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Aid Climbing

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I'm looking to learn (teach myself) to aid climb when it inevitably gets all shitty and wet during 'summer', I've got an (almost) full cam rack and a double set of nuts 1-10.

I'm really looking for advice about the 'whackables' i.e. pegs, skyhooks, etc, what size and how many to get?

This is just to get the basics down and not a full rack, although if anyone could give me an idea as to what a full rack consists of, I'll not shun their advice.

(And before anyone looks at my profile and sees I'm from Northumberland, I'm not going to do any of this ANYWHERE NEAR THE SANDSTONE/ANY ESTABLISHED CRAG so please don't start, I'm not daft and I'm aware of the ethics within the county).

Thanks in advance,

Raffles
In reply to Stamford Raffles: Even aid climbers now tend to shun hammered gear where possible but what most of them will carry as a minimum is a set of the 3 Black Diamond hooks and 2 small/medium cam hooks.

That should be enough to get you started.
In reply to The Ex-Engineer: Cheers fella. I should probably add that I need advice regarding aiders, fifi hooks too.
PS more importantly than buying skyhooks I would suggest you will want a set of DMM Brass Offsets (essential aid gear!) and doubles of cams in most if not all micro, small and medium sizes.
In reply to Stamford Raffles:
> I need advice regarding aiders, fifi hooks too.

There are at least half a dozen methods varying from using 1 to 4 sets of aiders and either fixed or adjustable fifi hooks.

This is one area where buying a book or referring to in depth online articles is probably better than relying on forum posts. The US sites, supertopo etc. are your best bet but IIRC Planetfear had a good multi-part article on aid climbing. Also it is worth a look at Andy Kirkpatricks website, psychovertical.com if he ever gets it back up and running again.
In reply to The Ex-Engineer: I follow on him Twitter and did think of asking him but thought I'd try here first (if you go to andy-kirkpatrick.com you can look at his stuff. I did type psychovertical and couldn't work out why it wasn't the website I'd been on before).

Cheers for the websites (as well as the other advice), I'll have a look.
 Baron Weasel 06 May 2013
In reply to Stamford Raffles: Done a few aid ascents in the last month and really enjoyed them. We have had 2 skyhooks and managed ok (one small, one big) - but what you want is a pair of these: http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Rock-Climbing-Equipment/Aid-Climbing/...

Worth reading supertopo and watching all the video's too - you can learn everything you need: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum_articles.php

BW
In reply to Baron Weasel: Thanks, I'll bare that in mind.
 dutybooty 07 May 2013
In reply to Stamford Raffles:

Super topo is seconded. This should be your main source.

Mix it with Andy Ks articles on his website and your pretty much sorted.
 Mark Collins 07 May 2013
In reply to The Ex-Engineer: Why does he need the Brass Offsets?
 Baron Weasel 07 May 2013
In reply to Mark Collins: Depending on rock type - brass offsets are real handy and weigh very little for a set.

BW
 StuMsg 07 May 2013
In reply to Stamford Raffles:

You'll probably find this book interesting:
http://www.falcon.com/books/how-climb-big-walls

It covers a lot of aid techniques, methods, gear etc. which is relevant on a big wall or on short routes.

Andy Kirkpatrick's website is great for aid info, has a whole section of writings on it:
http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/writing/technique
In reply to StuMsg: Cheers fella.

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