Racking Pro with Draws Already On Them

[catbirdseat]

Up to this point I've always pulled a cam of my gear sling, placed it and then added a draw to it from my harness, either a long quickdraw or a tripled shoulder length sling. If you have cams with the doubled slings, which I do not, frequently that gives you enough extension by itself and you don't even need a sling. On advantage of doing it this way is you may not know in advance which pieces you need and how long a sling you'd like to add.

 

Yesterday I was going to lead a 5.9 crack at Vantage and I could pretty much tell exactly which pieces I was going to need and that the route didn't wander. I experimented with racking the cams with the draws (some quickdraws and some triples) already on them, ready to go. The result was that the pitch went very smoothly for me. The advantage is that it saves time and therefore energy when you are hanging from one jammed hand. I suppose a potential disadvantage is having a draw on a piece you might not necessarily use.

 

I imagine a lot of people must do this at times. When is this most appropriate and when not?

[thelawgoddess]

i don't think i've ever done it or would. sounds like it could be a mess, but if it works for you who's to judge? if it's a straight-up route i probably wouldn't need any slings anyway - gotta love the dmm's for that!

[Ryan]

I would recommend this approach on hard trad routes that you have done before and know which piece needs to go where, etc. I've definitely racked my pro on draws before when I'm going for the redpoint on a climb that has shut me down before, usually due to the fact that I DID hang out too long to place pro. On bigger routes or routes that I have not climbed before, I'll rack like I usually do, with one biner on each cam, stoppers racked on an oval or two, and a few slings, spare biners, and draws.

Edited February 29, 2004 by Ryan

[Matt_Anderson]

With the exception of climbs where the effort required on the approach far outweighs the difficult of the climbing, I always rack my draws on an individual biner. I use a misty mountain harness (the cadilac) that has six loops (four up, two down)and store the cams/nuts on top, where they can be seen, and the draws/slings on the bottom as they are more fungible and can be grabbed blindly.

 

Unless there's rope drag issues or the crack is such that walking is extremely likely, I don't use draws on my cams - just the factory sling. Walking is rarely a problem.

 

I can bring fewer draws/slings as a result.

 

This is lighter than your solution (draws) on each cam, heavier than the traditional multiple cams on a single biner, but much faster/easier.

[JayB]

I've always racked bread-and-butter cams like that, and added slings as needed while climbing.

[mattp]

It sounds like you've pretty much figured out when it is a good idea to pre-place runners on your cams, Catbird -- when you believe you know exactly what to expect. I'll sometimes do this when I can see the entire pitch from the base, as at Vantage, or when I have climbed the pitch before and I can remember that the #2 camelot should have an extra long runner or whatever. I'll rarely do it in any other situation.

 

As noted above, I do not always place a separate runner on my cams if it is a straight-line crack and the factory runner seems adequate. However, I belive that failure to add a runner was one of the factors cited as having contributed to the fact that a cam or cams may have been out of position when Goran Kropp was killed. Even though the crack on Air Guitar is straight as an arrow, I believe that his lead rope may have been swept back and forth or in and out as he moved past some of his pieces.

[snoboy]

I find that my Metolius cams seem to need a runner because of the short and stiff webbing that's on them.

 

Aliens and Camalots seem to be OK w/o on a straight up crack.

[EWolfe]

Also an excellent technique when trying for an onsight at your maximum grade.

[lancegranite]

The method CBS described works great with a single set of cams.

We used this system at Index, where the pitches are short.

Use the new ultra light runnes and the whole thing is uberlight and fast!

The amount of energy this system saved allowed us to venture into the harder grades.

The only downer is you must learn to rack the slings to the inside.

Not so good with huge racks, perfect for light and fast.

[catbirdseat]

I forgot to mention that I had top roped the route the previous week, so I knew exactly what I'd need. I'm beginning to learn that leaving behind the gear you don't need can be as important as bringing the gear you do need. It saves weight and it makes it easier to find the right piece when you need it.