UKH

I’m a big fan of small, very lightweight screwgates e.g. Grivel Plume Nut for slings/Prusiks (especially leg loop Prusik in conjunction with a very short loop, to get the knot really close to the leg). Also Grivel’s twingates, for applications such as the locker for rethread/lower on sport routes. Biggest vote goes to our new Edelrid 11mm static with Aramid in the sheath, for situations where weight isn’t particularly important, but abrasion and cut resistance definitely is!

Probably not that recent but I'm loving my DMM Halfnuts. Great in shallow or flared placements and a lighter way of doubling up sizes.

To be fair to Wild Country and Tom Briggs of this parish who developed the product, their half nuts came out around 10 years ago.

When WC had production problems with the half nut , I panick bought another set in case I lost any. Now have both wc and dmm ones on my rack.  Great nuts.

Now the colour coding is useful, but unanodised nuts would stick better, that would be an innovation in my opinion.

Metal bound curved wire brushes.

For some  reason come with a hole on the handle, ideal to carry together with a nut key. Far better and longer lasting than traditional wooden ones. Neat enough to clean lichen out of narrow cracks down to 10mm. 

Ice axe springer / v / "leashless- leash". 

Not sure how modern they are but converting from wrist leashes was a revolution for me.

As you haven't defined "recent", I'm going for a spread:

- wheel and sail

- printing press and/or clock

- radio transmission (or TV if you prefer)

- the chemistries of cement and/or glues

- internal combustion engine (maybe impactful rather than useful in a true long term sense)

- antibiotics

- silicon-integrated circuit, including derived sensors

- CRISPR or PCR

- process algorithms: large-dataset machine learning (and or the internet)

- but yeah, half nuts and double axle friends

Belay glasses and Edelrid Ohm are two things that I think are really useful (though I only use the former) and are reasonably recent…

Probs also then newer generation of ABD’s like Tempe click-up and other similar ones. They’ve changed things…

I think recent is anything post MOAC :p

Alright, I'll bite. 

Modern, soft, high performance bouldering footwear. The softness is the key here. It makes them; A) actually sensitive. The feedback and feel is so useful and B) actually wearable for a period of time! 

BB

Belay crabs which prevent cross loading.

* Very thin slings e.g. 8mm that can be twisted rather than [only] worn across the shoulder. I sometimes miss the days of blue Troll supertape (if a flake/spike looks sharp), but it didn't pack away small

* Ultra-small/light Krabs, e.g. Edelerid Nineteen G. They are a bit niche (you're not going to clip a clove hitch to them while wearing dachmitts) but in their correct place they are great

* Modern LED lights and 18650 batteries

* Neoprene socks (worn inside wellies)

* Primaloft gold

* The Ultralight ethos  (not just backpacking. OK it's been around for a few years but it's relatively new to me)

Guidebooks including photos of sea cliff approaches and abseil points viewed from where I might be standing, rather than from a boat in the sea, where I'm not.

I'm with you on LED headtorches - it's impressive that something so tiny can produce more light than you'd only be able to get from a massive, heavy 6D Maglite 20 years ago, and with a long battery life too.

To counter it, a recent innovation I *don't* like is the trend towards shorter jackets with hardly any long ones left on the market.  I don't like wearing waterproof trousers (so normally go for shorts), but equally don't like wet manhood!  Also I have a quite long body so it limits what I can get that fits at all, even as intended!

What's one of them? you meant the CT Click up that's been around for a few years? 

HMS Carabiners with an "inner gate" to stop it inverting. I could never go back to a standard carabiner for belaying now.

My favourite is the DMM Ceros.

Yes I meant the climbing technology click-up. Auto correct on my phone thought different. A few years is recent, given the long history of climbing?

I thought I was the only person who liked them! Great if you want a wee bit more security but not carrying all the lockers ever made!

I bought them as I liked the idea and love new things, but quickly found I use them lots.

Grivel Clepsydra the quickest and easiest belaying crab I've used.

https://grivel.com/products/clepsydra-l-k10g

But have you tried the blue Edelrid ones that Rock and Run are selling for 7.50 + free postage? I have to say I didn't think hard enough before ordering as to why it was such a cheap deal! The inner gate serves as a second safety on the slider lock on the main gate which seems a smart idea - until you try it. Very hard to unclip one handed, almost impossible when it's round on the back of your harness out of sight. Should have seen that one coming. 😆 I have a 10 year old Edelrid slider HMS that has the normal little internal wire gate to hold it in the right orientation and it's superb, but don't recommend the double lock ones for people who don't enjoy dexterity puzzles!

Also mine. Brill with a grigri or with an ATC type device.

I am genuinely not being argumentative but I am struggling to see the big jump in performance with twin-axle cams.  They weigh more, cost more and don't particularly fill a wider range of crack.  As I want to feel good about my purchases, I am happy to be reassured that they are a good buy but I am not so sure.  Please tell me I am wrong!

Belay glasses- a brilliant solution to a common problem.

Rhino Repair cream- I thought this would be bollocks but it really works, and is non greasy so can be used while you're climbing.

Totem cams- being able to only load one side in dodgy placements is great on horrible shallow limestone pockets.

Lattice rung- hardly an innovation but a perfect profile to be injury free, while still training friendly.

Nope - agreed. I've got Dragons and Camalots and they are both great, but then again so we're my rack of 4CUs before - along with being lighter and cheaper per unit. 

If twin axles are an improvement it's an incremental one, not a revolutionary one!

Climbing Technology ClickUp. Poops all over every other assisted device.

4g mobile.  Makes looking up maps and data bases so much easier. 

Another vote for the edelrid ohm. So simple yet so effective 

I don't own a click up but I've used friends' ones a fair amount now. They work well but I'm not sure they are really better than other options. Grigris are more expensive and heavier but I prefer the mechanism for lowering. And my Megajul is much lighter and I think cheaper than a click up plus it can work with double ropes. I find lowering on the megajul very similar an experience to lowering on the Clickup.

All the other assisted devices have a “nack” to them. The clickup runs exactly the same as an ATC (in terms of rope handling), so old dogs like me don’t have to learn new tricks

Not really, because of the click-up function of the Click Up! My ATC doesn't click up or down. 😉 I know what you mean but I don't really think the back is much more or less than other devices.

I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been short-roped by grigri belayers who couldn’t pay out slack quick enough

Another vote for the ohm... 

Haha

Another twin gate lover here But I'd nominate Kahtoola Crampons -for their ability to go on bendy boots or shoes as much as their compact carry. Great for general carry in winter on non-climbing days, and genuinely pleasant to walk in. They remind me of the "strap-on tricouni plate" short point crampons briefly around in the late '70s and popular in Aberdeen.

...and sorry that should be "nack" (or is it "knack"?) not "back" in my last post. Can't edit it now...

People are hard to underestimate ... but I shouldn't think so. You'd still be better off with underweight boots and kahtoolas than just underweight boots, and being 'underbooted' would probably make itself known before the crampons were needed.

Short spikes mean you can pretty much ignore them as you kick steps and edges and they do have a plate that helps direct energy into the snow. That said, using them with French Technique gives some more margin for error. I've found them really effective up to low grade scrambly ridges and they don't have that 'on stilts' feeling on iced up paths and plateaux. They don't ever roll under your feet like the spring/chain-based ones can. You pays your money...

Not if you are wading about up to your nuts in filthy water

Decent crack gloves. I haven't touched tape gloves since I got a pair of the BD gloves. Total game changer in terms of ease of use, lifetime and functionality compared to tape. Results in far less 'ah it'll be ok' pitches that end in skin holes. 

I know exactly what you mean here! I remember coming down Striding Edge a few years ago having done a route on Red Tarn Face, and getting annoyed with the teetery stilts feeling, take my crampons off for a bit until my foot slipped on unseen verglas, so putting them back on again! I remember thinking nailed boots would be the answer - but I guess Kahtoolas are! 😀