In reply to taddersandbadger:
> If you are really brave post all the details like what route, what grade, what gear you had in on here and I am sure loads of us will get out our armchairs and offer an opinion or better still go down the pub with a few of your experienced climbing buddies and talk it through.
To answer your question, although I'm a little ashamed to say it, the route was High Neb Buttress*** (VS 4c). There is an awkward mantling move around four metres up, on the left. At that point, I had placed only one blue Totem, and no other gear. I suspect the purple one would have held.
The lead line was attached with a bunny ears knot to two slung boulders at ground level. It was then passed through the Silent Partner on my harness, and a backup knot.
Overall, I had racked a full set of Totems, black to orange, as well as Rock offset superlights, a few smaller tricams, and (mostly) DMM quickdraws. Larger Dragon cams and Torque Nuts had been left on the ground on this occasion. I understand that my climbing skills, and perhaps my rack, don't speak of impressive levels of wisdom and experience. I've only recently returned to Sheff for work, and have spent more time in indoor walls until fairly recently. I had got myself quite excited about grade-pushing, with eyes on more ambitious future projects, and had managed a fair few routes at the grade very recently without any problems. I'm perhaps not the most effortlessly charismatic person in the world, but had been keeping an eye out for potential partners I might meet in the area. Meanwhile, the roped soloing seemed to have been going well, and I had perhaps got a little over-confident.
I can now think of several things, including a backup top rope on a clove hitch, a bouldering pad, or a more carefully placed runner, that would have made a difference here. I have also now revised my position on whether a rushed start to a climb is a sensible way to escape a swarm of midges.
I think the overall consensus, as mentioned by Michael Gordon and others, is that it may be a good idea for me to focus on other routes at lower grades until I find my groove again, and that summoning up the social skills to find a local partner who wasn't made by Rock Exotica may prove a wise choice. I just hope I don't embarrass myself by racking half a tonne of gear then bottling out before I've left the ground...
Thanks for your kind words of advice, Paul. It's always nice to be able to talk these things through with more experienced climbers - UKC at it's best I reckon.