climbing gear harness
im going from solo climbing to actually using gear, what do i need?
all because my parents freaked out because ive been going solo climbing they’re both having a freak out. so i know i need rope, a harness, a helmet, and carabiners. but what else do i need and what does it do?
and the climbing im going to start doing is free climbing, so i’ll only need the equipment that will keep me safe if i fall. and any websites are good
Yeah you definitely need to climbing with someone that is experience with using protection.
Forms of protection are nuts, hexes, tri-cams and cams. Nuts, hexes and tri-cams are all passive and you just jam them in cracks etc. and clip the rope through them. Cams (also known as friends) are active protection, you pull their lever to compress them and then place them, and if you fall on them they should ‘cam’ and grip the rock tighter.
You will need someone to show you what to do though as placing protection is an art form itself, it can take a lot of practise to be able to place gear properly, especially for nuts (especially small nuts). And you can’t assume that it’ll make you ’safe’ either, some gear placed even by pros will rip if they fall on it, most gear placed by a beginner will definitely rip if they fall.
So you’ll need a rack of nuts (sizes 1-10) and hexes (1-6), cams are good but expensive but get a couple of the midsize ones of these if you can. You’ll also need a bunch of quick draws, up to a dozen maybe, to clip the protection to the rope. And a bunch of slings are useful for setting up the belay.
Oh yeah setting up the belay for your second to climb up is even harder than placing gear, as you have to find enough protection to take the weight of both of you if necessary, and you have to learn how to equalise the system so each anchor is loaded equally.
Definitely not something you can learn on your own!
Also a good rack alone (the protection i’ve been talking about) will cost several hundred pounds, on top of everything else you’ll need to buy.
Oh and you’ll probably need two ropes..
Good luck..
How to Maintain Rock Climbing Gear : Climbing Harness: Maintaining Rock Climbing Equipment