the good thing about steel rings is that they take abuse very well; after hundreds of folks have rapped off this ring, it'll still be just fine; but yes they are heavier; but great for permanent rap anchors; now only if folks could do better than use a million different strands of ratty webbing through these in j-tree : ) ..............i like chains

not sure if they're still around, but the ones from ABC are color coded and cheaper

and thus am very sentimental about it; good beginner shoes, or for all day moderate climbing; comfortable, not very "techinical" or great on edges

is it wrong to get sentimental about a water bottle? i don't think i'm the only one; if you haven't duct taped some webbing onto the sides, you haven't lived : ) ps: after long research LOL, i suggest running webbing down the sides, not the bottom, then doubling it back up and taping over that; webbing on the bottom=doesn't stand up straight

i got a meteor for myself, but when my wife wanted a helmet i got her this one; the meteor is nice and light but there are two things i don't like about it (the meteor, not the elios): the meteor is rather thick foam so that often i've stood up under a roof and my head hits the roof, it's quite thick; better than my head hitting the rock but it gets in the way; this has happened quit frequently; the meteor can be bulky and has got in the way often for me, i've had to bend down and twist my head out of awkward situations, i'd be concerned in chimneys too; the other plus about the meteor is that it is quite light, and i love that; however, the big minus is that it has no hard shell so i'm concerned about how it would deal with rockfall; i've never been hit on the head with rockfall, nor taken an upside-down fall and smacked my head (though my wife has), so i can't really comment, but i'd be concerned without a hard shell like this elios has; i think the poster above is correct that the meteor is good for face climbing/sport as it would absorb impact well if you fell and flipped and smacked your head.
if i was looking for a helmet now i know what i'd want, and this is my advice to you: look for something with:

1. a hard shell
2. as lightweight as possible
3. some padding under the shell (not to bulky)
4. as sleek as possible

i think the elios fits this well; it's too small for me so i haven't worn it; just wanted to mention my experience with the meteor; i don't like how bulky it is and it has gotten in the way many times for me; stay safe, buy a helmet that doesn't get in the way.