Most people at my studio use magnesium, which I've been borrowing for a while, and I wanted to bring my own grip product so I wouldn't be a freeloader all the time. I'm a total beginner (going into my 4th month) so I can't judge the product on more challenging holds. In my experience, the grip you get is comparable to magnesium. The pros are that this doesn't stain once dry (no white handprints on my ****!) and doesn't give me dry hands like magnesium tends to do. It dries about as quickly as the magnesium I used to borrow, but I find it harder to gauge whether I've used 'enough' or when it's dry enough. I use about equal amounts as I would use magnesium. The cons are that it's slightly more expensive. It's also very runny so it's difficult to apply when you need grip on specific areas. It tends to run between your fingers when applying to your hands, which feels like a waste of product. I also find it doesn't apply well if your hands are somewhat moist (like if you've just washed and towel-dried your hands, or wiped down the pole) and pills off. Magnesium has similar issues though. You can tell you need to reapply when the product starts pilling and rubbing off, which feels pretty gross, and you need to wash it off completely before reapplying otherwise the product comes off immediately. Reapplying magnesium, in my experience, is less of a hassle.In short, I think it's up to preference. It's a good product, but I wouldn't say it's an obvious improvement over conventional magnesium. If you really dislike the way magnesium stains or dries out your hands, I'd definitely give this a try. If you're happy using magnesium, you're not missing out on anything.