UKC

what would you guys recommend for a first rack?

In reply to woodybenwood: 34C would be my preference

In reply to woodybenwood: any serious answers although made me laugh

In reply to woodybenwood:
http://www.andy-kirkpatrick.com/site/main_articles/rock_rack/
quite interesting

http://www.needlesports.com/advice/advancedclimbing.htm
also a good bit of advice

In reply to woodybenwood:
8 quickdraws
set of nuts
set of hexes
a few screwgates and a few slings
then start investing in some camalots, i got 1,2,3 as my first ones

In reply to woodybenwood:

cheapest set of 1-10 nuts (WC or DMM).
4 x Long slings.
1 x size 2 camalot.
8 x long sling QDs.
1 x size 7 hex (WC).
1 big krab.
2 little krabs.

In reply to woodybenwood: cheers but i would like to have a couple of other suggestions just to get a range of ideas

In reply to Wilbur: this sounds like a good idea to me what sort of climbs were you doing with this rack

In reply to woodybenwood:

You don't need any more info for a beginner rack! It's not as if you're going to be investing in Aliens straight away..

What other ideas were you after?

Basically you will need maybe 1 cam (Black Diamond best imo), 10 x nuts (DMM best imo), 1 hex size 7 or 8 really (WC best imo), 8 long QDs (DMM best imo) and krabs etc as already listed. You wont need anything else if you're staring off on VDiffs. You wont even need the cam it's just nice to have one and start placing it to learn...

In reply to woodybenwood:

Our posts crossed over!

HS/VS's on grit and Swanage and even a 60m VDiff on little tryfan (pooled gear with a mate for that one though as v long - was my first lead).

I really think you' be set fair upto VS on a lot of stuff with that sort of rack. Obviously if you were thinking sea cliffs or long Mountain routes then you'd need to pool gear and it wouldn't be enough in it's own right..

In reply to Wilbur: ok cheers for the info

In reply to woodybenwood:

My advice would be...
1 set of nuts
1 set of hexes
10 long quickdraws (20-25cm)
2 Hms Krabs
3 smaller d-shape Krabs
6-8 snapgate krabs to rack everything with
120cm sling
240cm sling
nutkey

Once you've had some experiance with all that you could get yourself some cams. I'd Start with sizes 1,2 and 3.

Jez

In reply to woodybenwood:

I used to climb up to HVS with:

5 quick draws (Wild Country)
1 Set of nuts (DMM)
2 Slings
2 HMS
3 D's

Simples.

Best way is to split the load with a regular partner. One person buy the rope and one buy the bits of rack.

In reply to woodybenwood: Good advice so far. After that it depends on where you climb- remember too much gear slows you down and takes away some of the fun.

In reply to The Green Giant:

Good idea...my regular partner is my 15 yo son...all the gear is his, I just pay for it

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=391119

Take a look at this thread. There's some good advice on there. However to go over it again, my advice would be as follows:

Set of nuts 1-11
Set of Hexes 3/4 of the larger ones
4/5 Quickdraws a mix of 18cm and 25cm
4 'Slingdraws' ( http://www.planetfear.com/articles/Making_The_Ultimate_Trad_Quickdraw_264.h... )
2/3 locking krabs
2 x 120cm slings
1 x 240cm sling
1 x 400cm cordlette

Don't bother with cams, they're expensive and it's harder to tell a good placement and easy to place them wrong. Once you've got up the grades a bit more, you'll have a better idea of their use.

plus all the usual stuff, harness, helmet, belay device, nutkey, prussic loops etc etc

Here is the UKC article - http://www.ukclimbing.com/articles/page.php?id=840 on buying a rack.

Buy which ever brand/make/model you like the best. Or choose them on weight. Just remember the really small lightweight krabs can be annoying when fitting lots of clove hitches on them.

In reply to mattrm:

Seconded. Cams are forsissies. Real men use hexes.

Some intersting reading here - http://www.psychovertical.com/?rockrackgear

In reply to Danger Dawkins:


Ha ha. Brilliant. I can tell you are not a gritstone addict!

To be fair, my first rack consisted of 7 nuts, 3 hexes (one was found) and five quickdraws. Got me up a couple of multipitches in the Lakes but that was when I had less fear.

My advice would be to buy a few pieces at a time and get used to them rather than invest in a massive rack. I have found loads of stuff over the years and potentially have a massive rack of gear, but most of it never gets used because it just isn't needed.

In reply to Danger Dawkins:
All my (very few) leads have been on gritstone so far. I generally borrow some cams as you can put them in quickly which is an advantage when you're gibbering with fear, but they don't give me half the sense of security of a hex clunking into place! I never really trust my cam placements, even when told that they are good. Once I've got the cam in, I often see if I can replace it with a hex placement.

To the OP: I searched the forum history when acquiring my gear. There is some excellent advice. I built up a collection from various sales, and also used my mate's gear. Over time I got a rack of: 1 set of nuts; a few extra rocks in sizes I found I was using a lot; 3 hexes (alternate sizes); 8 quickdraws (on 15cm and 20cm slings); 4 screwgates and a few slings of varying lengths.