Buying your first climbing rack – gear advice

Buying your first bits of climbing gear is a bit of a milestone in your climbing career.

When I started climbing I managed to buy various bits of discount gear, some second hand stuff and some scrounged. Gradually, as I did more climbing I became aware of what gear I was missing, and indeed what gear was important, getting rid of the second hand thirty year old harness and buying a more up-to-date version!

Obviously, your as your reading this article as you’ve probably decided to do a bit of research towards what climbing gear to purchase. There’s certainly a lot on offer, and different styles of gear to choose from.

Rather than recommending a list of specific gear that’ll be out of date within a year, I aim to offer some good advice that you can apply to your climbing aspirations and budget.

Firstly, you’ll want a pair of rock boots. They make rock climbing easier! Hire a harness rather than rock shoes at the wall, as hire shoes are normally a poor fit and half worn out.

Your shoes should be a very snug fit, without being so un-comfortable that you need to take them off every five minutes. Some (but not all) experienced climbers favor a very tight shoe, but for your first pair don’t go too tight. There’s a very good article on overly tight climbing shoes here.

After that you’ll need a harness, and yes, there’s a few different style to choose from. It’s worth investing a little in the harness department as you’ll use it for a few years so make sure it’s comfy and it’s got a minimum of four good sized gear loops. We’re just in the process of writing a harness article, watch this space…

After those two essentials, it’s time to work out what style of climbing your going to be doing. Indoors? Trad or sport? Location matter as well, short routes on the gritstone are different from long granite cracks, they often dictate what type of gear you’ll need.

Let’s start easy, and finish hard; indoors, sport and then trad climbing.

Everyone needs a belay plate, and a HMS Krab. Keep it simple, forget the fancy belay plates but have a little think about the krab you’ll be using. There are some specific belay krabs out there, some of which are quite good, but none are essential.

For indoor climbers, if your lead climbing you’ll need you own rope. Some walls are getting big these days, you might need a 50m rope. Nothing fancy, around 10.5mm and you don’t need a “dry treated” rope, which are more expensive.

Sport climbers;

You’ll need a “cow’s tail” for threading the rope at the top of routes. A mid weight 8ft sling with a screwgate krab should do the job. You can always buy a purpose made cow’s tail made out of sewn rope as well. An extra screwgate is essential for the threading technique as well.

Quick draws, two krabs joined by a sewn sling, are used for clipping your rope to the bolts when leading. You can get some really good quickdraws designed for sort climbing, wide slings and “clean nosed” krabs which are easier to clip and unclip from the bolts. Surprisingly useful when your faffing around stripping the gear from a route.

How many do I need? Again, this depends on where your going to climb, and if your mates have got half a set of quickdraws already. A dozen is probably the minimum for continental crags, but some routes at Portland are 4 bolts long! Most guidebook’s will give you a good idea of how many you’ll need for that particular venue.

If you plan on top roping any routes, then a screwgate on each bolt with a sling equalized to another screwgate saves the bolts getting worn out by the rope. So that’s another 3 screwgates and an 8ft sling.

Rope wise, I’d go for a dry treated rope as they are more durable and choose a length between 50m – 70m depending. Buying a longer rope means you can chop the ends down if they start getting worn as well.

That’s a good basic list, it certainly wouldn’t hurt  to have a few extra slings in the bag, their cheap(ish) too! Lot’s of sport climbers use a grigri or similar, and once your mates get into the habit of hanging on the rope on hard (for them) routes they are a god send! They take a bit of getting used to, and it’s worth getting a quick bit of training on how to use them properly.

Helmets are getting lighter and lighter, and whilst traditionally they aren’t used sport climbing, more and more climbers are wearing them. Falling off it much more common sport climbing, and it’s quite a possibility that you’ll catch the rope around your leg and be flipped upside down whilst falling. Nasty. Worth having a think about.

Trad climbing:

This is when it get interesting! By reading the following list, it doesn’t mean your ready to head to the shops and then strap yourself on a route somewhere. So don’t hold us responsible if you hurt yourself because of a lack of gear or knowledge. Come on a course with us first!

For seconding someone, you’ll need a belay plate, a nut key and cow’s tail (see above) as a minimum.

For a beginners lead rack, you will need to consider your venue and then your budget. To be honest, it’s a good idea to get some instruction (I realise I’m a little biased though!) and your instructor/guide and talk you through the rack they are using for that venue. Here’s a few idea’s;

• A variety of slings with krabs are excellent for spikes and threads, they should be your first port of call if available. I carry 4ft and 8ft slings each with a krab. I stay away from 16ft slings most of the time.
• “Passive” gear, such as “Hex’s” and “rocks” or “nuts” can provide good feedback when placed, you can make a judgement on each placement. A set of rocks go from size 1-10 (although you can buy smaller and larger!), sometimes a single set is enough, often one and a half or a double set can be good.
• “Cams” or “friends” are great climbing gadget, and every new climber wants one or a few! They require more knowledge to place, as they provide less feedback and more judgement to place. They are expensive, and easy to get stuck! If you want one, then go mid range, size 1 – 3 are most useful.
• You’ll need a few quickdraws to clip your gear to the rope. Eight is a pretty good number for climbs of around 20-30m or so. You can use your slings if you run out as well.
• For trad belays, you’ll need some screwgates. I don’t tend to carry more than three for this purpose.
• Prussiks are great if you know what your doing
• Double ropes can be very useful, but normally you would start climbing with one single, 50m rope. It’s much easier to organise for most climbs. 10.5mm (ish) and dry treated is good if you can afford it.
• Helmets really are a good idea for trad climbing, keeping your head safe(er) from natural rock fall, and your mate dropping that big hex on your head.

 

So a beginners rack, for short routes on the granite of Dartmoor might look something like this:

• Belay plate with krab, nut key and 3 screwgates for belays.
• 4 or 5 8ft slings, with krabs
• 10 “wires/nuts/rocks” on a couple of snap gates (for racking)
• 3 or 4 mid range hex’s on 1 or 2 snap gates (for racking)
• 8 mid length quickdraws
• Optional: Friends size 1 – 3

You really can go to town buying trad gear. You will see many climbers with a lot of shiny dangling gear, it doesn’t mean you need as much. Part of the skill of a trad climber is taking enough gear to stay comfortable and safe, without weighing themselves down with kilo’s of shiny gear.

Remember that most routes were first climbed a long time ago, without all this modern fancy gear! But having said that, it is a lot easier to keep yourself safer on those same routes, as long as you know what your doing….