UKC

Would this be over the top or about right for a lead rack for up to V Diff. on Gritstone?

Set of nuts 1-11.
Set of hexcentrics 3 to 9.
WC Cams 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 (racked on 3 krabs)
10 quickdraws on various length extenders (couple of extra here to allow racking some on both sides of harness)
One large HMS screwgate with 240cm sling
Two small screwgates with 120cm slings.

Anything I should be adding or removing? It looks like lot of gear when piled up on the floor, and also weighs like a lot!

In reply to Alan_2468: Personally I'd add a couple of extra screwgates and lose a couple of the hexes. Obviously a belay device, and I like to carry a nut key even when leading.

Because grit routes are so short, and you can guess what sort of gear you'll use just by looking at the route from the ground, you might want to think about leaving out some gear, depending on whether it is a wide crack, thin crack, lots of horizontal breaks, etc. Although you won't be walking far and there is an argument that carrying a big rack is good weight training!

In reply to Alan_2468:

I would try it out. Do some routes with the rack as it is and think about what you could do without, or could have done with. After doing this you could start trying to read each route from the ground and seeing if there is anything on your rack you are sure you will or won't need.

In reply to Alan_2468:

That's a comprehensive rack for that grade, and you can probably get away with a bit less - particularly fewer quickdraws, and perhaps even a couple fewer hexes.

But that's just a generalisation - if you find yourself underneath a crack that's obviously going to swallow a load of nuts, you may want a couple more quickdraws. For a wider crack your hexes may be more useful. Whether you feel confident to make those judgements before setting off will generally dictate the amount of redundancy you end up lugging up the route!

In reply to MHutch:

Sounds like I should bring the lot and see how it works out. To Nick - yes, I suppose lugging it all to the crag is a form of training - LOL.

A couple of people have suggested I could leave out a few hexes - do you mean the smaller ones, the bigger ones, or some in between ones?

In reply to Alan_2468:
I remember the advice I was given was not to use cams till your climbing HS / VS, so you force yourself to learn to place passive pro, that way when you've placed all your cams, and are jibbering miles above your gear, you'll have decent experiance of placing bomber passive pro to fall back on

In reply to Alan_2468: personally i would remove all of the cams and half of the quickdraws

The lighter your rack the more fun the climbing, i also dont take the overlapping small hexes as i prefer to use nuts.

Dont forget a nut key for the second

In reply to Alan_2468:

Vdiff on grit will be very featured,
depends how confident you're feeling...
If you're cruising vdiff (which you should be)
you'll get adequate protection with just the nuts,

if you want a bit more than that, I'd take the cams rather than the hexes, they tend to slot in much quicker and more solidly on grit.

10 quickdraws sounds alot, but shouldnt be too many.

In reply to Alan_2468:

I always take pretty much everything along to the crag. The most useful hex sizes at that grade I found to be 5,6,7,8. However, if you're teeing up a wide crackline, then the seagull slayer no.9 will probably slot somewhere, and if you've got a fairly uniform width crack that takes a bigger rock, you may be grateful for a smaller hex if you've already used your rock.

Inevitably though, the bit of gear you need will be either in your sack or in the belay if multipitching. That's a rule of climbing.

In reply to Alan_2468:
If you've got it then as many have said already here, why not take it? I own 2 cams and very rarely use them but then again very rarely go over VS (chicken and egg in there somewhere!). At uni we weren't allowed to buy cams for the club kit (expense and consequences of misplacing them) so we climbed with exactly what you have there minus the cams.

In reply to Steeve:

Thanks for the advice so far.

I've climbed to a higher level in Wales but haven't done much on grit! I'm aiming to get a few more easy grit routes under my belt in the next few weeks.

In reply to Alan_2468: sounds like you've god a pretty decent rack there mate, all id say is add a few 120 slings and hms' as they weigh sod all and offer sweet protection. also the hms' you'll need for setting up the top system trust me even when you think you have enough every now and again you'll find your one short so you only having one leave up a certain creak

In reply to Alan_2468:

That’s not unreasonable for taking to the crag with you but it’s definitely over the top for carrying on every lead.

Suggest you amend as follows (for Vdiff grit):

For anything but the longest routes lose at least two of the quickdraws (no need for extras each side, on Vdiffs you’ll be able to sort your gear out whilst standing there comfortably)

Bin the 240 cm sling and both small screwgates unless you’re setting up a top rope. You don’t need to carry extra biners for the belay on single pitch, you’ll have enough on your harness with just your racking biners even if you’ve got no quickdraws left.

Depending on what the route looks like from the ground I’d stick a snapgate/wiregate biner on one of the long slings so it’s ready to use as a runner.

Wires / hexes / cams…
Three medium / large hexes or friends 1, 2, 3 should be more than enough.
If you really want to take more than that then don’t treble up on anything (e.g. rock 10 / rockcentric 4 / friend 1.5), and don’t double up wires and hexes unless it’s obvious from the ground that you need to.

For grit I’d rack the cams individually. Often they’re better off not extended and the weight of an extra biner or two won’t kill you, especially when you bear in mind the comment above about biners for anchors.

Don’t go leaving everything on the ground to save weight but try to avoid being over cautious.

Less gear => less weight and less clutter => everything becomes simpler, easier and more enjoyable.

In reply to pacman:


Of all the advice on this thread, this is pretty much the only bit I really disagree with. Many anchors at the top of grit routes are most easily set up with a big sling round a boulder. If you only have 120cm slings you will be missing out on many easy, bomber anchors.

Also I'd definitely keep the screwgates. Anchors using snaps are all well and good when you are wanting to move quick and light, but the extra secutity is more than worth the minimal differance in weight IMHO.

Lastly, as has already been suggested, racking your cams singly would be better. I'd also only take the larger hexes. At any rate it probably won't be to long on grit before you leave them behind completely in favour of the cams anyway.

In reply to Alan_2468: My mate John used to set off on E2 multipitch routes with 5 nuts and 3 cams, I take 23 nuts, 6 cams and 3 hexes! I don't think anyone can offer you particularly useful advice, best just to work it out yourself. That's my advice.

In reply to Shaun L:

I would say the more at your limit, the more gear on long (multi) pitches. Right up to 15 quickdraws, 2 racks of nuts and a half sizes in cams 0-3 and hexes 6,7,8 for me...

For grit the OP is probably about right but maybe ditch the hexes 3-5 and take another half set of nuts 1-6.

Racking nuts as small/large means you can ditch half if that range is obviously not needed.

In reply to Removed User: I'm pretty sure that was at his limit...

To the OP: Meant comprehensive, not useful. All advice is useful!

In reply to Alan_2468: I used to methodically remove gear from my harness before I set off. It used to help me look at the route a bit closer, think about the belays, think about my stamina etc.

In reply to Alan_2468: however racking odd nuts on one side and evens on the other means that generally you sould have a nut on either side in which to place, if your gripped/stuch, whatever
though i would recommend a long sling and lots of screwgates for setting up belays, extending placements etc

I know how you feel though, im currently working through this stage myself, though luckily i know people with gear i can borrow at the moment

In reply to Alan_2468:

Completely over the top, but everyone's racks are these days. Steve Ashton has very good description of a basic rack in one of his 1980's books that makes for interesting reading these days...

2 x 120cm 25mm stitched supertapes
2 x locking karabiners (for above)
2 x 60cm 18mm stitched supertapes
2 x snapgates (for above)
1 x Hex 7 on 8mm cord
1 x Hex 3 on 7mm cord
1 x Rock 9 on 8mm cord
1 x Rock 8 on 8mm cord
1 x Rock 7 on 7mm cord
1 x Rock 4 on wire
1 x Rock 3 on wire
6 x snapgates

I think that's pretty much perfect for most easy Grit routes and FWIW is a 1/3 of what you're carrying.

In reply to TomBond: I also rack my nuts in terms of odds and eve's but I am the only one of our group that does. My reason behind it is incase you drop a set (not to hard to do when winter climbing) having things racked odds and evens mean that you should still be able to cover almost every placement

What you will quickly realise when climbing is that everyone's rack is different and the way people put everything on their harness is different, even down to the direction of the crabs. Just put things where they "Should" go (what feels natural) as that is where you will look for them in a rush.

In reply to mr rob:
doesn't doing this increase the chance you will have to unclip two sets of nuts to find the right size for a placement.

In reply to Alan_2468: well, at the minute, i find im unclipping different ones anyway
it means if your gripped, you can at least get something in!
and it also means you don't lose all small sizes if you drop them, for example

In reply to TomBond:
I've never dropped my nuts and I hope to keep it that way. If I do I'd still have cams, hexes and the other half of my nuts (as I rack them over two biners large and small).

In reply to Alan_2468:

That's quite a big rack for a short route but it won't hold you back, give it a go, see what you do and don't use. With practice you'll be better able to judge what to carry, what to leave in the sac. Some routes take good hexes, others take cams. Again, with experience you'll get a feel for which you want to take up with you, it probably wont be both.

jk

In reply to Alan_2468:

for most gritstone edges e.g. froggat / burbage sized:

Set of nuts 1-11. yes
Set of hexcentrics 3 to 9. - maybe the large sizes if the route looks like it takes big gear, otherwise just take the cams.
WC Cams 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3 (racked on 3 krabs) - yes, except the 2.5/3 unless the route looks like it takes big gear.
10 quickdraws on various length extenders - i'd take 6.
One large HMS screwgate with 240cm sling - no.
Two small screwgates with 120cm slings. OK

& a short single rope of 30m is really handy for cutting down the time getting ready for routes.

In reply to Alan_2468:
My rack for easy grit is more like the above with possibly fewer quickdraws. As others have said everybody I climbed with tended to carry their own dibbler (nut key). 'cause their typically such short routes you're usually only placing 3 or 4 runners anyway and can often get a sling or the rope round a huge boulder at the top.