UKC

I have been climbing indoors for six months, have just been away for my first outdoor climb at Symonds Yat and would like to start collecting my own Trad gear. I only have a harness, 5x quickdraws and shoes so far and don't know what to get next. I would like suggestions for rope, helmet, nuts or hexes? Don't think I can afford cams atm. Also I don't really like my climbX harness any alternative suggestions? Thanks, Ben.

In reply to Roobag:
Wild country classic nuts are great value imo as are DMM Torque nuts.

For a harness i would go with either a Petzl Corax or a DMM Renegade.

DMM, Wild Country & Petzl make good, well priced helmets too

In reply to Roobag:
A helmet, nut key & prussiks is enough to be ready to second or spend the day alternating leads with somebody who has a rack.

Needlesports for better info...

http://www.needlesports.com/catalogue/content.aspx?con_id=285f8f26-74d0-457...

In reply to elsewhere:

Rack?

In reply to Roobag:

"Rack" - equipment ie all the slings, nuts, extenders and cams etc

In reply to Roobag:

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

Though you don't have to buy everything as you are most likely to climb with someone experienced at first who are going to show you how to place gear, build anchors, etc. These people usually have everything they and you might need, so you would need only your own personal gear (shoes, harness, nut key, belay device, helmet, etc.).

In reply to Roobag:

Wild country vision is a really comfortable harness and sometimes there on offer

In reply to Wsdconst:


I may be up for selling mine. Can't remember at present if it's large or medium, but it's too big for me. About a year old, in good nick, no lead falls.

In reply to Roobag:

I've recently started out and fairly quickly went for a basic rack. 3 cam set, nuts, etc etc. Personally I found that 4 screwgates, a large sling and 10m cordalette got the most use by far. That is my anchor stuff and having that on you means less stuff to swap over. This however assumes you have a rope and helmet. If you don't have those 2, then get that. Get a 50m single rope that you are happy to carry around. You can use that indoors and for basic outdoor stuff. Its always good to have 2 ropes between you and your partner, esp if you need to abseil into somewhere. You can even double it up on short routes. If you don't have a helmet, don't be silly and go and get one before going out next time. Even a pebble that has been dislodged from a good height has the potential to do some very permanent damage.

In reply to Roobag:

DMM do a deal on a 'trad starter pack' of Wallnuts 1-11, Alloy Offsets 1-7 and Torque Nuts 1-4. Plenty of shops sell this pack and often quite cheap. Add 8-15 quickdraws (depending where you climb), a nut key and a few slings and you are good to go... you can get cams later.

In reply to Roobag

my partner have shared a very basic rack when we were travelling.

it has always limited us to what climbs we could do as we only carried a 60m rope.
120cm slings are great as you can extend gear and use well on chicken heads etc.

a set of nuts will suffice but i now have 2 sets and feel alot better climbing ahead when i know i have doubles(different brands). you won't need micro nuts yet.

i have a set of hexcentrics but i only use the 3 biggest (blue,yellow,purple i think)

its still worth thinking about cams they can be a quick fix for the old elvis leg. i only have 3 BD Camolots C4 purple,red,yellow) keep in mind every brand uses its own colour sheme and sizing.

maybe should be on top of the list but a helmet is never a waste of money(also another layer to keep your head warm)

i have 13 quick draws (5 of them i have converted to alpine draws)

i hope this helps and remember practice prussik-ing up a rope before you actually need to use this skill

In reply to Roobag:

There is really very little "bad" gear available now - everything has to pass the appropriate standards so as long as you buy branded gear that is CE and UIAA approved, you won't go wrong. When you are starting, having 10 cheapy quickdraws is WAY better than having 5 flash expensive ones. The same with nuts - go for whichever brand you can get cheapest: if you can get two sets (about 20 individual nuts), fantastic. Don't let anyone tell you "you must get brand X...", you'll get used to whatever you have. Same with krabs, ropes, harness etc. Think about building good anchors at the top of climbs - having a bunch of slings is always useful. If you don't have mates with ropes, probably best to go for a mid-sized single - worth considering trying to find a deal on a triple rated rope that you can use as half rope or a single but they tend to be more expensive and thin when used a single (which means what belay device you have [and your partner has!] becomes more important).

Lots of deals to be found - Rock and Run have some great prices on last seasons BD gear at the mo'; for example 7.25 for these really good quickdraws is a bargain: http://www.rockrun.com/deals/black-diamond-sale/black-diamond-hotwire-quick... and have a look in Decathlon if you have one near you for low prices.

If Symond's Yat is your local climbing, I'd focus on getting a good selection of nuts and quickdraws, maybe some hexes. Cams on limestone can be a bit harder to judge and you don't seem to need them as much as on, say, grit or granite. Slings for trees!

In reply to Roobag:

Cams are good because are multidirectional and quick to place, IMO well suited for beginners. You can find them used, so not so expensive, however at Decathlon BDs are at 50£ each . The green, red and yellow BD cams will cover the great majority of cam placements. The double axle design allows for a wider size range, so even if you don't have a good eye for sizes yet they are more likely to fit. Plus if they walk and become open may still offer a decent pro as nut, while the single axle would be doomed.

In reply to Roobag:

It's worth being aware that cams may not be as affective on limestone or at least some limestone. Indeed just a few days ago I placed a size 2 Camalot in the Avon Gorge which looked perfect but when I gave it a sharp pull it popped out. The rock there can be amazingly smooth however.

Al

In reply to Roobag:
My daughter has now given up climbing having moved to a flat country , all her gear is here with me in the midlands and she is selling it all off . There is a Salewa Toxo Climbing Helmut Universal Size 53 - 61 cm and lots of other kit which we could come to a decent price if you want a fair bit of it. Its all in excellent condition, no falls, well cared for

See photos at
https://www.wuala.com/captainhaddock/Photos/climbing?key=10zljfgIv8dJ

This was her "rack" before we started selling bits.
https://www.wuala.com/captainhaddock/Photos/climbing/P1090723.jpg/?key=10zl...

I can send you specific details if you are interested in more info.

Gerard

In reply to Roobag:
I saw this deal on DMM protection the other day, and wish I'd seen it when I started building my rack, as it would have saved me some money: http://www.dicksclimbing.com/collections/protection/products/dmm-protection...

The torque nuts are maybe the best/most popular hexes amongst people I climb with (partly the shape, partly the extendable sling). The wallnuts are really good, and the dmm offsets are my new favourite passive equipment.

In general, you want equipment to suit what you're climbing (and what your usual partners have). E.g. a 50 or 60m, 10mm single rope will do you well up many shorter single-pitch crags; are you climbing things that need double ropes? Cams are almost essential on many grit routes, where you need to protect horizontal breaks and cracks, but not necessary on many routes on limestone outcrops, where the crack patterns and flakes provide great nut placements and often dodgy cam placements.

If you're short on dough, don't fetishise the gear; ask your regular climbing partners what they've got and work out how you can flesh that out. As you continue climbing, you'll adapt your rack to suit new challenges - e.g. buying big cams or a huge "seagul killer" (hex) or micronuts or double ropes, etc..

www.rockrun.com do some good deals.

Best -
Chris

In reply to Roobag:

As Mentioned Dick's Climbing are now doing a 'Avon starter set' of DMM gear that has more small nuts/rocks in it, as the standard DMM starter kit generally has doubles of larger pieces, were Avon tends to be more hungry for smaller nuts.

If you looking at climbing around the Bristol/Wye/Cheddar way thats not a bad start, some Quickdraws and maybe another set of nuts (in the sizes you'll be placing a lot) would set you up nicely for around here. (Don't forgot slings etc as well!)

Really wouldn't bother with cams for a while, as (this is hugely personal opinion) getting used and well versed in placing solid gear is such an important skill. Also cams don't tend to be the best on the limestone here, although some routes they are almost essential, but you can always buy/beg/borrow what you need for that route when the time comes! (i've had a set of DMM Dragons for about 2 years, think i've used them about 4-5 times, and one of those wasn't even for climbing purposes!)