| Building a Climbing Rack - Suggested Racks | | | | formed from 1.5m lengths of 5mm cord tied into an |
| We are often asked what kit people should buy | | | | open loop with a double fisherman's knot |
| when starting out climbing and so we wrote up this | | | | * Helmet |
| list - we hope it helps. | | | | Plus if possible a second set of nuts - of a different |
| 1. Climbing Equipment and Rack for Seconding on a | | | | brand from our first set. |
| Climbing Wall | | | | Then after that look at getting a small number of |
| * Climbing Harness - Go to a good climbing shop and | | | | cams The key sizes when forming a rack are Wild |
| try a few on and hang in them. The harness should | | | | Country/DMM 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 or BD Camalot 0.5, 1 |
| be padded on the waist and legs and have a | | | | and 2. |
| minimum of 5 gear loops if you intend climbing | | | | One of the biggest outlays at this stage will be |
| outside. The DMM Renegade is a good reference | | | | deciding on what ropes to get i.e. a single rope or a |
| point. | | | | half rope. The answer depends on what you want to |
| * Rock shoes - Again you need to go to a shop and | | | | do. If you plan to stay on the outcrops or go sport |
| ask for advice/try loads on. Rock shoes are a culture | | | | climbing I would go for a 60m x 9.8mm -10.0mm |
| shock - your toes should touch the end of the shoe, | | | | single rope - 60m because all UK climbers go abroad |
| they should be comfortably tight and if you twist the | | | | in the winter and 60m is mandatory in Europe plus a |
| shoe your foot should twist as well without any | | | | 60m rope lets you do 30m double rope pitches in the |
| slippage. Then once you have your perfect fit bear in | | | | UK; also by getting a 'thinnish' single rope it can be |
| mind that all shoes stretch ..buying shoes for the first | | | | used in a full length double rope system at a squeeze. |
| time is difficult so take your time..The Red Chili | | | | If trad climbing is going to be your thing then go for |
| Saucilito, Scarpa Vantage and Sportiva Cliff are good | | | | an 8.5mm x 50m half rope and find a partner with a |
| starting points | | | | similar rope. You can go for a 60m rope and the |
| * Belay Device - The DMM bug is good for all-round | | | | extra length is great for alpine/ice routes, but for |
| use, whilst the Petzl Verso and Reverso3 are class | | | | most UK cragging you are just lugging around an |
| leaders. | | | | extra 10m of useless rope most of the time. |
| * Locking Carabiner for Belay Device - DMM Sentinel, | | | | Superdry treatments are not just for keeping the |
| Belay Master or Ultra O screwgate are all good | | | | rope dry, indeed for most climbers the key |
| * Chalk bag and Chalk - Down to you ....just make | | | | advantage of dry treatments is that that increase |
| sure you can get your whole hand in ...essential for | | | | durability and decrease drag. 5. Climbing Equipment |
| sea cliff climbing. Carry it on 1.5mm of 5mm cord that | | | | and Rack for Advanced Leaders on Mountain Routes |
| can be used as an emergency prusic or abseil tat. | | | | At this point everything gets very personal, but this |
| 2. Climbing Equipment and Rack for Leading on a | | | | is what I carry on most long routes. |
| Climbing Wall | | | | * Wires: 3 sets of wires 1-6, double sets 7-10 and |
| As above plus: | | | | one 11. Carried on 4 Flexible Alien placement in a small |
| * Quickdraws for the wall - Think ahead and buy | | | | pocketShadow keylock screwgates. The wires are a |
| draws that will serve you when you move outside as | | | | balanced mix of DMM Wallnuts, WC Rocks and DMM |
| well. | | | | Alloy Offsets. |
| * Rope - Walls trash ropes so a lot of people go for | | | | * Micro Wires: A bit OTT, but I carry about 20 micro |
| a specific short (cheaper) rope for wall use. Mammut | | | | wires on most big routes, based around the RP2 |
| Promo in 30m or 40m lengths is a good choice plus it | | | | DMM Imp 2 and 3 and DMM Micro Wallnut 0.5 and |
| can be used for both leading and top-roping short | | | | 0.75. Carried on 2 Shadow keylocks. |
| routes outside | | | | * Aliens: I always carry the Yellow and Green and |
| 3. Climbing Equipment and Rack for Seconding Routes | | | | often the Blue Aliens - awesome units, happily bought |
| Outside | | | | before their quality control went AWOL. |
| As 1. above plus: | | | | * DMM 4CU's: 1.0 to 3.0 including half sizes. I really like |
| * Slings: 1 x 120cm and 1 x 60cm sling | | | | their light weight and doubled sling which saves lots |
| * Screwgates: One small screwgate and one larger | | | | of quickdraws. |
| mini HMS screwgate. | | | | * DMM Torque Nuts - 1-3. The best hexes out there. |
| * Nut key: A nut key plus a carabiner and short | | | | * Quickdraws: I carry up to 16 DMM Phantom |
| length of cord to carry it. | | | | quickdraws on skinny dyneema - 2 x 12cm, 8 x |
| * Rescue: Two prusic loops generally these are | | | | 18cm, 4 x 25cm and 2 x extendable quickdraws |
| formed from 1.5m lengths of 5mm cord tied into an | | | | based on 8mm x 60cm slings |
| open loop with a double fisherman's knot | | | | * Slings:2 x 120cm and 2 x 60cm dyneema slings |
| * Helmet - a matter of choice, but most people do | | | | * Screwgates: 1 x DMM Sentinel and 3 x DMM |
| these days. | | | | Phantom Screwgates |
| 4. Climbing Equipment and Rack for Starting to Lead | | | | * Belay device: Petzl Verso or Reverso3. |
| Outside | | | | * Ropes: 2 x 8.5mm x 50m Mammut Genesis |
| As 1. above plus: | | | | Superdry ropes. |
| * Quickdraws: A minimum of 6 quickdraws if you are | | | | * Nut key: DMM Nutbuster |
| climbing on short outcrop routes, but you will need 10 | | | | * Prussics: 2 x short prussics on one Phantom SG |
| or more quickdraws for mountain routes. Quickdraws | | | | I won't necessarily carry all this - I'll always check out |
| around 18cm in length are perfect for trad with a | | | | the route first to see if there is any kit I can leave |
| couple of shorter and longer draws. | | | | behind or whether I'll need to double up on some |
| * A set of nuts - either DMM Wallnuts or WC Rocks | | | | items or whether I can leave anything behind. There |
| 1 - 11 | | | | is no point in taking a large number of friends up a |
| * A set of large nuts - DMM Torque Nuts 1-4 or WC | | | | climb on a blank wall. |
| Rockcentrics 5-8Solid friend tied off short | | | | This way you can reduce the weight and bulk |
| * Slings: 2 x 120cm and 2 x 60cm slings - dyneema 11 | | | | hanging from your waist - this will reduce the speed |
| or 12mm. Skinny dyneema slings (8-10mm) are great, | | | | at which you get pumped, increase the difficulty at |
| but quite unforgiving of user error. | | | | which you can climb and make it easier for you to |
| * Screwgates: 3 x small screwgates and one larger | | | | find the gear on your harness. |
| mini HMS screwgate. DMM Phantoms and DMM | | | | Choosing the right rack for a route is a skill that |
| Sentinel. | | | | improves over time. A good starting point, is to |
| * Individual Carabiners: 8 x individual carabiners for | | | | estimate the quantity of quickdraws you will need by |
| racking wires, connecting slings etc. I prefer keylock | | | | taking the length of the route (i.e. 25m) and divide it |
| solid gates for racking wires and lightweight wire | | | | by how often you expect to place protection i.e. |
| gates for connecting running belays.... but this is very | | | | every 2m. This will help you estimate how many |
| personal and some people hate keylocks for racking.... | | | | quickdraws that you are likely to need. |
| * Nut key: A nut key plus a carabiner and short | | | | It is worth remembering that not every placement |
| length of cord to carry it. | | | | will need extending i.e. DMM 4CU's, slings and hexes. |
| * Rescue: Two prusic loops generally these are | | | | |