UKC

My harness seems to be getting overcrowded - maybe I'm not reading routes well enough and being overcautious and taking too much gear. Saying that I seem to use most of it! Considering a bandolier, wondered how others have found them?

In reply to Firestarter:

Bandoliers are a PITA. How many gear loops have you got. what sort of routes are you climbing? how are you racking your gear?

In reply to Firestarter:

I Like bandoliers. Feels Better than Gear on a belt to me, and essential really if falling into water is Possible.

In reply to Firestarter:

I had that problem on big multi-pitch routes, so I made a large fifth gear loop at the back of my harness (5mm cord with pvc tubing around moulded with a hair dryer so it matched normal gears loops perfectly).

I then use this for all the belay gear and other stuff such as lockers, prussiks, atc and cordlette etc. That way my main loops are not cluttered for the pro and quickdraws.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

5 loops. Nuts left hand front, small cams right hand front. Bigger nuts/cams loops behind. Prusik, crabs etc rear loop. Quickdraws spread between front two. Slings with biners over chest. When stripping routes tend to put gear on these rather than loops. Climbing single pitch HS. Trying to get as tidy as possible.

In reply to broken spectre:

Hey mate - how you doing?

In reply to Firestarter:

Struggling with 5 loops on single pitch? Perhaps a rearrange of gear?

I use the left hand loops for all the quickdraws, the front right for nuts, the rear right for hexes (all individual binners) and slings (don't have any on my chest). When I get cams they'll probably be added to the nut loop (FR) which is pretty empty and the reasonably empty second QD loop. Seems to work well for me (with all belay gear at rear as said before).

I don't seem to have any problem reaching all of my gear with just one arm but then I do have long arms

In reply to Firestarter:

You don't need the prussik for single pitch stuff where an abseil isn't necessary. How many Quickdraws are you taking? I'd be deciding from the ground where I will hope to place gear and take that many runners plus on extra for just in case. Try to get used to placing gear where it's necessary and not where opportunities arise. It's very easy to lace some routes up but it doesn't necessarily make it any safer - purely psychological.
At HS, there shouldn't be any need to place psychological or marginal runners.

In reply to crayefish:

Cheers mate that's the sort of advice I'm looking for - just can't seem to get the right arrangement at the moment. In my defence some of the singles are 30 metres plus?!

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Quite a few routes in the Mournes need an ab off, and some of the routes are +30 metres, so I have been taking 12 - 15 draws. Protection is scarce on some routes so I tend to make the most of what's available before long run outs?

In reply to Firestarter:

30m+ single pitch? not chance of splitting the routes in two - halve the amount of QDs needed!

In reply to Firestarter:

Personally I like to have stuff grouped rather than spread but all depends how you like your gear to be accessible I order my gear small to large even (nuts, hexes, draws etc) so 'in theory' I shouldn't need to look down to get the right size. I also rack my nuts and beaks across four binners with overlapping sizes.

I find the length of the route hasn't much bearing on the quantity of gear I take, more so the type of route gear-wise (if I even know that before hand!) and whether I'll need to build complex belays on a multi-pitch. But then again, I am not a top climber! lol

In reply to broken spectre:
Good point about a dip in the sea, but do tend to increase load/ leverage on overhanging routes due to higher centre of gravity , so personal preference ?

So, for self , nuts on left increasing in size back, and then rockcentrics towards back, cams on right increasing in size, still have original rigid friends from 30 yrs back, reslung by self double as per dragons.
Quickdraws arranged to back, both sides. Generally, if the sizing is more critical with gear, bring to front, and bigger stuff can go to rear, it's fairly easy to see the differences in colour, size in peripheral view.
Have a mix of camalots, dragons and old friends, tend to group by coloured krabs by DMM, so irrespective of make, krab groups the size.
Having said that- I always over gear and overpack my sack, that's my excuse for being slow and I'm sticking to it !

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Some yes, but quite a few no! If you get a chance (and interested!) have a look at some of the routes here on UKC - Slieve Binnian North Tor West might give you an idea what I'm up against!

In reply to broken spectre:


I work on the basis that if there's a possbility I might take a dip, I will be roped up. If you wear a bandolier and fall in the sea at the bottomm of a sea cliff and ditch the gear, how do you intend to get back out if you need to climb?

In reply to Firestarter:
If the ferry was cheaper, I'd be over there like a shot!

In reply to higherclimbingwales:
By swimming to safety or treading water while waiting for a rescue. With a full rack on you'll be straight under.

In reply to Firestarter:

I'd recommend using Yosemite Racking, which means when you have 2 or more of any item just clip one of them on your gear loop and clip the others to the krab of the first. Works great for doubled-up cam sizes and even better for quickdraws, and saves heaps of space on your gear loops.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

It is absolutely fantastic climbing! 26 crags, nearly a thousand routes and only an hour from Belfast (flights as little as £30 from Gitwack etc). No shortage of accommodation, and if you do fancy it drop me a line!

In reply to john arran:

Nice idea, not even considered that, will try.
Thanks

In reply to john arran:

Like that idea - thanks!

In reply to Firestarter:

Aye, it's annoying as I live 20 miles from Holyhead so I'd have to drive away from Ireland to get there!

In reply to Firestarter:

Dsmn, i clicked on the thread expecting something else... But FWIW

Double rack anything that is of the same size & type (i.e. Quickdraws, slingdraws, loose crabs, slings, etc) Like this, but i normally just do one-on-one http://www.planetfear.com/articles/Yosemite_Racking_283.html

Share crabs on anything you are unlikely to use much. i.e. I usually crab together, if i'm taking them, three 0 cams, 2 tri-cams, even hexes.

That should declutter your harness a good deal.

Dumping gear you know you are not going to need any more to lighten up mid-route helps with those top moves when you are pumped i.e. after you climb pass 'the break' and you know you don't need the #5 and #6 cams any more, leave them clipped to a piece of gear. Caveat, if you end up needing them again farther up you'll feel like an idiot looking down at them just out of your reach, i can tell you that.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

Oh what a bummer!!

In reply to john arran:

Damn you! I write too slow...

In reply to Mr Lopez:

Pictures paint a thousand....

Thanks very much - will be trying that tomorrow. Cheers!

In reply to Firestarter:

Was using a bandolier on Sunday and a pack. It got old pretty fast on the slabs.

I have a chest harness + gear sling for when I'm taking a tonne of gear. Works good in my limited experience, but overkill unless on aid or you need a chest harness for some reason (soloist perhaps?).

The BD Zodiac seems interesting, used one once and that went well and it doesn't weigh or cost much.


That said I'll have to give yosemite racking a go one day.

In reply to needvert:

I tried the yosemite today - worked an absolute treat! Shall be using it from now on, definitely.

In reply to Firestarter:

I think if you think in terms of pieces of gear as single purpose you end up carrying much more than you need. For instance, I'd never consider taking kit only for a belay. Its all gear. The krab I carry prussics on is also a bail out krab or its used on the belay or wherever. Same with the racking krabs for wires and nut key.

I used to use a bandolier for the reasons you describe (see profile picture) but nowadays I'm just a bit more hard nosed about what I carry plus I have changed over to very light weight quickdraws.

In reply to GrahamD:

I see what you mean by your picture! I too have a use for everything I rack, I just need to read the routes better and only take what I need. It will come I'm sure!

In reply to Firestarter:

Before you buy a bandolier, check if you like the concept by trying it out with a 60cm sling.

Some racking tips:

If you're putting things back on a different loop from where they came from, you're probably racking it in the wrong place.

Put things that you can select without seeing on the rear loops, ie quick draws (because they are all the same), leaving the front two loops for gear which requires eyeballing (nuts, cams, etc).

Put things you won't use until the belay or in an emergency right at the back, out of the way.

I keep nuts on one side and cams on the other (in size order) for completely clutter free racking, but some people understandably prefer access to nuts on both sides.

Unless your route really desires it (single pitch stuff generally wont) don't carry too many slings, they're bulky and take up space.

In reply to Merlin:




Strongly agree with these two.


Although for my money the most sensible way to carry 120cm slings is clipped into a loop with a crab and carried over your neck and shoulder anyway. 60cm slings are made into slingdraws and carried at the front of the quickdraws.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

I'd go the opposite to that, especially in winter but anywhere really. If you see a good gear placement then use it, that crack a few meters above you might actually be shit and then you'll be in a place where you need gear and spend ages trying to put some in. Where as if you'd taken 20 seconds to put a sling on that spike a few meters below you you'd be protected enough to climb to the next easy gear placement.


Probably not but I'd think most people would have them for the rare occasion that it might be needed, either for self rescue or if you needed to ab in to get stuck gear out. Best just to have a couple of prussiks living on the back of your harness imo, then they're there if you every need them.

In response to the op, I often put quick draws on a sling over my shoulder. If I have any big hexes they go there at the back too. Sometimes I clip the bottom of the sling to my harness (if that makes sense), clip half or all of the gear behind that and then it doesn't swing in front of you when you're climbing.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Hey all, thanks for some really good advice. Taken on board and hopefully before long will have got it nailed. Just waiting for the head up display you can load topos on to to make sure I stay on route!!

Cheers and safe climbing everyone.

In reply to Firestarter:

I bet I'll still be lost half the time when I've got one.

In reply to Firestarter:
12-15 quickdraws for 30 meters is way overkill, I try not to carry any more than four extender draws and four or five normal quickdraws and that's for multi pitch stuff as well as single pitch, often carrying less for shorter SP stuff.

Maybe scale the grade back a bit if you need to place that much gear to get by on HS?

For record, I carry big nuts on front right, smaller nuts front left. Put cams and hexes behind those on each side to even it out and then put the quickdraws on to make them even on each side (still on the front gear loops). 120 slings go over my shoulder with krabs clipped. The rest of my gear goes on the back two gear loops. Sometimes put a single 60cm runner over my shoulder with krabs on that as well if I need to take some extra gear.

In reply to Nath93:

Thank you - your extender draws - 60cm?

In reply to Firestarter:

Yeah 60cm, sometimes carry a few over my shoulder but generally got enough room on my harness.

In reply to Nath93:

Nice one thanks - every day's a school day!

In reply to Firestarter:

Massive +1 for Yosemite - won't be doing it any other way from now on. Top tip.