UKC

Hi
How much money should I look at putting aside to purchase a beginner trad rack, so nuts, slings, etc

In reply to h.cook2000:

Hi!

I've just put together (today!) an article on building a trad rack. I've not put any prices on it, but I've included specific examples so you should be able to figure out how much it will cost.

http://www.mikenolanmountaineering.co.uk/#!The-perfect-rack/cuy4/57c62523c7...

Let me know if you have any questions about it!

Mike

In reply to Mike Nolan:

Thanks!!!!

In reply to h.cook2000:

Start with the DMM starter pack from Cotswolds, use a BMC discount card, I got DMM nuts 1-14, DMM offsets 6-11 and t4 torque nuts (cant remember sizes) all for £150 - the discount so about £130 ish

Good start, then add slings, krabs, nut key etc bit by bit.
Chuck in a few second hand cams and you're good to go!

In reply to Mike Nolan:

Can you tell me approximate overall price please?

In reply to h.cook2000:

No worries! If you like my page on Facebook, I'll be writing a couple more articles which might be useful over the next couple of weeks.

www.facebook.com/mikenolanmountaineering

Please share the blog post if you've found it useful!

Mike

In reply to WaterMonkey:

Thanks

In reply to h.cook2000:

Message me on Facebook and I'll try and give you a breakdown.

Mike

In reply to Mike Nolan:

Ok will do

In reply to h.cook2000:

When I started getting gear, I just bought gear that complemented what the people I climbed with already had. My first buy was a half rope. My first rack was a number 2 and a number 3 cam.

In reply to h.cook2000:

Assuming you have the basics (Harness, Chalk Bag, Shoes, Lid, Half Ropes, Belay device, 4 locking crabs) and you buy brand new kit lets say from DMM to build a trad rack for single-pitch, multi-pitch and sea cliffs then it will work out at about £800-ish... YEASH!! That is if you are getting brand new kit at retail prices with BMC discount.

I am basing that on buying the following
2 x Sets of DMM nuts (DMM Protection Pack)
7 x DMM Dragon Cams
4 x DMM Torque nuts (DMM Protection Pack)
6 x Extending draws (Two snap gates on a 60cm dyneema)
6 x Normal quickdraws
3 x 120cm dyneema slings
1 x 240cm dyneema sling
1 x Nut key
12 x snap gates for racking nuts and cams

In reply to David Staples:

Are half ropes a must?

In reply to h.cook2000:

Perfect article for you here...

http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=840

You don't have to buy it all at once especially if you climb with someone who has gear.

My first rack was nuts 1-4, 4 screwgates, 4 quickdraws, a couple of slings and 3 ancient cams. Oh and one belay plate shared between two. Did some multipitch sea cliffs on that!

In reply to h.cook2000:


Not to start with, no.

In reply to David Staples:

I think you must have missed the part where he said "beginner".

The suggestion to buy the DMM starter pack seems like rather a good one. Perhaps the offset nuts are overkill for a beginner rack but it's a decent deal for the package.

Worth noting that several specialist climbing shops offer the pack for cheaper than Cotswold. Even if you take into account a BMC discount at Cotswold, they're about even. V12outdoor, for example, sell the pack for £139.50 versus Cotswold's £155. I think this is often the case with Cotswold, they offer discounts to everybody under the sun but boost their basic prices so that everybody believes they're getting an exclusive bargain when they're actually just paying the same as they would elsewhere.

In reply to h.cook2000:
You can still get sets of non anodized rocks size 1 - 10 $35 from Go Outdoors. Needle Sports sell 1 - 11 wallnuts for $75. You don't need 7 cams on a beginner rack. If you can afford 3 get size 1, 2, 3 with 2 as first choice. Get a couple of rockcentrics to cover anything bigger than 3 cam. I'd go for 12 extenders; slingdraws are versatile, but you can often get packs of extenders which will work out cheaper; go long for mountain routes.

In reply to h.cook2000:

For long wondering pitches yes. Though as someone else pointed out you don't have to buy it all at once. Also if you climb with someone who has gear you don't need to buy everything. Your best bet like others have said is to get the DMM protection pack, it is a very good deal for what you get.

Cams are the thing that will cost you when you start looking. Happy hunting and feel free to PM me if you want any help.

Ta

In reply to h.cook2000:

Hi

In descending order of priority (so stop when you run out of dosh):

Shoes - £70. Allows you to boulder without buggering the rock and to enjoy the moves

Harness - £40. Allows you to train indoors and partner someone with kit
Belay device and screwgate - £20. Don't have to swap belay gear.
Helmet - £40. Allows you to lead, and to second in places where rock is suspect

Set of wires - £60. You can get a full set for the price of a couple of cams
Set of extenders (5) - £50.
Nutkey - £10. Or your wires will be a repeat purchase...
Some tat and a maillon - £20. You now have enough stuff to get into trouble; you need enough stuff to get out of it.

Set of hexes - £50 (for the sizes above the wires).
Some snapgates - £25.
A couple of extra screwgates - £15.
2 x 120 slings; 2 x 60 slings - £30. Use the rope until now

Set of 3 cams 1-2-3 - £100. 20% of the total of everything you've spent so far on 3 bits of gear. Don't get them stuck

One half rope - £90. match the length (but not the colour) to your partner. Nobody likes a rope freeloader.

More small wires - £40. Double up the small sizes, perhaps in a different make.

More cams: 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 - £100. Cams are expensive. Second hand can be good. Fakes aren't.

The other half rope - £90. You wanna bring along a buddy and return the favours you had earlier up the list, right?

You could enjoy 1000s of routes with that.

In reply to h.cook2000:

Using the Rock and Run website you can buy
11x50m rope
10 20cm quickdraws including crabs
Belay device
3 screwgates
Pair climbing shoes
Harness
4 slings
Helmet
Set of wallnuts
Torque nuts 1 - 4

for £402.50

That should get you started.

No chalk bag or nut key. Make your own

In reply to Luke90:

Good point Luke, though I did start trad at Swanage. Many people with the hawaiian skirt of gears down there.

In reply to baron:

What quickdraws are these?

In reply to h.cook2000:
Wild Country wild wires 20cm. Set of 5 for £38. If I 've read the website correctly!

In reply to baron:

Ok thanks

In reply to h.cook2000:


Depends what you climb and who you climb with. For me one half rope was pretty much the first thing I got. There is no reason to have more than one though.

In reply to baron:


I'd have been pretty disappointed if my quickdraws hadn't come with carabiners

In reply to whenry:
Wasn't sure of all this new fangled terminology - extender, quickdraw, slingdraw,,dogbone, etc. What is the 'correct' name for just the tape part of a quickdraw?

In reply to baron:

To my mind the terms imply:

Extender - Could be a quickdraw with carabiners or just an open sling with between 0 and 2 carabiners.
Quickdraw - Dogbone or short sling with two carabiners.
Slingdraw - Open sling (usually 60cm but possibly more) with two carabiners, the sling is tripled up (or possibly doubled) and can be easily lengthened to full length if needed.
Dogbone - The sewn textile element joining two carabiners, distinct from an open sling because it will have a section close to one end where both sides of the sling are sewn together, leaving a loop at each end for the carabiners, one small loop and one larger loop.

In reply to h.cook2000:

How long is a piece of string?

Top of my head estimates assuming you have basic personal/indoor kit:

£90 1 + 1/2 sets of nuts
£50 1 set hexs
£90 2 finger/hand size cams
£70 12 quickdraws (2 sets, long and longer)
£40 5 60cm, 2 120cm slings
£10 nut key

Canibalise a few quickdraws for krabs and to make slingdraws.

Totals about £350. Could be lots more if you want cams, could be less if your goals are modest, you get deals or you're able to share kit with a friend.
jk

In reply to h.cook2000:
There's a couple of articles on building a rack up on our website:

http://www.needlesports.com/content/basic-rock-climbing-advice.aspx

http://www.needlesports.com/content/advanced-rock-climbing-advice.aspx

Personally, I wouldn't recommend alloy offsets for anything except pretty specific uses (like protecting old peg scar cracks in Yosemite which is what Hugh Banner originally designed them for). I find a mixture of Rocks and Wallnuts ideal for just about all British climbing. A set of Torque Nuts or Rocentrics, 8 or so quickdraws and a couple of 120cm slings and a 60cm one, all with krabs, should be enough gear for most routes up to VS as long as the pitches aren't too long. Cams are nice, but if you are trying to keep the cost down, not essential. A nut key is a good investment as it will probably help you add to your rack free of charge!

Later, you can add micro wires, for me a set of BD Microstoppers and a set of BD Offset Microstoppers, though I am sure DMM equivalents would do just as well, cams and more quick draws, as you can afford them.

In reply to David Staples:




I couldn't get off the ground carrying that lot.

In reply to h.cook2000:

The traditional way to learn to climb trad was with an experienced partner, or with a club. You would borrow your partner's gear for your early leads, and build up your own rack slowly and with better knowledge of what is most suited to your usual climbing area.

In reply to h.cook2000:
For a basic one, probably about £300. But buy it gradually and climb with what you have, don't hang out until you can get everything and not climb

In reply to h.cook2000:

Have you checked your email / junk mail

In reply to h.cook2000:
I was going to say £500, including half-ropes and assuming you have some quickdraws and a harness. Still you have to climb with someone, buy half each and share....

In reply to springfall2008:

Beginners do not require half ropes.

In reply to zimpara:


You can get away without them, but it makes it more difficult to climb safely, so I'd argue a beginner is better on half ropes.

In reply to springfall2008:

More safe, nonsense!
With a beginner belaying on the half ropes- i would argue you were less safe.

In reply to zimpara:

Maybe that says more about your fondness for arguing than anything else?

In reply to h.cook2000:

Half ropes: depends where you are climbing. I'm pretty sure I got away not using them much for a lot of climbing in the peak or N Wales bolted and trad limestone. Did once get the single rope stuck on Almscliffe with rope drag due to not having long enough extenders for the depth of the cracks, rather than zigzags.

In reply to springfall2008:


It's a fair point if you don't know how to use them, but assuming you have some common sense then there are big benefits to half ropes. With a single you are either going to have the rope zig-zagging which means drag and more chance of gear popping during a fall or your placement options will be more limited. For example on a single rope you can't double up your gear easily from a single stance, which is something a beginner unsure of their placements would be well advised to do.