UKC

What do you need to add to a conventional trad rack to convert it to a (clean so no hammer/pegs) aid rack.

a set of etriers, 2 x daisy chains, sky hooks...pair of gloves?

In reply to Kemics:
I suppose it depends on where you're going and what routes.

I'm off to The Valley again next year (with a bit of luck and currently in the process of sourcing a couple of sets of off-set Aliens.

I've always found DMM brass offsetts indispensable.

For clean aiding thin cracks Leeper/Moses cam hooks are brill.

E

In reply to Kemics:

Fifi hook.

Totem cams (thinner head size and able to weight a single set of lobes (for aid purposes only)).

In reply to Kemics:

Big walling or?

In reply to Kemics:

Gri gri, 2 Jumars, knee pads, double bandolier, comfy harness, fifi for steeper walls, petzl traxion, offset nuts, offset cams.

In reply to Kemics:

Lots of good info here: http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/forum_articles.php

And here:http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/writing/gear

Cam hooks, fifi hook and maybe some tomahawks all useful to have.

In reply to All:

I take it we're all in agreement, no cam hooks on grit.

In reply to Aigen:

Doh I forgot about jumars! I was thinking purely about leading but of course jugging is a large part of climbing.

At the moment I'm just going to faff around on some routes near me...just to practice.

However, end goal is a trip to either Yosemite or Zion national park in spring next year. My girlfriends parents have moved to phoniex, so we've an excuse to be close. Hoping to nip off an bag some walls

In reply to Enty:
I need to go to Yosemite, I feel a calling..it's like the climbing Mecca

Would you ever leave a cam hook as protection, or are they only rated for body weight?

Damn it's a shame that a decent two person ledge costs as much as a full aid rack and flights and food costs. It would open up so many more routes

In reply to Kemics:

They generally fall out if they're not weighted.

In reply to Oli:


This ^^

On the Nipple pitch on zodiac there's about 15 feet of inverted cam hooks under the large flake. As you weight the next one the previous one falls out. Spooky.

E

In reply to Enty:

There was a fixed one at the start of pitch #5 (or #4) of Tangerine Trip fifteen years ago - felt pretty solid!

In reply to Ian Parsons:

They work so well in flared peg scars they can be a bugger to remove at times.

In reply to Kemics:

Judging by Andy Kirkpatrick's efforts (and recent tweets concerning a house move), the entire contents of Needlesports.

https://twitter.com/psychovertical/status/485421624620228608

In reply to Kemics:

Chest gear rack thing.

In reply to Kemics:

DMM offsets are a must for Yosemite. My old set of HB offsets are almost solely used on aid.
I quite like using adjustable daisies rather than the traditional daisy and fifi hook.
I have forgotten the brands of cam hook but on my first trip to Yosemite we had ones that are bend at a right angle and found them next to useless, there are a different type that are round in profile which we found to be much more secure.

In reply to Neil:



I'm no expert, but I have been picking up on what Chris Mac talks about and have been playing with going daisy-less on easy aid with solid placements. It feels freaky, but the cluster is so much less it doesn't even feel like aid any more. I have also given up on fifi hooks. They just seem to get attached to everything you don't want them to. And not attached when you need them too (i.e. when the piece you are testing blows). I do as Chris suggests, a very short quick draw from the harness to the aider's carabiner. Maybe they make sense on hard nailing aid, but I don't do that.

Although people mock adjustable daisies, and on less steep aid they have no purpose, I like them when it gets steep or I get worried. They slow the whole thing down, but when I'm worried I find a bit of calm helps.

In reply to David Coley:

I'm keen on adjustable daisies for the same reasons. I just can't imagine not having the aiders tied to me with something in case I drop them, so might as well be a daisy of some description. I can see though, how the cluster would be a lot less. I'll have to give it a go sometime and see how I get on.

In reply to Neil:

Someone on this thread offered me a pair of Aiders which I'm keen to buy. However, I've lost/accidentally deleted the email for some mysterious reason I think it was Neil, if not, whoever you are, I'm still interested!