Review: Metolius Basic Stick Clip

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The 1984 film Repo Man is a cult classic for many reasons, among them its clever use of generic, anticapitalist packaging for grocery items, with some cans labelled, simply, “FOOD” or “DRINK.” So I thought of Repo Man when I received the Basic Stick Clip in the mail: the name feels almost deliberately threadbare, belying just what a great stick clip this is—perhaps the best on the market.

I’ve owned or used just about every commercial stick clip and, in the end, they all tend to succumb to the same Big Three failure/fatigue/wear/usage issues: 1) At full extension, the stick is wobbly and the thinner, final segments may even snap if using the stick to help pull the rope down, 2) The telescoping mechanism/s wear out, get sticky, or decouple, as the pole segments get wonky or the cam locks or cinching collars lose efficacy, and 3) The clipping head only works—or works best—with certain carabiners.

These are all minor nuisances, sure, and some fussiness with and wear-and-tear on climbing gear are to be expected. But with many clips costing upwards of $100, it would be nice if they stayed in good working condition for more than a season or two, so you don’t become that partner who’s nursed along the same battered stick clip for five years but won’t let your friends use it because it’s one wrongly applied vector away from catastrophic failure.

Based on my testing, the Basic Stick Clip, despite its Repo Man name, is a well-balanced, near-perfectly crafted clipper that solves the Big Three issues, and then some. It’s beefy—the bottom of the six telescoping segments is 1.35” in diameter, tapering down to the topmost at 0.7”, all made of burly metal stock that hasn’t been prone to dinging or deforming. The telescoping poles slide smoothly, with thick, snappy, bomber plastic cam locks to hold them in place at whatever length. And the Superclip is, as ever, an ingenious little head that accepts all carabiners (wire gate and solid gate alike) and is also easy to use for tagging the rope in and removing draws.

All this and the Basic Stick Clip extends to a big 12’, meaning you can clip those high Red River Gorge first bolts, or what we in Colorado like to call “bolt three.” And it collapses down to a manageable 32”, which strapped easily along the side of my Mystery Ranch Tower 47 crag pack.

I tested in various venues, from Staunton State Park, Colorado, to a few other high-country granite crags along the Front Range, all with the region’s typical bouldery, undercut, mandatory-pre-clip starts. I also handed the stick to my partners—some stick-clip ninjas, some stick-clip neophytes—without any preamble, to get their unbiased feedback.

On functionality, it was unanimous: the Basic Stick Clip is user-friendly, reliable, and intuitive for both quickdraw and rope placement. Of particular note was its rigidity, even at full extension, with near-zero wobble when stretching for high clips—again, thanks to the burly telescoping segments. In fact, the Basic Stick Clip was so strong when extended that I felt comfortable pulling down a semi-tensioned rope, something I’m hesitant to do with most other sticks, especially those with plastic poles.

The flip side is, predictably, weight—the Basic Stick Clip weighs 2 pounds, compared, say, to the Standard Trango Beta Stick Evo, which is 1.35 pounds at the same, 12’ length. But really, is one extra pound going to kill you on the approach or while clipping? (If so, up the squats and shoulder presses!) Plus, most of the weight felt concentrated in the base black pole, meaning it was easy enough to tilt the stick up and out for distant clips. To note is that one friend, Dean, said he’d like that pole to have a rubber or similar grip—the black coating is slick—but I solved this by adding grip tape, and I imagine duct or adhesive tape would work as well.

The Basic Stick Clip is a workhorse, with mad functionality and hardwearing components. While it’s not air travel friendly, it’s perfect for road trips and local cragging, a throwback to the robust painter’s poles of yore but with all the modern convenience and flair of the Superclip head.

Buy for $95 

Pros

• Superclip head is highly intuitive for draw/rope installation and removal
• Telescoping poles are heavy-duty, beefy, and reliable
• Cam locks are quick, snappy, and bomber

Cons

• At two pounds, stick is heavy-ish to carry
• Base pole can feel slick in hand, an issue you can solve with grip or duct tape