UKC

Hello guys

I was wondering how many of you think about the weight of your rack , do you end up spending a little more on krabs and such to keep to a light weight rack, or is value for money more of an issue..

I have a large rack, don't carry all on every climb , I tend to take whats needed for a particular route, some times I take more to be on the side of caution , I like the light weight spectra 2's these are my fav , I have them on quickdrews and most my cams , tho If i was to change all my krabs to them it would work out expensive.. I also like the dmm bugette as it is so small,light and is great on half ropes..

just a fri night ponder ....

In reply to AndyE9: I usually go for value more than weight. I just see weight as extra training. If I can climb up to a certain grade with a heavy rack it will make me stronger.

In reply to AndyE9:
when i'm less than 100.2Kg (!) i'll start giving some thought to the weight of my rack...

In reply to AndyE9:

I really like my superlight DMM screwgates - I can carry several for very little weight penalty yet added peace of mind.

Also I like my Xenon Lite QDs, which are very light but weren't that expensive. I have smallish hands though - some climbers find them fiddly.

In reply to AndyE9:

Changed over to Wild Country Astro quickdraws and Ion screwgates, as well as going over from nylon slings to dyneema ones. It helps a bit, and I got the gear on sale so didn't cost the earth compared to standard weight kit.

Rack still weighs a lot though!

In reply to AndyE9:I have changed all my qd's to wild country helium crabs, they are light yet still full size. I carry friends two to each crab and only carry as many as I have to. If I need two sets of wires my second set is the single wire rocks, which are also a bit lighter.
I still carry too much most of the time, if I was a better climber I might not need to think about weight as much!

In reply to AndyE9:

Weight and effectiveness come into the question for me primarily, cost is only a mild concern.

While I'm very much a beginner, the value of cutting weight has been thoroughly learned in other activities.

*remembers back to the days of a 3.5kg sleeping bag, steel bike and plastic paddle blades*

In reply to AndyE9: depending on how big your rack is, it will cost you a bomb to replace all your krabs and draws ect with lighter ones. also lightweight gear, such as the bugette, tends to be less hardwearing and would be no good for working routes. In the end it's a personal preferance, but even after you've bought lighter gear, you'll only have saved 1kg or so

In reply to AndyE9: weight doesn't really matter that much, I'm always climbing in Scotland out for hours at a time not days carrying weight, what's the point of paying extra to save a few hundread grams when you take the extra mars bar with you that weighs more that what you have proberly saved. Plus the extra weight is good training for you. Man up

WC Heliums 33g each
Petzl Spirit Straight/bent gate - 49g

WC Neon 43g each
BD Quicksilver 56g

Petzl Attache 3D 55g
Petzl Attache 80g


So you might be around half a kilo better off with lightweight biners.

DMM Walnuts 1-11 425g
DMM Offset 7-11 195g
DMM Torque nuts 1-4 374g

Could carry a fair few extra bits of pro in 500g...

In reply to needvert: Or if half a stone = 1 full sport grade, half a kilo could be the difference in success or failure. As I am sure you are aiming at trad where I feel the onsight is the only chance you have at success, anything else to me is failure. So to me any chance of help I can get I take it. It may not be an issue if you don't climb near your limit or if you don't care about the onsight, maybe it depends on your ethic or how near your limit you feel at the routes you want to do.

In reply to AndyE9:

Personally I'm a big fan of light weight krabs - there is no down side as far as I can see.

The best way I find to keep weight under control is to be more ruthless on what gets carried and avoid carrying stuff that is effectively single purpose (mailons for retreating off, for instance - use the krab your nut key is on, or dedicated cows tails - use a quick draw).

In reply to AndyE9: I have found the lightest krab to be the lightest at 25g. It is also larger than the dmm phantom. I have some of them and some of the locking versions of the mission. I think its great having light gear. When I am carrying a double rack and ropes plus absail line and camping gear etc I am thankful for the extra though that goes into designing the gear.

What is this krab -_-

In reply to Gaz22: Can anyone remember some old research someone did on the number of pull ups climbers could do with, and without, a rack?

In reply to FreshSlate:

If it's a screwgate he's talking about, it's the camp orbit. I've got some and they are incredibly light. I like them a lot.

In reply to Aigen:

Isn't a camp nano actually 24g? I think that would make it the lightest 'biner.

In reply to AndyE9: weight saving means bugger all if you get pumped fiddling with tiny krabs. I use nearly exclusively dmm prowires. the old ones i have are bigger than the current ones.

if i could justify the expense i would replace all(well i would still carry two big HMSs) my screw gates with the dmm shield.