How to Climb

Trango Shark Review

Trango Shark

You need a nut tool for teasing out obstinate wires; snaring inverted cams; using mini-cheat-stick-style for those just-out-of-reach placements; and cramming sardines into your gaping gob. You need a knife for slicing away ancient fixed slings; salvaging jammed rap ropes; peeling apples; and endless surgical procedures (see Touching the Void). Therein lies the utilitarian genius of the Trango Shark ($29.95)—a knife and nut tool in one.

On one end of the 8.5-inch-long implement, you find a curved, notched hook that works as a standard nut tool. At the other end of the 2.6-ounce stainless-steel unit, you find a serrated 1.25-inch blade that flicks out of the handle. Make no bones, this is seriously sharp steel, able to sever the toughest rope with a single swipe. A steak knife procured from Momma’s kitchen took innumerable cuts and hacks to do the same.

While ropes, old nests of tat and the like should worry, you should not. When the blade is deployed, it locks securely in place, a la your favorite Old Timer. When the cutter is folded into the handle, a carabiner clipped through the carrying hole prevents it from accidentally opening. Trango: 800-860-3653, trango.com.