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yetanotherdave
May 11, 2006, 2:23 PM
Post #26 of 33
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Registered: Mar 19, 2005
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In reply to: One last point. You mentioned you couldn't envision putting it all on your harness. I actually have found it very beneficial to not own a gear sling. |
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sweetchuck
May 11, 2006, 2:48 PM
Post #27 of 33
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Thanks a lot for all the good advise. I think it's really going to be helpful. One thing that got me thinking about this was the route I did last weekend. It was very easy, and 4 pitches. My crazy Russian partner told me to just bring cams because we were bringing up his girlfriend who had never climbed on real rock before, and he didn't want her to have to fool with getting nuts and tri-cams out. Well it was easy and I tried it (I looked like the blokes in the mags!). Well, after leaving 3 cams for the first anchor and leading the second pitch I only had my smallest 4 cams left to make an anchor, period! I had to search all around just to find a tiny crack they would fit in. Well the anchor was really solid, and it gave me some faith in my little cams, but it was worying all together. Also considering I was bringing 2 people up at once, and his girlfriend had as good a chance as any of coming off, and the route realy meandered so it could have been a real whipper, I really needed a bomber anchor (and I know you always do, alright). Looking back I wish I had brought my nuts (more than just the two I usually carry). Well, I learned a lot, I am going to lug more of my rack for a while and wait to see which team members are riding the bench and can safely be cut. Thanks though! sc
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buckyllama
May 11, 2006, 5:51 PM
Post #28 of 33
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In reply to: In reply to: One last point. You mentioned you couldn't envision putting it all on your harness. I actually have found it very beneficial to not own a gear sling. That may help keep things organized on single-pitch routes, but it really magnifies the time taken to switch leaders on long stuff. If you're going to do routes longer than 2 pitches, please get a multi-loop gear sling and use it. Adjust it to the shortest length both leaders can use and just pass it back and forth at belays rather than reclipping everything. This'll save you (and the parties stuck behind you) lots of time. Less time fiddling with gear at belays = less chance of getting benighted, better odds of pulling off longer routes, more time for summit pictures - or summit nookie 8^)
Nonsense. The amt of time it takes to switchover at a belay when harness racking v/s simply re-rack to a sling is tiny. Here is my method:
Second pulls off a sling/gear piece, hands the gear to the leader who re-racks it to the racking biner on their harness. They then re-rack the sling to their own harness. When the second runs out of gear, the leader and second transfer the remaining gear. At a good stance this can be done by actually having both people pull gear off the leaders harness and clip it to the second's harness. This is rarely more than 10 biner's worth of stuff (usually 5 or 6) so it takes a whopping 15 seconds.
I should note that I rack cams multiples to a biner like nuts. If you rack singly the second would just keep any cams.
If the stance permits it the leader can transfer any racking biners to the second that are "full" as they notice it. This alleviates the 15 seconds at the end.
It's a bit more of a dance than just cliping the sling to the anchor and reracking to that, but it's not slower once you've done it a few times.
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brutusofwyde
May 11, 2006, 6:36 PM
Post #29 of 33
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Registered: Nov 3, 2002
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In reply to: If you're going to do routes longer than 2 pitches, please get a multi-loop gear sling and use it. Adjust it to the shortest length both leaders can use and just pass it back and forth at belays rather than reclipping everything. This'll save you (and the parties stuck behind you) lots of time. Less time fiddling with gear at belays = less chance of getting benighted, better odds of pulling off longer routes, more time for summit pictures - or summit nookie 8^)
It also means less dropped gear over the years.
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scrapedape
May 11, 2006, 7:29 PM
Post #30 of 33
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Registered: Jun 24, 2004
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In reply to: Also think of Tony, he covered 60 pitches of free climbing in one day with 12 cams and not much else.
Yeah, think of Tony! Wait a minute.. who the fuck is Tony?
In reply to: In reply to: If you're going to do routes longer than 2 pitches, please get a multi-loop gear sling and use it. Adjust it to the shortest length both leaders can use and just pass it back and forth at belays rather than reclipping everything. This'll save you (and the parties stuck behind you) lots of time. Less time fiddling with gear at belays = less chance of getting benighted, better odds of pulling off longer routes, more time for summit pictures - or summit nookie It also means less dropped gear over the years. |
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brutusofwyde
May 11, 2006, 7:48 PM
Post #31 of 33
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In reply to: Doesn't it increase somewhat the risk of losing the whole rack in one go, though, leaving you stranded six pitches off the ground?
No... I don't know about you, but when I am handing over a rack, I do not drop it. It's much easier to be careful and double check when handing off just one thing than hurriedly trying to unclip and reclip many things: "Here's the rack. Got it?" "Got it." Hander then lets go and handee throws it over her shoulder.
Often when the leader reaches the belay, she will take off the rack and clip it in to the anchors with a locking carabiner. When the second arrives, having cleaned & racked the pieces in an orderly fashion while resting for the next hard section(s); whichever rack is the biggest becomes the new lead rack. On pitches that take a lot of gear, the second's rack becomes the new lead rack as soon as the three remaining pieces are transferred from the old lead rack. On pitches that take only a few pieces, the (old) lead rack becomes the lead rack for the next pitch, after transferring just a few pieces of gear.
One other point: Climbing Steck-Salathe' or Lost Arrow Chimney or Milktoast Chimney or Stonehouse Chimney or Windhorse will give you a different perspective on the utility of a gear sling.
Brutus
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muslmutt
May 17, 2006, 8:22 PM
Post #32 of 33
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Registered: Jul 17, 2004
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On unfamiliar routes I find hexes quite useful in allowing me to save the cams for higher up. This way I am not as often wishing I had that cam I placed 30ft below. As I near the end of the pitch I start dumping the cams saving what I think I need for an anchor. Very often I found my self at the end of a climb having used nothing but hexes. This led to finding much enjoyment in having done/doing whole routes with all passive gear. No one gives me any real crap for it. Does no one else have any appreciation for these style ascents? Or am I just an old timer?
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rad_dog
May 19, 2006, 10:15 PM
Post #33 of 33
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Registered: Jan 2, 2006
Posts: 34
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What I bring: the standard single rack is a set of RP's, a set of WC rocks to a number 8, a set of TCU's from a 00 to a 2, a set of friends from a 1 to a 3 (with 1/2 but not 1/4 sizes), quickdraws, a couple of yates screamers, some biners, some over the shoulder 24" slings.
For the double rack I'd double up on the TCU's and add a few Camalots and maybe a few Lowe ball nuts.
If I'm climbing lots of cracks I'd add a few hexes and sometimes bigger cams.
What I see:
I recently saw a big double cam rack, cordolette, ATC plus a grigri, tons of trad draws, hexes, nuts, aliens, zeros, friends, etc. all on harness gear loops.
Speaking of the grigri I've grown to like a simple trango B-52 with a petzl attache biner.
For racking I really like the BD double gear sling . It's light, versatile, and efficient. Makes a double cam rack easy to carry and organize. Racking all that stuff on a harness is annoying to me. I also think the double sling is safer than a single over the shoulder gear sling in terms of getting hung up in a fall or dropping your gear.
Happy Climbing!
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