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moof
Dec 14, 2007, 8:55 PM
Post #26 of 45
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russwalling wrote: Moof: easiest way is to just turn the bags inside out and cut the bottom off. Our ledge bags are usually long enough to lose an inch or so... then just sew on the "rash" guard and then sew on a NEW bottom. If you can sew, I'll send you the stuff for free and you can do the job. If not, send your ledge bags in and I'll do it for free, but you are on the hook for shipping both ways. And no, this is not a million eyes on this article internet suck up.... I do stuff like this all the time.... for free, for the guy living in his van down by the river, or the trustafarian up the street.
Russ: Thanks for the offer. I have all the stuff, even an industrial machine to do it with. I like the idea of just hacking off an inch, now I feel dumb for not thinking of that...
BTW, who do you source your VCN fabric from? The stuff I scrounged up is black, which is NOT optimal. I've considred making a Big Wall Solar Oven out of it to hang below the haul bag.
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russwalling
Dec 15, 2007, 1:02 AM
Post #28 of 45
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Reel 'em in Giza.... I think it is a whopper! I'll get the gaff....
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giza
Dec 15, 2007, 3:37 AM
Post #29 of 45
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Hook, line and sinker!! Booyah!!!
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ja1484
Dec 15, 2007, 3:37 AM
Post #30 of 45
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russwalling wrote: Moof: easiest way is to just turn the bags inside out and cut the bottom off. Our ledge bags are usually long enough to lose an inch or so... then just sew on the "rash" guard and then sew on a NEW bottom. If you can sew, I'll send you the stuff for free and you can do the job. If not, send your ledge bags in and I'll do it for free, but you are on the hook for shipping both ways. And no, this is not a million eyes on this article internet suck up.... I do stuff like this all the time.... for free, for the guy living in his van down by the river, or the trustafarian up the street.
Jesus Christ guys, what happened to the days of "duct tape fixes all ills"?
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gunksgoer
Dec 15, 2007, 4:38 AM
Post #31 of 45
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Buy the Metolius Half Dome haulbag. End of story.
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stymingersfink
Dec 17, 2007, 2:44 AM
Post #32 of 45
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uasunflower wrote: so-0-0 i want to go to yose this spring and plan to do one or two big walls there. Was thinking about getting a haul bag that could also be used to transport stuff on the airplane flights...
In 2005, I was getting ready to solo on Zodiac when a party of two Norwegians approached the base. Their brand-new Metolius haul bag was sporting a pretty big patch of duct tape. I inquired if they hap put the tape there for abrasion resistance.
No, they replied, Customs at JFK couldn't bother with opening the top to see what was inside, they just slit it open with a razor knife to check the contents.
Pretty well fucked, if you ask me. He said that Customs would replace the bag (if he filed a claim) but that's a bunch of red-tape and waiting, plus no way in hell he was going to get a replacement before he got on a wall.
Here's my advice:
Save your euros, trade them for dollars when you get to the states (the weak dollar should be a big plus for you there), then purchase whatever gear you need while you're in-country.
The money's easier to pack, plus the gear in the U.S. might cost you a little less than it would otherwise (IDK), but you certainly wouldn't have to worry about your stuff getting lost in transit and ruining your climbing vacation. Plus, when you take your new gear home, you'll have a ton of momentos from that last climbing trip you took
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moof
Dec 17, 2007, 3:13 AM
Post #33 of 45
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ja1484 wrote: Jesus Christ guys, what happened to the days of "duct tape fixes all ills"?
If you have the machine, it is so much more bitching to be on the wall and have someone ask "who did that?" than "WTF is under all that?". I alread have WAY too much duct tape splattere over stuff. It is not pretty.
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uasunflower
Jan 24, 2008, 2:00 PM
Post #34 of 45
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Hey, another question to get this thread a bit back on topic
Still about the haulbag - as we plan to spend 5-6 days on the wall, and i weigh my poor 55 kilos (120 pounds or so), what is the best hauling system on the wall to organize so that i would be able to haul by myself without dying after the first pitch? We were thinking about a smaller haulbag (i.e. fish's http://www.fishproducts.com/catalog/haulbags.html grade V haulbag, 5100 cu inches) and an additional bag with portaledge in it, setting up 2 static lines for hauling instead of one...Is this a good idea, or are we completely off here? Is it better to just go with one monster bag, but then what is the best hauling system so that i were able to haul it up all by myself???
Any recommendations/thoughts/advice would be great!
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moof
Jan 24, 2008, 2:45 PM
Post #35 of 45
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#1. If you are light, spend extra care to keep the load right. Leave the kitchen sink, and be careful in not bringing way too much food (very common). Fact is ou'll usually be too busy to eat much (not good, but reality).
#2. A 2:1 PTPP hauling ratching is probably worth a try, I've never wanted to take soooo much crap that I needed that much extra crap just to haul it.
#3. Get a big efficient pulley, 3 or 4" to get all ou can out of what you got.
#4. Early on the route wait for your partner and counterweight space haul. It's slower than you'll want, but you'll be able to haul a lot of crap without just suffering.
#5. Just suffer. With a downward pointed jug on the tensioned side of things you can pull up, and press down and pull well over your body weight. Your kidneys won't thank you, but it does work.
#6. Only seen this advocated once before. Use 2 haul lines in a massive 2:1 system. You have to suffer through knot passing, but it does sound functional at least. See: http://www.terragalleria.com/.../pulley-hauling.html
#7. Dig up some of Kate's posts on various forums for inspiration. She's similar in size and still tears it up. She shows up on supertopo as holdplease2.
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stymingersfink
Jan 24, 2008, 7:05 PM
Post #36 of 45
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uasunflower wrote: Hey, another question to get this thread a bit back on topic ...and an additional bag with portaledge in it... Any recommendations/thoughts/advice would be great!
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moof
Jan 24, 2008, 7:35 PM
Post #37 of 45
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A few other things to keep in mind:
- Be extra careful about setting up the haul as high as you can, it makes a large difference in the amount of effort to haul. Consider even setting up a haul off a single bomber bolt (warning: Pro-traxions can get f'ed up if not given sufficient freedom to move!!!) with backup instead of way low off an equalized cordalette or sliding X.
- It may be worth it to get an edge roller if your expected route has decent ledges. Usually a good ledge, while comfy for belaying, results in extra friction for the haul, easily and extra 20-40% in my opinion. I've often thought an exdge roller would be handy while I was in the throws of suffering, but I always cheap out once back on the ground.
- Go to your local crag and practice with the expected load, maybe on a route with similar angle (of available). Try out the assorted hauling schemes (1:1, space hauling, 2:1, 2:1 w/ratchet, 3:1, etc) before you get in the valley. Even small lightweight hauls can be very enlightening (especially helpful to avoid major cluster at the belay).
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stymingersfink
Jan 24, 2008, 7:56 PM
Post #38 of 45
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Oh yeah...
None of this has anything to do with haul bags really, but moof's comment reminded me of something:
I like to body-haul loads near or in excess of my body-weight... pull yourself a 20-30' length of the lead line from your tie-in point and fix it to the anchor. With your jugs on the light side of the haul and daisy tethers in place, pull up on the heavy side rope (sometimes a jug placed on this line upside-down helps) while you counterweight it with your full weight on the light side. Keep the momentum going till you approach the end of your tether, then jug back up to near the load-capture device and start the process again.
Repeat as necessary till the ledge gets within 10'-15' of your anchor, when you will pull it up the line, remove it from its flag position on your haul line and clip it by the corner to the far bolt of the anchor backing it up with a long sling to the ledge PP. I like to keep the ledge connected to at least something during this entire process, least a strong gust comes out of no-where and attempts to part the ledge from my grip.
Finish the haul, anchor the bag (with a load-releasable knot like the mariner's hitch), zip gear/water/pulley/haul line to your leader as needed, position your ledge for comfort and wait for your partner to finish solo-aiding the pitch above you before repeating. This works best for solo-aid block leads, BTW, and is pretty efficient IME, as the leader is always moving.
With the process outlined above, I've hauled loads consisting of two haul bags and assorted gear probably 20lbs heavier than myself while low on the wall. It gets much easier the higher you go... some of this is due to the ever lightening load, while some may also be attributed to the body-shapeing qualities of Wig-Ballin!
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crotch
Jan 24, 2008, 8:15 PM
Post #39 of 45
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moof
Jan 24, 2008, 11:29 PM
Post #40 of 45
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2 haul bags also makes it easier to split up the loads for the walk off. Otherwise one guys becomes the human wind chime, and the other spends the whole time being dry humped by a haul bag that is still just too heavy.
(This post was edited by moof on Feb 1, 2008, 12:21 AM)
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uasunflower
Jan 25, 2008, 9:45 AM
Post #42 of 45
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Registered: Aug 11, 2003
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hey guys, thx for all the advice, i'll go out and practice to figure it all out...
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ricardol
Feb 3, 2008, 6:09 PM
Post #43 of 45
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i'm kind of late to chiming in .. but what the heck ..
1 - If you have a family member or friend who has a thirst for outdoor adventure, convince them to be your porter to the base, then convince them to be your porter from the summit.
2 - I almost always do my carries to the base with a real backpack (arcterix), a backpack carries 100x better than any haulbag and lets you take more weight with less pain than if you'd carried the haulbag.
3 - if you do have to carry in the bag up tot he base, and you want to suffer less, then consider that here is where the ammount of money you spend will make a difference.
I've had a FISH bag for 4 walls, and its in fine condition, got a hole in it, but that was due to improper packing, and some duct tape fixed it up. It carries like a pig.
I've also climbed with a BD bag, on the wall the two performed pretty much the same (which means that they were heavy, unwieldy and pretty much just sat there and didn't help much in during the hard leads). When hiking back down, I put the really heavy stuff in the BD and tried to keep the FISH one lighter due to the difference in suspension.
I recently got offered a brand new A5 bag for $100 so thats my new primary bag, if i need to bring 2 bags, i'll also being the FISH.
final piece of advice, buy the biggest bag you can find, you'll always be able to use the space.
finally.. whichever bag you choose, it will have 0 impact on wether you can summit, so if this is your first bag, and you are still checking out wether aid climbing is for you, i recommend saving some moola and getting a FISH. plus the extra suffering during the carries will build character.
(This post was edited by ricardol on Feb 3, 2008, 6:12 PM)
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uasunflower
Jun 1, 2008, 7:36 PM
Post #44 of 45
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Hey, just to say thanks to everyone giving advice here - just back from Yosemite, and here is the trip report!
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stymingersfink
Jun 1, 2008, 8:06 PM
Post #45 of 45
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ricardol wrote: i'm kind of late to chiming in .. but what the heck .. 1 - If you have a family member or friend who has a thirst for outdoor adventure, convince them to be your porter to the base, then convince them to be your porter from the summit. 
It must be nice to have someone on the ground keeping tabs on your progress while soloing, especially if something were to go awry. I look forward to meeting you two again sometime...
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