. My home fridge can’t even do that, and I didn’t even know I wanted it to until just now. When EcoFlow offered to let me try the Glacier, I envisioned sipping a perspiring glass of whiskey in the tropics and accepted the occupational hazards of my job.

Read more
I was wrong. E-bikes are so practical, they’re a transit cheat code
An Aventon Level 2 ebike sits outside a grocery store.

Confession: Despite loving both bikes and gadgets, e-bikes never excited me. Compared to my bicycle, e-bikes seemed unfair. Compared to my motorcycle, they seemed slow. Compared to my car, they seemed impractical.

But with $1,500 federal e-bike rebates potentially on the horizon at part of E-Bike Act, I decided it was past time to reconsider. Not just because 30% off would make them way more accessible, but because the entire idea that e-bikes could be worthy of a rebate changed the way I looked at them: less as toys, more as transit. Had I written off an entire way of getting around because I was looking at it the wrong way?

Read more
Upway launches one of the best marketplaces for certified e-bikes, new or not
Man holding ebike from Upway in a field, lifestyle image.

This content was produced in partnership with Upway.
It wasn't too long ago that e-bikes were a rare sight, but all of that has changed, and rightfully so. Electric bikes are all over the road these days, and there are many brands either venturing into the technology, to launch their own versions of the sustainable transportation option or reiterating existing and traditional designs. From Aventon to Schwinn, or RadPower to Momentum, with so many opportunities, the prevailing question is, where do you go to find the best deals and the best information about these brands and their e-bike models? The answer is Upway, the number one certified electric bike provider and an official partner to many of the aforementioned brands.

What is Upway, exactly? It's a marketplace, specializing in e-bikes, featuring an inventory that's sourced from some of the best brands in the world. There are American brands -- like Specialized, Cannondale, and RadPower -- and European brands -- like Riese, Muller, and VanMoof. The best part is the discounts, offering up to 60% off retail, for a plethora of brands. Upway is on a mission to make sustainable mobility affordable for everyone. It's also one of the best places to go for a new or pre-owned e-bike, and here's why:

Read more