boatskiclimbsail

Whatcha got? :-) Stuff I'm looking for: -Another set of Smileys nuts (not the huevos, I dig the smiles) -Alien Hybrids -Dolby 5.1 reciever (mine got blown up at a party recently) -Direct drive record player (strobe timed preferably) -Asym. Spin for a Hobie 16 -Small-ish creek boat, displacement hull -5+HP air compressor, 120v -Cast iron table saw -Small milling machine -???

Other than the yuppie-packaged "tactical static rope" I've rarely seen a pre-cut length of static rope for sale. Usually you will come across the giant 1200' wooden spools of BWII or the nice beefy PMI stuff. Maybe it's because I always get static at caving shops... As for the hauling setup, there are dozens of different ways people rig ratcheting setups. When you are soloing a wall with a big load, there aint' no other way to do it. If you've never seen it, I'd spend some more time on a wall. We (my aid partner and I) rarely use them because we started using a funky counterbalance system where one of us just hangs on the free side of the rope while the other pulls a few times, then he jugs back up and we repeat. Quicker to set up that the ratchet stuff and we only have to pull 1x the rope length. Get it over with quick!

'Tis the season! Get a head start on the wind this season. I'm selling one of my kites because I recently replaced it with a newer model of the same size. I used it all last season, perfect for the light wind days on the columbia around Portland or any of the kiting areas in Seattle most all the time. Also selling my first board, learning to kiteboard on a small board is a nightmare. Do yourself a favor and start with a floaty one, eh? Kite: Naish Aero 10m inflatable, LE bladder professionally repaired and replaced with oversize from Airtime in Hood River. Comes with Wipika bar, 4 spectra lines and air pump $350 Board: Hifly 6'6" directional kiteboard, 4 fins. I learned the ropes on this board, absolutely perfect for learning waterstarts and getting used to flying the kite. Not for high performance kiting, buy the $500 boards for that. This will get you flying in a hurry rather than swimming your 170 home. Board in almost new condition. $80

Pair of Camp Tiburon ice tools for sale. I've had these for many years, they've been exceptional tools. I got my start in hard WI and mixed with them. They have clearance shafts, but smooth bends allowing them to be plunged into snow, making them perfect alpine tools as well. See a review here: http://www.climbing.com/equipment/camptiberon/ Mine have the older style leash, same clip but without the rattling and durability problem as described. I was keeping these tools around just for the leashes (sweet!) but just finished making some more of my custom ones. $175 For the pair, includes detachable leashes. $140 For the pair without leashes.

Colorado Custom Hardware: 307-721-9385 cchaliens@aol.com

I think there is only one pair.

Pull out your aiders and climb the roof/traverse backward. All the gear is placed already (unless you're doing some crazy sh*t in which case you probably shouldn't be on this board) and you just clip and swing, clip and swing. The quickdraw thing will work, but will be a pain in the butt on anything other than slight overhangs. Your ascenders will help a great deal if you are intent on following your rope all the way down. Depending on where the roof/traverse lies in the pitch, it is often easier to just lower past it and swing in/over to the rope below the feature. Watch sharp edges on the roofs if you're swinging...

Maybe I should have preceded "ovals" and "d"s with "cheap". $8 apiece for an oval?? I'll pay it for the Sprits because there is nothing comparable but for a workhorse biner of which one needs 80 or so, I'll stick to the $2 variety... ...and I'll be dipped, last I knew Pezl only made a locking oval.

Despite the lack of ovals and super light D's, I think Petzl makes some of the best sh*t going. They used to make a screwgate spirit, but haven't done so for 6 or 7 years. Kong makes a strikingly similar product. As for the big lockers, I dislike the Attache, I find the top to be too wide to stay put and the bottom too narrow to seat properly in a sling or harness. I'm a huge fan of the William and Am'D though. I'm all about the ball-lock. Some of my partners have cursed the ball-lock system to the point where I use different biners when climbing with them to avoid crucifixion. I've had one that I've been using since just after they came out (4 years?) and still have no problems with it, even iced up with heavy gloves. I like the William because it is huge and the bottom curve is just the right size to sit on a belay loop or harness tie point. The Am'D balllocks are sweet for anything you need to be locked that you aren't attending (top-rope anchors for example)

Yeah, good for you....I really wasn't planning to make sure my wife would be okay and my daughter could go to college when I was TWELVE! There are quotes around it for a reason...

Fortunately for me I got my life policy "before I started" climbing.

Can't you get a pair of whatever the smallest shell boot is and have a custom bootfitter make you some uber-thick liners for them?

Who put the "Y" above the "H"!?? Maybe I should start looking at the keys to type again. Damn you Sholes...

Flatten a piece of copper pipe about a foot long. This is the same pipe used to run gas and water in your house. bend it into an upside down "U", with the middle of the "U" over the burner (so it will get hot). The two ends should get a sharp bend that will "snap" into the rolled edge at the bottom of the canister. Needless to say, this isn't really "safe" but neither is climbing in general, and this works really well. Don't blow yourself up.

Well, I spent the last two years of college ice climbing instead of going to class in that neck of the woods, I've got some advise for ya . I'd highly reccomend Smuggs and Lake Willoughby for some good long moderate climbs. Easier stuff (girlfriend friendly) can be found off the side of the road at both Chapel Pond (camp in the middle of the pond for that special romantic effect) and at Pitchoff, about 40 and 20 minutes (respectively) South of Lake Placid both on Rt 73. Both of these places have very easy, top-rope accessible climbs. They will also be very crowded on the weekends, socializing is always good for the girlfriend factor. Pick up a copy of the Mellor guide at the Mountaineer, it has all the route descriptions. You can also just show up and usually people are way cool about you sharing the routes / ropes if you've got one up as well. Go to the Noonmark Diner (NMD) in "downtown" Keene Valley for dinner and the best pie in the whole world. There are dozens of off-road campsites to be discovered that I'm not going to publicize but aren't hard to find. There is a big marked one about 1/4 mile hike off the road at Roaring Brook Falls. Very scenic. If it's cold enough, you can even climb the falls. You can see the falls off the East side of 73 (very obvious), continue North and find a parking area for Giant mtn on the same side of the road. Hike in and take the right fork. Say hi to CUOC if you meet them. The hard stuff in Keene valley (if she wants to shop for the day) is on Poke-o-Moonshine, on rt 9N in the gigantic town of Keesville. The park is closed in the winter to camping, but that mainly means you can't park in the lot. Keep on the trails at Poke-o, there are some access issues and the "direct" approach route cuts straight across some angry private land. Other hard and mixed stuff can be found on Canon in Franconia Notch in NY. North conway has equally splendorous ice as it does rock in the summer. I haven't seen it for myself but I hear that they are doing some sick bolted mixed stuff at Rumney these days. I wouldn't bother with Mt Washington if you are looking for vertical ice or are with a newbie. Lots of people die up there. Most of these places also have good near-road campsites.

I'm looking for a sub $50 pair of 3-pin or superloop bound, full edged skis that can be effectively destroyed by me milling my own fish scales into their bases. Free, n-year old rock skis willingly accepted in the Portland area as well for a different project, I'll even pick em up from your dirty garage. Thanks!

I've got a pair of top shelf Atomics (R11.20), 165cm going for $200. Not sure if that is "cheap" but they sell new for over a $1000. I'd love an excuse to ski up north too...

Go to your local windsurfing shop, get a piece of an old broken boom that fits (they come in tons of diameters) and a spring clip. At that rate, you could even go carbon fiber! T-handles are easy to make, drill a hole in a piece of wood and throw in a set screw.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001843726_mars26.html

The easy aiders are too much of a hassle to adjust every step when you are making 1000s of steps. Get the Yates big wall ladders and your feet (and the rest of your body) will thank you. The easy daisies on the other hand, after a bit of getting used to are pretty snappy! I used the Yates adj. daisies (with the big ankra buckle) for a long time, and have had them slip on me unexpectadly. The Metolius lock down tight and release in a second. They're light too. I have heard some talk that after awhile the aluminum wears down but I have not yet had this problem after 2 seasons of occasional moderate aid. The blue ones are pretty.

Just because they fit every size doesn't mean they will fit every crack. Trango seems to forget this when advertising their products. Bigbros, for example rarely fit well in anything but a laser cut, parallel crack. I would suspect the same will be true with these torture-device looking cams.

well I'll be damned. thanks

Someone posted a pic awhile back of a woman beating a dead horsewith a club, after a thread had gone way too far. Anyone know where I can find the pic again? I went through all the posts I thougt it would be in and searched already. Thanks

whoops, hit the button twice

Thinker is on the right track, military and law enforcement is getting pretty specialized but they use the same static rope we do (except black or olive). NFPA qualifies the same static ropes you'd use in bigger caves for fire rescue and the like. Work positioning is a big one, though their stuff is sometimes more specialized to the job. Riggers use static rope all the time, I've used it myself in the theater. Sailing is a "sorta" area, nylon doesn't do well in direct sunlight, where most of your rigging is all of the time even at the marina. They make static rope that has polyester sheaths and even some with poly cores as well. I use my old climbing ropes for mainsheets and jacklines and stuff like that but I come across replacements for them (wear out ropes) faster than the UV degrades them. There are certainly more, but off the top of my head those are probably the biggest industries. Practically speaking, they would probably buy it from the cheapest place they could find it. Sometimes this will be an industrial supply, sometimes a weeekend sale at the mountaineering shop. Personally I just had enough of it lying around that it just made sense to use for other things. My main uses for retired gear are sailing, rigging, utility straps and tiedowns, and toys (rope swings, etc). Occasionally some art comes out of it too, for example I have a set of wind chimes made of an old set of tricams (the HUGE ones) and some old hexes.